THE ROAD AHEAD IN 2020

The crew in the car, naturally, like to know precisely what’s coming. And that’s everything from the level of grip available at the apex of the next corner all the way to what the weather’s going to be doing in Japan in November.

The teams work tirelessly to remove such unpredictability; they study charts, pore over old engineering recces and gather every bit of intel available.

Well, here’s the thing. The second half of this season is jam-packed with unpredictability.

Yes, the teams all attended last year’s Rally Estonia WRC Promotional event, but nobody really knows what it’s like to take genuine WRC pace to the roads around Tartu in south Estonia.

Turkey’s something of a constant from last season, but the season’s rockiest roads regularly turn the formbook on its head. Remember what happened two years ago? Ott Tänak’s Toyota was nowhere on day one, only to step up to the top of the podium two days later.

The roads for both Germany and Sardinia are well known, but not in October and November. The weather around Bostalsee is notoriously fickle in the autumn and only the bravest of the brave would genuinely think they could call a tyre choice more than a couple of hours out.

The same goes for the Italian island, which will include WRC action on its roads for the first time ever in November. Engineers fretting over the capacity of cooling packages will go largely out of the window with the passing of summer to autumn, but who really knows? An Indian summer in Alghero’s not exactly unheard of, but then again, rain whipping in off the Med’s just as likely.

And then, finally, it’s back to Japan. What a delight. But it’s not the far north the WRC knew before. There’s no Hokkaido this time. Instead, it’s the asphalt roads around Nagoya that will provide the final challenge of the season.

What a second half of the year we’re in for. And, if you’re feeling brave, tell us what you think’s going to happen. Here at WRC.com we’ve done the calculations, we’ve had a think, talked to our experts, reasoned the reasoning and we’re still none the wiser. In short, anything can – and probably will – happen. Enjoy it. ผลบอล7m

Contact by ID: @ufa98v2