“There was no mess” – according to the expert, the slandered points reform worked in the Monte Carlo World Rally | Sport

Hyundai’s asphalt specialist Thierry Neuville dominated the mountain sections of Monte Carlo and won the opening rally of the World Series ahead of the eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier.

Urheilu’s rally expert Henri Haapamäki thought Neuville’s performance was elegant. Ogier, who drove in his home rally, and who was fast in the opening rally Elfyn Evans that just can’t be beat.

– It is not easy to bring them to their knees. Yes, Neuville got his car adjusted last and drove a flawless race. Really good performance.

– He often started to make small mistakes when he got to the real point, but now the pace just picked up towards the end, says Haapamäki.

Evans and Ott Tänak too according to Haapamäki, the performances were disappointing.

Evans froze after a good start and complained that it was difficult to find a rhythm and feel. In interviews, Tänak complained about the problems with his car.

According to Haapamäki, the driver must be able to trust his car, especially in a race like Monte Carlo, where the conditions are really difficult.

– If you constantly overdo it and go over your own threshold, at some point you will run out or have other problems. Väkisin can’t drive low times, says Haapamäki.

– Of course, there are still many rallies left. However, Monte is such a special race due to the conditions that, whether it’s the car or the driver, you can’t get the whole truth out of it at the highest speed, but even this must be able to be won by a top driver.

In Monte Carlo, the new points calculation worked

The scoring system of the World Series was renewed for this season.

In the past, reaching the full 30-point pot required, in addition to winning the race, the victory of the rally-ending special stage, the Power Stage. You got 25 points for winning the general competition and five points for the final.

This year, to collect 30 points, three separate points categories must be won: Overall standing after Saturday (18 points), Sunday overall time (7 points) and Power Stage (5 points).

So you don’t get points for winning the weekend’s overall competition. The reform, criticized as confusing, is justified by the fact that in the past drivers often saved their cars on Sunday, when the differences were already clear.

Neuville collected a full points pot in Monte Carlo, so the points calculation was easy.

– We still haven’t made a mess, and we can’t say anything negative yet. And it certainly won’t come during the season. It’s just a bit more challenging for rally fans to follow, says Haapamäki.

– Sunday in particular is really difficult, when another race starts alongside the basic race. You have to keep your own grid paper accounting if you really want to stay on top of the cart all the time.

According to Haapamäki, the good part of the reform is that Sunday is no longer “a day for scrounging”.

– If you imagine a lead margin of two minutes for Saturday night, then a new race will start on Sunday with the new system. You can’t just make sure and let the gap narrow.

Instead of Sunday, the drivers may now compete on Saturday if the preliminary race goes under the bench.

– The good thing for those who dropped out at the beginning is that there are 12 points available on Sunday. It is truly remarkable. Before it was only five points from the Power Stage. Now, in practice, you can get almost half of the entire point pot on Sunday.

Will Neuville challenge Rovanperä?

The Rally World Series continues in mid-February in Sweden. That’s when the reigning world champion opens his season Kalle Rovanperäwho only drives part of the races this season.

Haapamäki estimates that Monte Carlo winner Thierry Neuville will have a good starting point for the race, even though he is not known as a specialist in snow conditions.

– Of course, the win will give you a really good boost for the whole season and work. There can’t be a better start to the season than that. If you think that things would be the other way around, that you have stepped on a floor gap and nothing will come of it, it is always more difficult to continue.

– If the car is really as good as Montess, and you can drive it really well and flawlessly, then you don’t know that, even if you get a decent ride even in Sweden.