Rallye Monte Carlo / Rally-eMags Round-up
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Rally-eMags Round-up
Volkswagen
The Monte lived up to its reputation
completely. It is unpredictable. Still it
doesn’t mean everyone can win, with
the right kind of luck. Though Ogier
did have his share of luck when he
slipped off the road in the very first corner he did not win because of luck. He
was able to read the road. Better than
anyone else. Notes are essential but
translating these notes into the actual
situation is a gift. Jari Matti Latvala’s
performance was better than his fifth
place indicates. He is coming to grips
with driving on asphalt. And also he
now knows how ‘to read’ his car. Still
we have to say he probably will not be
able to beat his teammate at the end
of this season. Not because the Finn is
not good enough, but simply because
Ogier is in a league of his own.
M-sport
One other man seemed to have this
gift: Bryan Bouffier. With the help of
private sponsors he has been able to
rustle up the funds needed to get him a
good ride. He found this ride in Dovenby Hall where Malcolm Wilson did not
hesitate to provide him this ride. And he
was happy about it. “I hope we can see
more of Bryan, he said.” Not (only) for
the money that a return of the Frenchman would bring to M-Sport, but also
because he recognizes the talent. And
the M-Sport boss is an expert in that.
We have seen that again in his acquisition of young Elfyn Evans, who proved
he could drive quite sensibly by ending
in sixth place in his maiden WRC outing in the Principality. Another acquisition is Robert Kubica. He too proved
to be fast. Not so experienced yet in
‘reading the roads’ he did not make it
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