Bad luck in rallying

4681 Views 44 Replies 29 Participants Last post by Gary Nolan, Nov 11, 2005

CiaraC

Discussion Starter · Nov 7, 2005

What is your definition of bad luck in rallying ??

I hear it as an excuse all of the time, but is there actually such a thing as bad luck in rallying ??

1 - 20 of 45 Posts

Eoin G

· #2 · Nov 7, 2005

Carlos Sainz in the RAC rally when the Corolla pulled up a couple of hundred yards from the finish

Eugenes misfortune in Cork last year

Eugene Ferry going off in this years harvest

GKnight

· #3 · Nov 7, 2005

The Sainz incident is the daddy of them all. I was a Makinen fan but that was no way to win a Championship. Felt so sorry for Carlos.

I can't remember the event but the time the young fellas put stones out on a corner and put Frank Meagher off. He was so close to making it through the gap unscathed but just caught the side of the bridge (or wall).

Also the amount of times Fisher had the Manx won and something went wrong.

Clan

· #4 · Nov 7, 2005

Eugenes Cork incident had nothing to do with Luck, someone tried to take him out.
Carlo's failure on the RAC was bad luckI think.
Bertie ripping a wheel off on the M3 while leading the Manx, Brookes disputing a time plenty(again) and winning the manx after Bertie had beaten him on the stages. Bertie's Subaru crying enough on the Manx after totally outclassing Armin Schwarz in the works Celica. Not sure if they are bad luck or not as they are mechanical or driver error.
Bad luck would be getting seeded number 13. Or me not winning the Lotto on saturday so I could buy R555 FEL.

GKnight

· #5 · Nov 7, 2005

What about when drivers having a coming together with livestock. I can remember Tommi and Colin hitting cows in Corsica and I think Kenny McKinstry hit one in his Legacy in the dark. Not sure what event it was.

jonb

· #6 · Nov 7, 2005

Rory Galligan and Greg Shinnors this year. That is desperate luck.

1117

· #7 · Nov 7, 2005

Tim McNutly on this years Manx-the championship might have been a totally different story apart from that incident with the specator.

Gary Nolan

· #8 · Nov 7, 2005

Bad luck was when McHale went off on the 91 circut on the muck that McRae hadn pulled out on the road after going off himself! Bad luck was when Didier Auriol won 6 rounds of the 92 world championship and still sisn't become world champion! And in my book, Wesley Patterson is the most unlucky driver ever! He's lost two rallies by a second afaik and had a rally car burn out on him when it was partly sold! (I think) Now thats bad luck!

pat4wd

· #9 · Nov 7, 2005

Yes,but the other side of the Didier story is that he won the championship in 1994 after having a nightmare of a Network Q,he rolled twice (I think) spun I don't know how many times and finished 12th overall or something.
The reason it was enough to win the WRC was because someone put logs and rocks on the stage in front of Carlos Sainz who only had to finish ahead of Didier to win the championship again.He went off and it took 30 minutes to get the car out so he was gone.
So luck played a big part in Didiers world championship win.
As for Carlos,if it wasn't for the engine given out in '99 in the Corolla and the logs etc., being placed on the stage in front of him in the Subaru in '94 he would have been up there with Juha and Tommi on four wins.Although Tommi would have had only three because he wouldn't have won the '99 Network Q.

Kevin O Driscoll

· #10 · Nov 7, 2005

Frank Meagher in the 1989 galway 4 and a half minutes up on Lovell in the works Sierra when his Escorts engine failed.

Eugene losing the Galway 2004 by 0.7 of a second despite Tapio going off on the last stage and still beating the bogey time.

Mick O'Connell in the 1979 Galway won the event after Billy Coleman was disqualified for approaching a time control from the wrong direction. Billy won an appeal and the rally over three months later, denying Micko what would have been his only International win.

Ger Buckley in the 1978 West Cork came second despite eventual winner Mick O'Connell crashing before the finish line of the sixth stage and rolling off into a field to regain the road on the other side of the finish board! Also in the same event Micko crashed off Sunday morning losing 20 minutes, only for the stage to be blocked by another competitor 15 cars later and all times were scrubbed for the stage!!

To answer Ciaras question strictly, I believe bad luck is where a spectator or wildlife is involved causing a driver to either leave the road or cost him enough time to lose the event or class.....

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jp ruth

· #11 · Nov 7, 2005

definatly when the engine went on Frank Meagher During the galway international rally in 89 and when the ball joint broke on me during this years ulster international rally i was heart broken

[Edited on 7-11-2005 by jp ruth]

DavidN

· #12 · Nov 7, 2005

Some have mentioned Sainz's luck when the Corolla let him down on the RAC, dont forget that same rally Tommi had bad luck, retiring after hitting an oil slick left by a historic on a spectator stage, his efforts to reach service being in vain as the plod forgot about terrorists/murderers etc for the day and stopped him as he tried to 3wheel his way back

jp ruth

· #13 · Nov 7, 2005

i remember sainz taking off his helmet after the engine failed on the RAC the throwing it through the back window of the corolla

Gary Nolan

· #14 · Nov 7, 2005

That was Moya!

Bones

· #15 · Nov 7, 2005

No was Sainz,

Even so would have been worse if had finished the stage and engine blown on road section on way back..

Everything in rallying can be worse,

Puncture, Bad Luck
Wheel Broke Worse,
Wheel Off worse again,
Wheel And Wing Gone,
Front gone,
and so on and on and on

fl/c

· #16 · Nov 7, 2005

No, I think it was Moya, Sainz just walked away from it

Thomas Maguire

· #17 · Nov 7, 2005

it was moya

Pierce Doheny Jnr.

· #18 · Nov 7, 2005

Yeah, it was definately Moya

cole2

· #19 · Nov 7, 2005

How about Denis Cronin last weekend. To lose his home rally on the last stage by 1 second. It was either bad luck or bad judgement. He had it in the bag only he backed off too much..... .... or myself at the fastnet last week. i was walking in the door for Recce sign on when my old fella rang me to tell me I had to withdraw my entry.The rally car had started mis firing and they couldnt find the problem.........Stage 2 started outside my house so You can imagine I was a barrel of laughs for the rest of the weekend!!

stonemad

· #20 · Nov 7, 2005

Bad Luck!!

There is nothing to discribe when it happens to you one second ur pulling gears then you hear that noise or see that rock at the last second!! and all the way home and the next week ur thinking how it could of been!!?? But it makes the next finish even better!! sure if it was eazy everyone would rally!!!

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