Loeb in the press

[Magnus]

The biggest swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, has once again noticed that there is a sport called rally. As usual though, it is not the high level of competition in general, or the amazing battles between drivers like Loeb and Grönholm which is of interest. How much was written about the 2007 NZ-rally in Sweden...nothing.
But when there is something which is potentially dangerous or if someone dies, then the press reacts. I am fed up with it(as Bosse would have nicely put it ;) )!

The reason for Aftonbladets reaction this time is of course Loebs close encounter with an officer/marshall in MC. Do they even know who Loeb is? Do they know how brilliant he is as a driver? Do they know of all the records he has broken? Naturally not. But if Loeb had hit the guy, he would have been famous amongst "ordinary" people, and he would have had a lot of dark head-lines. People would think of rallying as something bad, and of Loeb as a moroon.

Will it ever stop? Probably not. But what can we do to promote our sport when we have main-stream media targeting at us, totally ignorant for all the fascinating aspects of rallying? When will they ever write anything good about rallying?

[Mirek]

I know that it won't make You happier but in our country it's totaly same. Media are interested in rallying only in case of some death, financial scandal or prime minister's crash on Prague rally show (lost wheel from a pavement but they made it a hororous crash he luckyly survived).

[AndyRAC]

Same here in UK, and I'm also fed up with it. There's no excuse, wait until F1 starts. Why the bias in favour of F1 instead of WRC, what are the F1A doing? Nothing!! The press and media are zombies, all blind, stupid, etc....I could go on but I won't!!!

[urabus-denoS2000]

Not any different in Croatia.
There was a CIRCUIT event in Poreć and unfortunately a young driver crashed and a spectator died.That was a rare moment that autosport got an article(and that can be only about something like that) and they said that it is dangerous. And they reffered to the race as a RALLY.It was a Polo circuit cup RACE.

[Tomi]

The biggest swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, has once again noticed that there is a sport called rally. As usual though, it is not the high level of competition in general, or the amazing battles between drivers like Loeb and Grönholm which is of interest. How much was written about the 2007 NZ-rally in Sweden...nothing.
But when there is something which is potentially dangerous or if someone dies, then the press reacts. I am fed up with it(as Bosse would have nicely put it ;) )!

The reason for Aftonbladets reaction this time is of course Loebs close encounter with an officer/marshall in MC. Do they even know who Loeb is? Do they know how brilliant he is as a driver? Do they know of all the records he has broken? Naturally not. But if Loeb had hit the guy, he would have been famous amongst "ordinary" people, and he would have had a lot of dark head-lines. People would think of rallying as something bad, and of Loeb as a moroon.

Will it ever stop? Probably not. But what can we do to promote our sport when we have main-stream media targeting at us, totally ignorant for all the fascinating aspects of rallying? When will they ever write anything good about rallying?

I now and then also read Aftonbladet and Expressen on internet, its really sad that they write nothing about rally, maybe things change if Andersson can get a permanent seat and start doing result.

[dimviii]

same as Greece :mad:

[DonJippo]

maybe things change if Andersson can get a permanent seat and start doing result.

It says on Aftonbladet that he has a contract for the whole year with Suzuki.

[Tomi]

It says on Aftonbladet that he has a contract for the whole year with Suzuki.

Yes you are right, thats good news.

[A.F.F.]

I'm starting feel very priviledged as a Finn because here the media follows WRC. Of course it's NOTHING compared to F1 when it starts but still, reasonably good coverage.

it doesn't make me happy though as I read your comments from different countries. The situation is worse than I thought. Something has to be done to lift the profile of our favourite sport since the cold fact is that only the rich and beautifulls survive in this world :(

[Tomi]

I'm starting feel very priviledged as a Finn because here the media follows WRC. Of course it's NOTHING compared to F1 when it starts but still, reasonably good coverage.

it doesn't make me happy though as I read your comments from different countries. The situation is worse than I thought. Something has to be done to lift the profile of our favourite sport since the cold fact is that only the rich and beautifulls survive in this world :(

Agree, and not only follow, but it's very good motor journalism too. Not to mention MTV3 Max, topstuff that too.

[AndyRAC]

I'm starting feel very priviledged as a Finn because here the media follows WRC. Of course it's NOTHING compared to F1 when it starts but still, reasonably good coverage.

it doesn't make me happy though as I read your comments from different countries. The situation is worse than I thought. Something has to be done to lift the profile of our favourite sport since the cold fact is that only the rich and beautifulls survive in this world :(

That does surprise me, I thought Finland was the only country were F1 came second to WRC. Must say I'm disappointed by this. Don't get me wrong I quite like F1, but it's not a patch on WRC. I feel the F1A could do more to help. Media passes given to reporters, they have to cover both sports, if not, no pass. Personally, it's that drastic that needs to be done. There's no excuse not to cover the WRC, I mean a weekend in Monaco in January, you'd think the press would be rushing to cover it. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Josti]

Only rally related news in 2007 that hit the papers overhere was Colin's death in September. Kind of says it all...

I was surprised to see a little article about a Dutch JRC entry for this year, even though it was small. Then again, it was only in a local newspaper. Just like Dakar, which mostly get's it's attention overhere because of the high rate of Dutch entries. There's hardly any focus on the rest.

[J4MIE]

I'm sure it's the same all over the world, probably the little exposure rallying gets is when the WRC is in the country.

What can you do?

[Fiorio]

Same in Portugal... :rolleyes:

[A.F.F.]

I'm sure it's the same all over the world, probably the little exposure rallying gets is when the WRC is in the country.

What can you do?

I don't think if anything can be done. I think the main problem is the fear that nothing is enough. Another cold fact is that never is WRC going to be media sexy as F1.

F1 is so media sexy that it survived through the most boring seasons ever in motorsport history. Schumi, Schumi, Schumi... etc. I actually it's not about the racing anymore. The institute F1 represent is bigger than the sport itself. Let's face it, F1 haven't been thrilling for a looooong time. I enjoyed much better when Cart or what was it called was kicking and live. They had races on narrow streets where the leader could change many times per lap :eek: If you compare that to modern F1, I personally feel watching the paint dry on my wall is more exciting. But it's hip, it's sexy, it's green and not in very enviromental way but the other.


WRC is what it is and our only hope is that we get manufacturers who don't think they get a half of the kingdom from it back. Rallying is smaller scale motorsport and if it's changed, it's not rallying anymore.

[A.F.F.]

That does surprise me, I thought Finland was the only country were F1 came second to WRC.


Now that there are two Finns in F1 ?

Sorry, WRC won't come even close :mark:

[AndyRAC]

Well if nothing is written in most countries, were are all the Rally journalists from then? As far as I know there isn't a WRC correspondent on any of the UK papers, so how many journalists follow the WRC?

[Tomi]

its more a cultural thing i think, in some countries they write about golf, cricket, etc. in other countries about what ever sports.

[Josti]

I don't think if anything can be done. I think the main problem is the fear that nothing is enough. Another cold fact is that never is WRC going to be media sexy as F1.

WRC is what it is and our only hope is that we get manufacturers who don't think they get a half of the kingdom from it back. Rallying is smaller scale motorsport and if it's changed, it's not rallying anymore.

Totally agree! Rally should never be compared with F1, unlike what a certain David Richards had in mind. It's just a totally different form of motorsport and I'm glad it's not (yet) infected with the F1 media parade (nor do I think it will ever happen). It would be smart to just avoid a mass audience who do not own any knowledge of real Rallying.

[WRXedUSA]

The biggest swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, has once again noticed that there is a sport called rally. As usual though, it is not the high level of competition in general, or the amazing battles between drivers like Loeb and Grönholm which is of interest. How much was written about the 2007 NZ-rally in Sweden...nothing.
But when there is something which is potentially dangerous or if someone dies, then the press reacts. I am fed up with it(as Bosse would have nicely put it ;) )!

The reason for Aftonbladets reaction this time is of course Loebs close encounter with an officer/marshall in MC. Do they even know who Loeb is? Do they know how brilliant he is as a driver? Do they know of all the records he has broken? Naturally not. But if Loeb had hit the guy, he would have been famous amongst "ordinary" people, and he would have had a lot of dark head-lines. People would think of rallying as something bad, and of Loeb as a moroon.

Will it ever stop? Probably not. But what can we do to promote our sport when we have main-stream media targeting at us, totally ignorant for all the fascinating aspects of rallying? When will they ever write anything good about rallying?

SVT, Afton and Expressen are notoriously bad with rally coverage. I don't blame your anger. They would go out of the way to report the grendmarie incident, because it makes a good headline, and exploit the incident to bolster thier agenda if they have one. And, in Swedish society, they knew they could draw ire from the public safety standpoint.

SVT is probably the least-content filled newscast I have ever seen, even when the Swedish Rally is going on. Afton and Expressen are regarded as "tabloid" papers in the US.

Tabloids, are like "trash" papers that follow gossip, hollywood and aliens coming down out of the sky and eating Maria's babies and stuff.

[janneppi]

its more a cultural thing i think, in some countries they write about golf, cricket, etc. in other countries about what ever sports.
Indeed, you can imagine the whinging that takes place in the cycling forum I visit about it getting press time only when someone finds EPO in their medicine bag. :)
Small sports whine, when big sports dine.

[Magnus]

Indeed, you can imagine the whinging that takes place in the cycling forum I visit about it getting press time only when someone finds EPO in their medicine bag. :)
Small sports whine, when big sports dine.

You have a point, and I have seen it in different sports. The problem with motorsports in Sweden is that huge numbers are active in differnt motorsports, not least folkrace. I can easily accept that folkrace doesn´t make the headlines, but i can not accept that motorsport only does it when death or danger is involved, time and time again.

I know why: journalists are a homogene bunch of *****.
nevermind; I leave the politics out for this time.

Edit: today there is a proper article on Aftonbladet, which is actually quite informative. Pity though that they do not bring them forward regarding the sport in general.

[Donney]

I'm sorry to say that in Spain the situation is similar to that of other countries, luckily the vid of Loeb and the gendarme hasn't reached the media.
We have been lucky enough as to have a fifteen minutes programme of the Monte Carlo, and the expert narrator has decided Latvala is called Jari Mari and Duval is a French driver (although he only made that mistake once) .

It is a shame.

[J.Lindstroem]

Same here in UK, and I'm also fed up with it. There's no excuse, wait until F1 starts. Why the bias in favour of F1 instead of WRC, what are the F1A doing? Nothing!! The press and media are zombies, all blind, stupid, etc....I could go on but I won't!!!

i think it is not media who is blind and stupid, it is the most of its readers that is zombies. Not able to think of its own. This is not the first time media writes about something they do not know a **** about, but thats not their job either. They are just trying to make headlines, and the people who buys it and believs every word of it are the ones that are stupid... The media has done a great work again because they got the headlines that they were working on!

[Isthmus]

Same in Portugal... :rolleyes:

Se a questão são artigos das provas do WRC, entao nao será bem assim. No Autosport tem dado sempre uma capa com algo relacionado e, desta vez, foi com Loeb e o C4 na capa toda!

In Portugal nowadays in the opens TV, the difference between F1 and WRC is not much. Little coverage from both with the normal stuff: 1 day with fastest laps from F1 to who won it(20-30s) and another 20-30s per day, every day, when theres a WRC rally on. Monte Carlo was no exception. Even so, and because the F1 is coveraged in a pay channel(a sports one, the most expensive channel here) from 2007, we get 1h of WRC every sunday night at the last day of the rally.(Last sunday was no exception and i didn´t missed it of course :D it was great).

Even the Autosport here, they put in frontal page with WRC content when theres a WRC rally. The last one:
http://autosport.clix.pt/users/0/51/f8e19a13.jpeg

The problem is that the pay channel doens´t show anything( a complete ZERO) about WRC. From a sports channel, is a great frustration.

[Leon]

Reading all the above I must admit we are privileged in our small island of Cyprus.

The WRC is in the press and TV since year 2000 when our event was first included in the WRC.

You can watch the preview (30 min), review (52 min) and PWRC/JWRC (30 min), programs of any event both on pay and free TV channels. The press shows even more interest in PWRC after a Cypriot driver entered (S.Pavlides).

[Roy]

I was happy with this article (down my text). It was written by the second newspaper of Netherlands and by their self called: The sport newspaper. For the first time I found a in depth article. I don't know it was in the newspaper. But on internet it was. A big step forward here. Nothing found about the results :\

http://www.ad.nl/sport/article1999417.ece

Translation:

Loeb goes on hunt for unique record

In Monaco Thursday is the first of a new year in the world championship rally (WRC).

All eyes are focused on as a matter of course Sebastien Loeb. The French driver focuses on the 2008 hunt for a unique record, his fifth world title.

It will even get used. For Loeb. After eight years missing the name of Marcus Grönholm this year on the startlist. The Finn, nicknamed Mr.. No Panic, recently stopped. He hoped along with his brother-in-law and navigator Timo Rautiainen in the Ford Focus farewell to be taken with its third global crown, but lost in the last weekend of the rally of Great Britain yet to Loeb.

Grönholm was the most feared opponent of the Frenchman, for years the figurehead of Citroën. The Fin and he joegen display behind the wheel to great heights. Pech and uncompromising driving style of Grönholm - his right foot was in love with the throttle - were more titles in the road, than those of 2000 and 2002. ,, But,''said Rautiainen,,, I am sure that Marcus gets a place in the row with other Finnish rally legend as Tommi Mäkinen, Juha Kankkunen and Ari Vatanen.''

Loeb, he considered his fourth world title last winter because of the fascinating battle with Grönholm as his finest ever, is in Monaco as a favorite begun. Not just about the most prestigious rally from the entire cycle for the fifth time winner process, but also as possibility on the global crown. If he end of November in Wales champion again, then rewrite the history books Loeb. Never in the 35-year history of the WRC driver won a five world.

The Frenchman is an exceptional talent. Initially, he had absolutely nothing to do with cars. Loeb wild in his younger years gymnast, just like his father. For his twelfth he had all four regional titles on his bag homeland, Alsace. But after high school start fast cars to stimulate his senses. Peugeot takes him in the youth team. Loeb can gain experience. Soon, the driver from Haguenau on extraordinary driver skills, insight and sophistication to do so. In 1997 he forms a duo with Daniel Elena, the Monegask has since settled his co-pilot.

Citroën pikt the talent a year later. In 2001 he conquers the vehicle manufacturer the world title in the Rally Super 1600, the forerunner of the World Cup for juniors. Teambaas Guy Frequelin is convinced, he gives his young countryman 2002 for a fabrieksauto in the WRC.

The first two seasons between the big boys for Loeb apprenticeship. He wins While regular rally, Grönholm and Norwegian Petter Solberg, the French newcomer as yet even at a distance. In 2004, in the Xsara, took him through six wins, however, place on the throne. The following year prolongeert Loeb world title with the force majeure (ten victories).

The rally of France flikt he never previously shown a trick: Loeb wins first pilot ever klassementsproeven all in a rally. In 2006 and 2007 no one succeeds is the Frenchman off as king of the rally. Like Michael Schumacher - just as dedicated and professional as he - ever in Formula 1 did, he is also brutally.

Mikko Hirvonen is widely regarded as Loebs main challenger. The Fin grew by Ford under Grönholms wings into a star. ,, It will be difficult to increase the role of Marcus in the team to take over,''Sun expects Hirvonen,, but I am ready. I have the last two seasons many of Marcus learned, it is now time for me to strike. I will show that I can compete for the world title.''

[Tom206wrc]

Same media problem in France anyway :mad:

[Wim_Impreza]

Here it is the same as in most countries. When there is an accident or a famous men who died like Colin McRae, than there is some media coverage. The rallies where Duval can start, we have a bit media coverage but not that much. For the national championship here in Belgium, it is not so bad.

I must say that we even had media coverage about the 24 hours of Dubai in the newspapers... Here is much more coverage for circuit races than for rally, unfortunately.

[shaitan]

same as china
most of media do not see it,it's petty see wrc come down

[jso1985]

whoa I'm feeling kinda lucky now...

even if way behind football(who gets 3 pages every day no matter if it's off-season) motorsports get a quite good coverage on the local newspaper here, half-a-page report for every F1 race or WRC event(they do report friday and saturday stages), sad thing is that fatal incidents get also quite good coverage(actually that's the only time they talk about other series like IRL). we even get WRC on terrestrial TV