Wow, amazing that is one of the fastest rally, and it's on snow!!! and ice. Two in a row!!!! Is Loeb the real thing? Or do you guys think that the absence of pre-drive reports hurt the best drivers? The rule changes are interesting. Loix is on the Block, I'm waiting for the call! the pressure is getting to him, fast freddy doesn't have the nerves. Vincent.
Vincent, I think Loeb is the real deal. I watched him last year and thought he had championship talent. He should have been champion last year, or at a minimum been able to push for the title but the team held him back. It's been rumored for over a week that Loix is history. I am not sure at this stage though if Colin wants back in. He's already two rallies down. The Liox rumor has been around though I was shocked to hear Grist say Colin might be back. Considering they are both good friends and former team mates he should know what Colin is planning. Regards, Jon P. Kofod www.flatoutracing.ent
Loeb is by far the most consistent, at least over these two rallies. Didn't Citroen hold him back last year in Britain so that they could ensure some manufacturers points? Last I heard Coliin was doing the Paris Dakar and having a rough go. Maybe he wants back in. I don't see Loix lasting much longer. Vincent.
Yup, at the end of the first day, Loeb was told to dial it back and make sure he could finish the rally and get Citroen the manufacturers championship. Basically they had two choices. Let him try and win the title (and also the manufacters title) and at the same time risk both by having him not finish OR take it easy and just bring the manufacturer's title home. Loeb was clearly peeved, and the fans were upset as well. On the third day when it becamse apparent he was too far behind to challenge Solberg they then changed their story and said he should push for the title, but as Colin McRae said, "...what the hell's the point now, he'd have to take every chance in the book to catch Petters." It was a raw deal. He would have beat Petter's in my opinion and while I am new to WRC I think that kind of team orders just plain stinks. The fans don't give a crap about the manufacturer's title. No one remembers who won the man. title in 2000 but everyone knows who won the drivers title. Anyway, he's very fast and doesn't seem to make many mistakes. I don't think he has the outright speed of Marko, but he doesn't make near as many mistakes and that is what wins the title. Regards, Jon
The Mitsubishi deserves something for looking so cool. I can see a legion of Evo owners doing strange things to their fenders as we speak.
Not really. The Mitsu WRC spec car went back to the plain Lancer, in effect starting the "evolution" all over again. (The "old" group A spec EVO wasn't keeping up with the newer WRC spec machines, which is why they took a year off. According to the ralliart webpage, they can't use the EVO for the new spec car, because the production figures aren't high enough.) In Sweden, the factory Lancers, while they lasted, were getting beat, in stage times, by group N EVO-7s. (The snow rally tends to negate the HP diff between groups.) I haven't seen any suggestions, over on the EVO list, about trying to make perfectly good EVOs look like that beast. Maybe if they start winning. (I've seen speculation that the new WRC Lancer might become the EVO9.) With Mitsu US dropping SCCA ProRally (after whupping the field last year), I wonder how long the EVO8 will remain available, as it's no longer homologation for anything.
