RE: Snow fun for Loeb's rivals

RE: Snow fun for Loeb's rivals

Friday 18th January 2013

Snow fun for Loeb's rivals

Obvious pun aside Loeb's lockdown on WRC very much in place, even he's only there for fun



In keeping with the general snow theme going on today – with apologies to those who haven’t got any – there’s plenty of exciting news and footage coming back from the Rallye Monte Carlo. And if you thought the Loeb era was over, well, you thought wrong. He may have ruled himself out of contention for the title but his dominance remains and, right now, he’s leading over another French Sebastien (Ogier) who’s making an impressive start to VW’s rally adventure.

A Citroen, not on a British motorway we're guessing
A Citroen, not on a British motorway we're guessing
This video of Loeb turning up to shakedown his DS3 before the event in his grey Aventador has been doing the rounds a lot too, and seems to have earned him plenty of kudos. How frustrating for anyone trying to find a chink in his armour of Gallic cool too. Anyone else would get flamed for the arrogance and pretentiousness of such behaviour. But somehow he even manages to pull this off with appealing nonchalance too. It’s all wrong but seeing a car driven at that kind of pace on a public road – closed admittedly – just seems so enticing too. Given how cool it looks it’s a crying shame rallying appears stuck in such a rut. New year’s resolution? Watch more WRC…

To that end if you want to keep tabs on the action the Michelin-sponsored BestOfRallyeLive.com website is packed with info and has a great Flickr stream of photos from the event too. 

[Sources: BestOfRallyeLive.com, via AxisOfOversteer]

 

Author
Discussion

KernowSid

Original Poster:

286 posts

146 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Really can't believe it's got to the point where WRC isn't shown at all on telly.

Just watching the clips on YouTube of Loeb at Monte Carlo show what we're missing.

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
WRC does, unfortunately, need a major shake up- and that extends beyond the semi-retirement of it's dominant driver. I want it back on proper telly, with proper entrants in proper numbers.

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
They might not be as exciting as old, but am I the only one who thinks the current generation of WRC cars look bloody fantastic?

ArnageWRC

2,050 posts

158 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
There’s nothing wrong with the current cars – apart from the cost to buy/hire one. Watching them live is fantastic – full, utter commitment!!

As for Loeb – not only is he the best driver around in any discipline – he’s the coolest. No ego, or arrogance – just complete professionalism. He still doesn’t receive the plaudits he richly deserves – but he probably prefers it that way. Enjoy him while you can.

JS100

221 posts

156 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
An all time great! Just a shame he wasn't around to drive in the Group B era.

Having driven the Col de Turini end to end unsighted last year, respect for what these guys do is immense. (Clip below). They deserve a better audience, or at least some audience!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFMBH9zcVjI

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
JS100 said:
An all time great! Just a shame he wasn't around to drive in the Group B era.

Having driven the Col de Turini end to end unsighted last year, respect for what these guys do is immense. (Clip below). They deserve a better audience, or at least some audience!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFMBH9zcVjI
Beautiful. cloud9

thundercolo

73 posts

171 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Rally driving and WRC in particular is, for me, the closest thing to what car racing should be, getting from A to B the fastest possible in so many different conditions and places. I watch all kind of motor racing, from Touge Battle to F1 and I find that WRC drivers are the best skilled and the ones who have more fun, by miles. But I also think that part of its greatness is that it has never been an important globally broadcasted sport, so publicity and sponsors havent destroyed it that much. I dont care if not many people watch it as long as I can, and for now there are many ways of watching it, way better than in tv. Long live rallying!

soad

32,829 posts

175 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
KernowSid said:
Really can't believe it's got to the point where WRC isn't shown at all on telly.
Yup, really sad and pretty pathetic. frown


Advevo

94 posts

163 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
WRC is best. Monaco is one of the best rally s because of the weather conditions they need to counter.

WRC is down on populairity because no TV coverage. Also a big miss is that we can not buy WRC cars for the road. Were are the Mitsubishi Evo s. Rallycars we can buy for the road.

I would buy a polo 4wd with mechanical diffs and wide wheel arches and 300hp in a blink of an eye. But i don t care about a FWD polo with WRC marketing stickers on it.

The times were great when we saw Tommi makkingen driving his evo s and we could buy and Evo 6 RS also. I have owned one and it was awesome!!!

If it s a playground only for a few (manufactures) it will be a small party. A few years back rally stages were full of people and you saw lots of subaru s and evo s park along side the roads. Now subaru and mitsubishi are gone out of WRC we need 4wd drive fun cars of the Polo, DS3 and Fiesta with mechanical diffs and no FWD dull cars. That s what makes rally interesting so we can buy something like that.

If we can t buy anything like that the interest in WRC will go away.



Edited by Advevo on Friday 18th January 14:33

Shurv

955 posts

159 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Done Turini several times, but on a bike. Last visit was June last year.It's sensational,if a little narrow for hooning in a car,on a bike it's unbelievable as it's easier to overtake the cars.Best fun ever with your clothes on.

Ranger 6

7,042 posts

248 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
...am I the only one who thinks the current generation of WRC cars look bloody fantastic?
No....


BBS-LM

3,972 posts

223 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
If only the Tv coverage was as good as this. Wait, WHAT!

EDLT

15,421 posts

205 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Advevo said:
I would buy a polo 4wd with mechanical diffs and wide wheel arches and 300hp in a blink of an eye.
You can still buy an Impreza or Evo, which is basically the same thing.

zeb

3,193 posts

217 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Damn shame its come to this. Was stood on the col last year and you can stay in monaco without having to sell a kidney at this time of year.

unbelievable its not on tele

Benjaminbopper

143 posts

168 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Rallying is simply epic. Every time I see one of these video's it makes me shiver with excitement!

ohtari

805 posts

143 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
EDLT said:
Advevo said:
I would buy a polo 4wd with mechanical diffs and wide wheel arches and 300hp in a blink of an eye.
You can still buy an Impreza or Evo, which is basically the same thing.
No more Imprezas being imported frown

ChrisJ.

563 posts

239 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Boring!

HereBeMonsters

14,180 posts

181 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
fk.

Baryonyx

17,990 posts

158 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
They might not be as exciting as old, but am I the only one who thinks the current generation of WRC cars look bloody fantastic?
Some of them do look pretty good. The last generation Focus WRC wasn't a looker at all but I loved the look of the Citroen C4. Now they're smaller, they do look better but the C4 was very well proportioned.

JS100

221 posts

156 months

Friday 18th January 2013
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
JS100 said:
An all time great! Just a shame he wasn't around to drive in the Group B era.

Having driven the Col de Turini end to end unsighted last year, respect for what these guys do is immense. (Clip below). They deserve a better audience, or at least some audience!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFMBH9zcVjI
Beautiful. cloud9
Thanks - it was part of stunning trip!