What it looked like when M-Sport/s Ott Tänak and Raigo Moldar understeered into a Mexican reservoir.
Ott's rubber duck mascot, taped to his hand brake, survived.
The team heroically rebuilt the car overnight and started the race the next day. Not surprisingly, moisture related gremlins proved difficult to tame but they did not retire completely.
Is it just me, or does Michelin do a better job with the highlight footage than the actual WRC site? Just compare on Youtube. Granted you have watch a few tires get changed, but it seems that someone there has figured out a way to add more excitement to the viewing process. If WRC and the manufacturers involved actually cared what the viewing audience thought (and more importantly getting it televised in the states, so I could watch... still not comfortable ponying up for the WRC.com+ package...) then they might want to reevaluate the model and learn a few things, at least as far as visuals go. This is a great sport. Must be a way to make it more marketable here in NASCAR/NFL town.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching a few more clips... left wondering why the water so deep right there, considering a major international motorsport event is taking place, and just looking at the situation, it seems entirely possible for a car to end up in the water. I imagine in the future some sort of filler will be placed in that spot to raise the bottom and maybe a barrier of some sort. Judging by the water line around the edge it has been even deeper @ times. Luckily no one was unconscious as the car went under or tangled up. Luckily the car was upright. Don't give me that BS about being professionals or accepted dangers, this should be an age of awareness and avoiding such incidents, without neutering the intent. Could have been worse.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's better than a sheer cliff like they have on Turini
ReplyDeleteTrue.
ReplyDeleteHindsight being what it is...
I guess it wouldn't be WRC if every stage was turned into a closed course.