Reminder to rally fans: Rally New Zealand tonight on Speed

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 8:56 pm

Rally fans:

Full Rally New Zealand coverage starts at 9 p.m. (EDT) tonight on Speed with a 30-minute preview show, followed at 9:30 by the 90-minute coverage show.

Set the VCR's, DVR's and TiVo's, and GO PETTER SOLBERG and SUBARU!

Take care,
PK

Kruza · Post by **Kruza** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:01 pm

The finish between Solberg, Gronholm, and Martin late in this rally was as close and as exciting as I've seen in a long time. Awesome.

Kruza

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:14 pm

Kruza:

No doubt.

Solberg admitted after the rally that Gronholm is the last guy in the world you want chasing you on the final day. Petter said he was pushing his ass off, as was Marcus.

Marcus is an animal who puts winning above everything, even with the point system now rewarding consistency. I honestly think Marcus would rather win five rallies and finish second in the points than win one rally and take the championship.

I think four points separate the top four in the WRC now, and each of the top four are with different manufacturers. A refreshing change from another worldwide series sanctioned by the FIA ...

Take care,
PK

mixdj1 · Post by **mixdj1** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:26 pm

It was a rough beginning for me when the Mitsubishi cars (Hey Nicky it's not "Mitsubushi") failed to even start up but it was still one hell of a rally. The wife and I cracked up when Duval's co-driver hopped out at the end of the stage to rip that independent driver a new one for not pulling over. Funny stuff.

Cell phone rings in background ... ...
Independent Ford Driver "I hope that wasn't them calling to ask us to pull over because of the dust we were kicking up"
Independent Ford Driver "Oh crap, it's a works Ford"

Not exactly a word for word quote but you get the idea.

mixdj1

Kruza · Post by **Kruza** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:29 pm

Yeah, the Formula 1 series is a lost cause, unless the FIA somehow decides to start Michael Schumacher off with 0 points and allow everyone else to begin at 100 points at the start of the season. Then things may get a little interesting.

Kruza

BBReBozo · Post by **BBReBozo** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:47 pm

I'm beginning to entertain the idea of Ferrari (and, thus, Schumi) winning every single race this year. That this is even within the realm of possibility is a sad commentary on the state of the sport, especially after such a brilliant season in 2003.

mgoblue · Post by **mgoblue** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:50 pm

BBReBozo wrote:I'm beginning to entertain the idea of Ferrari (and, thus, Schumi) winning every single race this year. That this is even within the realm of possibility is a sad commentary on the state of the sport, especially after such a brilliant season in 2003.

I kinda follow F1, just seeing stuff on Speed once in a while. I know Schumacher's great, but how is he dominating this much? Is it the Ferrari equipment (better car)? Is the talent of the competition just not there? or is he one of those once in a generation drivers that can just dominate, ala Jordan in basketball?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:56 pm

mgoblue wrote:
BBReBozo wrote:I'm beginning to entertain the idea of Ferrari (and, thus, Schumi) winning every single race this year. That this is even within the realm of possibility is a sad commentary on the state of the sport, especially after such a brilliant season in 2003.
I kinda follow F1, just seeing stuff on Speed once in a while. I know Schumacher's great, but how is he dominating this much? Is it the Ferrari equipment (better car)? Is the talent of the competition just not there? or is he one of those once in a generation drivers that can just dominate, ala Jordan in basketball?

Blue:

Simple answer: Yes, yes and yes.

Take care,
PK

BBReBozo · Post by **BBReBozo** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 3:09 pm

pk500 wrote:
mgoblue wrote:
BBReBozo wrote:I'm beginning to entertain the idea of Ferrari (and, thus, Schumi) winning every single race this year. That this is even within the realm of possibility is a sad commentary on the state of the sport, especially after such a brilliant season in 2003.
I kinda follow F1, just seeing stuff on Speed once in a while. I know Schumacher's great, but how is he dominating this much? Is it the Ferrari equipment (better car)? Is the talent of the competition just not there? or is he one of those once in a generation drivers that can just dominate, ala Jordan in basketball?
Blue:

Simple answer: Yes, yes and yes.

Take care,
PK

Or: Yes, sorta, and maybe. Ferrari is unquestionably the best car with an astounding reliability record. Add to that the tremendous strides Bridgestone has made and you have a dangerous package.

There's some good to great drivers in the field these days -- Montoya, Webber and (dare I say it) Button and a bunch of slightly better than good drivers (Raikkonnen, Fisi, Ralf and Trulli). There's also a bunch of crap drivers out there who likely brought with their drives some heavy duty sponsorship.

As for Schumi being a Jordanesque figure: Maybe so. The man is driven beyond all comparison to win. He has superb technical skill and is certainly the best driver on the track. However, all other things being equal (i.e. remove the Ferrari quality from the mix) and I doubt you'd see Schumi dominating the way he does now. He'd still most likely win the championship, but not running away like he is now.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 4:27 pm

All decent points, but I'll just add some observations:

-I believe Fangio, Clark, and Senna all had dominating stretches in their careers where they won races lapping the whole field. Even so, most fans seem to have fond memories of those racers.

-In the not so distant past McLaren dominated like Ferrari does now, and Ferrari basically sucked. In the past 15 years there have been 5 McLaren driver championships, 4 Ferrari, 4 Williams, and 2 Benetton/Renault. Likewise in the constructors championships there have been 5 Williams, 5 Ferrari's, 4 McLaren, and 1 Renault.

-Schumacher won 2 world titles for Benetton (now Renault), before driving for Ferrari. They had basically done nothing before or since. In 1995 he won 9 races driving for Benetton/Renualt on his way to the championship.

-Schumacher drove for Ferrari from 1996-1999 without winning a world championship. During that time Willams drivers won 2 straight championships, then Mika won 2 straight for McLaren.

- In 1996 Schumacher won only 2 races driving for Ferrari, 1997 5 wins, 1998 6 wins, 1999 2 wins -injury missed 6 races -still was 5th in the championship, 2000 9 wins, 2001 11 wins, 2002 11 wins, 2003 6 wins.

- In 1992 Nigel Mansell won the championship for Williams scoring 9 wins out of 16 and had double the points of his teammate Patrese who was 2nd in the championship.

- In 1999, Eddie Irvine theoritically had the full backing of Ferrari's might while Schumacher was injured, yet he could still not beat Mika and McLaren.

- In 2003, FIA drastically changes the rules to "Ferrari/Schumi proof" the championship. It does make for a great championship fight, yet Schumi still wins in the end scoring 6 victories while no other driver had more than 2.

- In 2004, FIA even further changes rules, yet Schumacher and Ferrai still win the first 3 races of the season in dominating fashion.

-Ferrari and Schumi are playing within the rules the FIA has established. I am sure they push the limits, and I am sure they get away with stuff just like everyone else, but similar to the Yankees or the Lakers, they are not doing anything illegal.

- Does this dominance make for great racing? No, but it is certainly nothing new to F1, or racing in general for that matter. I seem to remember Richard Petty lapping the field once or twice in the 70's as well. However, I appreciate that I am witnessing greatness with every Schumacher pole and win.

-And no I am not really a Schumacher/Ferrari fan. His tactics with Hill and JV in his early years never sat well with me. However, I can appreciate his brilliance and his continual enhancing of his craft.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 5:13 pm

Agreed on Hakkinen, fellas. I think he's the only driver since Senna's death who has scared Schumacher.

Montoya appeared to be the next guy who would scare Schuey, but I really am starting to question his racecraft and commitment. The guy gets the red mist too often and is playing the blame game a bit too much for my liking.

Plus, look at his record: Three wins in 53 starts. He's been in good or excellent equipment since his F1 career began.

JPM is an excellent driver, but I'm starting to believe he's not in Schumacher's class.

Kimi Raikkonen? Another guy whom I'm starting to doubt. This kid is the next ordained superstar, yet he has ONE win in 53 career starts. Granted, the Sauber in which he started his career was a mid-pack car, and this year's McLaren appears to be a dog. But he was in quality McLaren equipment since 2002 and has one win.

Meanwhile, David Coulthard has two victories in the last two years for McLaren, and he's being tossed aside as scrap after this year.

Like JPM, Kimi is an excellent driver. But he's not in Schuey's category when you factor in racecraft, commitment off the track, leadership, the ability to effect change on a team, the ability to put together consistent, balls-out laps without mistakes when necessary and the ability to wring victories from cars that had no business winning, such as Montreal last year when Michael held off Ralf with a car that had failing brakes.

Then again, no one on the grid is in Schumacher's class, in my opinion.

Take care,
PK