Dupanton will come through but as I know keeping on top of Pickems is hard. Just keep going and wait for the summer break!
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I'll start by listing those that I don't think will win:
Meeke - didn't drive last year, bad record from previous years, has relatively careless driving which is a problem on these kind of roads
Ogier - road cleaning likely to cost him too much on first day
Mikkelsen - too little time in car, bad record in Sardinia
Paddon - bit off the pace this year after Monte, still didn't have a consistent run
Neutral:
Tanak - good record in Sardinia and good road position, however, likely disadvantaged by diff/setup (ref. comments to est. media)
That leaves Neuville and Latvala as win candidates.
Off course with this tight season almost anything can happen. Kept out DMACK cause Portugal worked as a reality check, Argentina was quite cold gravel rally.
I'd say wait for the following faster rallies for possible Tänak or Paddon win, Sardinia is a technical rally which will be taken by the leading trio, who have a lot of experience from the rally, and who know when to watch out and when to go flat out.
Does anyone get the feeling that marshals will try to prevent anyone accessing any opart of a stage that isn't a spectator zone?
Yes. For sure. It happens in Sweden and in Finland all the time. But I use to keep walking, in Finland saying "Ei Suomalainen" ... :)
ATM the weather forecast is all dry and quite hot for the weekend
Are you talking about one event in particular? Personally I haven't seen safety measures becoming much more strict during the last 10 years, sometimes it's even the opposite. On some events like Sweden and Sardinia marshalls seem to trust that people have some common sense. On other events like Finland, you must "get off the road" even nearly an hour before the stage starts. In Germany (and the almost forgotten France-Alsace) it's true that pretty much every place apart from public areas is forbidden to be, that's the main reason why I'm not visiting the German round anymore, despite it's only a 3-and-a-half hour drive.
http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/may-2...3--12-12-.htmlQuote:
CITROËN DRIVERS KRIS MEEKE AND CRAIG BREEN HAVE WELCOMED THE ARRIVAL OF ANDREAS MIKKELSEN AS THE MANUFACTURER SEEKS TO GET ITS CHAMPIONSHIP CHALLENGE BACK ON TRACK.
The former Volkswagen star has been drafted into the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi squad for Rally Italia Sardegna (8-11 June) in a bid to turn around a miserable first half of the season.
Team-leader Meeke won the WRC's third round in Mexico, but has failed to score any points from the last three rallies. The Northern Irishman said he was "fully focused on getting back onto the positive trend" in Sardinia and had high hopes for Mikkelsen's arrival.
"I think it's a good thing to have Andreas in the team. He brings valuable experience and he has the potential to win rallies. We'll work together to ensure Citroën wins," he said.
Seventh in the drivers' standings, Breen is the team's highest ranked driver. "I'd like to say welcome to Andreas; we don't know each other very well at the moment, but I'm looking forward to working with him!" he said.
The arrival of Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jæger in the team has been one the most talked-about developments ahead of the rally.
But team boss Yves Matton warned against expecting too much from his new recruit, who drove the C3 WRC for one day in the south of France last week.
"Obviously, the fact that Andreas is competing at this event for us has caused a lot of excitement and expectation. But after just one day of testing, it is impossible for him to know the C3 WRC inside out. He will therefore be free to race according to his feeling in the car and adapt his pace accordingly," Matton explained.
"We have decided to keep the same modest goals for this rally: we have asked our crews to ensure two cars to finish in the top five."
Is there an historic or national rally running after the wrc as last year?
So who gets the spare Skoda or will they just run one car?
Scandola would have been a good choice.
No sign of any other event running alongside WRC. There is the Bugatti gathering in Alghero.
The shakedown route shown on Rally Maps site (and referred to in the McKlein tips on Hyundai's site) is substantially different to that published on the Official site. I presume that's correct, if so it make access easier round the side of the bauxite quarry.
The shakedown has been changed indeed. You can find it in one of the bulletins on the website of the rally (http://www.rallyitaliasardegna.com/e...oad_file=13447), the spectator map on their site is also correct.
This year it is not allowed to walk in the stage 30 minutes before the start of the stage.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBiiEnvXgAAj_OI.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBiiFPaXkAEdh8c.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBfCIA9XoAApMUx.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBdQjYzXcAARMny.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBaUtLOW0AEZNBN.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBaUtKKXgAE5nHh.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBaUtKKXoAAiJ0h.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBaQtkEXsAAl5d1.jpg
doesnt look good for dmack
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBjKtzrXkAAGB-e.jpg
We're here just now eating out in the old town but it's been raining earlier & still overcast.
Thinking about shakedown & Ss1 on Thursday but as first timers to here in Sardinia not sure of Friday's best plan ?
We're within 500m of the service park which is sort of cool.
Waiting for you at Rome flight to Sardinia! Begins the week of rally! Let's go!! @krismeeke @MarcMartiWRC
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBjxq1zXYAAJyCi.jpg
does Sordo ever age?
he is 34 years old
Here you go - https://worldrallyfever.files.wordpr...ordosainz1.jpg
Østberg is back on Michelin tyres for Sardinia.
So will there soon be a rule to forbid private teams to change tyre brand mid-season? :p
Thanks.
I think it'll be shakedown & Itirri ss1.
Friday ss5 then 7 & back for service in.
Might be different if it was me & I had a bike but the chances of getting my other half up any earlier will be non existent.
Saturday we fly but I think I'll head along for parc ferme out at 5am.
Ogier & Neuville comments...
http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/june-...7--12-12-.html
Are there any stage, and stage access, kml/kmz/gpx ... as there have been in previous years?
Thanks!
End of Terranova (Ss2-6).
Not so good to spectate, not so easy to drive, fast and flowing but really narrow and tight, and slippery I guess.
Also the end of Monte Olia is not wonderful, I will go to the start of that stage but I think Tula and Tergu Osilo should be the stages to watch on Friday. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...be4ec5ade2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2912464bf8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a7110be133.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2c6ef210ec.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ec0934e129.jpg
Thanks for the Itirri advice.
Shakedown, SS1&SS5.
Likely go somewhere between after Ss5 to keep gf happy & hope to return for Ss9.
Just need to figure out when shakedown runs ?
Traxx - WR is Free*@Traxx_WiF
In Sardinia, Esapekka Lappi will test new parts on the Yaris WRC and will collect data for the http://bit.ly/2qTE5Ng* team
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBu0-oKW0AAYoQ0.jpg
ExtremeShox for Hyundai
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBtKohoXcAAmro2.jpg
So, this time the super special's not televised?