Originally Posted by
AnttiK7
So just because the world has far more serious issues than Ott Tänak showing off with his Yaris in the French alps, we shouldn't be discussing about it on a forum dedicated to rallying and we should talk about the US politics on here instead? And I'd prefer if everyone left out all the silly sexist comments as well from the discussion.
Special stages are for fast rally driving and also for showboating for the fans, if you want to do that kind of stuff. You can make big slides all you want or make extra big jumps for the fans all you want on the special stages. Remember Panizzi doing a 360 donut in the middle of a stage on his way to winning Rally Catalunya? But liaison sections are for driving according to the road traffic rules. As simple and clear as that. None of that bullshit what Tänak gives us on the video. If the special stages are not enough for him, then it's time for him to hand in his competition license. For the past few years FIA has being campaigning very heavily on road traffic safety and turning a blind eye to this kind of behavior would be hypocritical in my opinion, as well as damaging for the sport in the long run.
If you are a rally fan standing there when Ott does this, it can be fun to watch for a moment until you realise the repercussions it can have for the whole sport. And even if you are a rally fan and you were driving to opposite direction and coming across Tänak like this, you wouldn't be pleased. Driving a liaison section on a narrow road to an opposite direction of a convoy of WRC competitors coming the other way, is not a fun experience, no matter how big of a fan you are or how passionate you are, I can tell you. So if I as a rally fan am worked up about someone doing that, then what is someone who doesn't care about rallying at all going to think about when coming across this type of antics and showmanship on a public road? All sponsored by Toyota and Microsoft. Not exactly the best publicity for the sport, to say the least. And that is the main issue here.