[WRC] 80. Rally Poland 2024

[mknight]

There's no logic to that table, is there?

Nope. First it seemed like some was trying to sort by position and then they gave up and mixed it randomly.

[Mirek]

Gotta say Sesks seriously impressed

I'd be careful. Considering his ERC performance he seems to be fast only on fast gravel events.

[Backa]

I'd be careful. Considering his ERC performance he seems to be fast only on fast gravel events.

Driving like this in his first rally1 event is impressive, even if it's rally that suits him. He is young, he can still improve on different roads. Podium on Hungarian tarmac last year in ERC is good sign for future.

[SubaruNorway]

A challenging event with the heat, somewhat overdone security and cancelled stages, but i think i managed to put together a decent video in the end!
https://youtu.be/OIGdSq8c5h4?si=OlXh2_gm63NBE-oj

[TypeR]

Careful with what..?
For debut rally every team/youngster chooses the most suitable one to show what one is capable of..
Not only he just drove thru the stages, but he also showed some really good pace there.
With just driving he finished ahead of Katsuta and Munster.. + (whiny) Neuville couldn't catch him.

[PLuto]

Driving like this in his first rally1 event is impressive, even if it's rally that suits him. He is young, he can still improve on different roads. Podium on Hungarian tarmac last year in ERC is good sign for future.

I am surprised so many people is surprised by the speed and performance of Martins. He was always very fast on fast gravel. In his first rally with R5 car (and with experience of few starts with R4 kit), he won in general - it was Rally Liepaja, where he has beaten drivers like Llarena, Kristensson, Solans, Heikkila, Paddon, Torn, Bonato or Tempestini. All of them national champions (or very fast) with plenty of mileage with R5 cars. So for me it was not surprise, I expected Martins will be very fast. Question for me was only if he will stay all the time on the road. But he did this part well.

[Eli]

I am surprised so many people is surprised by the speed and performance of Martins. He was always very fast on fast gravel. In his first rally with R5 car (and with experience of few starts with R4 kit), he won in general - it was Rally Liepaja, where he has beaten drivers like Llarena, Kristensson, Solans, Heikkila, Paddon, Torn, Bonato or Tempestini. All of them national champions (or very fast) with plenty of mileage with R5 cars. So for me it was not surprise, I expected Martins will be very fast. Question for me was only if he will stay all the time on the road. But he did this part well.

I see what you mean but when was the last time we were this impressed by a WRC debut? Obviouslly he has a long way to go if he wants to be there full time but he did his fair share of a good start, it was a much needed breath of fresh air to the WRC and I honestly hope he continues to impress us in Latvia.

[Backa]

A challenging event with the heat, somewhat overdone security and cancelled stages, but i think i managed to put together a decent video in the end!

Still better to listen to security and not have cancelled stages, even if it means youtube video will be little less cool.

[meh]

So, back from Poland.

My feeling is that organizers tried to just get it done somehow and cheaply without putting too much effort into it. Huge queues for checking tickets - in the beginning, they scanned QR codes, and later they just visually checked you have a ticket. I guess in the beginning quite many did not reach the stages in time because of this. You may say that one did not have enough buffer and planning, but the process could be much faster and smoother.

Canceled and interrupted stages felt the same - not enough invested into it and not enough learned from the past. Probably around Saturday lunch, some serious words were said and they finally started moving theirself. Seriously annoying is to make an effort to travel to Poland, make an effort to reach to the stage to only find out, that the stage is canceled. And then again, and again.

The competition.

Tänak's meet the deer session took down the main excitement.

But there were some fresh winds blowing

Mikkelsen showed some pace finally. In the end, he is maybe overconfident in fighting with Rovanperä as an equal man, but with the new points system delivered points to the team.

Sesks - I have followed ERC enough to know the guy. I agree with those who thinks that he seems to be mostly a "fast stuff guy", but he chooses his task and delivers. He just missed 0.4sec in the first proper stage to have the stage win and was only 1.3sec behind the overall lead at some point. Yes, he had a good road position, but he did not have the hybrid unit and did not have too much experience with the car. If you say that this was not an impressive debut, then what it is? I think his good driving causes quite many extra local spectators for Rally Latvia.

Rovanperä - this is what masters are doing. Seems like some old Hollywood movie - some retired specialist gets a phone call, "You have one job, only you can do it". And he did. We have only "what if"-s to have a comparison with Tänak, but Rovaperä handled well the rest of the field. What Rovaperä could do with proper preparation is another "what if".

Evans - maybe I expected a bit more from him on the fast stuff, but seems that the lack of pace this season continues. At the same time, he earned decent points against Neuville and Tänak.

Taka - the lottery guy, you never know what is his mood or confidence level. Maybe this was his actual pace to get to the finish because when he starts driving faster, mistakes comes.

Fourmaux - overall, he is the star of the season so far for me. He is good everywhere and has shown surprisingly good times.

Neuville - in a way he did a smart rally. If he knows he is not that good at matching others, he chooses to attack on the powerstage and get some points home. I wonder if a deer is his favorite animal now.

Tänak - the first stage on Sunday morning gave some hope back. He took almost maximum being first on the road. He probably had "all-in" tactics when others had more risks to take (losing Saturday points), but if your competitors gave congrats at the end of the stage for the time, it shows the quality. No whining towards the car.

Makes Rally Latvia and Finland interesting to watch.

[EstWRC]

Tänak SS16 full onboard

https://youtu.be/kiZQDUDdooI?si=2FNMUwHHJw9h8ALz