Who is the WRC's greatest ever driver?

Question

Who is the WRC's greatest ever driver?

Answer 1

For me it was Tommi Makinen (FIN) of Mitsubishi Evolution car.

4-times World champion 1996, '97, '98, & '99 with 24 rally wins and 45 podium finishes in his carreer.

However, Juha Kankkunen (FIN) and Sebastien Loeb (FRA) also got a 4-times world championship title, 1986-'87-'91-'93 and 2004-'05-'06-'07 respectively.

Loeb is the modern hero, still running, and its up to him if he surpassed 5 times world championship record.

Answer 2

Matter of opinion I guess, but I'd say Makinen or Gronholm, just to be different :)

Answer 3

New age hero is definitely Loeb, no doubt about it, and he will enter the walls of fame.

The greatest would have to be among Tommi Makkinen, Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. It is hard to say who is the best as all of them are very competitive, and unlike Schumacher in F1, they win some and they lose some. It is because of the high quality of competition in Rally.

Answer 4

Loeb is by far the best current WRC driver.

Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae are my personal best, they had a certain fighting spirt an characterful flair that is painfully uncommon in modern motorsport.

All time best, must admit I know little of pre 1990 WRC.

Answer 5

I say Loeb.

Kankkunen a true legend but never could drive seriously fast on asphalt.

Drivers work with what their are given and Loeb is a class above the rest and all rounder.

Answer 6

carlos sainz was one of the very best as was tommi makinen

Answer 7

I also think Loeb deserves consideration... he's a very different driver than most that have come before him, and he's already rewriting so many records with so much of his career still to come.

But while it may be in a few years that this question will automatically be answered with "Loeb," there are at present others to consider.  Tommi Mäkinen and Carlos Sainz have been mentioned.  I also think Walter Röhrl should make the list.  And if you go back to pre-WRC, you'd have to get names like Erik Carlsson and Timo Mäkinen in there as well.

Answer 8

I would say that Sebastian Loeb is a contender, considering his age - I also think that Richard Burns was a fantastic talent, far outshone McRae, but died tragically young before fulfilling his potential.

I tend to favour people who seem genuine & pleasant, I think that it's a fantastic sport with a lot of really decent, down to earth characters, unlike football or F1.

Marcus Gronholm's another good 'un - interviewed last year after putting his car out of commission on a rally; 'Well, tomorrow we go to beach instead, then!'

Answer 9

You're going to get a lot of people saying Loeb, but for me that's "Michael Schumacher Syndrome" - he has the best stats, but his dominance is linked to having the best car, the best team members and not much in the way of competition...he also is current/recent and most people on here haven't seen what came before him.

For me the best ever is Juha Kankkunen. He was a four-time champion (for 3 different teams), he held the record for career wins in his time, and MOST importantly, he was the last "Group B" world champion, in 1986 (beating his teammate, the reigning world champion). Those cars were the most powerful, quick, difficult and dangerous ever built, anyone who mastered those goes straight to the top of the list for me. Have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-S7sVkj1...

Answer 10

i say colin mcrea is the greatest wrc driver to date, and its sad that he is gone

Answer 11

either Colin Mcrae or Sebastian Loeb