2007 championship, Loeb or Gronholm?

[Finni]

As for your comment, on some rallies THIS year Mikko was still studying, on others, rough like Sardinia, he delibarately had to play safe to take care of the car. But on rallies, where he was free to push (Finland, Japan, GB) he showed what he is really capable of!

Mikko was already last year really good in Japan and RAC.

I think that Hirvonen pushed for instance in Greece as he was near to leader after first day (as the whole bunch was tight together). Same was the case for instance in Portugal where he said after first three stages that he aims to beat Loeb. The difference to Marcus cannot be wholly reduced, despite the fact that Mikko seemed some surprising potential when he had to. If everything starts well I think that he might race against Loeb in many rallies. But can he do it consistently in every gravel rally like Marcus did? I am not yet convinced.

[tmx]

Mikko has the advantage that he is a very cool headed driver, and go off very little. I think his consistency helped him get that many points this season. Also he is very good in rallies with narrow and difficult roads, he won in Norway, Japan, and now Wales, all of which are really slippery roads and many other floundered. I never liked Hirvonen during the start of 2006, but now I think he's a quite tactical driver and knows to push when he has the chance. I think this rally shows Hirvonen full speed. I know Loeb wasn't going max out, but I have a 45% certainty that Hirvonen can challenge Loeb for the title next season. That is if Loeb makes some more mistakes, if Hirvonen can't match Loeb speed than Loeb would just cruise and consistency take points. Or if Hirvonen shows some faster speed than now that would surprising.

[Magnus]

Well, in 1999 few people believed that someone could stop Makinen, for example. In 2002 there were the same thoughts about Gronholm himself. But nothing is eternal.

The diff is the car; both Makinen and Bosse ran out of competitive cars, Loeb is not doing that yet.

Wow TMX! 45%! You are really precise in your predictions