Official WRC thread

Well Colin McRae is back next year in a Skoda. Yay. Need some more competition for Loeb in his private Xsara. Overall a good rally again. Sometimes I miss TV. ;)
 
COLIN MCRAE IS BACK :thumbsup:
http://img415.imageshack.**/img415/3401/rallyperth3vi.jpg
He's currently running 2nd overall!

Aussie Chris Atkinson is 6th which is good but I rekon he can go even better on home soil...the next stage is called "atkins" :lol: Coincidence?

Oh and for the Aussies who care, Dean Herridge is out on mechanical failer :(
 
It was too good to be true. Out with a mechanical failure.
 
Petter Solberg is probably signing a huge ass sponsorship contract with Norways Oil Company "Statoil".

Contract could be worth 24-40 million NOK (3-5 million EUROS)

nice.

haz
 
That is quite a bit of money. Although I want Petter to win more races.
 
If anyone is interested, the WRC radio(which was free without trickery last season :x ) is available at http://www.zone.ee/wrcmasters/netradio.html

We're half way through Monte Carlo Rally atm. Rather interesting event so far. Loeb crashed on yesterday's last stage and couldn't finish the stage, but restarted this morning and is climbing up the standings. He's on sixth at the moment, and I recon he can climb as far as second.

Other notable retirements include Petter Solberg whose engine had an oil leak yesterday. Francois Duval, who posted one fastest stage time yesterday in a private Skoda Fabia crashed out on SS9. Gigi Galli has retired twice already, after a crash yesterday and a gearbox failure.

Marcus Gr?nholm is leading the event despite "driving like his grandmother" yesterday. He has a two minute margin to Manfred Stohl who is on second place in his OMV-entered Peugeot. Behind him Toni Gardemeister in another privateer Peugeot only 10 seconds behind and then the remaining two factory Subarus. Chris Atkinson has made an impressive effort in '05 spec Subaru despite this being his first ever Monte Carlo Rally, and is eight seconds ahead his teammate Stephane Sarrazin.

As mentioned above Loeb is on sixth, and behind him Gilles Panizzi(in a Red Bull Skoda) and Mikko Hirvonen, whose rally was ruined by a wrong tyre choise yesterday. He, like Petter Solberg, ended up climbing icy and snowy mountain roads on slicks.

Three more stages today, including the first run over Col de Turini stage, and six stages tomorrow with further two visits to Turini.
 
Hmmm am I alone in thinking that once you've crashed out (or not finished a stage for any other reason) you really should not be allowed to finish in the podium (or in the points) unless EVERYBODY else before you have done the same??

I mean Loeb didn't finish a stage and yet he is second, how is that fair?? Yes he was given a five minute penalty, but the only way I could se it as a fair thing is if he had been given a time penalty of the amount that it actually took to go through the stage (or stages) he missed!
 
Loeb is the freaking man...favorite driver...so cool and collected he's just awesome...

getting a 5 minute penalty after the crash on the first day, then coming back to get second place with only a minute difference...if he didn't crash, he would've had a 6 minute lead....

the man is a machine...i love Loeb...
 
Raider said:
Loeb is the freaking man...favorite driver...so cool and collected he's just awesome...

getting a 5 minute penalty after the crash on the first day, then coming back to get second place with only a minute difference...if he didn't crash, he would've had a 6 minute lead....

the man is a machine...i love Loeb...

Amazing. I think this year the WRC with its new drivers and teams is just bringing something different to the sport. I like it.
 
Mischief007 said:
Raider said:
Loeb is the freaking man...favorite driver...so cool and collected he's just awesome...

getting a 5 minute penalty after the crash on the first day, then coming back to get second place with only a minute difference...if he didn't crash, he would've had a 6 minute lead....

the man is a machine...i love Loeb...

Amazing. I think this year the WRC with its new drivers and teams is just bringing something different to the sport. I like it.
X2

Havn't watched the full coverage yet...only the news report but it looks good. Hope Gronholm makes a comeback this year! I think the new Focus is going to be a tough competitor.

Aussie, Atkinson finished 6th :) A good start to his 2nd year. He still has such little snow expirience so it was a good effort. He is going to be someone to watch this year.
 
yeah, Loeb is quite a guy, never really that cocky or anything. And one helluva driver, that's for sure.
 
Loeb is the king of Monte Carlo, but he's not that strong anywhere else. Also, remember that Marcus absolutely hates Monte Carlo and after Loeb's accident he drove very cautiously, and the second potential challenger Petter Solberg retired on the first day.

It was a nice event, can't wait for Sweden. We should have a good battle for the win over there.

Raider said:
getting a 5 minute penalty after the crash on the first day, then coming back to get second place with only a minute difference...if he didn't crash, he would've had a 6 minute lead....

Only four minutes :wink:
 
Hazardous said:
Loeb is the king of Monte Carlo, but he's not that strong anywhere else.

Not that strong anywhere else? He was the world champion for the last two years. That wasn't just because of his performance at Monte Carlo :p He had six wins in a row for 2005; ten for the year.
 
jeffy777 said:
Hazardous said:
Loeb is the king of Monte Carlo, but he's not that strong anywhere else.

Not that strong anywhere else? He was the world champion for the last two years. That wasn't just because of his performance at Monte Carlo :p

You got me wrong. I didn't say that he would not be very good driver in all conditions. He is one of the best, if not the best, rally driver everywhere, but as we have seen in the last few years Monte Carlo is an event he is especially good at compared to his rivals.
 
Hazardous said:
jeffy777 said:
Hazardous said:
Loeb is the king of Monte Carlo, but he's not that strong anywhere else.

Not that strong anywhere else? He was the world champion for the last two years. That wasn't just because of his performance at Monte Carlo :p

You got me wrong. I didn't say that he would not be very good driver in all conditions. He is one of the best, if not the best, rally driver everywhere, but as we have seen in the last few years Monte Carlo is an event he is especially good at compared to his rivals.

OK - I got what you mean. The phrase "not that strong" can be misleading depending on the emphasis :)
 
i just hope Gronholm does better now that hes with ford. hes always had suck bad luck in previous rallys.
 
Go Granholm!
 
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