Rally Monte Carlo Update: Nooooooooooo!!

"Fred (FreddsterExprs)" (freddsterexprs) 01/23/2015 at 10:25 • Filed to: WRC, Rally, Monte, Carlo

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Yesterday saw the first brief battle of Seb I and Seb II. It was a tie, even though Loeb was leading by a few seconds. He had the advantage of being the 14th man on the special stage, while Ogier had to sweep it as the number one starter. It still was an impressive performance.

SS3 was another Loeb show, as he again was 30 seconds quicker. The stage was run at 10 am local time, so the later position played in Seb I's hands again. SS4, a mere 30 minutes later, was won by Robert "Crash" Kubica. Ogier was second quickest, Loeb 4th by a few seconds. Half an hour passed, and SS5 once again made fans of Kubica smile. The interesting bit was that the late starting position now became a disadvantage. The cars in front of Loeb didn't sweep the road for him anymore, they smeared it with mud. He therefore lost over twenty seconds to Ogier who came in second, and now the gap was at 3 seconds. It was game on.

What happened then is a bit of a miracle. SS6, the same stage as SS3, was reportedly super icy. Seb II was sporting two spike and two regular winter tires on his Polo, Seb I chose a full set of winters. And he made it work. Ogier lost 3 seconds which is not a whole lot of course, but still, that was a more than impressive showcase of Loeb skill.

Special Stage 7 showed why tire choice is so important: Kubica won, Ogier in second. With all eyes on Loeb, he lost about 15 seconds to Ogier. It probably was a mix of the dirtier roads and his winter tires, otherwise the two frenchies are neck-and-neck. The lead changed hands, and before the final round of rally spectacle for today, Ogier now was leading his home event by 8 seconds.

Update:

'Wägen, EPA LOL > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 01/23/2015 at 10:49

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Press On Regardless.

BATC42 > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 01/23/2015 at 11:15

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Yeah, he lost 6 minutes in the SS8 due to the crash.... Well at least it was the last stage of the day and not another one where he would have been forfait for the day...

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > BATC42 01/23/2015 at 11:29

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It makes me sad because I predicted it in Fantasy WRC. I literally said he either will not be fast enough to beat Ogier, or that he will crash while trying. And my other man Meeke had trouble too.

BATC42 > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 01/23/2015 at 12:14

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If they can fix the car if should be able to strat tomorrow. He said on Twitter they were waiting for the team to pick them up.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > BATC42 01/23/2015 at 12:16

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If the team picks him up it means that he's going for Rally 2 restart regulations. I hoped he would be able to limp it back on his own.

BATC42 > Fred (FreddsterExprs) 01/23/2015 at 12:29

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He's going to have a massive time penalty though ? And up until this year Monte Carlo didn't use the rally 2 regulations.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > BATC42 01/23/2015 at 12:31

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Yep, the finally changed to Rally 2. His time penalty will probably exceed 10 minutes if I recall correctly, so he's done. On the bright side he might say "fuck it" and go flat out for the next two days just to show Seb II what would happen if he'd return to WRC full time.