And I hadn't heard a word til just now. But Loeb decided it might be fun to call up Ford Msport and say "hi guys I kinda feel like running MonteCarlo" and they went "oh yes please" so he and a 50something schoolteacher went out and won the event. Beyond awesome....
And it was cat and mouse between the two Seb's (Lobe and Ogier) for the whole rally. Lobe was in 2nd going into the penultimate stage by 24 seconds, Ogier had a puncture and Lobe ended up winning by 10.5 seconds. Awesome event. Plus these new hybrid cars LOOK awesome too. Crazy wheel arches, huge front splitters, massive wings, crazy sticking out air scoops the works. Rally cars haven't looked this wild since Group B.
I would *love* to see from the driverseat how a 500 hp hybrid digs out of corners...
Dang that's cool!
And he can still do a backflip!
I imagine he keeps up with his old gymnast routines.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:And it was cat and mouse between the two Seb's (Lobe and Ogier) for the whole rally. Lobe was in 2nd going into the penultimate stage by 24 seconds, Ogier had a puncture and Lobe ended up winning by 10.5 seconds. Awesome event. Plus these new hybrid cars LOOK awesome too. Crazy wheel arches, huge front splitters, massive wings, crazy sticking out air scoops the works. Rally cars haven't looked this wild since Group B.
I need to look up some highlights. Don't the two of them have like 17 WDC's between them?
Ogier didn't get to win a WDC until after Loeb retired. He's a complete monster. I went to go see his Pikes Peak run, it was so clinical.
It's gotta be so disheartening to the active drivers that he can show up and win.
Still has it!
I have a love hate relationship with Sebastian loeb. I started watching rally just before he started. There were dominate stars before but he was on another level. Just amazing. It kinda took the fun out of watching rally a little.
Who's gonna win this time? Ohh that French guy AGAIN.
Anyways. Get off. My lawn. he's such an amazing talent
In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :
It was a bit boring during Loeb's reign, but he just plainly had a good car and could drive better. I remember at that time watching Hirvonen and Latvala with Ford intentionally slowing down at the last second day stage so that Loeb would start first the next day to be the sweeper yet he still won.
I was rooting for Petter Solberg, the 2006-07 hawkeye Impreza was unreliable then when the 2008 hatchback car was showing promise Subaru pulled out and he had to put his own team together after that.
My honest opinion is that, if we could have seen them head to head at the same ages in their prime, I think Lobe is the better driver. I think at the end of the 90's, early 00's that WRC was far more competitive from both a manufacturer, and especially the divers point of view. WRC really took a huge hit in popularity and I think the level of competition was higher in Lobes day.
Rally drivers are just bread different sort of like Carlos Sainz Sr. who can still turn a wheel faster then anybody.
In reply to j_tso :
It's not just the "best car" thing, he beat both McRae and Sainz in the same car in his first full season.
I think Loeb has the edge on Ogier. They were even teammates for a couple of years and Loeb took the championship both years.
WRC was a lot easier to watch at the end of the 90s thanks to Speedvision.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Yeah, we didn't know how good we had it. I've been paying the man to watch WRC+, great footage and commentary but it's expensive..
In reply to Keith Tanner :
It needs to be admitted that Sainz Sr and McRae were at the end of their careers by the time they were teamed up with Loeb. Having said that I do think Loeb is the GOAT when it comes to rallying as we understand it today. What sets Lobe apart from other greats is the same thing that sets Hamilton and Max apart from the others on the grid. There are people who are just as fast, or faster at times, over one lap (or stage), but the real greats have the ability to perform at that level all day, under tremendous pressure and not slip up due to either their own internal pressure or competitors.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
well, I didn't say he had the best car, but I don't recall the Citroens having many issues, especially the C4.
The Xsara was outdated in 2009 but still good enough for Solberg when he became a privateer, even got a couple of podium finishes.
McRae was near the end of his run, but Sainz was still pretty competitive IMO. Loeb just burst on to the scene - IIRC, he caused some controversy early in his career when he won (or almost won) a WRC rally in a FWD car, the full WRCs were supposed to be faster!
Loeb's talked a number of times about how he has to be attacking hard to keep full concentration, and backing off is just as dangerous. He's not wrong, I've come across that exact same thing on a rally stage. When you sit back and relax, you're still going far faster than would normally be considered safe but your brain is on "cruise" mode.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think we're in violent agreement on Loeb.
I don't' remember him coming close to winning in a non WRC car. I do remember Gilles PAnizzi really pissing off the WRC cars with an S2000 (FWD, 2.0L NA) at the tarmac rounds and finishing on the overall podium in Catalunya though. Those S2000 cars were what made me fall in love with small, light, NA, rev happy FWD hot hatches.
It was an S2000 where it didn't belong. Googling tells me it was probably Bugalski, who notched up two outright wins in one in 1999.
That utterly gratuitous donut was magic.
I look forwards to the day when we get Raikkonnen and Loeb together to commentate on car racing. Just imagine, two straight hours of nothing but engine noises....
Gotta love a WRC win coming right after getting 2nd in the Dakar. What a beast.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Oh geez you saw that run in person? Boy howdy I'm jealous. That drive was as close to 10/10ths perfection as I have ever seen or can possibly imagine. I just don't think it's possible to have driven that car on that road on that day faster than he did.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
I think we're in violent agreement on Loeb.
I don't' remember him coming close to winning in a non WRC car. I do remember Gilles PAnizzi really pissing off the WRC cars with an S2000 (FWD, 2.0L NA) at the tarmac rounds and finishing on the overall podium in Catalunya though. Those S2000 cars were what made me fall in love with small, light, NA, rev happy FWD hot hatches.
Ayup... similar power to a WRCar (280-320hp depending on who you talk to) but a lot less weight.
Funny how S2000 became Super 1600 right away.
If you get the chance, go on YouTube and watch the Monte Carlo shakedown stage. Loeb even shows everybody how it is done on that.
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