Colin McRae - get off the road

Posted over at JNC - I love how everyone moves off the road when he comes flying around the corner.

MOVE!

WRC cars were so much better back then. I loath the current cars.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: WRC cars were so much better back then. I loath the current cars.

Thought it was just me.

That dude was truly a magician.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: That dude was truly a magician.

Not only that but balls of steel to be race driving with people standing around just trying to get a look.

Good video.

At 1:23 there's some damage on the right front. Maybe one of the fans cut it just a little too close....

Awesome driving for sure, I showed him all his best moves even though in 1993 I didnt even have my license yet

The ability to get that close to the track is one of the main reasons I want to attend a WRC as a spectator. Probably not as a driver.

Not only that but balls of steel to be race driving with people standing around just trying to get a look.

Is that what you call that? It's sad but the guaranteed presence of idiots on the sidelines is why you will never see vids like that come out of the USA.

Also, keep in mind with the balls of steel comment that the guy died doing something dangerous/fun, and we can argue about 'doing what you love' etc but the ability to argue the point stems primarily from the fact that noone in this thread has yet died from their risk-taking.

Enjoyed the vid, anyway.

In reply to Vigo:

I don't want to die old and sick like my dad did. I don't have a death wish, but we all are going to die one day. I would rather it be sliding backwards off the top of Pike's peak with the throttle pinned than suffering a failing and frail body being bed ridden.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: In reply to Vigo: I don't want to die old and sick like my dad did. I don't have a death wish, but we all are going to die one day. I would rather it be sliding backwards off the top of Pike's peak with the throttle lined than suffering a failing and frail body being bed ridden.

A-berkeleying-men.

I dunno, seems pretty tame to me.

This could be just the thing to spice up NASCAR!

People standing in the road get out of the way of an oncoming car.

I don't want to die old and sick like my dad did. I don't have a death wish, but we all are going to die one day. I would rather it be sliding backwards off the top of Pike's peak with the throttle pinned than suffering a failing and frail body being bed ridden.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but how about getting crushed tomorrow by the car of someone who is trying to 'live' (hah) out the mindset you just described? The whole bystanders at rally races thing is ugly. Even if we just popped 100 people up on the side of a regular road with regular drivers, it would be ugly. We can talk about passions and freedom and all that but we have to make sure we're not just letting ourselves off the hook of our own morality just because the dangerous side effect happens to be attached to something we would like to be able to do. In other words, not to be selectively ignorant of anything negative attached to something that we would prefer to think positively about.

I would like to be able to do some of the driving that Colin Mcrae and many other rally drivers have done, but i would never for a second tell you that it's a clean business if i'm expected to haul ass past all those people and put their safety far below the interests of corporate sponsors who are subsidizing my dream/power-trip. Or worse, telling myself that anything that happens to them is social darwinism in action. Ick. I'd like to learn to pilot a helicopter too, but I can honestly tell you that if i'm not thinking about who all will be wrecked besides myself if I crash it before embarking on that journey, i'll be making that decision in the wrong way.

I can't speak for anyone one else but, yes, I would rather be crushed tomorrow by watching a rally car than suffer a long slow miserable death by illness. I would prefer my wife and son die in the same way. Although, they may feel different.

I wouldn't be one to stand right next to the course though. If I were to watch a rally event live and in person, I would prefer to be standing back, from a vantage point that allows the most visibility of the cars as possible. On top of a hill or up tree possibly. Somewhere that I can see them string together sections of course.

I think the big difference is the expectation of safety.

If I were struck by a car tomorrow whilst walking to work, I'd be a lot more upset than if I was struck by an errant rally car whilst standing beside an active rally stage.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: That dude was truly a magician.

and this is why my son is named Colin.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: WRC cars were so much better back then. I loath the current cars.

That's because they were Group A. Fragile H-pattern OE-type transmissions, short travel suspension based (albeit loosely) on what the road cars had, etc. WRC weren't until 1998 or thereabouts.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: That dude was truly a magician.

I hate to be "that guy" but I saw an interesting video of him driving Petter Solberg's championship winning Subaru at a media day, and it was almost embarassing to watch. He also did poorly when he returned to WRC in '06 or so for the two or three rallies he entered before he was dumped.

His driving style was mostly one of driving fast and seeing if he could make it through the stage. That worked at the time when the cars weren't all that great anyway, but sometime after the WRCar was invented, the transition made to cars that need to be finessed to get the most out of them (on any surface), which takes a lot more driver skill than mere heroics.

Knurled wrote:

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: WRC cars were so much better back then. I loath the current cars.

That's because they were Group A. Fragile H-pattern OE-type transmissions, short travel suspension based (albeit loosely) on what the road cars had, etc. WRC weren't until 1998 or thereabouts.

And it was better for it.

In reply to Nick (Bo) Comstock:

Preaching to the choir. FIA has been limiting engine power with restrictors, the moved to 1.6l engines and a boost limit, they restrict the transmissions and diffs...

I say lose the 300+mm suspension travel, make it 200mm max for tarmac and 220 max for gravel. That'll slow the cars down while making a spectacle. The new cars are downright boring to watch unless you're a slotcar enthusiast.

Knurled wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: That dude was truly a magician.

I hate to be "that guy" but I saw an interesting video of him driving Petter Solberg's championship winning Subaru at a media day, and it was almost embarassing to watch. He also did poorly when he returned to WRC in '06 or so for the two or three rallies he entered before he was dumped. His driving style was mostly one of driving fast and seeing if he could make it through the stage. That worked at the time when the cars weren't all that great anyway, but sometime after the WRCar was invented, the transition made to cars that need to be finessed to get the most out of them (on any surface), which takes a lot more driver skill than mere heroics.

That's the reason he was so loved. I remember watching back then and his flat out 100% of the time style was a big draw.

Compared to the more tempered, calculated approach of guys like Sainz, Burns and Makinen it was truly a big contrast.

The way he attacked each stage was the stuff of legends.

patgizz wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: That dude was truly a magician.

and this is why my son is named Colin.

Mine too.