Yeah this is proving well worth the watch.
The hybrids are demanding a very distinct driving style to get that regen working well and you can see, particularly in the hairpins, that some drivers are struggling, they seem to lack the flow that they had last year.
A lot of talk of the cars still pushing on under braking and they’re also struggling with the unadorned extra 134 bhp when they hit the boost, on icy tarmac. Downhill. With a split second to get slowed down before the next hairpin. That’s 134bhp above the previous era beasts I believe, under boost conditions obviously.
What’s really interesting is who isn’t struggling. The two oldest guards, Loeb and Ogier and the Ford youngsters. /Although Formaux had just had the biggest off I’ve seen in a long time, as I write this./ In fact the Ford drivers are the only ones raving about their cars. Breen seems very excited by the potential of it, although is struggling to find the confidence just now.
Loeb is amazing so far. Just took a stage win, and looked so smooth it’s clear he’s already got to grips with hybrid driving. And that’s just days after coming second at Dakar.