WRC

[taffytoon]

One of my depots is based at Cardiff Docks, I arrived at work today to be met with all the World Rally Championship cars in the yard next to mine 8)

Some nice motors there.

[BaBa]

Always admired the skill and bravery of WRC drivers.

Without wanting to antagonise the seemingly large F1 following, I think that drivers such as Makinen, Toivonen, McRae, Burns, Kankkunen, Sainz et al, are head and shoulders above their F1 track counterparts.

Anybody who can push a very fast car to it's limits through forests, snow and ice tracks, mountain roads with sheer drops etc. deserves lots of respect. Refreshing to watch a motorsport that isn't won or lost because of refuelling strategies or brand of tyre used.....

[Dazzler]

Had to laugh at Kankkunen in an interview -
Interviewer "What do you need to be a great rally driver"
Kankkunen "No brains and a heavy right foot"

[hogthrob]

Without wanting to antagonise the seemingly large F1 following, I think that drivers such as Makinen, Toivonen, McRae, Burns, Kankkunen, Sainz et al, are head and shoulders above their F1 track counterparts.

That's verging on being a troll. Like comparing cross country runners to 400m runners. And before anyone asks, yes, F1 does have more overtaking.

[GraniteQuarry]

Without wanting to antagonise the seemingly large F1 following, I think that drivers such as Makinen, Toivonen, McRae, Burns, Kankkunen, Sainz et al, are head and shoulders above their F1 track counterparts.

Quote from Autocar magazine last week -

Sebastien Loeb
Citroen's WRC ace was the slowest of all 25 drivers at an official GP2 test in Jerez. Loeb hopes to race for the Toro Rosso team in Abu Dhabi next month.

Care to retract your statement :?: :D

[Puller]

different set of skills needed. My brother and his son are good group N rally drivers. Nephew won group N in cicuit of ireland. Yet when they drive on mainland motorways they are very nervous with such a load of traffic..I'm used to it. So there you go.

[hogthrob]

To be fair, the rally drivers always do well in the Race Of Champions, but that's probably not a reliable indicator of anything in particular. Interestingly, or maybe not, Heiki Kovalainen is the only F1 'Champion of Champions'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_of_Champions#Winners

[BaBa]

Agreed that I wasn't comparing like for like - and I really wasn't intending to be inflammatory; just expressing an opinion.

I don't think retracting my statement of opinion is relevant either because comparing Loeb's performance around a track with 24 track racers is hardly fair. Can't imagine that Hamilton or Button would fare any better in a night stage through a forest in Wales.

I recall occassions where top WRC drivers have dabbled in F1 previously with no success whatsoever, but where competitions have pitted both disciplines against each other in a format unfamiliar to all, rally drivers appear to adapt better/ more quickly.

[Stuart D]

I'm fortunate to see these cars and meet the guys on a fairly regualr basis as i live right in the middle of Rally mecca in Mid-Wales.

Quite a few years back I took Colin Mcrae, Nicky Grist, Gwyndaf Evans & Howard Davies out mtbing for the day - to be fair to the guys they knew how to handle their bikes too!

[Vampire]

I used to be a mad rally fan, religiously following the UK leg of the WRC for the whole event every year, sleeping in my Land Rover in a frozen Welsh forest. :D

I've gone right off it lately though, part of it is probably due to me being a bit older and less keen, but part of it is the spark just seems to have gone out of the WRC. Its been very sad to see more manufacturers drop out every year, with the Ford v Citroen fight we see today. It used to be superb when pretty much every manufacturer was represented with a works team. :(

I'm more into F1 these days.

[smallman28]

I remember back in the mid 80s the old RAC rally came through where I live.
Stood by the side of the road watching them go past,they weren't on a stage just on normal roads getting to wherever it was they were going.
Some of them pulled up on the forecourt of the garage we were stood by,I remember one of them being Russell Brookes in one of the old Opel Mantas.
This picture is a few years before that,it's a picture of a picture,thats me on the far right (the kid!),stood there from about 6am that morning and the cars didn't come through till about 8am.



Again they weren't racing ,just passing through.

[hogthrob]

I watched the RAC rally some years ago, and had the similar experience of driving between stages on the main road alongside Stig (Blomqvist) in his rally car.

[DiXoN]

i used to watch them every year at Keilder at the Lombard and loved rallying, my uncle used to rally in the smaller local rallies and i used to watch him too.
i prefer the cars from the 70/80's though as there were some amazing bits of machinary in those days.

[BondandBigM]

Sebastien Loeb
Citroen's WRC ace was the slowest of all 25 drivers at an official GP2 test in Jerez. Loeb hopes to race for the Toro Rosso team in Abu Dhabi next month.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

But there's the odd F1 driver had a go in WRC cars and didn't do that well, not so much run off area for them :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0LfLvZCPuc

[BigD]

When you talk about driving talent you need to see this man…

He drove for Audi’s rally team (Jean Todt ex Ferrari F1 boss was his boss then), then different racing experience over the years and then he landed at Porsche. Where he develops cars Carrera GT, GT3 and the like. He is also a ring master.

The boys got some skills…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts29KKhKXds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnTkV0hA9E

Audi Sport Quattro S1 on full chat, few things sound better IMO :wink:

Bring back group B!!!! :D

[Puller]

I still yearn to own an Audi quattro...the boxy one. A pearl coloured one lives nearby and I always stop and lool...lovely.

[Spencer Lee]

I remember back in the mid 80s the old RAC rally came through where I live.
Stood by the side of the road watching them go past,they weren't on a stage just on normal roads getting to wherever it was they were going.
Some of them pulled up on the forecourt of the garage we were stood by,I remember one of them being Russell Brookes in one of the old Opel Mantas.
This picture is a few years before that,it's a picture of a picture,thats me on the far right (the kid!),stood there from about 6am that morning and the cars didn't come through till about 8am.



Again they weren't racing ,just passing through.

That looks like a 240Z, excellent motor! I must admit, i lost interest in the WRC when Subaru and Mitsubishi left. It's a two horse race now and i'm a lover of niether.

[quattro777]

When you talk about driving talent you need to see this man…

He drove for Audi’s rally team (Jean Todt ex Ferrari F1 boss was his boss then), then different racing experience over the years and then he landed at Porsche. Where he develops cars Carrera GT, GT3 and the like. He is also a ring master.

The boys got some skills…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts29KKhKXds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnTkV0hA9E

Audi Sport Quattro S1 on full chat, few things sound better IMO :wink:

Bring back group B!!!! :D

+1
Bring back proper rallies, todays events are at best a series of small sprints.

[andyjay]

An ur-quattro, one of the late 20V's is still one of my lottery winning cars, along with several others...

Visiting my Brother-in-law in Sweden in Feb, he is getting us tickets to see the WRC over there in freezing snow. Can't wait to take some pictures...

[BaBa]

When you talk about driving talent you need to see this man…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts29KKhKXds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnTkV0hA9E

Nice clips, and an excellent demonstration of the composure that the drivers must have to be able to drive at 3 figure speeds through crowds of onlookers, with literally inches between them and your bonnet. Not for the faint hearted.

[drinkingparrothead]

Had to laugh at Kankkunen in an interview -
Interviewer "What do you need to be a great rally driver"
Kankkunen "No brains and a heavy right foot"

Think my misses might qualify :lol: :lol:

[NJH]

When you talk about driving talent you need to see this man…

He drove for Audi’s rally team (Jean Todt ex Ferrari F1 boss was his boss then), then different racing experience over the years and then he landed at Porsche. Where he develops cars Carrera GT, GT3 and the like. He is also a ring master.

The boys got some skills…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts29KKhKXds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnTkV0hA9E

Audi Sport Quattro S1 on full chat, few things sound better IMO :wink:

Bring back group B!!!! :D

+1
Bring back proper rallies, todays events are at best a series of small sprints.

We are definitely not worthy, the phrase living legend is often misused but in Rohls case IMHO entirely justified. Ayrton Senna apparently tested a rally car once and was said to be naturally fast. Kimi also seems to be a pretty good rally driver although with circuit drivers you always get the impression its only a matter of time before they stick the car into the scenery :lol:

[rialnet]

I used to be a mad rally fan, religiously following the UK leg of the WRC for the whole event every year, sleeping in my Land Rover in a frozen Welsh forest. :D

I've gone right off it lately though, part of it is probably due to me being a bit older and less keen, but part of it is the spark just seems to have gone out of the WRC. Its been very sad to see more manufacturers drop out every year, with the Ford v Citroen fight we see today. It used to be superb when pretty much every manufacturer was represented with a works team. :(

I'm more into F1 these days.

i used to follow WRC quite a bit when i was younger too - but since it stopped being held at different venues (instead of always in Cardiff) and the manufacturers more or less all dropped out, it lost alot of its appeal.

:(