WRC Italy

WRC lessons from Sardinia:

• Tactics don't always pay off.
• Loeb also has bad rallies.
• Sometimes being first on the road is good thing.

I was impressed that the team let Latvala take the win but I suppose the 29 second lead was a little difficult to erase. Latvala deserved it, though. He drove faultlessly the entire rally.

So how do you change a tire in under a minute? You undo your safety harness before the car stops, that's how. Unfortunately, that's against the regulations and Loeb received a whopping 2 minute penalty. I assume that the penalty is so severe due to safety concerns. Both Loeb and Elena should know better.

Loeb's penalty gifted Petter Solberg with third place. Solberg actually did quite well despite having trouble with overheating. An upgraded intercooler didn't work so well for him. The car also had mechanical differentials which didn't sound like an upgrade to me but it didn't raise any complaints from Petter.

When Henning Solberg's bonnet flew off, I was surprised that it didn't hit the windscreen. I wonder if the hood is designed to detach like that, or was that just really good luck?