Quote Originally Posted by Steve Boyd View Post
If these cars were run by privateers who did their own preparation in their own garages then you might be right.

Nobody anywhere near the top of the sport does that these days.
On a tangent inspired by that... We hear the term "local heroes" in threads like this. But how much does being local count for? Has a local driver done the stages in (say) the Central European Rally before, do they have better knowledge than WRC drivers with all their recce and study of previous onboards and so on?

Once you get beyond "Scandi-Baltic drivers are more familiar with snow", how much does being local count for in rally driving?