Season 2000... 10 years ago!?

[Sladden]

I cannot believe its been ten years since I started following WRC. I was lucky enough to catch it just in time for Monte Carlo, I never missed an event after that.
So many cars, and drivers in the frame for titles/wins. A new golden age had emerged.

Colin Mcrae was the man I rooted for. But it was clear who was the best that year: Richard Burns! Once the P2000 got around you felt he could win anywere. Either him or Colin would clinch the title, but then Corsica changed the dynamics. I sometimes think that accident marked the end of the old Mcrae. Took the last percentages out of him.

What sticks for me is the imagery. Seeing The 206 on 2 wheels in New Zeeland, The P 2000 flying in finland, Focus landing on its nose, Seat snaking. Wow those are clearer than anything after 2005!
The years after, 01-02 were also good ones. But after that it never equaled in exitement and imagery for me.

Ten years later...well im surpirised we are still here in a way. WRC has not been kind the last half decade for a rallying fan like myself.

Just gonna sit tight and wait for the next golden era to emerge:
I still hope!

Regards
Nic

[Langdale Forest]

The cars 10 years ago were much more inspiring than they are today.

[Wim_Impreza]

Not only the cars, the drivers too. There were a lot of different winners in a season and great entry lists.

[wotaguy]

it depends when you first saw rallying , for you sladden 2000, for me 1980!!! my first proper rally i spectated was the 1982 lombard, so for me the quattro blasting thru wales, then the 205t16 .the lancia .....news era,s well who knowws what the new regs will bring, i actually think it could be a new golden age

[userwave]

i agree, my favorite era in the WRC, so exciting!
so many true legends, Colin, Tommi, Carlos, Richard, Marcus, Juha etc,
so many dedicated manufacturers, Mitsubishi, Ford, Subaru, Peugeot, even Hyundai

Travelled from Canada to catch Rally GB in 2001/2002, truly mind blowing!

[WRCfan]

Remember when it was any one of a few drivers capable of winning. Auriol, Sainz, Burns, McRae, Kankkunen, Rovanperra, Gronholm and the list goes on. Those were great years. Still watch the highlights from time to time because it feels like so long ago. Agree with the call the cars were more inspiring.

[Barreis]

Rally was on a high.. :)

[AndyRAC]

Remember when it was any one of a few drivers capable of winning. Auriol, Sainz, Burns, McRae, Kankkunen, Rovanpera, Gronholm and the list goes on. Those were great years. Still watch the highlights from time to time because it feels like so long ago. Agree with the call the cars were more inspiring.

Yeah, the sign of a strong and successful Championship - watching the highlights only shows how much the sport has fallen. The TV coverage is also miles better.

[Daniel]

But it was clear who was the best that year: Richard Burns! Once the P2000 got around you felt he could win anywere. Either him or Colin would clinch the title, but then Corsica changed the dynamics. I sometimes think that accident marked the end of the old Mcrae. Took the last percentages out of him.

I think you're remembering it a bit wrong there. The standout of that season was Gronholm in the fast but sometimes unreliable 206. Burns was never consistent enough even though on balance the P2000 was probably that year the best car but it also had its low points like New Zealand which I happily witnessed when Richard and Juha had major issues.

I also wouldn't blame Colin's accident in 2000 for his loss of performance. He was still in the race for the title in 2001 and won rallies in 2002. 2003 was a bad year for Colin in a car that didn't really suit him and without Grist who was a superb codriver for Colin as well as the end of the 3rd driver rule was undoubtedly put Colin's career as a winner to bed a few years before it really should have been.

[Daniel]

Remember when it was any one of a few drivers capable of winning. Auriol, Sainz, Burns, McRae, Kankkunen, Rovanperra, Gronholm and the list goes on. Those were great years. Still watch the highlights from time to time because it feels like so long ago. Agree with the call the cars were more inspiring.

Sad isn't it?

At this stage I remember how regularly hordes of WRC forumers would go on regular raids into the F1 forum to gloat over how our series was so much better and so much more spectacular and now look what we've got?

In that era (1999-2003) the following drivers won a rally or more
Gronholm, Panizzi, Burns, McRae, Makinen, Sainz, Rovanpera, Puras (cheating little so and so), Auriol, Solberg, Loeb, Martin, Kankkunen and Bugalski. That's 14 drivers, we don't even have 14 full time factory drivers now, let alone 14 rally winners

Now what have we got for the last few years? Gronholm, Latvala, Hirvonen? Duval won a rally which was gifted to him back in 2005....

IMHO there are a number of reasons the WRC is crap nowadays
Peugeot and Citroen. When Peugeot arrived in 1999 they raised the bar pretty damn high and it pushed everyone which made for a few good seasons and then Citroen came along and just blew everyone out of the water with the Xsara. Now it's not strictly their fault, you can't blame them for doing everything they can to win, but the FIA needed to cut costs to level the playing field but they didn't

Coverage - for some reason this veered off from the tried and tested route of putting cameras in stages as well as presenting the sport as it always had been presented and trying to make it seem live and more extreme to the max *groan*. Sure Finland may have good coverage but the vast majority of the viewers have crap coverage.

Mismanagement of the technical regs. WRCars were too expensive back in 2001/2 and we all knew what was coming. Now tell me when it was that the FIA got rid of active diffs? They still haven't got rid of semi-auto gearboxes either.

Tyres - I can't remember when they started dicking about with the tyre rules but back in 2003 the tyre rules were fantastic and played into the hands of Solberg and won him the title. Tyre choice has always been important in the WRC. Even worse was when we went to a control tyre which pretty much eliminated the problem of bad tyre choice.....

Sporting regs - Stupidrally was completely the wrong reaction to teams pulling out. We got cloverleaf rallies which lost us iconic stages, reduced overall stage mileages and meant silly distances for liaison sections. Canning rallies like the Safari and being crap enough to have the Monte want to go over to the IRC was incompetence at its best. Then we had a slew of boring middle east/med rallies like Jordan, Cyprus and Turkey. The WRC went to Japan - just as the Japanese manufacturers were on a downward slope....

Uncertainty over rules and calendars. I remember sitting in the pre-rally press conference for Rally Australia in 2003 shortly after Loix had been signed as a third driver for Peugeot in the 307 and even more shortly after the FIA killed off the 3rd driver rule. Provera was pissed off and I predicted at the time that Peugeot would be out and sure enough they left not long after. There have been various sudden rule changes and then changes which are approved and then never happen (Mille Pistes). S2000 was meant to be the top class in 2010 but it isn't and we've got a whole new engine (S1600t). If ever there are changes for the good of the series they're too slow and if ever there are bad changes they happen in the blink of an eye.

Chronic mismanagement at it's best. I don't want to kick the WRC, I loved the sport but sadly I think this is it for at least a few years

[AndyRAC]

Sad isn't it?

At this stage I remember how regularly hordes of WRC forumers would go on regular raids into the F1 forum to gloat over how our series was so much better and so much more spectacular and now look what we've got?

In that era (1999-2003) the following drivers won a rally or more
Gronholm, Panizzi, Burns, McRae, Makinen, Sainz, Rovanpera, Puras (cheating little so and so), Auriol, Solberg, Loeb, Martin, Kankkunen and Bugalski. That's 14 drivers, we don't even have 14 full time factory drivers now, let alone 14 rally winners

Now what have we got for the last few years? Gronholm, Latvala, Hirvonen? Duval won a rally which was gifted to him back in 2005....

IMHO there are a number of reasons the WRC is crap nowadays
Peugeot and Citroen. When Peugeot arrived in 1999 they raised the bar pretty damn high and it pushed everyone which made for a few good seasons and then Citroen came along and just blew everyone out of the water with the Xsara. Now it's not strictly their fault, you can't blame them for doing everything they can to win, but the FIA needed to cut costs to level the playing field but they didn't

Coverage - for some reason this veered off from the tried and tested route of putting cameras in stages as well as presenting the sport as it always had been presented and trying to make it seem live and more extreme to the max *groan*. Sure Finland may have good coverage but the vast majority of the viewers have crap coverage.

Mismanagement of the technical regs. WRCars were too expensive back in 2001/2 and we all knew what was coming. Now tell me when it was that the FIA got rid of active diffs? They still haven't got rid of semi-auto gearboxes either.

Tyres - I can't remember when they started dicking about with the tyre rules but back in 2003 the tyre rules were fantastic and played into the hands of Solberg and won him the title. Tyre choice has always been important in the WRC. Even worse was when we went to a control tyre which pretty much eliminated the problem of bad tyre choice.....

Sporting regs - Stupidrally was completely the wrong reaction to teams pulling out. We got cloverleaf rallies which lost us iconic stages, reduced overall stage mileages and meant silly distances for liaison sections. Canning rallies like the Safari and being crap enough to have the Monte want to go over to the IRC was incompetence at its best. Then we had a slew of boring middle east/med rallies like Jordan, Cyprus and Turkey. The WRC went to Japan - just as the Japanese manufacturers were on a downward slope....

Uncertainty over rules and calendars. I remember sitting in the pre-rally press conference for Rally Australia in 2003 shortly after Loix had been signed as a third driver for Peugeot in the 307 and even more shortly after the FIA killed off the 3rd driver rule. Provera was pissed off and I predicted at the time that Peugeot would be out and sure enough they left not long after. There have been various sudden rule changes and then changes which are approved and then never happen (Mille Pistes). S2000 was meant to be the top class in 2010 but it isn't and we've got a whole new engine (S1600t). If ever there are changes for the good of the series they're too slow and if ever there are bad changes they happen in the blink of an eye.

Chronic mismanagement at it's best. I don't want to kick the WRC, I loved the sport but sadly I think this is it for at least a few years

Great post, in fact, it could have been written by me. Sums up everything that is wrong with the sport. When a Manufacturer leaves, it's very disappointing, when a whole load leave in a short space of time the alarm bells should be ringing, and action taken. Not with the WRC though - let's bring in SupeRally. Yes, that's the solution!!

1999; Toyota
2000; Seat
2003; Hyundai
2005; Skoda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Factory Citroen
2008; Suzuki, Subaru

That's just incompetant, to lose that many. I could go on, but won't.

[Barreis]

That's sign that something's wrong with the sport..

[pettersolberg29]

Imagine, if you will, a WRC in 2011 with Citroen, Ford, Citroen Junior, Stobart, PSWRT, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Seat, Hyundai, Skoda, Peugeot and Toyota. How amazing would that be?!

If it weren't for a little credit crunch and some terrible organisation by the WRC then this could be a potential reality...

[Daniel]

Imagine, if you will, a WRC in 2011 with Citroen, Ford, Citroen Junior, Stobart, PSWRT, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Seat, Hyundai, Skoda, Peugeot and Toyota. How amazing would that be?!

If it weren't for a little credit crunch and some terrible organisation by the WRC then this could be a potential reality...
Sorry, I don't do drugs so I couldn't make anything like that up. I doubt half of those teams will never make it and I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't even 1/3 of those on the start line in 2012 let alone 2011.

[Langdale Forest]

That would be 26 cars so 26 drivers, who would those drivers be?

[pettersolberg29]

Sorry, I don't do drugs so I couldn't make anything like that up. I doubt half of those teams will never make it and I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't even 1/3 of those on the start line in 2012 let alone 2011.

I know ;) I wasn't suggesting they would be here, just saying that is the list of all the teams who have competed in WRC in the past 10 or so years. If they had never left, then that would be the list. As you say, if 1/3 of them are here in 2012 then I would be very surprised.

[Langdale Forest]

It's nice to think about what the WRC would be like in a dream world though. ;)

[WRCS14]

Good post by Andy, I agree with the whole lot. I dont know if the championship will ever recover to the same levels as the start of the last decade.

[Sladden]

How nice to see my post did not die at birth like I thought it did!! Great posts from you guys! Have to reply to the silly topic, who was the best... :)


I think you're remembering it a bit wrong there. The standout of that season was Gronholm in the fast but sometimes unreliable 206. Burns was never consistent enough even though on balance the P2000 was probably that year the best car but it also had its low points like New Zealand which I happily witnessed when Richard and Juha had major issues.

I also wouldn't blame Colin's accident in 2000 for his loss of performance. He was still in the race for the title in 2001 and won rallies in 2002. 2003 was a bad year for Colin in a car that didn't really suit him and without Grist who was a superb codriver for Colin as well as the end of the 3rd driver rule was undoubtedly put Colin's career as a winner to bed a few years before it really should have been.

Yeah Grönholm had a fantastic year. But my take on that is more with problems at Ford/Subaru handing him an advantage. Both Colin and Burns was at that point overall better drivers I think :)

2001 was also a strong year for Colin sure, but 2002 I remember feeling bad for him. It was not the same man anymore...demoralised and unfocused. Have you ever witnessed a fall greater than his 2002-2003? From fastest on the planet to struggling behind his teammates for a few points.

Anyway a fantastic era. Incar footage from the Impreza 2000 gives me chills, the sound and looks of that car...wow! I would like one of those :)
About incars... They used to be a lot better than now. You can hardly see the road anymore. Its time to evolve them, basicly the same since the 90s..sightly worse even.

[AlfaWRC]

That would be 26 cars so 26 drivers, who would those drivers be?

Hirvonen, Latvala, Loeb, Sordo, Raikkonen, Ogier, Atkinson, P. Solberg, Grönholm, H. Solberg, M. Wilson, Block, Aigner, Stohl, Gardemeister, Mikkelsen, Ostberg, Novikov, Andersson, Al-Attiyah, Rantanen, Meeke, Kopecky, Hanninen, Andreucci, Ketomaa

or Prokop, Kresta, Villagra, Flodin, Basso, Wittmann, Pons...

[DeltaS4]

I remember following 2000 season very closely once Gronholm emerged from nowhere as a title contender. Remember that Burns was miles ahead in the points standings early in the year, and Peugeot didn't hit their stride until much later.
The moment I remember best was waiting for the stage times to come through for the final superspecial in Australia, with Burns and Gronholm virtually tied for second place. Burns put in a very quick time, with Gronholm to follow. Whoever came out on top would take the championship lead into the final event in GB.
As you all know, Gronholm turned in a spectacular superspecial time, and ended up the outright winner when Makinen was DQed for an illegal turbo.
I never really liked Burns and was rooting for the dark horse, so it was a pretty exciting moment.