Rally Quote on SpeedTV.com

>QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I have never driven in a rally and have no
>desire to ride in a rally. I’ll take concrete walls over trees
>any day. I know what angle I’m going to hit the concrete wall.
>I don’t know what angle I’m going to hit the tree.” —
>inveterate racer Ken Schrader on whether he’d like to take a
>stab at rallying.

####!


Dennis Martin
[email protected]
920-432-4845

>Yeah I believe that was the Michelin(at least it was then)
>Race of Champions 2002, and Marcus was taking Jeff Gordon for
>a ride... and then promptly rolled the car. It is also worth
>noting that at that same event Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson,
>both of which are Nascar drivers, went to win the Nations Cup
>for the USA. It may be pretty boring for most of us rally guys
>to watch, but it isn't as easy as it looks to drive a 3500#,
>poor handling(by racecar standards) racecar at close to 200mph
>inches away from another car for 3hrs straight. Do not be
>fooled, for the most part these guys can drive. I don't
>particularly enjoy Nascar or the Circus that goes along w/ it,
>but I do respect most of their drivers.
>
>Edited for poor grammer



It is worth noting that Jimmy Johnson really launched his career in Baja racing....

>I saw that ROC, too. I recorded it on VHS and it's somewhere
>around here. If I remember right Gordon was having a helluva
>good time and was all smiles in the interviews. He's into
>rallying and I've seen him say his favorite games are rally
>games. They should have asked him that question about taking a
>stab at rally. He could make a great deal of publicity for the
>sport even with one event.

It's a pity that the X Games rally is the same weekend as the Brickyard 400. That could have been interesting to try and arrange.

Ben

BTW, I posted that quotation simply because I found it amusing. I'm not trying to slam NASCAR. I have a huge amount of respect for Ken Shrader and most of the other Nextel Cup drivers.

>>You'd also be
>>surprised at how many people think that rally is even
>crazier
>>than my motorcycle road racing days.
>
>Well ... it may be neck & neck, but until I'm given the OK to
>tackle a rally driver with obvious broken bones to keep him
>from saddling back up and taking to the stage after a wreck
>(like we F&C guys & gals were at the first WERA race I worked
>corners) I'm thinking motorcycle roadracers might just the
>edge us in that lunatic fringe category ...

All you have to do is watch the TT races to realize the open road motorcycle guys are an order of magnitude crazier than us (and some of them are codrivers...). I remember seeing a race where the sidecar got a little too close to a wrought iron fence and peeled his monkey off - fortunately without injury. The end of the clip showed the rider looking back at his partner (who was just getting up) as he entered the next corner.

And K.S. doesn't just race every weekend, he'll do one or more mid-week races as well. He knows how to go sideways on dirt (albeit mostly turning left). BYW, I do agree with his sentiment about hitting walls rather than trees (or rocks, or other cars...)

Adrian

>I remember seeing a race
>where the sidecar got a little too close to a wrought iron
>fence and peeled his monkey off - fortunately without injury.
>The end of the clip showed the rider looking back at his
>partner (who was just getting up) as he entered the next
>corner.
>
>Adrian

Adrian:

I am highly chagrined that of all people you would refer to any kind of co-driver as a "monkey". After all, you as well as I know that drivers are the true trained chimps who are told when to turn and when to get on the gas and brakes.

Wilson



"Rallying is not easy at all sometimes. If you are not lucky, you are not lucky, and if you are lucky, you are lucky - everything works well. But today was, today was not so lucky."

Tommi Makkinen - 2001 RAC Rally

>Why should he? With rallying working to emulate NASCAR most
>night stages are gone, 24 hour events are gone, WRC no longer
>has mixed surface stages, etc, etc. Soon rallying won't even
>be done in the rain......... just like NASCAR.

Night stages are gone? Come to Ojibwe, and don't forget to bring a flashlight. 24-hour events were gone well before I got here. I don't know what the WRC is up to, but there have only been a few mixed surface stages that I've been able to run. And I wouldn't throw away my Rally umbrella anytime soon if I were you. But the real reason I felt compelled to reply:

>"They" call this crap "progress". ... and I'm the Easter
>Bunny.

I knew it! I thought I recognized you lurking in my bushes with a pink bunny suit! Hey next time more Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs please... And those weren't really chocolate covered raisins you left on my doorstep, were they...

Cheers,
-Doug