2008 Neste Oil Rally Finland - official thread

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Originally Posted by duff

That’s exactly it.

Any of us who have spent time driving in stages know that the amount of variables in any given stage is huge. Driving a rally car really fast on a stage is a very difficult thing to do, and a very easy thing to get wrong and end up off the road. Every corner is different and, even with pace notes, you are never 100% sure what is coming down the next stretch of road. How advanced your car is is only a part (admittedly a large one) of the in stage variables.

Yes the cars are MUCH easier to drive than the good old days, but when it comes down to it the car does not drive itself. The driver still needs to steer, brake, accelerate, listen to pace notes, read the road, use his judgement, take risks just as much as they ever did.
The car is just the tool of the sport. Whether its easier/harder to drive, more/less sideways, fwd/rwd or 4wd, as long as everyone is in similar equipment its the guy behind the steering wheel that makes the difference.

I am not a fan of Loebs, I would rather see another guy winning for a change, but lets give credit where credit is due - to the guy who out drove everyone else in the same event, under the same regulations, to take the win in NORF 2008.

I'm sure the debate will rage on, but when it comes down to it it’s the record book that tells the story - and Loeb's name is all over it.

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I agree .
And I am sorry if I gave the wrong impression with my posts.

Even if the WRC cars are easier to drive than the Group A cars that doesn't mean a lot regarding the efforts of the drivers. Is very demanding to drive even a N2 car in a rally to say the least. To be on the limit all the time with a WRC car is something to applaud not criticise for sure...
My point was not to undermine the efforts of the rest of WRC drivers....

I rate Loeb at the highest level. I just thought that if he was in another era the records wouldn't be as easy to achieve as in the current era. And this because also the teams back then would pay the driver to do the job. Thus we were watching the elite of rally drivers. Here half the grid pay or have their sponsors pay for their drive... The competition is in the lowest level since the pay and drive thing came into the WRC life at the current extent... simple as that.

I do respect every driver from the 1st to the last but the true fact is that very few can do the required job.

my pics from 2008 neste rally finland :eek:

http://www.samzon.kuvat.fi/kuvat/

My pics from Finland: http://www.rallyfoto.be

Sorry if i missed it, anyone have some info about Seb beeing caught speeding?

He was caught doing 100kph in a 60 kph area before the rally.

Gabor Meyr, Andrea Cortinovis and Vytautas Baranauskas were caught speeding last Tuesday and immediately lost their driving license that very same day - and weren´t in the end allowed to start the rally. On Wednesday a fairly unknown French fellow called Sebastien Loeb was caught speeding 41km/h over the limit - just like Baraunauskas. For some unknown reason the police didn´t deal with Loeb´s speeding issue until Sunday after the rally - the person deciding about the driving license ban got the information about Loeb´s speeding on Friday two days after the speeding happened and then it was too late to stop Seb from starting the rally - go figure..

In Finnish:
http://www.hs.fi/urheilu/artikkeli/L.../1135238319501

I think its stupid for rally drivers not to allow to participate in a rally because of something so small as a speeding ticket.....in the case of Meyr and Cortinovis the police did a stupid thing...

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Originally Posted by N.O.T

I think its stupid for rally drivers not to allow to participate in a rally because of something so small as a speeding ticket.....in the case of Meyr and Cortinovis the police did a stupid thing...

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so you think the law should be different if the guy happens to be a rally driver?

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Originally Posted by Tomi

so you think the law should be different if the guy happens to be a rally driver?

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I think surely competition and driving on the road should be separate. If Loeb had lost his licence what problem is there with him driving on the stages and having Elena driving on the public roads? I think this is a more sensible way to deal with things. I think the rules of the country you're in should be accepted and abided by. You have to wonder why Loeb was treated differently to these other drivers. But then again it's obvious why :) Money talks and privateers get excluded. Good fight for the win though :p

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Originally Posted by Daniel

I think surely competition and driving on the road should be separate. If Loeb had lost his licence what problem is there with him driving on the stages and having Elena driving on the public roads? I think this is a more sensible way to deal with things. I think the rules of the country you're in should be accepted and abided by. You have to wonder why Loeb was treated differently to these other drivers. But then again it's obvious why :) Money talks and privateers get excluded. Good fight for the win though :p

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Yes money seems to talk, also Citroen should stop to use their wrc testcar on public roads after the roads are not closed anymore.