Und was is das?
author: Leon Botha
|
|
The Service van of a winning team
|
After the Monte Carlo Rally every Tom, Dick, and Botha, who are brave and of course clever enough, will want to say their piece, but when any sane person starts typing or for that matter saying something about this – there is a certain hesitation.
The reason? Well let’s face it, some strange, funny, exciting, unexpected, and probably undeserved things happened during the first event of the WRC.
“There are more than one very worried WRC driver, navigator, and team manager, out there”, would be a great and true statement to make and at the same time it is another reason for the hesitation before you hit the keyboard at about 320 clicks per minute.
The question of course is “What the hell do we have here?”
You must remember that we all claim that Solberg is a great driver, Marcus Grönholm is a cool cat, although he lost it a few times last year, Markko Märtin is very quick, Toni Gardemeister has been underrated, Francois Duval proved that he is quicker than anyone thought, and so we can carry on – but the question – the “what have we here”-one, surrounds one guy, and one guy only – Sébastien Loëb!
If you have been lucky enough to be warned through the RallyStar SMS service and you saw the TV coverage of the Monte Carlo rally you will know why I started by asking the question.
Did you see how easily, and I am serious, this was a walk in the park for this gentleman, how easily he actually won the event?
The only competition – and he predicted it before the event – came from team mate Francois Duval.
May I, and I don’t care what other specialists say, make a very early prediction? - Thanks!
If you thought it was hard to take away one of the best ever held titles in boxing, that of Mohamed Ali, please pull the current WRC title right into the same classification box. It is going to take a hell of a car, a hell of a driver and lots of luck to take the title away from Sébastien Loëb for the next few years. That is of course if he does not have to run the series next year, due to the smart assed withdrawal of Citroën at the end of this year. [Will the French buying public allow this? We shall see. Another story for another time]
|
|
All that counts in the end - is how it ends.
|
The TV broadcast showed all the big names going around corners and then they showed Loëb – and he was clearly in a class of his own. Not just better - lots better - slower where it counted, quicker where it mattered.
Then further hesitation is caused by Francois Duval team mate of whom I now believe is the best driver around. Francois did not hesitate to attack from the start and showed immediately that Ford made a bad mistake to let him go, as it is no news that he is definitely not the highest paid driver on the circuit. His mistake to approach the bumpy corner where he went off saved many other more recognised drivers a lot of embarrassment and he will soon post his maiden win. This will probably happen as early as Mexico or New Zealand, while you should be prepared to see a Citroën 1 – 2-finish more often than not this year.
What about Petter Solberg you ask. Well he showed the typical Solberg pace on the morning of the last day when he won two quick stages, taking the time he needed from Toni Gardemeister to move up to 3rd overall. We all sat back to see the Solberg/Grönholm battle with a bit of trepidation and deep in my heart I knew that one of them, if not both was going to overdo it. The funny thing was that the pressure should have been on Toni Gardemeister – he was pressurised from all directions.
|
|
Too much, too late - Solberg
|
It soon became clear that both Solberg and Grönholm’s pace were too fast, especially when they made the same mistake in the very same corner. Grönholm was lucky and he got off lighter. Solberg was out of the event.
Toni Gardemeister moved up past his previous position into second overall, and Gilles Panizzi took his Mitsubishi into a well deserved, although unexpected 3rd spot overall.
We must not read too much into Mitsubishi’s 3rd overall, although they deserved it and it will give them the necessary incentive to really attack for the next few rallies. Monte Carlo is not exactly the rally you use to base a year’s predictions on, except in the case of a really outstanding and atrocious condition-defying display of driving.
Messrs Grönholm and Solberg will want to kick their own arses and what they did was simply unforgivable. We have to accept that Sébastien Loëb was warned about the corner after the Grönholm/Solberg mishaps, but did you see his approach? It was slower, but at the same time not too slow – and this is what is going to be the other driver’s downfall – Loëb has that natural feeling you need to become outstanding between great achievers.
I liked what I saw when Carlos Sainz’s face appeared on TV where he was busy talking to the young Duval – Citroën still acknowledges his value and is using his experience and objective approach to move their team into an untouchable position.
|
|
Alex Bengue - his great performance will boost Skoda's hopes.
|
Škoda driver Alex Bengue did impress and we are all happy that he managed to put the car into the top three in one and that he actually won a stage or two, but both the stages he won was controversial and we should not read anything into his achievement there. His 3rd fastest overall in SS8 – although again you need to keep in mind that Solberg, Grönholm, Duval, and Schwarz were out at that stage, is the most impressive – but unfortunately it was the only podium stage finish. Fact is though that their results will also serve as a team booster and if Armin Schwarz keeps what is supposed to be the leading Škoda on the road, we can expect the team to do well this year and they will probably begin attacking harder in the rougher events.
The Mitsubishi team is still hanging on the ceiling fans after their podium finish and they have reason to be happy as Panizzi was up there it the top times, more often than not. His 3rd was not purely due to other cars falling out – he was actually getting closer to the top positions on his own when the gaga struck the fan for Subaru and Peugeot.
Subaru and Peugeot? Well, what can we say? “Leetle mistakes” took out Sarrazin and “beeg” mistake took out Solberg.
To throw Petter Solberg away will be stupid – he has the pace and ability. Question is; when will he learn where the Scoobie’s limits are. He has the balls to step over that line at the drop of a hat, but does he have to wait until it is almost too late and then come with this superman approach moving the risk factor into the red? He will have to grow up and get back to earth quickly if he wants to keep his reputation intact.
Almost the same goes for our friend Marcus Grönholm – although he seems to lose it slightly more the moment he gets under pressure. He ran a steady although not save 2nd when he attacked to try and keep Solberg out. What he should have done is to wait one more stage to see what Solberg achieved and then do what was needed. Easy to say, especially when you are thousands of kms away and it is a few days after the event. True, but then so is my statement – I did not say we don’t all make the same mistakes, all I said was what should have been done.
|
|
Markko Martin - is he crying himself to sleep at night?
|
Markko Märtin? Well I wonder. Look at Toni Gardemeister’s performance and I do believe Martin is crying himself to sleep at night. How in heavens can one be so stupid? Look, I am not saying that the Peugeot is inferior to the Ford, although that may be debatable – all I am saying is that he knows the Ford so well, he had the car sorted out to suit his style and he went and buggered up relations. Shit, that sounds so familiar.
Toni Gardemeister? Well, boys and girls – make way for the new kid on the block, and don’t make the mistake to step into the road to watch him go by, as young Kresta in a similar car will not be too far behind. My money has been on Gardemeister frm the beginning and it still is, maybe even more so. I believe that he may be the one to upset the Citroën apple cart if someone does.
|
|
Roman Kresta - close by.
|
All I can say is that we are in for one of the best years in WRC – stupid rules or not. The cars are almost all on equal foot, the drivers all in positions from where they don’t need any excuse to attack. There seems to be some big sponsors who moved into the sport and the “privateer” or rather non-factory-entered-teams seem to have entered the arena and stepped up the sponsorship and pace. This may be the forerunner of what we will definitely see in the case of Citroën next year and maybe also for Peugeot – although I doubt if the latter will get the same sort of support. Citroën will be the biggest fool of the two to withdraw from the scene – their sales will reflect it, unfortunately too late – as usual. What the pen-pushers will hopefully realise in a clear moment is that for some reason or another rallying and Citroën became synonymous – wonder why?
Fasten your seatbelts – register for the RallyStar sms service, get more involved in supplying us with news and your opinion, and let’s enjoy what should be a spectacular year.
|
|
Register for the sms service and you don't have to wait to find out what happened.
|
To register for the RallyStar SMS service – pay R300 into ABSA Brooklyn Account 4057147990 using your name and cell phone number as reference. The cell number is the important part.
|
|
