Suzuki SX4 WRC in the flesh!

[Doug Woods]

I am surprised though that L'Estage isn't running in the US for a piece of the X-Games hooplah and loot...

Perhaps he will get an invitation and will not have to bother with the qualification process.

[L5->R5/CR]

Perhaps he will get an invitation and will not have to bother with the qualification process.

Perhaps...

But there are a lot of drivers that have just as good of a reason to hope for/expect one of those so unless it has been offered already, in which case all the invites should be made public to the rally community. Until that point I'll go back to giving him 4 in 15 odds of getting one and hope that if he has a formal invite it will be made public because there are some people spending a lot of time and money to try to build their case for an invite, which if they are already made, they can save themselves.

I'm not trying to bag on Antoine, but there are drivers putting a lot into it in RA (and isn't RA participation supposed to be an invite factor) and I'd hate to see them doing it in vain/false impressions.

[Doug Woods]

Perhaps...

But there are a lot of drivers that have just as good of a reason to hope for/expect one of those so unless it has been offered already, in which case all the invites should be made public to the rally community. Until that point I'll go back to giving him 4 in 15 odds of getting one and hope that if he has a formal invite it will be made public because there are some people spending a lot of time and money to try to build their case for an invite, which if they are already made, they can save themselves.

I'm not trying to bag on Antoine, but there are drivers putting a lot into it in RA (and isn't RA participation supposed to be an invite factor) and I'd hate to see them doing it in vain/false impressions.

Kevin:

This would be a good discussion to start up on SpecialStage.com. This is the wrong place.

I generally agree with you. But, I have stong opinions that some of last year's invitees do not deserve a repeat invitation as they have shown no support for the sport in the last year.

For example, I think that Antoine deserves an invitation. He is Canadian champion and his priority is to win that championship again. He just cannot compete in the first five RA events in 2007. He is certainly more deserving of an invitation than say Millen or Richard. They got their 2006 invitiations and they were well deserved. But in my mind, they were a one time thing.

Others will disagree.

[m.lowe]

Now that would be nice to see the Sprongl's in a WR car in the Canadian championship

Is Tom McGeer still competing, reason I ask is that I havent seen any footage over here in the UK od the Canadian championship

[Doug Woods]

Is Tom McGeer still competing, reason I ask is that I havent seen any footage over here in the UK od the Canadian championship

Tom is no longer competing. Not to say that he won't drive again.

The last two years, he has put a lot back into the sport by helping prepare the stage notes for all competitors and driving the "0" car on the Tall Pines Rally.

[L5->R5/CR]

Kevin:

This would be a good discussion to start up on SpecialStage.com. This is the wrong place.

I generally agree with you. But, I have stong opinions that some of last year's invitees do not deserve a repeat invitation as they have shown no support for the sport in the last year.

For example, I think that Antoine deserves an invitation. He is Canadian champion and his priority is to win that championship again. He just cannot compete in the first five RA events in 2007. He is certainly more deserving of an invitation than say Millen or Richard. They got their 2006 invitiations and they were well deserved. But in my mind, they were a one time thing.

Others will disagree.

Let's just say generally speaking I agree with just about everything you said (can't make up my mind if a CARS championship or NARC title should be an automatic qualifier for an invitation though).

As for this not being the place for this discussion, you're right, but it is a can of worms that I am not in a position to open on SS.com either so...

[WRCfan]

Im pretty sure they had the real one at the Tokyo Auto Salon as well.
I managed to get up very close and the whole car seemed very authentic. Brakes, suspension, inside cockpit, and looking through the vents in the grill there was definately no standard engine.
Managed to shoot this photo on Saturday (when the car wasnt swamped with people)

[jonas_mcrae]

seems "real", dont know about the breaks, maybe the pic is not that detailed but thanks for posting, anyway the real car is gonna look almost the same as a replica isnt it?

[klm-607]

I hope their Rally Cars are better than their Road Cars... those are crap! Always break down, no power, cheap garbage carts. A god friend of mine worked as a Tech. for a Suzuki dealer for about 5-6years, & said STAY AWAY from any Car/SUV made by Suzuki. I was a KIA Tech. for about the same amount of time & told him they must be related. In my experience (& his) Suzuki, KIA & Hyundai are ALL throw away vehicles.

[Simon Speichert]

Well I set myself up for disappointment, as the "car" that showed up was the same mockup as in the pictures above. I should have known better - this motorshow was set up by dealers rather than manufacturers, and dealers don't have the influence to bring in anything special.

It's a good thing I didn't think to ask anyone at the Suzuki stand about the Gardemeister rumors, as I think they would have had no clue what I was talking about!