RE: Loeb wins ninth - and last - WRC title
Discussion
curlie467 said:
CO2000 said:
Should have went for a nice round 10 ! Amazing driver.
I wouldn`t put it past him gaining a 10th title even just competing a few rounds!Win every tarmac round while the others fight amongst themselves on gravel,possible.
Technically it is 10 championships with JWRC tile.
I tend to forget how many titles Loeb has won - an excellent record and whilst people may moan that he's been competing in an era with less competition (Subaru, etc pulling out), it's still a class act in how to assemble a credible, talented team around yourself and develop the best car, time and again.
I was also greatly impressed by his Le Mans appearances, and would love to see more of this.
I agree with the previous comments about not watching or following WRC because of his dominance.
Wondering aloud here - now Red Bull have the TV rights as of next year, will we see a Red Bull sponsored WTC role, effectively "pushing him" out of WRC to level the field and allow the sport to turn a new leaf?
I was also greatly impressed by his Le Mans appearances, and would love to see more of this.
I agree with the previous comments about not watching or following WRC because of his dominance.
Wondering aloud here - now Red Bull have the TV rights as of next year, will we see a Red Bull sponsored WTC role, effectively "pushing him" out of WRC to level the field and allow the sport to turn a new leaf?
DJRC said:
It worked too well. Id have tweaked the format personally...with the 4wd cars being pegged at a lower power rating whilst the rwd only boys could explore much more power. You would have kept the cars, but cut the speeds into the corners, but kept the spectacular on the exits of corners. It was the entry and carry speeds that made Gp B ludicrous for the times, combined with woeful spectator control.
Actually this technical evaluation is pretty short-sighted.A rally car pegged at a lower power level is exactly what the WRC cars are now.
You speculate that it would have the the speeds into the corners which may initially be the case but in time in reality when the power level is pegged then the cars can't make up time on each other along the straights. This means the only place they can be different is to maintain speed through corner entry and mid corner and in low speed corners in acceleration traction.
By regulation you've removed a variable and that in turn puts pressure on the drivers and car engineers to go faster in the areas of the car's performance that is not regulated (that is cornering, aerodynamics, tyres, etc).
Current WRC cars with their pegged power outputs are faster through corners than the Group B cars. I accept they might be slower along the straights but I'd have to check.
There was a similar engineering effect when the F1 cars moved to the highly regulated V8 engines that had less torque. However there's been the opposite effect in F1 in the last 2 year in regulation - the tyres, fuel level, DRS and KERS have introduced new variables where drivers and teams can make a difference and now the car speeds vary much more throughout the race. These details have been much underestimated by the public who focus on the tyres only.
Seb has had an amazing career, immense driver, not many people can claim to be 9 times world champion 
. However I am pleased he is going it will be good for the WRC, he has had the same impact as Schui did on F1, which is not good, the show should never be about just 1 person.
I do (sadly) hope Petter calls it a day now as well, leaving the works seats for the younger new generation of drivers, especially with 4 works teams taking part next year. Good luck to Seb in the WTCC and anything else he chooses to (I'm sure he'll still win a couple of rallies next year), but as he heads off into the sunset of the WRC, we can look forward to an exciting new dawn breaking in 2013
.
. However I am pleased he is going it will be good for the WRC, he has had the same impact as Schui did on F1, which is not good, the show should never be about just 1 person.I do (sadly) hope Petter calls it a day now as well, leaving the works seats for the younger new generation of drivers, especially with 4 works teams taking part next year. Good luck to Seb in the WTCC and anything else he chooses to (I'm sure he'll still win a couple of rallies next year), but as he heads off into the sunset of the WRC, we can look forward to an exciting new dawn breaking in 2013
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PH article said:
while the familiarly impressive Thierry Neuville finished in fourth.
'Familiarly impressive'? Maybe I'm taking it the wrong way, but I don't think you're giving Neuville the credit he deserves. Neuvilles first season in a WRC car and you're making it sound a bit boring. There's a bunch of young chaps coming through the ranks and are giving the 'old-stagers' some bloody noses. Tanak must surely be rallyings 'ice man'! Never seems to get worked up, no matter how close he is to meeting his maker!
9 titles an immense achievement but does anyone actually care?? Wrc is going down the pan. You can blame it on the lack lustre cars and how they just don't excite, but I feel a large portion of the blame lies with the television coverage or relative lack of it. Im the type of person who will watch it if its on. And Wrc simply is not on tv enough. One of the big networks needs to Wrc under its wing, and stick with it, polish its coverage and Im sure the popularity will increase significantly,
Streps said:
Charlie Michael said:
Whay did they deny him?
Lack of circuit racing experience.. Even though in 2006 he finished 2nd in LeMans driving LMP1 for Pescarolo Sport
And was quickest at a Formula one test in 2008,driving a Red Bull RB4 in Barcelona.
Just seems a bit too late now though..
I think he would have been right up there with Alonso once used to F1.
EDLT said:
Except nobody would enter because a group B car would be ridiculously expensive to develop, even before it was banned they were talking about how to replace it. The replacement was going to be Group S, essentially it would be a prototype series, Lancia even built a demo car.
4WD prototype rally cars with a power restriction (don't kid yourself about people bothering to enter something RWD) actually did exist, it just took another 15 or so years for them to turn up.
Here is what we ended up with...
No they wouldnt, no more so than any other forms of vehicles. The crucial, absolutely utterly crucial difference though is one thing...they would be spectacular. People watch for the spectacle. Thats it, end of, pure and simple, all day every day. The spectacle puts bums on seats and feet in the forest. Rallying has no spectacle. It has no USP. Thats why manufacturers dont give a toss about it at the moment.
Give them the incentive back and throughout motorsports history, *every* time Manufacturers have pumped the money in. Take note of what I actually read aswell...I would have tweaked it. Not replicate it exactly. Lancia were engaged in an uber war with Pug and Ford and it was an unlimited free for all. Remove the free for all and you remove a large part of the costs.
4WD prototype rally cars with a power restriction (don't kid yourself about people bothering to enter something RWD) actually did exist, it just took another 15 or so years for them to turn up.
Here is what we ended up with...
No they wouldnt, no more so than any other forms of vehicles. The crucial, absolutely utterly crucial difference though is one thing...they would be spectacular. People watch for the spectacle. Thats it, end of, pure and simple, all day every day. The spectacle puts bums on seats and feet in the forest. Rallying has no spectacle. It has no USP. Thats why manufacturers dont give a toss about it at the moment.
Give them the incentive back and throughout motorsports history, *every* time Manufacturers have pumped the money in. Take note of what I actually read aswell...I would have tweaked it. Not replicate it exactly. Lancia were engaged in an uber war with Pug and Ford and it was an unlimited free for all. Remove the free for all and you remove a large part of the costs.
DJRC said:
Of course it worked.
It worked too well. Id have tweaked the format personally...with the 4wd cars being pegged at a lower power rating whilst the rwd only boys could explore much more power. You would have kept the cars, but cut the speeds into the corners, but kept the spectacular on the exits of corners. It was the entry and carry speeds that made Gp B ludicrous for the times, combined with woeful spectator control.
In fact you *could* make an argument for the return of "Gp B" and bewinged, mid engined monsters if you mandated effective crowd control to organisers. You want instant publicity?
"GROUP B IS BACK!!!" across Autosport, Autocar, Motor Sport, Top Gear mags in the UK and every motoring mag in Europe.
Instant PR. Instant impact. Then line up a PR campaign of everyone from Hopkirk to Loeb delivering a cheeky ad campaign message of "F1 is for wimps, real men do it in the forest" with a 5 second clip of the headlights of a Quattro in the dawn gloom of Grizedale, then slamming past on full lock, 5 pot blaring away, then disappearing, sound track lingering in the air.
In fact f
k it, I can write the advert for you and put 100,000 through the gates of the Rally of Great Britain as a cast iron, copper plated gaurantee.
You give the punters that, a proper 1000 Lakes, a proper Monte and the Safari and you have the makings of a pukka rally championship again.
I got excited just reading that! Modern racing is boring (Fact) people who say otherwise are either too young to remember the good days or just in denial. Group B is epic. Hence why people still go mad about it now! Everything about it was insane. We don't want to see one winner or cars endlessly performing well with good CO2 emissions, who gives a sIt worked too well. Id have tweaked the format personally...with the 4wd cars being pegged at a lower power rating whilst the rwd only boys could explore much more power. You would have kept the cars, but cut the speeds into the corners, but kept the spectacular on the exits of corners. It was the entry and carry speeds that made Gp B ludicrous for the times, combined with woeful spectator control.
In fact you *could* make an argument for the return of "Gp B" and bewinged, mid engined monsters if you mandated effective crowd control to organisers. You want instant publicity?
"GROUP B IS BACK!!!" across Autosport, Autocar, Motor Sport, Top Gear mags in the UK and every motoring mag in Europe.
Instant PR. Instant impact. Then line up a PR campaign of everyone from Hopkirk to Loeb delivering a cheeky ad campaign message of "F1 is for wimps, real men do it in the forest" with a 5 second clip of the headlights of a Quattro in the dawn gloom of Grizedale, then slamming past on full lock, 5 pot blaring away, then disappearing, sound track lingering in the air.
In fact f
k it, I can write the advert for you and put 100,000 through the gates of the Rally of Great Britain as a cast iron, copper plated gaurantee.You give the punters that, a proper 1000 Lakes, a proper Monte and the Safari and you have the makings of a pukka rally championship again.
t about that! Drama is what people want.I'm with DRJC, bring back Group B, bring back motorsport passion!
Hoygo said:
What an absolute legend,the most successful driver of all times !
Also destroyed Ken Block on X-Games on July this year,head to head no-one could believe how smooth and fast Loeb was.
This...I can't believe how much better he was around the car park of The Staples Centre than all of the dude racers, really highlighted just how good he was (is).Also destroyed Ken Block on X-Games on July this year,head to head no-one could believe how smooth and fast Loeb was.
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