Wow you do talk some rubbish. Thiry was never really a winner, Duval can only win when Loeb crashes and Atkinson didn't have a lot of time with Prevot....Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
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Wow you do talk some rubbish. Thiry was never really a winner, Duval can only win when Loeb crashes and Atkinson didn't have a lot of time with Prevot....Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
Only statistic and not rubish.. I forgot to say also for Sarrazin.. :)
I hope Mäkinen take Atkinson into his project, together with Ketomaa they would make a good team, meanwhile Chris needs to compete too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
Would be good :) I'm not a talent coach or anything but Atkinson has always impressed me apart from that period where he crashed a lot in the Subaru. If only they hadn't lumbered him with that useless codriver.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomi
You're useless.. 32300 posts.. xd
Crashing means only that the guy is trying :) , I'm sure they consider him seriously, because in Aus there is a big Subaru market, also Chris is familiar with Mäkinens team, Hagström & Lindström did drive his frontcar. And when Kimi goes back to F1, Lindström would be available to co-drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
Besides Atkinson is the only one out there without a contract that would be a clever choise for first driver.
I agree.. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomi
Sarrazin was a tarmac specialist really.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
The idea of Chris in Makinen's team is fantastic, but I thought Tomi's organisation was purely Group N cars? and surely Chris deserves to be in a WRCar (money permitting of course).
On a side note, I wonder if Chris is back in Australia now? For a while there after Subaru's withdrawal he was still living in Monte Carlo, wasnt he?
No offense intended Daniel but Glenn Macneall is not a useless co-driver. He has enjoyed alot of success in the Asia Pacific region & on a World level with Toshi Arai. The problem was very simular to that of Duval & Prevot in the Citroen, they stopped trusting each other & when that happens it gets very painful. IMHO Chris' ego grew a little to much & he thought he deserved better than a "local" (ie: Australian) co-driver and the issues grew from their.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
After saying all of that I do believe Chris is a serious talent & with a little guidance could be very successful.
It might also mean he/she is not very good..Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
Mäkinen shall be doing an S2000 team or such and such...Quote:
Originally Posted by grugsticles
Hey Daniel, just checking how you are at co driving. Glen is still one of the top co drivers around. He spends a lot of time in coaching new co drivers, helping out to develop the sport and is an all round nice guy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel
There were many reasons why he split with Chris, but none of them were for being a crap codriver.
Don't judge people until you have sat in their seat and tried to do the job.
Ray
What a silly argument. So I can't criticise George Dubya because I've never sat in the oval office making stupid decisions?Quote:
Originally Posted by raybak
Glen has no rhythm to his notes and we all saw how Chris improved when Prevot came along and you'd have thought Prevot's accent would have made it worse for Chris.
I never said Glen was a bad person or anything, just that he's not a great co-driver.
Asia pacific region? I'm sorry but I don't rate the championship.Quote:
Originally Posted by macksrallye
Have a listen to Glen co-driving and compare it to Grist or Reid or any other successful english speaking co-driver and you'll see that Glenn's notes aren't very flowing. I could listen to Reid or Grist for a whole stage because there's a flow to their notes that matches the stage and sets the tempo for the driver, Glenn doesn't have that.
McNeal wasn't the sole issue for Chris' inability to finish an event or not cut corner clearly marked as such. That Sub was a dog and over driving it meant they never got the results that reflected the natural talent on Chris.
The Duval - Prevot comparison is a fair one...once the trust went there was no option but to split. That's the strength of Loeb too...he completely and utterly trusts Elena and the work they do together setting the notes translates into the stage times they can produce.
I agree Glen wasn't the only problem with Chris' career but I think a good codriver can make a big difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am evil Homer
The way Duval was going Prevot was worried he was going to be dead, can't blame him for jumping ship.
Atkinson tested the Proton yesterday: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81590
Don't know if he has a serious chance there or whether they are looking for $$$ though.
It is a good chance that he could drive the Proton, as they wanted a two car program in the Asia Pacific Championship where Atkinson impressed in 2003 and 2004 (winner of S1600, and challenged slower N4s), and two cars in IRC. source aprclive.com
Makes sense for Proton as well as they are in the Australian market, but are really struggling due to the build quality of their car and they need to enhance the brand a bit. Definitely worked with Subaru and Toyota over here.
Chris talks nice and open about the Subaru's damper issue on Autosport's Q&A.
Quote:
When Petter and I do stage times within a second and we both knew how hard we were pushing, flat-out everywhere, to get those results and then, all of a sudden, we were a minute slower than everybody. I mean, f***ing hell, it's not like you've forgotten how to drive.
Good read that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Hartusvuori
Gotta love the language being used. Typical Aussie way of expressing what your thinking - who cares how it comes out verbally:P
Where does he live now?
I doubt he is still living in Monte Carlo. He has probably moved back to the Gold Coast in Australia. Probably also gone back to his previous job too!
too bad, monster world rally team should be chris atkinson and not ken block....
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by userwave
True.Quote:
Originally Posted by userwave
But I may say that im quite surprised by Ken Block's attitude, in a video interview, avaiable on WRC.com, he talks about his expectations and I have to say he wasquite thoughtfull. He says he's expectations are lower and his speech is quite not the american flamboyant style. After that interview he earned my respect and I wishe him the best.
I think the interview was after he went to sweden to spectate.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis44
Which job would that be? One of the ones for his dad's companies? Has he ever had a job?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitch555
I thought that interview didn't really do him any favours - 'Im better than Mikko, Petter in equal cars etc'
Then the 'I'm not prepared to pay for it myself'....well that'l put him behind about 10 Finns and other Europeans like Novikov that WILL pay for a drive in the short term to get noticed.
The most informative part of the story was what we all knew anyway - the dampers were absolute rubbish on those Subbies, and as much as Petter and him bleated about them, unfortunately nobody listened to them, and it probably played a large part in the demise of the SWRT.
Broker. Also had a job as a rally driver.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stalks
Can new parts still be homologated for the Subaru, like they were for the Corolla WRC by Erik Wevers. New dampers were in development before the plug was pulled by SubaruQuote:
Originally Posted by Stalks
Of course he has had a job :) He is a graduate from a very prestigious university, Bond, on the Gold Coast (full fees is around $80000 AUD a year for a business degree). Qualified to be a stockbroker. He's used to not having to pay for drives because he hasn't really had to. In his early days in 2002, he did the full ARC, though I'm not sure who paid for it. In 2003 he was then run in the Asia Pacific Championship for 2 years by Suzuki in an Ignis. He was very fast. Did the ARC again in 2004 in a Subaru along with his APRC program. He might have had some support from Subaru Australia as he was the 3rd scoring driver for Subaru, although he was a privateer as such. So I guess he's always had drives partially funded. Problem is that no manufacturer is having a presence in rallying in Australia (other than Mazda in tarmac rallying), so its hard for Chris to get a paid drive. The financial crisis and maufacturer pull out has seen most of Australia's best being left without a drive or limited program (Neal Bates, Cody Crocker, Dean Herridge, Michael Guest, Darren Windus, Steve Glenney...)Quote:
Originally Posted by Stalks
... maybe we will see him in a Prodrive Mini in 2011...
Ya know all that is very nice but he seems to not WANT TO drive if he has to pay anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitch555
I was paid pretty good my my standards and the standards of the time to drive my moto-cross bike. 2 seasons 30+ yeras ago..
I wonder always why car prima-donnas who reached some point decide they'd rather sit on their bum or go make masturbatory You Tube vids with Kenny Blockie of himself driving an Escort round a gravel parking lot, than do liek 10s of thousands of us and just build a reasonable fast and fun car and go get sideways??
"Rally-gawd" McRae was well know to be "The highest paid driver in the WRC " for years....and did spend some money to have some INSANE cars---always over the top Hmmmmmm?) built but he felt himself too good to spend any of those piles of millions he made...Even though he famously said "I'd do this for nuthin"
I thought it was the typical arrgance that was always below the surface and showed thru so often.
But now here's another Subaru driver who is too good to spend any of his own dough, or ratchet it down a notch to a level he can afford....
Lame I say.
And it puts Petter's efforts into a much better and admirable light as a rallyman and fighter.
He has already proven that he is better than Petter. Look to the results in 2008. I think he is better than Mikko too. What Atkinson has done with that crappy Subaru in 2008 was very impressive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stalks
WAS better in 2008.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wim_Impreza
This is 2010, and he's been pounding his pudding since, so who knows now.
Now personally i think he's a putz but that sid it is an affort to logic that a guy with a proven record cannot find a good ride while the WRC field is filled with RautenWilsonBlock types.
It is maddness.
If he was in a better car in 2008, he might have been able to win rallies.
maybe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Langdale Forest
you could just as well say IF he was able to win rallies he'd be in a better car.
If is always a treacherous word.
Well, news flash! He's going to have to now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitch555
Every rally, every year he sits on the sidelines waiting for the golden offer is another rally, another year that someone willing to spend their own money will get a drive ahead of him.
Honestly, how many properly paid drivers are there in WRC now? 4, 5? The rest are paying themselves, or bring personal sponsors to the team. He has said he won't pay, and which personal sponsors does he have?
For the most part of his APRC Suzuki drive it was in all honesty probably financially propped up by his father, as were his ARC campaigns. Can you recall what signage/sponsors were on his Group N Impreza's?
Maybe if dad sells one or more of his personal helicopters he could fund it that way.
What is the background with his Father then?Quote:
Originally Posted by Stalks
I like how everyone thinks Chris can just conjure money out of the air and get back into rallying. Although Chris didn't pay for his drives, he probably wasn't paid much either. For him to raise the funds for a tilt at the WRC, PWRC or even ARC would take a really big effort considering motorsport is dominated by the V8 Supercars in Australia. So although you can get stuck into him for not driving, its not like he's a superstar like Petter, or living in a country like Finland where people are able to find people to sponsor rally drivers.
@Stalks. What is the story of John Atkinson. It is impossible to find any info on the net. Only John Atkinson I can find is the man involved in the Gore Atkinson Group (different John Atkinson though)