Just back from a few days in Wales. The trip was an eye-opener.
There were two main topics of conversation in the service areas, and around the bars, during the course of what is now known as Wales Rally GB. That’s the RAC Rally of Great Britain to you and me, except that the event is now staged entirely in Wales. Anyway.
Everybody wanted to talk about Honda’s withdrawal from Grand Prix racing and everybody was talking about the weather. These were not related but in their own ways were equally important.
Last Friday morning, very early last Friday morning (this is rallying, remember) we crawled out of our beds in the Marriott Hotel and stumbled to the door to grab our free copies of the Times newspaper. And there it was, right across the back page. Honda can no longer afford to stay in Formula One, the company is suffering from a slump in sales and so, sayonara Honda. Not a huge surprise, possibly, but a shock nonetheless when it came. Had the Japanese manufacturer just won the World Championship then no doubt it would be staying put.
But, clearly, the Grand Prix team has been going nowhere, and this despite the recruitment of Ross Brawn, oodles of cash and state-of-the-art technical facilities which are the envy of many a smaller team. It was inevitable, considering the slowdown in car sales worldwide, that something had to give, and it gave. Poor old Jenson Button, I thought, as I headed out to the service park in Swansea, he really hasn’t been in the right place at the right time, for a long time. But then, if he’d stayed at Williams, or at Renault, he probably wouldn’t have fared much better. Jenson’s a damn good racing driver and he deserves better. But, in Formula One timing is everything, just as in the real world.
David Richards, Team Principal at the Subaru World Rally Team and formerly the same at BAR Honda, expressed his disappointment and his sympathy for the staff facing an uncertain future. “I gather the team has been given three months to find a buyer,” said DR, wrapped up against the Welsh winter, “and they will probably find one, be on the grid next year. I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of Honda but it might not be the only team to pull out as a result of the global slowdown.” Would he be interested in dipping into his pockets one more time? “I won’t be rushing into anything,” he said, “ their overheads are huge, there are certain problems, and I will be watching to see what happens over the next few days and weeks.” Right then and there, the blue Subarus of Solberg and Atkinson were his primary concern – that and flying Japanese executives to the rally stages in his helicopter.
Then there was the weather. Why would that be a problem for rally drivers, you might ask? Surely they dance on ice, plough through snow and thrash through fog? Not now they don’t. New regulations drawn up by the FIA mean that gravel note crews are banned and only one type of tyre may be used throughout the rally. This in turn means that the stages have not been noted immediately before the start and that –if there is ice – the Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyre will not be as effective as it otherwise might be.
There was ice and the tyre wasn’t happy. Nor was multiple world champion Sebastien Loeb, first man out on the initial stages in the early morning frost. “There is no recce from the gravel crew any more,” he said, “and you just don’t know where the ice is, where the mud is, or what is round the next corner. I’d rather go home.” He didn’t go home of course – he won the rally with a sensational drive on the final two stages. It was frosty, it was sunny, the sky was blue and the Brecon Beacons looked more beautiful than ever. I hope those sheep know how lucky they are.
You can read lots more about the extraordinary Monsieur Loeb in the next edition of the magazine. Five times WRC champion, mighty quick in a Red Bull Grand Prix car, right on the pace in the Peugeot 908 HDi – this is a truly gifted racing driver.
Honda’s decision will bring a disaster to Formula 1. The FIA seems determined to kill the patient in order to stop the disease, and will use Honda’s withdrawal to justify its rampage. Certainly F-1 needs to do all the right things to see this crisis through, but it also needs to come out on the other end still being the one and only FORMULA ONE. I would much rather see an agreement to cancel the 2010 season completely with a commitment to do it right afterwards than to have F-1 turn into a spec-car series. But that is exactly where the current road leads.
My appologies to Messrs. Loeb and Widdows. I don’t know enough abour rallying to comment on it.
Shiver my timbers and bless my cotton socks it’s damn cold here.Colder than Wales and not as much fun.
Anyway, yes, none of us want to see the emasculation of Grand Prix racing but something has to be done, and rapidly, just as all big global businesses are having to do similar. We are probably heading for tough times. Been too good for too long.
I’m not sure that the FIA is doing many things worong here. Further, I’d say Max Mosley has it about right. The best medecine is always the most foul-tasting and I do think there will be no gain without pain as somebody said, possibly Margaret Thatcher…………
Thing is, modern “F1″ is just too expensive, it’s out of control and unsustainable. So measures have to be taken to ensure the future health and prosperity of the business. Sorry,the sport.
None of us want to see a standard engine and Ferrari are never in a million millenia going to put a Cosworth in the back of a red car. There will be a compromise, as ever, and Mosley is simply trying to focus a few minds.
I have spoken to many of the teams lately (for a feature on the impact of recesssion in the magazine) and they all feel cautiously confident that, at last, the teams are all working together to find a solution to spiralling costs. Even Ferrari and McLaren are talking to each other sensibly, under the auspices of the FOTA.
Let’s be optimistic. There have to be changes if Grand Prix racing is going to continue against the background of climate change, global recession and slumping sales of new cars.
RW
Ales, you don’t need to know anything about rallying to know that Sebastien Loeb is a very gifted and very special driver.
Setting aside his remarkable records in the Citroen C4, he has also been mighty impressive in a Red Bull Grand Prix car and in a Peugeot 908 Le Mans car.
This coming Sunday Loeb will be competing in the Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium in London. This was much more fun (and warmer)when it was held in the Canary Islands but it’s still a great spectacle.
If you haven’t seen Loeb on a rally, I recommend a visit to North London on Sunday. This is arguably the greatest all-round racing driver in the sport today.
RW
Thanks Rob, I will gladly take your word for it. But wasn’t he (and bunch of other superstars) beaten by an inexperienced World Series by Nissan youngster just a few years back? Just kidding, of course. In any case, I won’t be coming to North London any time soon, I am affraid. It is just a bit too much out of my way from just north of Boston MA. Cheers!
Lucky you living near Boston. Some beautiful country up there!
Yes, of course there’s always going to be an unknown kid who comes along and blows off the establishment. For me, that’s one of the most exciting things about sport.
Teenager Alexander Rossi (good name, for a start!) has just won the Formula BMW World Championship after a fantastic race in Mexico City. Now he gets a test in the BMW F1 car – and he’s only seventeen years old. He’d already won the Formula BMW Americas series and Mr Mario Theissen is said to be pretty impressed.
Anyway, I’m a big fan of Loeb and in fact I love watching rally cars at that level. Lots of skill and daring!
RW
I have to say this is a new low for rallying. Rallying does not always have to be flat out to be a truely excellent show. In 1993 at eight years of age, I stood and watched McRae, Kankkunen and a young Richard Burns drive on roads I could barely stand up on. It was amazing to watch and really showed the incredible talents that the top drivers had.
I unfortunatly missed the mid eighties peak in rallying (not being born was a drawback) and ever since then the best attributes of rallying have slowly been removed. What we are left with now are short events, poor routes and a lack of credibility. I do not doubt that the current crop of drivers are very fast, but the events they drive in barely compare to rallying gone by.
Bring back classis routes, long sections through the night in kielder and watch the people return to the forests.
Sorry to winge but I genuinely feel rallying deserves better than this
This is all good stuff. We like a good whinge and in many ways I do agree. But nothing is the way it used to be, and this applies to sport as much as it does to the rest of our 21st century life in the Western world.
I, too, preferred the long days and nights in the forests, the cars tackling ice, snow and fog along the way. And yes, those drivers had amazing stamina and courage. But it’s different now, and still exciting.
I asked david Richards, boss of the Subaru team, how he rated Sebastien Loeb. His comments are important, bearing in miond that he is a World Rally Champion co-driver, having sat alongside Ari Vatanen when they won the title in a Ford Escort.
“Loeb is, in my opinion, the best driver I have ever seen in the sport,” said Richards, ” I always considered Walter Rohrl to have that accolade in the past, and had he continued driving for a few years longer I’m sure he too would have been World Champion many times over.”
So, the sport has changed – and not all of it for the better – but there are still some truly great drivers out there. And some of the more demanding stages are still worth the trek.
RW
Amazing what can happen in a few days…
Rallying becomes a farce because the poor dears can’t drive on ice. Loeb wants to go home, but such is his talent he stays and wins. And then follows this up with an RoC win.
Honda disappears from F1, closely followed by Suzuki from WRC. DR thinks about buying Honda F1, but then the PSA Group jumps in with an expression of interest.
The FIA announces cost-cutting measures to F1, which seem to make sense – along with cost-cutting measures to WRC, which don’t.
Loeb says he won’t drive S2000 cars in WRC, but proves he’s blindingly fast in an F1 car.
So if all these pieces come together, we should very soon see Loeb in F1 in a Peugeot or Citroen badged car!
And this is supposed to be the time of year when nothing much happens!
–paul
To be honest Rob I do agree with what you are saying, I was just having a bit of a negative 5 minutes! It was great to watch Loeb flat out in wales, especially on the last day and for Dave Richards to say something like that speaks volumes.
All I hope is that both rallying and f1 both come out the other side of this in good stead.
Joe
Loeb in a Peugeot/Citroen Grand Prix car! Now wouldn’t that be something! He’s 34 years old now so it probably won’t happen. I bet that Nicolas Prost would be in line for the second seat however.
All pure speculation of course, but Peugeot has unfinished business in GP racing and Citroen is certainly a well organised and highly motivated WRC team. Big, big jump to “F1″ however. Judging by his inspiration in wales, Loeb was just bound to win at Wembley.
Yes, what a winter, and it’s only mid-December.Big news here is that we have a brand new ‘cat flap’ in a brand new door, having suffered for years with howling drafts and irritated cats. They are, as ever, utterly dismissive of their latest luxury.Yeah, well, life goes on.
Must now be time to create a few silly predictions and “top ten” likes and dislikes.
I’m working on mine………..
RW
After a flurry of rumours this week, we have been brought firmly down to earth with the news of Subaru’s withdrawal from the World Rally Championship. And Peugeot-Citroen has, as expected, denied any plans to enter Grand Prix racing.
The news from Subaru is a shocking blow for Prodrive, the engineering company led by david Richards that runs the WRC team. They are a terrific bunch of people, inspired by their Technical director David Lapworth, and will be much missed by the rally fraternity.
Let’s hope that most of them can find work in other divisions of Prodrive, or in the WRC itself.
Where will the enormously popular Petter Solberg find himself? Options must be limited, with Suzuki pulling out as well, but the sport needs extrovert characters like Solberg, not to mention his spectacular talent.
These are grim times for motor sport worldwide. Let us hope that, in the longer term, the sport emerges from this global crisis as a leaner, fitter and greener business.
RW