Rally Argentina 2012

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Mar
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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 27 Apr 2012, 22:24

After leg 1:
1. Loeb,
2.Hirvonen +0.1
3. Sordo +33.1
4. Ostberg +1:18.4
5 Al-Attiyah +5:16.9
6. Prokop +6:24.2
7. Mikkelsen (S2000) +6:36.0
8.Ogier(S2000) +6:58.8
9Araújo +8:14.5
10.Neuville +10:13.2

Only one tenth between Loeb and Hirvonen :blink:
Mikkelsen is doing a great job. Ogier lost some time because of a puncture but Mikkelsen has been faster than him a few times today.

Prominent retirements of the day:
Solberg: broken steering arm
Novikov: knocked off a wheel. He says the mechanics made a mistake and that caused the issue.
Neuville: crashed out and rolled. Even with 10 minutes Rally2 penalties, he's still in the top 10
Tänak: he also broke the steering arm and stopped to change it in SS4, lost 18 minutes but finished the stage. He could start SS5 though.

Mar
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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 28 Apr 2012, 14:26

Pretty uneventful morning loop today. The biggest drama was Al-Attiya damaging his rear suspension in the final part of the last stage; they are not so sure they will make it to service. Except for that... all's quiet on the Western front.

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Green Flag » 28 Apr 2012, 17:37

Wow, was just thinking that it might be an interesting finish and maybe Hirvonen could even win, but happened to see the Autosport front page: team order finish (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99228). So Loeb will win if he manages to get to the end.

A bit too early for my taste... :(

Mar
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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 28 Apr 2012, 17:55

Both teams declared which were their number one drivers before the season started. Citroën said it was Loeb and Ford said it was Latvala. It can't be earlier than that... from both teams. This is not just Citroën.

Ford has to jump ships now, they can't keep on working with Latvala as their #1 driver, but it's because of the circumstances, not because they planned it.

In Argentina the Citroëns don't have any more rivals, the Fords are too far away: Solberg crashed and broke his steering arm yesterday and Sordo has orders to drive nice and steady, without risks, to the finish line even before the rally started. They have a 1-2 at the moment and they are keeping it; in the morning loop, looking at the splits, it was clear that Loeb and Hirvonen were driving on target times split by split.

EDIT: I'm fed up with certain types of team orders. I don't have problems when teams order their drivers to hold position before stages as dangerous like the Panzerplatte, I don't have problems (even if I like it a bit less) when a team has a 1-2 and they tell their drivers to hold position the last day not to risk losing the double podium. But I have problems when teams name number 1 driver before the season starts, per definition, but with only two manufacturers it's even worse: only two guys are allowed to fight for the championship. Oh! and I have problems with things like those that happened in Poland 2009, especially if there are still several rallies till the season ends.

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Green Flag » 28 Apr 2012, 18:30

Yeah, I can understand the team's point of view. And in general I pretty much accept these "hold station" type of team orders. I was just disappointed when the prospect of an exciting finish was so cruelly taken away from me. :blush:

The thing I really hate to see is drivers swapping position unless absolutely necessary from the championship point of view (or, in racing, avoiding somebody from screwing up his team-mates race). That, in my opinion, is when the Nr1/Nr2 policy stops being consistent with the concept of "sport".

But anyway, now that my disappointment has somewhat mellowed, I try to enjoy the formation finish tomorrow. :lol:

EDIT: posted the above before seeing your edit. Agree with what you said.
Last edited by Green Flag on 28 Apr 2012, 18:54, edited 1 time in total.

Mar
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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 28 Apr 2012, 18:47

yeah, the silly team orders are taking all the suspense and interest out of the sport. Today, the DTM qualifying begun at the same time as the morning loop and I chose to watch the DTM qualifying on TV over listening to the WRC radio (I did have the WRC timing on, though) because I knew nothing was going to happen in WRC :(

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by drew09 » 28 Apr 2012, 19:33

I agree. With Hirvonen still in the championship hunt, I thought it was way too early for tactics. I have little-to-no motivation to keep up with the developments for the rest of the day / tomorrow. The lack of consistent TV coverage is unfortunate as well...

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by reppo » 28 Apr 2012, 20:49

Sordo is so far back that Citroen wants to maximize points, and if something would happen to Loeb, Hirvonen can take the win. Boring :(

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by donald29 » 29 Apr 2012, 14:54

Don't blame Citroen for what they're doing, but the lack of a challenge from Ford so far is making things pretty dull.

Mar
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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 29 Apr 2012, 15:06

Poor Mikkelsen, he was doing great and making Ogier sweat for every single tenth until his suspension broke:
Image

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 29 Apr 2012, 18:43

Sordo stopped in the powerstage.
Can I cry a bit?

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by sleenster » 29 Apr 2012, 18:48

What a farce of a rally :( Didn't have much time to follow it this weekend but..sigh :confused:

And the TV coverage is getting from bad to worse :( No HD and then no commentary??

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by Mar » 29 Apr 2012, 18:55

Really, you didn't miss much.

Ostberg says he thinks Dani has a problem with the alternator of the car and if it's the reason, it's game over. Man! this boy is unlucky and those Fiestas are ********! :<>:

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by iceman1 » 29 Apr 2012, 18:56

Mar wrote:Really, you didn't miss much.

Ostberg says he thinks Dani has a problem with the alternator of the car and if it's the reason, it's game over. Man! this boy is unlucky and those Fiestas are ********! :<>:
Time to study? :zz:

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Re: Rally Argentina 2012

Post by sleenster » 29 Apr 2012, 18:59

I'm just sick of seeing Loeb screw up, but then his rivals are even bigger screw ups and hand back the win to him :(

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