Even Sebastien Loeb can't believe how good he is!

Photo: Best of Rally Live

Sebastien Loeb is a nine time WRC champion, with 900 stage wins under his belt, it's fair to say he knows what he's doing but even he was shocked at how well he drive on the opening stage of the 2015 Montecarlo Rally.

Thing is,  Loeb  retired from full time rallying in 2012.  Sure, he did a couple of rallies in 2013 but basically he's been relaxing, a bit of le Mans here, a bit of WTCC there, schooled everyone at Global Rallycross, broke the Pikes Peak record,  you know, normal retiree stuff.  

This year, Citroen was able to talk him into one more Monte Carlo Rally, Loeb has won seven, it's his favorite event.   Loeb's target is rival Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, the current champion driving for VW.

The first stage of the Montecarlo rally was brutal: ice, snow and fog along the  21 km night stage.  Ogier set the early pace and led comfortably over the field until he's bested by Ott Tanak, driving for Ford. The Estonian beat Ogier by 9 seconds,  quite a feat in the conditions.

Then it was Loeb's turn.  He beat Tanak by 22 seconds, Ogier by over 30 seconds.   That is just ridiculous.   As he's mobbed by reporters waiting after the finish, Loeb, head soaked in sweat, asks how far back he is, he has no clue because new for this year drivers are not allowed to receive split time information.

"I just said to Daniel (Elena his co driver) three kilometers from the end, we are completely stopped" said Loeb "It was very difficult"

Masterclass.

This clip is taken from the live broadcast. If you love following live (or watch replays) we recommend you look into the WRC+ service which offers all that and more for $49 per season.

Robert Kubica On A Roll

Foggy day at the European Rally Championship Azores saw Robert Kubica again finding the limits of his Citroen. Kubica was able to continue despite a broken front suspension but lost over four minutes to the leader and winnner of the rally Jan Kopecky on a Skoda.

Battle of the Sabastiens!

Apparently, if your name is Sebastien, you have a 60% chance of being faster every time but, how does it work if you pit two Sebastiens against each other?

2013 Montecarlo Rally,  the last one ever for  Sebastien Loeb, the first for the "other" Sebastien, Ogier, in the new Volkswagen Polo WRC.

Stage 1 and it's a narrow victory for Ogier,  3.7 seconds over Loeb.   Predictably, this just serves to make Loeb mad and he proceeds to give Ogier 10 seconds on Stage 2 and 19 seconds on stage 3.

Overall the four stage first leg ends with Loeb ahead of Ogier by a fairly massive 1:20 and  1:46 in front of third place Hirvonnen.

Long rally,  brutal weather, lots of snow,and as it turns out,  embarrassing timing and scoring issues for the FIA and the ACM

 

Careful when you film rally cars testing...

That dot in the distance making a tasmanian devil style cloud in its wake is Mikko Hirvonen, testing his Citröen DS3 WRC on some gravel paths in Tuscany. Cool eh? Oh look, it's getting closer, and closer and...oh maremma maiala*, shouldn't those Michelins be on the bottom of the car?!...



* Tuscany is a region known for colorful swearing!

2012 Rally Mexico

ERIC VARGIOLU / DPPI 

Rally Mexico 2012, call it a double sombrero trick for Sebastien Loeb who after six wins there needs to open a rally school to teach others how to fast enough to  make his week ends interesting.

The video is by the highly recommended Best of Rally.com

King of Turini: Loeb makes it six in Monte Carlo

Granted not a huge surprise at this point but the accomplishment is titanic, twice as many wins as rally heroes Makinen and Aurion and two more than Rohrl. Behind Loeb and Elena, the MINI JCW of Dani Sordo followed by the Ford Fiesta of Peter Solberg.

You can read details elsewhere, enjoy these awesome highlight clips. After the jump, more clips and onboard of Sebastien Ogier's scary crash after his mistake early in the rally.

Monte Carlo Rally Day 3: just sounds

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Kimi Crashonen

Usually it's during a race, not before a race...

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Sebastien Loeb joins "Club 7"

Very exclusive club that one, seven time winners of a top category in Mototsport. There's Schumacher of course, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR, Valentino Rossi (if you count the one 500 cc championship) and now Sebastien Loeb.

Loeb, With Daniel Elena, clinched the 2010 title at Rally France, in his own home town, making it an incredible seven consecutive WRC crowns. The last time someone not named Loeb and driving a Citroen won a title was 2003 when Petter Solberg beat him by one point.

Has Loeb's domination killed off the WRC? I don't think so, if anything it has given the WRC a center during a period when the series has been, pardon the pun, a bit lost in the woods. The amazing thing about him is how very few mistakes he makes, his driving is so phenomenally precise without giving up any speed. Watch the Monte Carlo Clips after the jump, it's no endlessly rehearsed stunt driving, those are real cliffs just off the side.

Loeb has hinted at his retirement at the end of the 2011 season giving him the chance to join and even more exclusive club, "Club 8". That one has only one member, 8 time 500cc champion Giacomo Agostini.

SIde note: Check out the shifter, it's a single fixed paddle in a push pull arrangement, you can barely see Loeb punch it with his knuckles to downshift. More fodder for the paddles on the wheel vs paddles on the column debate.

Clips after the jump







2006 Monte Carlo Rally, note walls, cliff...


Another insane Monte stage

Raikkonen dominates the Dojo!

The good news is that Raikkonen won his first rally, the 2010 Rallye Vosgien, part of the French national championship, the bad news is that was a rally equivalent of Kramer dominating the dojo, his Red Bull Junior Team Citroen C4 was the only current spec WRC car entered.

Of course the reason why Kimi was in that rally at all is because it's run on the same tarmac roads as the upcoming Rally France. Which, as they say, begs the question: if he was going back to F1 next year would he be putting in the extra effort?

Clips after the jump will give you a better idea of the competition...



(Auto Hebdo)

Light, Nimble & Fast

Badass FWD Group A rally cars from the late 90's

Citroen Xsara specs
Renault Megane Maxi specs
Peugeot 306 Maxi specs

Amjeyes, the author of this compilation writes:

"The rally cars that produced the most memorable sounds of the late 1990s were definitely the notorius little hornets called the kit cars. Fast, nimble and light - no wonder the WRC class took a beating when these FWD bad boys were hammered to the limit on dry tarmac with top asphalt aces behind the wheel. This compilation features the best bits of the 1999 French Rally Championship with Citroen Xsara, Peugeot 306 Maxi and Renault Megane - with pure engine sounds of course.

Notice that during the 1999 season the FWD Citroen Xsara also won twice in the WRC with Philippe Bugalski clinching the grand prize in Rallye Catalunya and Tour de Corse."


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Meanwhile, Somewhere Near the Arctic Circle...

Kimi Raikkonen was FLYING! Go Kimster!

Monza Rally Show.

Kimi Raikkonen's switch to the WRC may have caught many by surprise but competing across various motorsport disciplines is really nothing new. In the past drivers, well, they just drove whatever, for money or for sport. Jim Clark drove F1, F2 but also Lotus Cortinas and Ford Fairlanes not to mention Indy. Vic Elford was a Rally World Champion with Porsche and an F1 driver with a number of teams. He drove 908 and 917 in endurance races and even won the Nürburgring 84 hr (that's right, 84 hours) of 1967 in the Porsche's first car with a semi automatic transmission. Of course there is John Surtees who was both a 350 and 500cc bike champion and a Formula 1 World Champion.

In this hyper corporate era it's always nice to see some of the biggest names in motorsport letting loose and having fun. In Monza last week we got to see Valentino Rossi and Audi's "Dindo" Capello tear it up in WRC cars. Great Idea the Monza Rally Show, a friendly competition on a special stage created using the Monza circuit. Especially cool is the use of the old abandoned banked track.

Capello is obviously as comfortable with the handbrake on this Citroën as he is with the big Audis at LeMans. This may be a friendly competition but make no mistake, they are still racers: Capello, after he crosses the finish line what he chuckles to navigator Gigi Pirollo roughly translates to: "F-it, If I didn't win with that one I'll cut my nuts off!".

At the end of the highlight clip, Rossi and Capello are speaking and Valentino congratulates the Le Mans winner, "Now we try on motorcycles". But then he tells Dindo they should do some enduros together. Capello suggests an R8.... I'm guessing it might happen. Cool!

More Clips after the jump

Kimi 's Kool as Ever

How many other F1 drivers would happily go to a Jr. team ? And the pairing of Red Bull and Raikkonen seems perfect. I hope he wins in the WRC and maybe he'll do the 24hr du Mans next (...ok that may requirre an extra dose of ice cream or two!)

Great news about Sauber too!...

(still on the road)


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WRC season Highlights

Sebastien Loeb made it six world championships in Wales this past week end. Here is a quick HL clip from Eurosport





More WRC on Axis

Conrad Rautenbach, Rally Portugal April 5, 2009




Past POD's

Politically Incorrect Commercial Film Festival

Unconstrained by an easily offended public, car companies have commissioned all manner of creative work for markets outside the US.   From Nissan's artistic stuntman Joe Zakopane to Maserati's mysterious soft core to Peugeot's humping bugs these are some of funniest and most bizarre clips you will never see on your American TV.

We'll start with Poland's most famous stuntman, you'll find the rest after the jump.

Even the best make mistakes

Sebastien Loeb says "my bad" in Sweden...



Even the best make mistakes... from AxisOfOversteer.com on Vimeo.

Suomi

Adil and our rally car friends over a Holunfie will like this. It's a scandal that there is zero coverage of WRC in the US. Is Pinks really that popular that entire afternoons need to be devoted to it?
Anyway... Rally Finland, Super Special Stage, Markus Gronholm vs Sebastian Loeb, Ford Focus vs Citroen C4. This sure makes the Race of Champions pale in comparison..

Finnish just seems like the perfect language for rally commentary!
enjoy......



and here is another: That last gray Mitsubishi does not sound so good...