Subaru not too hot in WRC

[Superu]

Sheesh, anyone else been checking out the manu' standings? It's all been downhill since Colin left.

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

[P1fiend]

I agree with ya 100%. And now with the new car....yikes. Well ya can't always win, although Colin could, in a Subaru that is!

[Habu]

We have not yet begun to fight!!!!
Hee hee. Hey even the greatest are entitled to hit a slump every now and then. But give it time, the season is still young....have faith player!!!

Gotta fly!
Skippy

[direwlf]

Once they stop breaking the cars, everything will be going good. The cars have been quite competetive till they blow up something, or get into an accident, or skid off the road, or...guess we just need to teach those guys how to drive

[Shik]

[Subie Gal]

LOL... somber bunch ain't ya?

the season is so young guys... there are too many contests left to start this moping around!!

i am a believer baby!!
<IMG SRC="http://www.richardburns.com/gallery2001l/0032p.jpg" border=0>
go Burnsy! who loves you sweetie?? i do! i do!


j. www.subiegal.com

[rsquire]

Gawd... Shouldn't the Ginger Git be in the Off Topic forum

Richard

[Subie Gal]

hehehehe no! cuz he drives a real car in a real motorsport! <IMG SRC="http://cwm.ragesofsanity.com/s/geno/wink.gif" border=0>

u know i lub u squire

j.

[Bob O]

Don't know if I agree with that Colin's gone bit. He hasn't exaclty helped Ford out, I think Carlos has been a better asset. Not that Colin's a bad driver; he pretty good when he doesn't destroy the car. With the New Impreza, we will how Subaru will fair. It's a good thing you can't get points taken away for having an ugly car.

Bob

[Subie Gal]

actually...
i think colin would be much better off in the Subie.. it suits his driving style much better.. hehehee... seriously! that ford is doing the man no justice...

he's hella fast!
j.

[brainrally]

Petter Solberg was doing pretty good until he busted the front suspension. Don't know why, but I'd like to see that guy do well. But I know the real competition is between Burns, Makinen and McRae (and a few other names I can't remember). I'm kinda new to the rally scene, so I'm still learning who's who. I'm still rootin' for the Subaru teams, but it seems that Mitsubishi has their EVO set up well.

Brian

[rnwang]

Doesn't look good for Subaru. They must win at Catalunya. First real asphalt stages this year. Monte all snow. Portugal all mud. Hope they get the Subaru set up. Mitsu look unbeatable. At least Ford sucks. Watch out for the Citroen Xsara

[Lafora]

I don't care who wins..really.. I really like TM..but scooby's DA CAR!!! (golfmodeon, you da man Scooby..err, you da car, rather. )

As long as Peugeot struggles, I'm all happy. HATE that team

Agreed, Peugeot sucks...i HATE them. Stupid French...

The conditions of two of the first three rallys have been WAY off from where they have been previous. Usually Monte has alot of slippy tarmac, this year, all slush and snow.
Usually in Portugal is all soft sandy conditions, in cool/warm weither. This year it was more of a mudding run then a rally.

And who is the one driver that can drive to the conditions and pull out victorys against all odds? Tommi Makinen. And who is right their nipping at his heels...Carlos Sainze. Both of these drivers have MASS experience, and are easily described by one simple word. Consistancy. Could you imagine, Carlos, and Tommi, behind the wheels of Subarus at the same time?! They would be unstoppable.

Anyway...this isnt fantasy WRC.

I think Ford will do better this year once the rally conditions get back to normal, and there is som predictibility in how the stages will be. I think Ford is definatly the team to beat this year. They have the best balance of drivers all around.

Subaru...blah...i dont expent anything out of them this year. Burns MIGHT win a rally...but thats asking alot i think. Their car is very new, and has alot fo bugs that it shouldent. Plus there is alot of young blood in the drivers seats. Experience counts in racing. And Subaru just doesnt have it this year.

Mitsubishi i think has a decent chance this year. I think if they win anymore rallys it will be from atrition. I dont think teh current Group-A (if you can really cal lit that anymore) car can hang in the top 3. I think Mitsu caught a break int eh weither in Monte and Portugal. It was Makinen that won those rallys, not Mitsu. But they definatly have the reliability down. I think the need to kick "Slow" Freddie to the curb and get a difernt number two...two years with mitsu and hes only placed in points TWICE. Definatly not helping the team any. Especially when you see Carlos and Colin diceing it out for the top spots. But i think once Mitsu moves over to the WR Car layout, they will be a force to be reconed with. If the lancer is as fast as it iss in a street bassed chassis...imagine how fast it will be in a purpose built racing one.

Peugeot has a good shot at it. They are going to be unning a new car mid season, thats lighter, and has some intake and exaust changes...funny they are making these changes and getting them homologated, when the street car hasnt made similar changes. Leave it to the damn FIA to show favoritism to their countrymen. Mind you the 206 doesnt even meet WR Car spec, yet there is is, im WR Car form. Bastards...i ahte it when they win. Although, i like Grohnholm. He seems like a really cool guy. And you have to admit that this guy drives balls to teh wall. If he can run courses for the first time, and win a championship...thats some driver skill. Its unfortunate that tPeugeot seems to be turning their focus to their other (french) drivers.

Citroen...hmmm...i dunno about them. the program seems really solid. And if the performance of the WRC Xarsa is anything like that of the F2 Xarsa, it will be a force to be reconed with. But i doubt this highly touted "undefeated" stance they take. Keep in mind that these rallys they so proudfully bost about winning, are the same rallys that companyts like Seat, and Skoda have picked up their first overall win in, with privater teams behind the wheel. So they really have NO competition in those rallys. Its like Possum Borne winning so many championships in the Asia Pacific rally series...look at his competition. THe only real threat is a couple of Arib guys in a Group-A Proton (i.e. EVO-VI). And heres Bourne out in a WR car...thats fair. So time will tell on Citroen i guess. But i think they definatly have the posision to make a mark.

Hyundai is picking up speed. They have a decent driver lineup, lots of F2 experiece. I think Hyundai will podium this year. They definatly look to be moving more and more in that direction. If they have the ability to run with, and almost beat Renault in the F2 catagory (which i beleive was far beyond the technical level of WR cars) then they definalty have a shot of running with the larger teams int eh WRC. But again, only time will tell.

Sheesh, i feel like im writing for a magazine article here.

Anyway, jsut expressing my view on the '01 WRC season.

[Julian]

That's always been Mitsu's trademark - reliability. If you never break, then you always finish. And with Tommi driving, and you never break, then you usually have a points-scoring finish.

Julian

[Gambit]

Man....even Hyundai is beating us. I know it's early. Wished the new WRC car came out with a bang. I would love it much more. I still have faith... OK if Hyundai beats us in the points after this season, I'm gonna go get an Accent! Or was that an Elantra?

[eastbaysubaru]

Does nobody have faith? I know that rallying is the toughest form of motorsports and most people here would agree with me. But it does change rapidly from event to event, both in points standings and conditions. All it takes is for Subaru to finish consistently and other teams to experience some of the misfortune that Subaru has in the last few events. Just wait, you'll see...

-Brian

[Superu]

I want that yellow beanie.

[raja]

first i must say peugeot has a good team and a good car. so if u dont like it look it up and ,as u have seen how it is dooing.for the subaru i dont like,what is happening is year hope it picks up? well u guy r forgetting the other car SEAT it too is kicking subaru's ass?

Raja, SEAT isnt runnign in this years WRC as a works team...if you want to get that technical, Toyota is kicking Subaru's ass, and they have been in the WRC for two years now...yet their Corolla is still running srong.

[D-Rock]

I'm new to rally racing and have never watched a race. But I read the board a bit and was wondering why the Subaru car is breaking. Doesn't Prodrive make these cars? I thought the Impreza was the ultimate rally machine.

[Arch]

Nothing is unbreakable. You run a car hard enough, something will give.

[direwlf]

A couple of times it is not a problem with the cars, it is the drivers and the tracks. In portugal, two of the subaru cars (markko martin and petter solberg) both hit the same rock in the same turn and destroyed the front suspensions. At Monte Carlo, the cars broke (or broke and then crashed like petter solberg ) The new car has quite a few changes even compared to the prototype car they ran last year. once they iron the bugs out, and the drivers rein in their destructive urges, they ought to do really well