The answer to the previous post is clear. Sweden didn't deliver the opportunity for Hayden Paddon to get his first win at the sport's highest level. Not that second place overall is anything to turn your nose up at. But it was a close-run thing and the World Champion was put under the kind of pressure he rarely experiences.
As discussed in that previous post, Sébastian held a substantial lead, 26.9 seconds actually, at the end of Friday's competition, but I made the argument that conditions forecast for the following day suggested that Paddon would pick up an advantage over the Frenchman, with more snow falling equalling a larger advantage.
Well, the predictions of 20cm of overnight snowfall turned out to be somewhat optimistic, and while the Kiwi's performance saw him move to within 8.8 seconds of Ogier (from a deficit of 32.4 seconds) in a single stage, the road conditions in general allowed the VW driver to to open his lead out to 17.1 seconds at close of the day's rallying. At this point, with just the 15.87km special stage scheduled for the final day, the chance of Hayden challenging for the podium's top step had gone.
However, it's interesting to muse over how it came to pass that Ogier was able to keep the determined Paddon at bay. The fact is, as Sébastian himself candidly admits, that the pressure from the flying Kiwi took its toll. At the finish line interview, the World Champion explained...
"Yesterday was a little bit too crazy and I took risks like I had never done in my life...”
It's not every day that Sébastian Ogier, an ice-cool technician behind the wheel, confesses to losing his composure. And as fan video from the stages, and in-car footage clearly demonstrate, the Frenchman also lost control of his Polo R WRC at least three times that day and he rode his luck to the very edge of catastrophe. There's a much-viewed in-car image of co-driver Julien Ingrassia's facial expression as the Polo careers at close to 190kph, completely sideways, in search of trees to hit.
If anyone tells you that the champ never really lost control or that his skill levels are so high that he made short work of each 'anomaly', then they need to tell that to both Julien and Seb. That facial expression captures forever a study in the anticipation of impending disaster.
Yet it's not the fact that Sébastian took risks. Or even big risks. Rally drivers at this level do that as a matter of course on every rally. It's the fact that the VW #1 was forced to take risks that even he knew were crazy in order to keep his young challenger at bay. A few centimetres or milliseconds difference here or there could quite conceivably have resulted in the total destruction of their car or worse. Much worse.
That didn't happen, of course, and Ogier's gamble paid off. By taking the "crazy" risks he did, he doubled his margin over Paddon's NGi20 and effectively put the top step of the podium beyond reach of the Hyundai crew. Paddon had briefly entertained the thought of pushing for the win, and at 8.8 seconds in arrears it was still within the realm of possibility, but 17.1 seconds was out of the question. We're talking about getting better than a second a kilometre from a three-times world champion here, and that would never be likely.
So Hayden settled for keeping his buffer back to Mads Ostberg intact (he increased it very slightly, 0.6 seconds as it happens) and the dream of a maiden victory vanished. Actually, the dream was ours more than it was ever Hayden's, for as much as he would have loved such an outcome, the well-grounded Kiwi knew that he would need Sébastian to make an error for the dream to become reality. And with Ogier's track record, the likelihood of that was next to zero.
At the end of the day, Hayden and John can be very pleased with the outcome. Thierry Neuville's transmission woes on day #1 of the rally dropped the Belgian so far down the order that he was never likely to score any points for Hyundai's main team, so the burden of that responsibility fell on the shoulders of the #2 driver Paddon. His outstanding performance over the weekend has kept the team in the hunt for the constructor championship, trailing VW by just 5 points after two rounds.
That he has become the first driver from outside of Europe to gain a podium position on Rallye Sweden is something unique in his CV, and it can never be taken from him. Paddon continues to improve with each rally he completes, his speed increases and his reputation as a future world champion continues to grow. Yet with all that, he appears to be completely unaffected by his position, his successes and his prospects.
Mr Paddon, you're a legend.
Showing posts with label Rallye Sweden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rallye Sweden. Show all posts
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
WRC '16 - A warm welcome in Sweden
Unseasonal temperatures in Sweden have raised the prospect of this, the only "real" winter round of the WRC, becoming a shadow of its former self. Rallye Sweden's claim to fame has always been its white landscapes, iconic snowbanks and sub-zero temperatures. To say it's both a drivers' and fans' favourite is somewhat of an understatement. But the paucity of snow as the event begins, and perhaps even more importantly, lack of an icy base, has caused deep concern among organisers and teams.
And resulted in the cancellation of some special stages.
At the end of reconnaissance, a shy, retiring type of driver made a couple of off the cuff remarks which have been repeated a few times since, causing much twittering. His name is Sébastian Ogier. You may have heard of him?
This is reportedly what he said...
"I don't know what we're doing here. There's no point in being here. I don't know who took this decision. It's absurd."
Reading carefully between the lines, I think we can safely assume that he isn't really happy with driving on gravel, equipped with nothing but studded snow tyres. Oh, I know what you're thinking, "Here he goes again, Ogier whingeing as usual". Well, to an extent that's true. The point being though, is he justified?
I can tell you that the internet is fair thrumming with opinions being offered and debated over that very salient point. And some relevant opinions have triggered quite a lot of interesting back and forth, stuff that I'd like to share with you.
Whose fault is it?
This is a natural starting point for an analysis because we humans have an inbuilt need to blame someone or something whenever things happen that we don't like. I know this, because I indulge in that exact behaviour fairly regularly myself. And the fault lies squarely with... politicians really.
How come? Because we are experiencing human-influenced changes to the Earth's climate that were apparent over the last five decades at least while our politicians played the "Where's the scientific proof?" card until the evidence was so strong that they were forced to pay lip service to what was obvious to everybody but politicians and those in the fossil fuel industries.
Well, actually it was obvious to everybody, including those I excepted above, but self-interest takes precedence over the greater good every time and we still haven't done anything meaningful to mitigate our influence on the warming of our planet. Some day...
But back to the point. Rallye Sweden was planned with an expectation that the climate would play ball and we'd be looking at three days of whiteness with rally crews performing heroic acts on slippy snow and ice at impossibly fast speeds. It worked in previous years, right? So why would 2016 be any different? (If the blatant pollie blaming of the previous couple of paragraphs hasn't convinced you, then it was probably goblins or trolls getting their revenge for some imagined slight or other.)
But why couldn't the organisers and the FIA come up with a contingency to allow normal gravel tyres for those stages that might be devoid of the snow and ice expected. You know, a Plan B, if you like. Radical? Not so much. Most of the enterprises on this planet, including governments, have in place some alternative or other should the manure hit the fan.
So it's possible that here we're looking at the results of a failure to plan properly, and while many people, including the shy Sébastian Ogier discussed previously, have expressed their sorrow toward the organisers of the event, a case can be made that Rallye Sweden and the FIA could have prevented this situation. No, we can't magic snow and sub-zero temperatures whenever we feel inclined, but we sure as hell can truck in some gravel tyres.
M. Ogier has felt the need to respond to the battering he's been taking on social media over his viewpoint on the state of the Swedish stages. He posted this on Twitter...
"Like often, so much bullshit on the net... I love
You may well be cleverer than me, and understand Sébastian's response totally. But I haven't read your interpretation, so I'm going to offer up some posibilities.
Obviously the relevant bit is "never called for cancellation of the full rally! Just 100% gravel stages". Assuming he's not perfect as an English-speaker, the problem with his comment lies in the phrase "Just 100% gravel stages".
What this seems to mean is that only the stages that are 100% gravel (no snow, no ice at all) should be cancelled. Or... this might mean only the stages that are suitable for studded tyres (all snow, all ice) should be run. As you can see, those two interpretations are very, very different.
Either way, there's no earthly possibility the rally can run like that, because the conditions on the stages can and will change with the weather and with the effects of the passing field of cars. No organiser could possibly guarantee to run Ogier-approved stages under the conditions that prevail in Sweden right now. Ogier demands more than is reasonable.
Yet, the Frenchman's heart is surely in the right place. Studded tyres on gravel is a recipe for accidents and endangerment to crews and spectators alike, and I wonder if Rallye Sweden were not feeling the pressure to keep alive their event in the WRC, would they have decided to push ahead and run a rally that will clearly be inferior to their previous rounds, something that loses so much of the magic that has always been in it's Scandanavian winter mantle.
And with global warming's inexorable effects over the next half century, Rallye Sweden will have to move its dates forward a month in order to recapture the white winterland magic that contributes so much to the character of the event. But then there's also the Monte to consider - the iconic round would likely become the last round of the season in early December if Rally Sweden were to move forward a month. What's the likelihood that either happen? Low, I'd have to say. More likely would be Sweden being dropped from the championship.
And that would be a real shame.
And resulted in the cancellation of some special stages.
At the end of reconnaissance, a shy, retiring type of driver made a couple of off the cuff remarks which have been repeated a few times since, causing much twittering. His name is Sébastian Ogier. You may have heard of him?
This is reportedly what he said...
"I don't know what we're doing here. There's no point in being here. I don't know who took this decision. It's absurd."
Reading carefully between the lines, I think we can safely assume that he isn't really happy with driving on gravel, equipped with nothing but studded snow tyres. Oh, I know what you're thinking, "Here he goes again, Ogier whingeing as usual". Well, to an extent that's true. The point being though, is he justified?
I can tell you that the internet is fair thrumming with opinions being offered and debated over that very salient point. And some relevant opinions have triggered quite a lot of interesting back and forth, stuff that I'd like to share with you.
Whose fault is it?
This is a natural starting point for an analysis because we humans have an inbuilt need to blame someone or something whenever things happen that we don't like. I know this, because I indulge in that exact behaviour fairly regularly myself. And the fault lies squarely with... politicians really.
How come? Because we are experiencing human-influenced changes to the Earth's climate that were apparent over the last five decades at least while our politicians played the "Where's the scientific proof?" card until the evidence was so strong that they were forced to pay lip service to what was obvious to everybody but politicians and those in the fossil fuel industries.
Well, actually it was obvious to everybody, including those I excepted above, but self-interest takes precedence over the greater good every time and we still haven't done anything meaningful to mitigate our influence on the warming of our planet. Some day...
But back to the point. Rallye Sweden was planned with an expectation that the climate would play ball and we'd be looking at three days of whiteness with rally crews performing heroic acts on slippy snow and ice at impossibly fast speeds. It worked in previous years, right? So why would 2016 be any different? (If the blatant pollie blaming of the previous couple of paragraphs hasn't convinced you, then it was probably goblins or trolls getting their revenge for some imagined slight or other.)
But why couldn't the organisers and the FIA come up with a contingency to allow normal gravel tyres for those stages that might be devoid of the snow and ice expected. You know, a Plan B, if you like. Radical? Not so much. Most of the enterprises on this planet, including governments, have in place some alternative or other should the manure hit the fan.
So it's possible that here we're looking at the results of a failure to plan properly, and while many people, including the shy Sébastian Ogier discussed previously, have expressed their sorrow toward the organisers of the event, a case can be made that Rallye Sweden and the FIA could have prevented this situation. No, we can't magic snow and sub-zero temperatures whenever we feel inclined, but we sure as hell can truck in some gravel tyres.
M. Ogier has felt the need to respond to the battering he's been taking on social media over his viewpoint on the state of the Swedish stages. He posted this on Twitter...
"Like often, so much bullshit on the net... I love
You may well be cleverer than me, and understand Sébastian's response totally. But I haven't read your interpretation, so I'm going to offer up some posibilities.
Obviously the relevant bit is "never called for cancellation of the full rally! Just 100% gravel stages". Assuming he's not perfect as an English-speaker, the problem with his comment lies in the phrase "Just 100% gravel stages".
What this seems to mean is that only the stages that are 100% gravel (no snow, no ice at all) should be cancelled. Or... this might mean only the stages that are suitable for studded tyres (all snow, all ice) should be run. As you can see, those two interpretations are very, very different.
Either way, there's no earthly possibility the rally can run like that, because the conditions on the stages can and will change with the weather and with the effects of the passing field of cars. No organiser could possibly guarantee to run Ogier-approved stages under the conditions that prevail in Sweden right now. Ogier demands more than is reasonable.
Yet, the Frenchman's heart is surely in the right place. Studded tyres on gravel is a recipe for accidents and endangerment to crews and spectators alike, and I wonder if Rallye Sweden were not feeling the pressure to keep alive their event in the WRC, would they have decided to push ahead and run a rally that will clearly be inferior to their previous rounds, something that loses so much of the magic that has always been in it's Scandanavian winter mantle.
And with global warming's inexorable effects over the next half century, Rallye Sweden will have to move its dates forward a month in order to recapture the white winterland magic that contributes so much to the character of the event. But then there's also the Monte to consider - the iconic round would likely become the last round of the season in early December if Rally Sweden were to move forward a month. What's the likelihood that either happen? Low, I'd have to say. More likely would be Sweden being dropped from the championship.
And that would be a real shame.
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