Loebs record 7.....beatable?

[alexlake]

So what do you guys think? Do you think that this record will be beaten?.

For me I think that wrc is on the up again, and there are more drivers now that could win the title than 4-5 years ago. Mikko, JML, Ogier, are all drivers that could very realistically win next years title, and go onto win more in the future. And Loeb himself could make it 8.

what you reckon?

(personally, although I am a Loeb fan, wouldnt mind seeing JML or Ogier win next year, both so talented and fast)

[N.O.T]

everything is possible....i do not see a driver that could be so dominant from the current ones though. No matter how many Ogier achieved in so little time i think he can be challenged easier than Loeb...

[tmx]

The numbers in his record doesn't mean anything to me.

Walter Röhrl won Monte for four different manufacturers. Kankkunen won driver titles in 3 different cars racing against multiple other world champions.

Do you think Loeb is going to make his own private team and go on to win a WRC round? Answer: no.
Will he retired before there is real competition that is capable of beating him to keep his records shiny? Probably yes.

[Mintexmemory]

Congratulations to SL. No I don't think anyone will equal this as I don't think a single dominance of car / driver combination for so long a time is likely to arise again. For the same reason I can't see Schumacher's F1 record being beaten

[ridder]

I think Loeb will take 1-2 titles more.
Over time (40+ years if some "WRC" runs that long), it's surely beatable. But in next 10 years, I don't think it is. Now hopefully some more factories join which will also prevent these kinds of records.

Loeb is a great driver, as he himself says he's "as quick as the others on gravel but faster on tarmac". This tarmac dominance has helped him when it was close (vs Hirvonen last year, Gronholm in 2007 and 2006). In 2003 the off in Corsica from first place lost him the title.

I believe that if everyone was in same car on tarmac he would be the fastest driver, that said everyone is not in the same car and if over time there were other car/driver combinations which were a bit faster on tarmac he would have had problems with this triumph card of his. As late as 2002 we had Pannizi/206WRC combo which was unbeatable on tarmac but bad on gravel so it took points off title contenders. Loeb was beaten on tarmac only 2 times since 2003, in 2004 Corsica and Spain. In Corsica he finished 2 minutes! behind Martin and in Spain he damaged his oil sump when cutting the corner too much when fighting within seconds with Martin for first place. On gravel that year he was not the fastest and mostly retirements of others made him win the title.
Even as late as 2006, Gronholm (not exactly a tarmac specialist) was leading over Loeb in Spain when his new Focus broke down.


So in my opinion if there were more manufacturers/drivers combinations between years 2005-2010 competitive on tarmac, Loeb would not have claimed all of the 5 titles in that period.

[alexlake]

In a way its good if it does not get beaten, that would probably mean the competition has been tougher.

Loeb is 'as good on gravel, better on tarmac', but he has more than that. He basically built the C4 himself (you know what I mean) he is good with tyres, he does have the whole rally package. As Julian porter says on wrc podcasts, 'he thinks his way through a rally better than anyone'. Yes he has been helped by team orders, sordo etc, but ford have done tactics, and its always gone on, and always will.

Looking at the results this year, loeb, mikko, ogier, jml have all won rallies, and 2 still to go (sordo and petter?!!). Its on its way up, the futures bright

[N.O.T]

The numbers in his record doesn't mean anything to me.

Walter Röhrl won Monte for four different manufacturers. Kankkunen won driver titles in 3 different cars racing against multiple other world champions.

Do you think Loeb is going to make his own private team and go on to win a WRC round? Answer: no.
Will he retired before there is real competition that is capable of beating him to keep his records shiny? Probably yes.

Mcare
Sainz
Makinen
Gronholm
Burns
Latvala
Hirvonen

were not real competition ?

Kankunnen was useless on Tarmac
Rohrl was a scared boy and never did finland because his pants would get dirty.....

[alexlake]

[quote="tmx"]
Do you think Loeb is going to make his own private team and go on to win a WRC round? Answer: no.
[quote]

why would he want to set up his own team, at his age, with what he has won. It could ruin all he has built up, and what would he really gain from it?

[Francis44]

First off all Congrats to Loeb and Elena.

For me Loeb is the prototype of a real rally driver, he does not act like a star and he isn't afraid to talk to fans whenever asked to, plus he is super quick on all surfaces.

I guess some people wont miss him when he retires, but I sure will, and I think I will have to wait many years to see someone drive like him, and I dont care about what others say, true is that all Finns thought they were the only ones capable of driving well on World Championship level, and this gentleman from France out of nowhere with few experience on a Saxo made them crumble.

[ste898]

The numbers in his record doesn't mean anything to me.

Walter Röhrl won Monte for four different manufacturers. Kankkunen won driver titles in 3 different cars racing against multiple other world champions.

Do you think Loeb is going to make his own private team and go on to win a WRC round? Answer: no.
Will he retired before there is real competition that is capable of beating him to keep his records shiny? Probably yes.

Here here someone that speaks some sense

At last it is great too see a post that says the truth