2008 McRae Stages

it was a real joy to see the video of alister ripping through the forest in the stobart escort.

and that yellow mkI that russel brooks was driving looked pretty sweet.

and i just cant get over how awesome the 0 car sounded as it screamed through that hairpin in the video i linked earlier.

flatovercrest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sofa King Wrote:
> > This is JVL
>
>
> Blah blah.
> As far as the comments you make about Travis and
> Ken...put your jealousy aside, it shows no
> class...those two are some of the nicest guys
> you'll meet in this sport..
> I apologize in advance if I won't be able to
> follow up to your reply, I only occasionally
> browse this forum.
> In the meantime, enjoy the picture below.
> Alex Gelsomino
>
You silly boy, there are emotions more complex than jealousy.

I don't respect Blocks driving period.
It is in no way impressive, and is nothing that hundreds of people in lesser equipment do faster.
I sort work with the idea of he who does the "mostest with the leastest" get's my admiration.

Travis I had hopes for since he came from the same background as I did: moto-cross.

Seems that in cars he has become content to be a big fish in a small bucket, as we aren't even a pond here.

I'm not jealous Alex. I'm simply un-impressed and am disgusted at the absurd huge publicity machine churning out bullshit.

I say in person and in print what huge amounts of people say amongst themselves.
You know that.

Do you seriously believe that anybody would "be impressed" with Block's or Pastrana's driving results without a fulltime publicity machine inflating things?
And not just this event (man you guys have such a huge portfolio of excuses car problems, flats, not being used to the car, we weren't really trying blah blah blah)..
And Alex, sure they may very well be nice people although Block comes across as a spoiled whiner occasionally as when he called everybody who wasn't impressed with watch cars scurry around in the stadium "haters", but that isn't the point here.

Since you are comfortable in the whole scene and obviously get your jollies I think you can see no harm.

But I've said it before and I'll say it again: The simple unlimited expenditure of cubic money to dominate what is essentially pastime of a bunch of shoestring armatures is hardly worth praise, calling such people who ever they are "Super-stars" insults language, then seeing the extremely modest results anytime there is any actual competition in similar spec machinery shows the hype to be a lie.

Sports can and are ruined by people with too much ego to see that pouring multiple times the money that the average person in the game can simply dilute the meaning of results.

And some see it as some people who have enormous egos don't think that their ability to waste money demoralises many many MANY people from ever thinking about competing---since that massive show is all they ever see.

Anybody can buy anything with enough dough.
Except respect.


*Alex it takes a lot to impress me. I have seen and know too many exceptional drivers in my real passion moto-cross who worked their way up, worked on their bikes, drove themselves to events, drove in conditions far harder than merely sitting in a car with power everything for a few minutes of stage at a time to be particulary impressed by somebody beating for example me.
Or by coming 45th OA under Super-rally rules after a first or second stage roll, off or failure.

I have looked at plenty of in-car stuff with Block and Pastrana. Lots, and sorry it does not impress or excite me in the least.

I contrast it with much of what I see in GroupF in Finnish vids.
OFTEN I am amazed and shocked.

Those Finnish guys are the car equivalents of the moto-crossers who I once knew---and was myself when I was travelling around the world doing bikes and getting paid pretty good for me.

So no Alex i ain't jealous, I did harder stuff for a long time and I did it to a large degree by my own hand on every step of bike building, organising, travel, service, physical training, etc--all on top of full time work except 2 year fulltime bikes.


Your bag of excuses and simplistic accusation of jealous shows no class.

Sorry but people that know you have said you've changed "just like Christian did" since you are connected with this Subaru thing. And they say it's not for the better.

---

Monika Hawkinson
Seattle, WA

does anyone here know more about Horne's homebuilt DAM 4100GTI? it is a pretty neat looking little car. info i have found seems to say it is powered by two motorcycle engines. zat true?

I have seen Ken drive - I respect his driving - he trys and because he trys he puts on a good show. What is the point in trying to say he sucks or something?

---

In the long run reality always wins.

I have no idea Derek. I respect their driving too. They are good. There are better out there. Doesnt mean they arent good. John is right. Good is perspective. But they are still good. John, why arent you using your SN? This is RA. Did you get banned here too?

---

Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

derek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have seen Ken drive - I respect his driving - he
> trys and because he trys he puts on a good show.
> What is the point in trying to say he sucks or
> something?

I can't say if HE sucks, but things ARE RELATIVE.
Sure he drives good enough to beat all of us, but his forays overseas on selective events have showed dismal results in the lower 1/3 of the pack.

Thus, we can conclude that even though he's fast by our local standards, he's utterly less than mediocre by any broader measure.

Thanks to the power of magazines, TV and now Youtube, we all know what things look like in the rest of the world even down to club level guys, not the select few at the top of a WRC event.

By broader measure, we all suck.

IF we sugar coat things and call suck-a-tude "GREAT" or sucky drivers ---as fun as it may be to drive anytime---- "Heroes" and "Superstars", then we deny reality.

A smart guy I know has a good motto, sumpin like "Reality always wins".

Reality is, Block and Pastrana, while nice fellows by all reports, are NOT, by ANY broader standards, very fast or very good drivers, and without their ultimate spec Open turbo 4x4 cars, are really not very good at all.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> See me go at:
> www.11tenths.com
> In the long run Reality always wins.

---

Monika Hawkinson
Seattle, WA

With the same spec equipment in the real world; ie PWRC, both still show that they still have more to mature than to rest on their laurels (or lack thereof).

If it helps anyone here, I suck too.

gilbrock Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If it helps anyone here, I suck too.

We all do.
That doesn't mean we're "bad" or don't have fun.

But that also doesn't mean that somebody who beats you or I is a "SUPERSTAR" just because some squidloid writes embarrassing press releases calling you a SUPERSTAR.

---

Monika Hawkinson
Seattle, WA

I suck too! I also don't issue press releases or try to recruit sponsers. I don't think anybody SHOULD sponsor me although one person does. Rally is so much more than "fun" for me though. In those rare fleeting moments I get on stage it's like touching the hand of God.

---

Gone fishing

david amor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I suck too! I also don't issue press releases or
> try to recruit sponsers. I don't think anybody
> SHOULD sponsor me although one person does. Rally
> is so much more than "fun" for me though. In those
> rare fleeting moments I get on stage it's like
> touching the hand of God.

I see your point David. The way I look at it though, is I suck and I still market the shit out of myself to potential sponsors because frankly, I received more exposure from my car being entered in local car shows, the Gumball 3000 car show and displaying it in the CORR Racing and San Diego ComicCon parking lots than an entire YEAR of rally would have provided. Driving it to work on Fridays gets me more up-close views and hard stares than 1,000 stage miles would.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with seeking sponsors as long as you are completely upfront with the people you are seeking it from and tell them the nature of the beast, that is, very limited exposure.

I know and tell them the ROI will be minimal, but sometimes, the sponsors just want to help out people they think are doing something admirable and fun, like rally racing. The local alignment and tire shops that sponsor me think it's the coolest thing ever, and they fall all over themselves to help us out whenever they can.

Rally still is a very 'neat' thing to people, and to be associated with it gives them a ton of 'street cred' in some circles.

As an example, check out www.grimmspeed.com - they love that shot of us and are extremely excited to sponsor our team, and all it took was a letter.

Eli Gilbert