Loeb or Makinen

[rwssport]

As has already been said this is the Senna/Schumacher question of rallying - both great drivers but from different "eras"...

[N.O.T]

Makinen isn't even worthy to carry Loebs spare tyre....

A better comparison would be Loeb and Kankkunen.

[BDunnell]

If diversity is the gauge, then the single time champion Hannu Mikkola is your choice. He is the only driver who has won WRC events with five different makes.

And he was pretty good on tarmac at times, too.

(Shame he crashed his Mazda on the 1988 RAC, otherwise it would have been six makes.)

[Josti]

One guy who was fast as hell on any surface was Henri Toivonen, as he was coming into his own he was lightning fast, he was cut short unfortunately, however had he continued he would have turned into the most famous driver of all time I feel.

True, but at most times he was dribbled by his own mistakes. Only at Lancia did he perform more consistent. Undoubtly he would have been a champion, though I would have guessed him to retire at an earlier stage, given his physical conditions.

But like many said, a Tommi/Seb comparison is unworthy to make. I agree with many that Kankkunen should be rated above these two. Let alone his titles and victories, he was a very consistent driver and never really complained when things got thougher. Like DonJippo said, he could have won more if it wasn't for teamorders (for example Monte '87). Even scoring points with Hyundai up until 2002 says something. And count it or not, Juha was someone with a true character, which is a thing I miss in most drivers these days.

But at the end of the day, I don't believe in rating someone as best driver ever. There are just too many factors that make it impossibile to say.

[WRCfan]

We all have a favourite of course although when you sit back and think about choosing one driver, it is impossible. I read just after I posted above "Mikkola" then i thought, damn how can you put one driver over another, Toivonen over Mikkola or even the other way around. Both were fantastic but in such different ways/cars...

Loeb VS Makinen - It's hard/almost impossible to compare them.

[FAL]

Since this has drifted into "greatest rally driver of all time", it seems too many are too young to understand that it was Kankkunen's mentor, Timo Makinen who was for a long time the driver all other top drivers acknowledged as faster than them. I do not belive that particular status has been achieved by any other driver since. Henri Toivonen might have made it if he had lived - he was, from my direct experience, a "difficult" character in the same mould as Timo, after all.

[Karukera]

As far as numbers are concerned, then Loeb is the pick :

4 times Champion, 38 wins, best % of wins vs Starts, 17 different rallies won, that's 4 more than the second best : Sainz, and last, the perfect balance of 50% of his wins on tarmac and 50% on loose surfaces which betters by far all of the fantastic past champions.

But, like said different eras... and no comparison with F1, ain't no such different surfaces.

I think it'd be more interesting to determine an ultimate top ranking.

And who cares if whether or not one won his 2 titles with a 206WRC or with 2, 3, 4 different cars or took 95.8% of his wins in a Mitsubishi GPA or 100% in a Citroën ? That's BS excuses. :

[dimviii]

difficult to choose

but if i have to choose one of them is going to be Tommi
the reason is way more spectacular than Loeb.
and the only finn with a ss attack could beat every tarmac expert.
Loeb can not do it in gravel

[Nenukknak]

I'm not going to answer this question, it can't be done. The mechanical side has to much an impact. The cars are so strong nowadays, yet the rallies so short. Mechanical failure is far less an issue then in the old days. Also the amount of rallies driven in a year is far greater. So easier to rack up big numbers. Not that's not a great achievement by Loeb. But its like M.Schumacher when asked if it meant that he was better than the great Fangio. You just cannot compare the two.

But for me any of the greatest will always be one that had to nurture his car when needed, drive flat out when needed, drive at night, and sadly in todays WRC that is no longer the case. So sorry Mr. Loeb you will never be the greatest.

[BDunnell]

I'm not going to answer this question, it can't be done. The mechanical side has to much an impact. The cars are so strong nowadays, yet the rallies so short. Mechanical failure is far less an issue then in the old days. Also the amount of rallies driven in a year is far greater. So easier to rack up big numbers. Not that's not a great achievement by Loeb. But its like M.Schumacher when asked if it meant that he was better than the great Fangio. You just cannot compare the two.

But for me any of the greatest will always be one that had to nurture his car when needed, drive flat out when needed, drive at night, and sadly in todays WRC that is no longer the case. So sorry Mr. Loeb you will never be the greatest.

to all of that.