Post-rally reviews by the two MINI teams: Prodrive finishes New Zealand on a high with two stage wins for Sordo (ProDrive) WRC Team MINI Portugal Rally New Zealand Review (RallySportLive.com)
What saddens me, is the WRC car is not getting the rally record it deserves. Just like in horses, if your program isn't good and your rider does not have their head fully into it, there is only so much the horse can do on its own. Prodrives program is limited, Dani is not sure where all this is really going in the end and the Factory drivers are........well, limited in their abilities. The car is much, much better that its record is showing. :frown2: Jim
Not sure a agree. Sordo has the talent, he needs a better horse. If that is the stable or the horse itself I'm not sure. Dani has large talent. Maybe if we could get Seb into a MINI? :ihih:
When Dani and Kris, thought they had a future with the factory team, they were focused and close to or on the podium. Prodrive had backing and were pulling no punches. Now, it is just a game of sorts, no drive, no focus, just driving the car whenever. The car is fine, its the program that is lacking. Jim
We can agree to disagree. A top level driver like Dani is going to give his best every time. I surely do wish they were doing better, but the competition is too tough for them it seems.
Sorry Jim, it's the horse. The rider is proven and will wring all he can from this horse, thats his job, even if it will not be on the same horse tomorrow. He still need to show he has the skills to bring even a lame horse home so those with better horses may hire him.
Dani did pretty well once he got past his poor tire choice and the gearbox issue that slowed him down and put him 2:34 behind by the end of the first day of the rally. If he'd been able to do as well Fri (relatively) as he did Sat and Sun he would have easily come 3rd and with a reasonable margin ahead of Solberg. Were the good times Sat and Sun due to the rider or the horse? I say both. The car is good, the driver is good. I think Jim's right to an extent though. There's benefit in regular action, working with the same equipment and the same team.
Videos! I can't believe I haven't put up any videos yet but there aren't many available this time and they weren't popping up like usual so I needed to go looking for them. Given the way Motors TV recaps prior days in each successive highlights video, we can skip their Day 1 and Day 2. You miss a little detail this way but if you want to see the others they can be easily found here. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARYQb7eJdx4]WRC 2012 New Zealand Day 3 Highlights - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuRtO0W-zbk]Review Rally New Zealand 2012 Ford WRC - YouTube[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTvbU6lj8U0[/ame]