After reading what Carlos said about the first stage being mostly WOT, I can only guess how bad that was in the dust. Loeb did have a clear advantage and now everyone behind him plays catch up. 5th and 7th are still very good. Jim
Figured at least Jim would appreciate these. They'll use these later in the rally...I think the night time running is this evening. First time I've seen the lower outer pair.
Thanks Steve. Looks like the lower two might be for lighting the sides of the road for a more panoramic view. My two center lights point directly ahead and the outer two get the shoulders, which I find helpful. Now, I need to see if I can find a place for two more. :lol: Jim
Of course, like driving in actual fog, all the light in the world will be of little use if there's a fog of dust hanging in the air like there was on the gravel stages this morning.
The lingering dust clouds will be even more treacherous in the dark, they'll light up like giant walls...
Many drivers and teams complaining about the dust, not just the MINI camp. Meeke questions wisdom of running final stage after dust issues (autosport.com)
Since the top three are fighting for championship points, they will take some chances for sure, which could knock them out completely. If they take it easy, then everyone will be equal and still in the game. Could be all Dani and Kris need to do, is be cautious and finish. Jim
Given the right spacing the dust shouldn't be such a problem and all can run as hard a pace as they want and we might have a real race!! Fingers crossed; would be awesome if one of ours could sneak up on a third and a third consecutive podium!!
More great pics from MINI Motorsport on Facebook: This first one makes my list of all time favorites:
That isn't exactly what comes to my mind when they say "gravel". :nonod: The colors in that first picture make it spectacular. Jim
I suppose that's why some people avoid terms like gravel and asphalt and instead stick to "hard surface" and "loose surface" as the latter covers pretty much everything other than asphalt and concrete. Here's another sample of driver dissatisfaction (and there's a video...always a plus ). The dust doesn't look quite as blinding in the video as you'd think given all the complaints but any loss of visibility shortens your field of view. Also, look at the windshield in the pic below. On top of that, Kris Meeke said he had so much dust inside the cockpit that it was choking. They're not just dealing with the dust hanging in the air... Solberg: stage one dust worst ever (wrc.com)
I always like Carlos' columns. The WRC seem to like his writing as well, they've been using his stage descriptions in their post-stage update articles. Carlos: We will Push Hard for the Podium. (minimotorsport.com)