real life 2020 FIA World Rally Championship

[fabzvii 3]

http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/july-2017/no-plans-wrc-loeb-/page/4725--12-12-.html

[Dytut 79]

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1YqKDRYyZowJV <- becsy in the service park.

Kinda low quality as usual for periscope, but I thought it looked like some extra spoiler struts on the M-Sport cars so it won't come loose again.

[bogani 744]

The 2017 cars looks mega fun with gravel spec on the tarmac sections :)

[Dytut 79]

Was just thinking that Neuville was a bit concerned that Ogier started to push away so much in the beginning, and then Ogier actually crashed out on SS4. 

[sqdstr 101]

SS4:
- Ogier crashed out with a wheel missing so game over for today
- Tanak went wide in 1st corner, lost a driveshaft and then puncture, loses more than a minute and is now 1m34s off the lead.
- Paddon also stopped
-Neuville concerned about power loss and strange noises from his Hyundai
- Toyota 1-2 with Latvala leading and Lappi 6sec behind

[Dytut 79]

Wonder how hard Neuville will dare to push now that Ogier is gone. If enough drivers crash out Ogier might even return to P6-8 in the end, and I think Neuville will want to grab as many points as he can. But not risking it... so I'd wager he'll set his goals for a P5 finish and maybe some power points.

[sqdstr 101]

I doubt Ogier will even get into top10, his only option for some damage control will be flat out for powerstage points.
He's already been given 7mins penalty time for SS4 and there are still 9 stages left for today.

[Dytut 79]

Ah, no that won't be doable for him. 

Sooo... should we start a betting pool for when Meeke crashes out? I think it'll be SS18.

[versedi 39]

Is there ever been a scoreboard with only Scandinavians (excluding Breen) in top 6? Wow. Great fights this season and I'm really happy to see Lappi kicking asses of more experienced drivers :) 

[Dytut 79]

Going to be hard for Thierry to get that 5th place if he doesn't pick up his pace, 23 seconds to 5th right now.

[Jepsertti 21]

I’m absolutely blown away by the pace of Lappi and Suninen. Alright, I expected them to be quick but I didn’t expect them to be THIS quick!

1-2-3 (Latvala-Lappi-Suninen) for Finns after 8 stages. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been this proud of being Finnish before :mrgreen:

[Dytut 79]

I'm not suprised to be honest, both had great pace in Poland.

[Dytut 79]

Lappi in the lead... it's good we have Suninen showing equal promise, otherwise I'd fear for 9 years of Lappi dominance from 2018 and forward.

[YoMrWhite 6]

Dytut said:

Ah, no that won't be doable for him. 

Sooo... should we start a betting pool for when Meeke crashes out? I think it'll be SS18.

My bet is on the first pass of Ouninpohja, aka SS16. He'll try to do too much there and repeat last years performance. On the other hand, his comments today sounded quite downbeat, as if he really didn't care any more. Either way, not good.

[Jepsertti 21]

Here’s the reason why his comments sounded quite downbeat:

https://www.facebook.com/krismeeke/posts/939532142845625

[YoMrWhite 6]

Jepsertti said:

Here’s the reason why his comments sounded quite downbeat:

https://www.facebook.com/krismeeke/posts/939532142845625

Nice to see those comments. Maybe he can channel that into some competetive times tomorrow.

[sqdstr 101]

Neuville has been given a golden opportunity to catch Ogier this weekend but for some reason it's not working at all for him.
Top 5 seems more and more unlikely if it continues like this.
Unless others crash out or have mechanical problems...
Too bad and very lucky for Ogier, again... seems like this guy can't run out of luck.

[Dytut 79]

sqdstr said:

Neuville has been given a golden opportunity to catch Ogier this weekend but for some reason it's not working at all for him.
Top 5 seems more and more unlikely if it continues like this.
Unless others crash out or have mechanical problems...
Too bad and very lucky for Ogier, again... seems like this guy can't run out of luck.

The hyundais doesn't seem to work well at all in Finland. Weird since they were fast in Poland. That being said, 5th is still possible if he keeps calm and hopes the top runners go off. Östberg just went down, and most possibly one or two more will get into trouble.

[carpa 295]

Dytut said:

sqdstr said:

Neuville has been given a golden opportunity to catch Ogier this weekend but for some reason it's not working at all for him.
Top 5 seems more and more unlikely if it continues like this.
Unless others crash out or have mechanical problems...
Too bad and very lucky for Ogier, again... seems like this guy can't run out of luck.

The hyundais doesn't seem to work well at all in Finland. Weird since they were fast in Poland. That being said, 5th is still possible if he keeps calm and hopes the top runners go off. Östberg just went down, and most possibly one or two more will get into trouble.

...and if he doesn't get a smartphone right in the face.
We have to remember Neuville, after Ogier's retirement, was running first on the road and this is something he's not used to

[RallyDriven 398]

The Japanese took the saying 'if you want to win, hire a Fin!' to different levels! It's good to see a team ran by a Fin, built and developed in Finland and driven by 3 Fins all leading the rally!

[Underkex 0]

Watching it live. Feeling very very sorry for Latvala. Looks like it's the same electric problem had in Poland.

[Dytut 79]

Yeah, broke my heart to see that again. Just when a perfect 30 point finish could've actually put him back in contention for the championship again with Neuville running slow.

[sqdstr 101]

Neuville's pace seems to be improving a bit, he's feeling better with the car's handling now, with some luck he might catch Breen & Evans and get 4th overall?
Latvala really deserved to win this one though, would've been nice to see him catch up with Ogier & Neuville since Tanak is also out of it here in Finland.

[Etirion 2]

Man thats really gutting with Jari stopping, would've been great for the championship and Jari himself of course.
Ogier also offering some supportive words on twitter
https://twitter.com/SebOgier/status/891298314938974211

But now Lappi will most likely win Rally Finland with a Toyota 1-2, still an awesome story for the young driver and great to see Hänninen performing well, as well as Suninens great pace. But who knows what might happen in the remaining stages.

[Dytut 79]

Yeah Lappi has done a fantastic drive and is well deserving the win (if something doesn't go wrong :-/ ). But I can understand it feeling a bit hollow when Jari goes out on a silly mechanical issue like that.