Jari-Matti won, SebO was runner-up, and Andreas rounded out the podium slots with a solid third, for another VW 1-2-3. The Polo pilots managed to avoid attrition this round, and despite the promise shown by the competition's evo vehicles, the VW team stood head and shoulders above the rest.
It's illuminating to consider the performances of select drivers on this tough event.
Ott Tanak will do for starters. The young Estonian gave the evo Fiesta WRC a brisk run, Wilson's new creation much to the liking of its driver. Without seeming to take many risks, Tanak finished in fifth, setting some rather good times on the way. This car and driver pairing promises to deliver some impressive results in 2015.
On the other hand, M-Sport teammate Elfyn Evans struggled with some mechanical problems, seemingly fly-by-wire issues initially, and having had those rectified, he almost immediately ripped a wheel off his Ford. Not the performance he'd have expected following his third place in Argentina, and a set-back to the new-found confidence that the South American round would have given the Welshman.
Kris Meeke, fresh from his win in Argentina with the DS3, was due for a further impressive result in Portugal and very nearly took another podium, but his attack was undermined by some tyre wear problems and the Northern irishman gave up his podium spot on the penultimate stage to a charging Mikkelsen. In spite of his finishing position, his speed was evident. He'll be back.
Citroen's second driver, the mercurial Norwegian Mads Østberg, started well but fizzled a bit on the second full day as he struggled with his tyre choices. Actually, every driver struggled with tyre selection in Portugal, some having been luckier than others in their guesses. Mads traded times with Sordo and Paddon for most of the event, and on the final day, he pulled out a blinder, almost relegating Sordo but eventually settling tor seventh.
Sordo's event was uncharacteristically inconsistent - he set some fast times yet also recorded some that were, uh, underwhelming. For the most part though, the Spaniard always seemed capable of shifting up a proverbial gear, but his disappointment was clearly evident at the end of the rally. His eventual sixth place suggests Portugal was one rally Dani would prefer to forget.
On the other hand, Hyundai's third driver, Kiwi Hayden Paddon, put in a performance that WRCLive's Colin Clark categorised as the Drive of the Rally. Paddon impressed with a second-fastest time, times in the top five and would likely have finished in fifth had his gearbox not been damaged by a suspiciously positioned rock on the racing line. It's worth remembering also that he's still driving last year's car, the only tier one driver to have that handicap.
Thierry Neuville... what can you say? This is a guy who has a lead drive with a major manufacturer, who has shown he has speed aplenty, and who has already won WRC rounds. All of that simply makes his driving error and subsequent roll, while under no pressure at all at that stage of the rally, inexplicable. To Neuville's credit, he 'fessed up and apologised very publicly to his team. Good on him for that. He promised to make amends in Sardegna and the fans will be watching progress there with much interest.
So, what of the bad behaviour?
In a stunning display of petulance, Sebastién Ogier disparaged the achievement of Jari-Matti Latvala (his teammate, no less) in winning the rally, with an on-camera outburst about what a pity it was that the winner wasn't the best driver. WTF? Then the Frenchman took to the roof of his Polo in a gesture that's reserved for the overall winner and category winners. As he did so, he was under no illusion that he'd won - the gap between Ogier and Latvala was by then too great for there to be a change of leader - so his display was as unsportsmanlike as it's possible to imagine.
One can only begin to imagine the effect that Ogier's calculated misbehaviour would have had on J-ML, his first points-scoring finish in 3 rallies, and his first win in over a year, undermined by the infantile tantrum from his VW teammate and the reigning World Champion.
Following an outpouring of social media comment about his post rally antics, Ogier issued a couple of "explanations" as to what he meant. However, except for attempting to justify his position through complaining yet again about his having to sweep the roads for two days each event as WRC leading points scorer, his position re Latvala's win remained. Ogier believes that he was the better driver and although it wasn't his fault that he, Latvala, won the event unfairly, the win should rightfully have been Ogier's.
It's easy to imagine that young rally fans, witnessing this behaviour from the World Champion (and an undisputed sporting idol to the youth of the world) will have learned a powerful lesson - that sportsmanship has no place in professional motor racing.
So what's Ogier's beef?
It's simply this. For the first two full days of each WRC round, the current World Champion or leading point scorer in the championship will be first on the road, and on gravel events, the road becomes 'faster' as the loose gravel is swept from the road base by successive cars. In theory, that means that the top seeded is at a disadvantage, and since Ogier is the points leader, he is mightily annoyed that this rule applies.
And is his complaint legitimate?
It depends on how narcissistic he is. And he demonstrates levels of narcissism far higher that what the mental health folk would consider normal. Plus, he apparently has a higher than normal level of paranoia as well. How so? Glad you asked...
There are 13 rounds in each WRC year. Of those rounds, there are three that are totally tarmac, two that are a mix of tarmac and gravel with a predominance of tarmac, and one that is snow-covered.
So there are seven rounds where the points-leader is disadvantaged, and six where he/she has the advantage.
Actually, there are other things at play here, that serve to mitigate the road-sweeping penalty faced. The construct of modern WRC means that the morning loop of competitive stages is repeated in the afternoon, so there is no disadvantage to being first on the road after midday service. On the contrary, in fact. As the roads get run the second time, they are more often than not cut up with each passing vehicle, and a position at the front of the field can be an advantage.
Swings and roundabouts.
Then there's also the re-ordering of the field which always happens on the second day due to the cars starting under Rally 2, so there's likely to be other cars road-sweeping on day two ahead of the points leader. But as stated above, it's moot for the afternoon loop anyway.
That's not really what concerns the World Champ though.
Ogier would rather he was advantaged in all thirteen rounds. In his mindview he believes that he's so superior to all other WRC competitors that he will always be either the World Champ or points leader. Thus, in every gravel event, he will be first on the road and in his mind, at an unfair disadvantage. So he wants the rules changed so that he is never disadvantaged.
Just why the reigning champ/points leader should never be disadvantaged, Ogier hasn't bothered to tell anyone, but it's absolutely clear that it's what he's aiming for. One might guess at the reason though; winning a rally, or a world championship isn't enough. He's haunted by the spectre of an earlier Sebastién - a M. Loeb, whose talent was so prodigious that he is likely to remain the greatest, most successful rally driver ever. And M. Ogier cannot abide that thought. So he is hell-bent on taking that mantle for himself but these pesky regulations are interfering with his plans.
The paranoia factor is evident in his conflating the rule he so despises with his own ascent in world rallying - he believes the WRC/FIA powers that be are out to 'get' him. No matter that the rule coincides with the end of the Loeb era, when with hindsight, it was clear that having somebody dominate the championship so thoroughly was a turn-off to media, manufacturers and fans alike. The new rule was widely seen within the ruling body as a way of preventing both a reoccurrence of the Loeb domination and the consequent descent of rallying into irrelevance.
Now you can argue till the cows come home about whether the rule is the best thing for the sport, and right now the cows are still miles from the barn, but what's true is that whatever the rules are, they'll piss somebody off. In this case, it's Ogier who's taken exception, as is his right. But his manner of expressing it betrays some underlying personality issues that have shrunk the stature of a talented competitor in these eyes, and as I see on social media, those of many others.
An unfortunate expression of tolerance
The shock of SebO's petulance had barely begun to recede before something just as unsettling emerged - the comments from the World Champion's apologists.
A significant number of commentators and pundits stepped up for Ogier, the tenor of most support being of the "I can understand his reaction" variety. As if somehow in the heat of battle, sometimes things are said. Or all's fair in love and war. Or it's the fault of the regulation and he has a right to speak his mind.
It's less about what the World Champion said than the way he said it. His behaviour didn't meet the standard you'd expect from the highest level of our sport. Sebastién Ogier has complained constantly about the rule since before it was even applied. The reason that it hasn't been rescinded (yet at least) is because its full effects, positive and negative, need multiple events in order to become apparent.
And it can't be revised mid-season anyway.
Having seen that his bleating about the issue in public hasn't generated the outcome he'd have hoped for, then lobbying the powers with a reasoned case and backed by all the interested parties amongst the competitors would have seemed a more appropriate course of action. And if indeed he has been making his case behind the scenes, this recent display of peevishness won't have done him any good at all.
It also transpires that M. Ogier made a disparaging comment in public at the end of SS8 in Portugal about Elfyn Evans, to the effect that the Welshman was a "moron" for losing the wheel of his Fiesta - although the French word used can also be translated as other more offensive terms. In addition to studying his pacenotes, maybe Ogier should spend a moment or two leafing through a few pages of sporting etiquette?
Kubica Korner
RK took his new team for a spin at Portugal, putting the new generation Fiesta RS WRC though its paces and doing so without the heroics of previous rounds. He finished 9th, and although that may not seem especially noteworthy, the key word in there is "finished". Something that didn't figure often in earlier reports. It looks from the outside like the Pole is concentrating on his notes, getting to know his car and curbing his natural exuberance in favour of gaining experience of the event.
Expect greater pace on the rounds he's more familiar with though...
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