[Thomas Maguire]

were loix and carllson paid to enter rally ireland! maybe its just a rumour?could this money not have been spent on the likes of mc shea and galligan or meeke to enter!!

 

[DavidN]

no idea but there was a distinct lack of sponsorship on the cars

 

[Graham Curry]

i doubt they would do it free !

 

[ali]

free rally but not paid .

 

[jp ruth]

sure if someone from ireland goes to do a rally in europe they get free entry im sure loix and carllson got the same for coming over here im sure the got well looked after

 

[Mark Lowe]

Its not uncommon for Rallies to pay for drivers to do events, I heard Alistair McRae wanted a certain amount to compete on Ypres Rally a few years ago

 

[woody]

My understanding is that the whole deal was put together due to the relationship that the too drivers have with Marlboro.

 

[PAULCOOKE]

Its strange that McShea was Spectating and Meeke wasn't competing either. You would think that for a WRC bid we should showcase our two home grown talents?

 

[jimbob]

CARLSON AND LOIX WERE PAID FULL STOP,PROFESSIONAL RALLY DRIVERS DO NOT DRIVE FOR FREE !!THE MONEY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER SPENT ON MEEKE,MC SHEA,DONNELY,MC GARRITY,FINLAY ETC,THEY COULD HAVE BROUGHT SOME OF THESE GUYS TO TRY AND MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A RALLY INSTEAD OF THE FARCE IT WAS !! THEY COULD HAVE HAD THESE 5 DRIVERS FOR WHAT IT COST TO BRING LOIX AND CARLSON.

 

[fraggle]

As I understand it the event backers were only willing to put money up for foreign stars, so the organisers were left with little option.

While it would have been nice to have the local lads competing surely a glowing recommendation from Carlsson and Loix (neutrals with strong links to the works teams) will carry more weight that reports from McShea or Meeke that would be seen as biased.

Look at the bigger picture!!

[Edited on 18-10-2005 by fraggle]

 

[DavidN]

good point fraggle, hopefully some more of our top men get out for the next event tho

 

[jimbob]

LOIX AND CARLSSON COULD HARDLY BE CLASSED AS FOREIGN STARS !!LOIX IS, NT GOOD ENUF TO GET A WORLD LEVEL DRIVE AND CARLSSON IS A TAIL END OF TOP TEN MAN !! PUT EITHER OF THEM IN THE RALLY OF WALES THIS YEAR AND THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN STREETS BEHIND MEEKE !!

 

[GKnight]

I thought it was nice to see drivers you wouldn't normally see. Gave people a chance to see people they had only seen on tv before. As much as I think Meeke is gonna be a star I just don't think he would have walked over them. Loix was/is a very quick driver. Just watch some of the wrc events from 97 and 98 were he was challenging for victories in his private Corolla. Carlsson hasn't been on the world scene too long but he is a talented driver. Great to have them here

 

[woody]

How the deal for the two drivers came about is as follows. When Ronan Morgan was competing in the middle east he was also the agent/importer/distruibutor of Marlboro in the Middle east, hence his sponsorship by Marlboro. Freddie Loix father is the main agent/importer/distruibutor of Marlboro in Europe, hence when Loix was in a privateer Corrolla or Celica it was covered in Marlboro decals. When Freddie moved to Ralliart the Marlboro money moved with him. Carlson is the reserve driver for Marlboro Pegueot Sport. Morgan knew Loix through his business connection and it was a gentleman agreement for the two drivers to come over

 

[cannyboy]

It was good to get some foreign guys over to Ireland - both have a wealth of experience of WRC events.
McShea and Meeke live if the road - nobody was stopping them competing, and getting a loan of an A7 car and having a bit of crack wouldn't have been beyond them.
As was said before, having some foreign drivers over looks good for the wrc bid, and if Marlboro are paying the bills, it's their call.
I'm just glad that Matt Wilson said that tarmac was the way for us to go.
Ireland's WRC bid has no business in the forests........

 

[Spooks]

Sean O'Connor and Ronan Morgan are the Promoters of Rally Ireland. O'Connor is Manager to both Loix and Carlsson. His links with Marlboro go back many years.
The funding for the event came from both North and South Governement and Tourism budgets. Part of the agreement regarding the funding was that they should bring at least 2 "foreign" drivers. There was apparently not enough in the budget to allow funding for local drivers like McShea or Meeke. There were efforts made to arrange a deal for McShea but it didn't work out. Great shame as it would have been excellent to have the Production World Champion competing on his home event.

 

[Tropsrotom]

What has the money from the Titanic Rallysprint been spent on?

 

[fraggle]

Tropsrotom, have you any idea how expensive weddings are these days?

 

[Eugene O'Kane]

Originally posted by jimbob
CARLSON AND LOIX WERE PAID FULL STOP,PROFESSIONAL RALLY DRIVERS DO NOT DRIVE FOR FREE !!THE MONEY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER SPENT ON MEEKE,MC SHEA,DONNELY,MC GARRITY,FINLAY ETC,THEY COULD HAVE BROUGHT SOME OF THESE GUYS TO TRY AND MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A RALLY INSTEAD OF THE FARCE IT WAS !! THEY COULD HAVE HAD THESE 5 DRIVERS FOR WHAT IT COST TO BRING LOIX AND CARLSON.

I DID THE RALLY AND WAS ONE OF THE BEST ORGANISED I HAVE DONE . WHY DO YOU SAY IT WAS A FARCE

 

[fordrallyesport]

I thought it was a great event, and thats from a spectators point of view!