Loeb takes Rally norway.............

[graham John]

unstoppable



cheeRS

[lee bishop]

leave it out until we've watched it please GJ

[grum]

getting embarrasing for the wrc now - just aint enuff other talent out there ?

about time he changed teams and still won just to prove a point - atleast Schumacher did it with Ferrari

C'mon Seb, go drive for .................................. oh yeah, theres only one more team left now ....................... getting embarrasing for wrc now

[RSi]

getting embarrasing for the wrc now - just aint enuff other talent out there ?

about time he changed teams and still won just to prove a point

I agree, 49th win for Leob proves the WRC isn't what it was, The finance involved over the past few years has made it difficult for young drivers to come through the ranks - he needs to change teams just like you say too!

It's turning into joke.

[rwdrs]

To be fair, it's down to the man himself and he has a good car around him.
Ford and MW Motorsport seem unable to catch him, despite plenty of cash from Abu Dhabi and Ford.
If I was Loeb, I don't know that I'd want to move from a team moulded around me just to prove a point, whereas Schumacher had the FIA bending over backwards to accomodate him (very lenient punishments or none at all for blatant rule breaking and dangerous driving).
At least Loeb is doing this within the letter of the law. To make WRC competitive again more teams need to be serious and invest, just the wrong financial cycle at the moment.
Maybe in a few years the sport will be revived, unless Moseley gets it stuck on the internet in so even highlights won't be shown on the telly.

[RSi]

To make WRC competitive again more teams need to be serious and invest, just the wrong financial cycle at the moment.

That's my point

If you went back 10 years ago when any of a few drivers could win, that was competitive and interesting to watch.

Makinen changed Manufacturers from Mitsubishi to Subaru and faded away, there was nothing wrong with the car either as McRae, Burns and Solberg all became World champions with it. He had 4 world championships with Mitsubishi but couldn't handle the Subaru.

WRC just now isn't anything special to watch in comparison to previous seasons.


You can see it all on Europsort on the NET, that's were I watch it.

[rwdrs]

That's my point

Not allowed to make a point now or what, without sarcasm?

It doesn't bother me that much if WRC isn't what it was, it would be nice, but there. Was just joining in the discussion, surely the point of these forums.

It might have been more sense to speculate on the reasons for MWM not being able to develop the Focus into a Citroen beater?

I catch the WRC highlights on the telly when I can, but like F1 it has become somewhat predictable.

[RSi]

Not allowed to make a point now or what, without sarcasm?

Wasn't meant to offend you mate.

Maybe we should go back to rear wheel drives only

[rwdrs]

fair enough

[grum]

im not knocking what Loeb has done - far from it, i think he is the best there has been - all eras taken into consideration too - makes it look effortless and the results speak for themselves

all points taken above - just wish it had a bit more to offer variety wise -

think the S2000 would be a good thing as to attract more manufacturers back - with this recession going on, the likelihood of ford or citroen pulling the plug must be drawing nearer, although it helps with both having good backers

i think for the short term, gone are the days of one of 6-7 people entered having the chance of a win on an event - the likes of sainz, kankkunen, biasion, delecour, panizzi, burns, mcrae, makinen etc etc all gunning for a win - and with the lack of top cars out there, the less chance of someone rising through to the top

think that, whilst at the time of the world rally car inception, they seemed a good thing for spectacle, long term they have shot themselves in the foot with spiralling costs again

summed it up to me at the weekend, after watching a borrowed copy of the mcrae stages rally from last year .................. interviewing the great Hannu Mikkola, he said that "all those years ago we had good races - 50 cars [evenly matched] and there was an even fight"

oh and the last thing i want to say , how come with all this money being thrown at the cars by the manufacturers, with 10,000 whatever per quarter on suspension and 20,000 on something else, whenever they hit a bank nowadays the things just break so easily

christ, if colin mcrae had a w-r-car back in finland all them years back, instead of that bomb proof legacy, he wouldnt have been able to continue like he did -
on things like that, reputations were built and that is what brought the crowds out -
dont see that happening again somehow

G

[graham John]

looks like he is goint to win in cyprus too, has a 50 second lead with just a few stages on sunday remaining


cheeRS

[grum]

didnt even know it was on ............... just sums it up for me

[graham John]

Loeb clinches record-breaking win


Loeb's first-day performance set up his victory


Sebastien Loeb became the first driver in history to rack up 50 wins in World Rally Championships as he took victory in the Cyprus Rally.
The five-time world champion won five out of six stages on the opening day to open up a lead of 41.8 seconds.
The Citroen driver entered the final day with a lead of 49.8 secs and ended up winning by 27.2 secs to clinch his third straight win this season.
Ford's Mikko Hirvonen was second with Petter Solberg third in a Citroen.
The Frenchman was delighted to have made history with a victory that extended his championship lead over Hirvonen to eight points.
"It's incredible. I remember when I beat the record number of wins of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae," said Loeb.
"Now 50 is a really big number, a nice number. I'm really happy with what we are achieving at the moment, but it's not finished, I'm not stopping yet Next I'm going for 51."
Britain's Matthew Wilson finished fifth in his Stobart Ford Focus after Sebastien Ogier crashed less than a kilometre from the end of the final stage.
Cyprus Rally result: 1 S Loeb (Fr) Citroen 4hrs 50mins 34.700 secs
2 M Hirvonen (Fin) Ford +27.200 secs
3 P Solberg (Nor) Citroen 01:49.400
4 D Sordo (Spn) Citroen 02:26.300
5 M Wilson (GB) Ford 06:41.000
6 C Rautenbach (Zim) Citroen 11:11.900
7 F Villagra (Arg) Ford 13:18.500
8 K Al Qassimi (UAE) Ford 13:44.100
9 P Sandell (Swe) Skoda 19:36.600
10 A Araujo (Por) Mitsubishi 19:54.900





cheeRS

[///Col-Col\\\]

i think that the IRC is alot more interessting to be honest, theres alot more cars, bigger range of tyre choice, longer and more stages not to mention they can run stages at night which the WRC boys can't.

just my opinion