Most liked posts in thread: WRC: Dani Sordo and Patrik Sandell back in Prodrive Mini seats for Rally Portugal

I agree, we're just talking past each other, mostly because I'm trying to explain something no one else cares about. I absolutely agree, I want to see drivers and teams racing at the front and being competitive but I still never care who wins the seasonal championship. I don't root for one team or one driver, I want to see good competition, during races/rallies, on the road, period.

It's the same when I watch football. I don't have a favorite team and I don't care who wins, I just want to see a good, close game that's fought right up to the finish. I also don't care who makes it to the playoffs or to the superbowl, I just want all those post-season games to be good and close with lots of competition.

I don't care about seasonal bragging rights, I want each event to be entertaining, and in racing (this is where my oddball view comes in) I think a series championship sometimes takes away from that at the competitive level.

Here's an example. Hamilton was driving for McLaren in F1 a few years ago. Near the end of the season he was in the lead for the Driver's Championship. We're talking about a team and driver fighting at the front, not back markers just making up the field. The last couple races he was off the lead pace and not because he or the car were uncompetitive but because he was intentionally taking it easy, refusing to really race, assuming he would gain enough points to win the title just by finishing in the top 10. The championship was more important to him than the races.

I would much rather see every driver race hard to try to win every race because the races are more important than the championship. I want them to try to win the race, every race, because the racing and the race win are more important than points.

I won't even start on how team orders can affect the action in what would otherwise be close racing, just for the sake of gaining overall championship advantage. I understand why it happens so I don't fault individuals for making those choices, it just bugs me that a seasonal team or driver championship can have a negative affect on competition on the track.

I'll get down off my counter-intuitive, contrarian soapbox now. After all, that rant has nothing to do with what you guys are focusing on, I'm the one heading off on a tangent.

So, separate subject: We all want a factory MINI WRC team that is competitive and serious enough about the series to compete in all the rallies, right? We can't have it because the factory team is now a back marker team. The competitive MINI team doesn't have enough money to go to all the rallies which looks bad outright and will keep them from being able to keep up and stay competitive. On top of that we all wish Kris Meeke was still driving.....for Prodrive.....and that they were still the factory team with a full rally season budget! See? We agree!

.....and I think I should probably change the title of this thread later so we can have a fresh start for the Portugal Rally.

 

I've never understood this intense interest in championship standings. Don't get me wrong, I fully realize I'm the oddball as I'm apparently the only person in the world who doesn't really care, so I'm obviously not slating others. I'm interested to an extent and I pay attention but a championship is no where near as fun to watch as a race. I like to watch the cars on the road, a good race, active competition, a championship is just points adding up.

 

Oh I'd love to see Prodrive out there for all the rallies, I was just commenting on the prevalent focus (mentioned by Mark) on the championship race.

It's not just a WRC thing, all racing series' have a championship focus. It really bugs me too, esp. nearer the end of a season when teams and drivers will adopt strategies based on getting as near as possible to the top of the standings. You see drivers taking extra risks in a race in order to gain championship points and their actual position in the race is a secondary consideration. Worse, a driver who is trying to preserve his position in the championship will drive conservatively and refuse to race hard only because he doesn't want to risk his championship standing. It screws up the racing! :incazzato:

 

I'll just rename this thread and start a new Rally Portugal thread later.

 

FWIW, Kris isn't entirely out of the game. According to Prodrive he's out doing some testing in Spain "Trying out a range of new parts for the car."