Well, i just finished watching Speed Channel's coverage of the wrc event from Great Britain and Petter Solberg killed all!!!!!
He ended up winning about 5 or 6 stages including all 3 on the third day and the final stage. Sebastian Loeb was prevented from running hard due to the fact the Citroen wanted to win the manufactures title ( they did but i think loeb got a raw deal ) What i thought was cool was Tommi Makinen finished third so you had two subies on the podium. For all those who saw the rally, did you see tommi's wild gold driving boots??? wow. Colin McRae was only 10 seconds behind tommi entering the final stage but he had a flat tire which ended his chance at a top three. Very cool for Solberg and i think Makinen finishing third was a great way for him to close out his career.

Long live the champ!!!!! hail Petter Solberg!!!!!!

Junior

 

Yup. Been follwing that on wrc.com. Bad azz for Subaru. Bad azz for Tommi.

Well, we better win next year.

 

i would really like to see the Evo rock next year but the subaru,ford and the others will be tough

 

Great rally action! However, Citroen's actions were a disgrace, especially considering both Burns and Grunholm were out for most of the rally for Puegot. I still think Petter would have won anyway.

 

This brings up an interesting possibility.

No doubt Scoobie is going to be pushing having the number "1" on their WRC Imprezza, next year, by virtue of "Hollywood" Solberg having just edged out Sebastian Loeb. And with a brand new WRC EVO8, Mitsu is going to be working to make up experience. That may be significant to those of use who follow WRC anyway.

But there's an intriguing chance to grab a new US audience by getting a yank driver that whooped Loeb on gravel at the Race of Champions in the Canary Islands, last year: Jeff Gordon.

Yup, the American roundy-round driver beat the WRC runner up in rally cars on a short (2 min) stage, to much surprise. And with his "tradin' paint" schtick with Montoya at Indy, there's the distinct impression that the former NASCAR champ may be looking to move up in the automotive world.

So there might be an opportunity for a manufacturer to grab the attention of a bunch of Chevy vs Pontiac fans, bringing a new audience to WRC, and druming up more brand recognition for rally cars like the EVO, among people who had never considered a "ricer" before.

And heck, he hasn't been on the WRC podium in the last three years.

Hmm.

 

i hate to say it but Jeff Gordon is one of the most versitile drivers in the world. give him a few laps in anything and he can drive it and win in it

 

Rally is another beast he could be good but it will take time. BTW I dont care for soldberg I want Burns!!

 

yay i just watched the WRC too... it was awesome!

 

I really don't understand Citroen telling Loeb to back off. That was a super-cautious move at best. Considering Gronholm was out early, Rovanpera and Loix were running low in the standings, they already had a 5 point lead, and Loeb and McRae were both still in the rally. If anything they should have told Colin to finish the rally and let Loeb push for the driver's championship.

I'm glad Petter won the Rally and the Championship, but if you would've asked me at the beginning of the year, I never would've said he was a contender. I figured he'd be a threat in starting in 2004, with a championship maybe 2005 or so. But he's really shaped up this year, overcoming the horrible inconsistency that he used to have the last few seasons.

I haven't seen all of the US coverage yet, but I did see that they showed the argument Gronholm had with the cops, which was exceptionally funny. Also, in the UK they televised the Sunday Margam Park stage live on TV. It was kind of cool to see the events unfold, especailly Colin's flat tire.

 

They did show that and it was great. "Sir you cannot go on the road like that. I understand, but i think i can go like that....and i wanna have the last word on this"

 

i thought gronholm was going to drive away after that. you know just accept the traffic ticket and drive to service. but he probably wanted to keep his driver license so he could compete in rally gb next year.

 

wojo: Yeah, that was my favorite part. "I want to have the last word on this."

If you listen closely to that part, the officer says "but you're not going" after Marcus says that, and I think Marcus says "yes I know" back to him.