The best rally driver ever

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The best driver ever

  • Total voters
    115
Sebastian Loeb gets my vote he is still young and can go much futher.
 
I think Juha Kankkunen is the best all round driver ever. He is fast, reliable & has won the world championship 4 times. He is the only man to win it in group b, group a & WRC
 
I find it difficult to choose between Stig Blomqvist, Walter Rohrl and Hannu Mikkola. I think in the end my vote goes to Walter Rohrl though.
 
My vote went to Tommi Makinen, the best rally driver i've seen and i love those Evos, i'm guessing some of these guys are before my time. Stig Blomqvist would have been my second choice :)
 
GilesGuthrie
I decided on Stig Blomqvist eventually.
Click to expand...
I voted Stig baby, too!

My runners-up were Walter Rohrl and Markus Groenholm. Markus is maybe not a perfect driver, but he's so unflappable and so professional in his on-camera time that he gets my honorable mention for being a class act.
 
23 World championships between the bunch... Choosing one is near impossible.

The first rally I ever watched was won by Makinen, instantly he became my favorite driver. When he was at his prime, it seemed like no one could even get close. I found some old Group B footage on TV one day, and that completely blew my mind... Vatanen, Bloomqvist, Mikkola, Rohrl... these guys were insane, but still not as insane as the people watching them. Vatanen left a lasting impression, which only grew stronger when I watched "Climb Dance", a short video made by Peugeot, showcasing the Pikes Peak winning 405T16. The way he controlled that car, right on the edge of the mountain, that just amazed me. Shifting the gears, blocking the sun with one hand, countersteering with the other, all that at about 90mph on loose gravel, without a guardrail to stop him should he go off the trail. Insanity.

I narrowed it down to two, Makinen and Vatanen. Considering the differences between the eras, it's impossible to pick just one. The one I can safely pick, without thinking twice, however, is the next one to go big and become a true legend; Petter Solberg.
 
I haven't voted, although I love it when they interview Marcus Grönholm after somekind of mishap or technical failure hes always good natured about it & funny. Unlike Colin McRae... Although he is still a very good driver.

Still the group B rally drivers are probably the most skilled. The amount of difficulties they had to contend with, especially with all that power & stupid spectators.
 
1) Tommi Mäkinen
2) Ari Vatanen

Tommi got my vote,but Ari is very close behind, brillaint guys
 
PunkRock
23 World championships between the bunch... Choosing one is near impossible.

The first rally I ever watched was won by Makinen, instantly he became my favorite driver. When he was at his prime, it seemed like no one could even get close. I found some old Group B footage on TV one day, and that completely blew my mind... Vatanen, Bloomqvist, Mikkola, Rohrl... these guys were insane, but still not as insane as the people watching them. Vatanen left a lasting impression, which only grew stronger when I watched "Climb Dance", a short video made by Peugeot, showcasing the Pikes Peak winning 405T16. The way he controlled that car, right on the edge of the mountain, that just amazed me. Shifting the gears, blocking the sun with one hand, countersteering with the other, all that at about 90mph on loose gravel, without a guardrail to stop him should he go off the trail. Insanity.

I narrowed it down to two, Makinen and Vatanen. Considering the differences between the eras, it's impossible to pick just one. The one I can safely pick, without thinking twice, however, is the next one to go big and become a true legend; Petter Solberg.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you on all the points you mentioned.
Makinen was really impressive in his best years. He had this ability to suddenly accelerate the pace, when he had decided, and left his opponents far away. I bet he could have won in 2001 (Burns title) if Mitsubishi had let him drive the Evo6 the whole season, instead of introducing the new Evo7 for the last 3 races.

A lot of respect for the group B drivers. I just can't figure out how theses guys could drive such monsters across the road......and spectators.

My current drivers favourite is Peter Solberg. He's fast, reliable now, and it's so nice to see his enthusiasm when he takes victory !
 
Yes, Group B drivers are most skillful drivers. And in that era there were so many Finnish drivers :) So Finnish drivers are skillful... 💡

Okay, Tommi is maybe the best but technical failures and mistakes in driving ended his career a bit sadly. Same thing is happening to Marcus Grönholm but who knows if he can turn it to better!
 
daan
Gwyndaf Evans. School bus driver during the week, demon rally driver at the weekends. And he looked nothing like a demon rally driver.
(I know he shouldn't really be mentioned in the same thread as the other "real" greats above. I just think it's great that he drove the school bus!)
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Haha, is this really true? Great story!

btw, I picked Ari Vatanen. He won first rally I saw on TV, liked him ever since.

Of the current drivers I like Petter most, because of his style and personality!
 
I voted for Walter!

Because of his car control and he is a german guy like me.

About good drivers that died to early:

Stefan Bellof ( I know that he was not a rallye driver)

(still holds the record on the Nordschleife)

Have Fun
 
no idea why i voted for someone else, i have no idea when i did that either

anyway, i would have voted for Sebastien Loeb, awsome driver. Gronhlm is close and so is makinen and mcrae.
 
I think, like any sport, it's difficult to compare eras. Who's to say that Loeb or Solberg couldn't have handled a Group B car as well as Toivonen, Vatanen or Kankkunen?

I really wanted to vote for Loeb; he's just in a different class to everyone else at the moment, but that is the point; he still has a lot of his career ahead of him. Personally I think Seb WILL BE judged best rally driver ever in the future, but it's not a fair call to make while he's dominating the WRC.

So I voted for the consummate professional: Carlos Sainz.
 
This was a tough one. Henri Toivonen might have become the best ever, but he wasn't allowed to live long enough to show his talents. By the way, the car with which he won the Monte Carlo in 1986 had a badly-bent fuselage due to a crash with a lorry during the rally (not on a special stage though!).

Still Tommi Mäkinen is the best, "The king of the rally rodeo" as described in a song written about him and other drivers of the late '90s.

There is no man to beat the Finnish when it comes to driving fast... no man...
 
Can I mention Gigi Galli?

The guy doesn't know any other way to drive other than flat out. I love watching him in the Lancer this year.

Check out the videos on his website http://www.gigigalli.com/video_gb.htm Pay particular attention to gigi_6.wmv at 45 seconds in.
 
yeah hes great to watch, but his driving style could also be his downfall, he makes lots of mistakes, like in germany, hit a bank and spun.
 
Colin McRae beats Burns any day because of pure skill. he was the youngest guy to win the wrc and did lemans and the dakar too.

To prove all of this he is dong rally gb this year - and i'm going.



Go McRae!!!
 
Richard Burns has been out for a few years ill......how can he have proved anything recently.
 
I have a video of Ari Vatenan in the Peugeot Pikes Peak car going up pikes peak... That dude's a rally GOD!!!
 
Well, I voted Henri Toivonen. Toivonen was to rally what Senna was to F1.

However, I do feel that one of the absolute all-time greats has been severely slighted on this list.

Where in the hell is PADDY HOPKIRK?????

Paddy%20in%20action.JPG
 
^ Is that the mini with the "illegal" headlights?

I notice the rally plate says Monte Carlo.

Anybody who could pilot a mini flat-out in a rally stage has my respect. :scared:
 
Nope, that's the infamous 33EJB that Paddy Hopkirk wheeled to the overall win in the Monte Carlo Rally of 1964.

Paddy also took the overall win in 1966 in a Mini, but the entire Mini team was disqualified by (French) officials over a "headlight infraction".

In 1965, the equally immortal Timo Makinen won for Mini.
 

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