Last week while riffing on about the Japan F1 race, the
Bathurst 1000 and the greatness of Vettel, and the
Aussie V8 super cars, you viewers showed me how great
Drive is by filtering my work through the spaghetti colander
of logic and commenting, hey, idiot boy, Sebastian Loeb won
his ninth straight WRC championship and no
comment from you?
He's the Sebastian you should have been talking about.
Not Vettel, fettle, [BLEEP]
you, Leo.
OK, don't need to bang on me like a rev limiter in the
hands of an armless race car driver.
Really?
But I get it.
So today, it's Sebastian Loeb WRC day on SHAKEDOWN, Down
because I respect you, the viewers.
Well, not you.
The guy with that insult comment from last week.
He wrote, is it only me?
Thumbs up if you agree.
No offense, but Leo's voice is as annoying as my ex-wife and
her mother interrupting my World of Warcraft playing by
rubbing balloons on a chalkboard and Karaoke-ing the
playlist from Justin Bieber's Fisker.
Ouch!
That wasn't real, by the way.
Stay tuned for the WRC SHAKEDOWN.
But you know I can't help myself.
I'm going to drift into a comment or two about
the Korea F1 race.
It's this weekend, and it's a turning point race
if I ever felt one.
And the World Endurance Championship Le Mans cars are
in Japan, because A, we're going to the Petit Le Mans
Race next week, and WEC is not.
And B, Japan, Korea, to most Americans,
they're all the same.
No, I don't mean that.
By the way, nine straight Seb Loeb championships.
You know, the first congrat messages he got were from
Ford, Mini, VW, Toyota, and Hyundai.
Congrats, now get the [BLEEP]
out of our series.
We've got boards of directors to explain our racing budgets
and why we can't beat one guy with tens
of millions of dollars.
[CAR ENGINE]
Let's talk Sebastian Loeb and WRC news.
He's not retiring from racing, just moving on from his nine
championships.
It would have been 10 if he got one more point in 2003.
That was the last time a non-Loeb won the driver's
title, thanks to Petter Solberg and Subaru.
Loeb says, quote, "I'm not burnt out, I want to race."
And he did finish P2 overall at the 2006 Le Mans 24.
But first, let me address the Korea F1 race and the World
Endurance sports cars, the news from their Japan race.
Those are your viewing assignments
for racing this weekend.
F1 is real simple.
This is the defining race of the year.
Whatever Vettel, Alonso, and the rest do at this race will
define the strategies for the end of the year, for the
Drivers Championship, the career moves
coming up, and more.
And Alonso says he won't change his
style, but he has to.
He has to finish and now win.
And Vettel, Vettel's just rolling.
So tell me your comments here about what you're thinking
about this Korea F1 race.
Better yet, let's do a live chat during the Korea F1 race
over at my Facebook page, the Leo Parente page, because I'll
be watching the race, 1:30 eastern time.
Let's live chat about that.
So let's go to World Endurance Championship in Japan, at the
Toyota owned Fuji Raceway.
So in the spirit of Kamui Kobayashi, rising to the
occasion in his home country at the Japan F1 race, with his
best performance, his P3 podium, expect the Toyota LMP1
go bat [BLEEP]
fast.
Audi has the Manufacturers Championship, even though this
race and the last one in China are still left to run.
But the Drivers Award is going down to the Audi guys.
Fight in the team.
GTE Pro has settled with AF Corse Ferrari.
GTE Pro Am and LMP2 are open fights to the season end.
And you should care about that, even though WEC is not
coming to Petit Le Mans, because those two classes, Pro
Am and P2, will be a factor in the 2014 Grand Am ALMS
consolidation.
But Audi says they're going to be coming to Sebring in 2013
for the ALMS race, even though it's not WEC.
I hear a rumor that Toyota may not be far behind.
Back to Sebastian Loeb.
He announced he's sitting out most of the 2013 WRC season.
And Citroen is looking to keep a relationship going with him,
hinted that maybe World Touring Car for 2014 and 2015
are the solution.
You know, did they ever seriously do sedan again
racing before?
I found this picture.
I even found this.
Hey, viewers, I need your input.
And of course, Sebastian Loeb has his own racing team.
But this LMP2 car, the Oreca Nissan.
He also has a Porsche program he runs.
And in French GT, he runs a Mercedes Benz SLS, a GT3 car.
But let's reflect on Seb Loeb's WRC achievements, and
ask you why you think Loeb is and was so dominant in his
Citroen rally cars.
This is a 2004 winner.
This is the 2012 car, one of the new generation cars that
WRC went with in 2011.
Only 1.6 liter, turbo, about 300 horsepower.
Less four wheel drive tech, but still a car control
freak's friend.
By the way, that's why I think he's so awesome--
car control.
But not the wild-ass, balls to the wall
style of a Colin McRae.
Legend, right?
No.
Loeb is more of the road racer in his style.
It's dominantly quick, but maybe not particularly
entertaining to watch for some of you.
For example, remember Loeb's win at the X Games?
Block and everyone was drifting, he was driving.
But Sebastian Loeb gets the job done.
And that's very impressive.
Sure, some will say it's also kind of like the Schumacher
thing, by being with the best team at the right time.
And while not much technical competition for the other
manufacturers, but he helped build a Citroen dynasty.
And as a driver, he's part of the team.
Not a ride-along that's riding on someone else's technical
achievements.
And I hear you snarking about Vettel and Adrian Newey.
So with Loeb gone, will WRC be more exciting, or will it be
like my takeaway of MotoGP these days?
That without Rossi battling at the front, I fight to stay
interested, even though I know the door got
opened for more talent.
By the way, MotoGP is also in Japan, like WEC is in Japan.
But Moto's at the Motegi Track, and F1's in Korea.
You know, we should all be in Asia this weekend.
Back to WRC, which started in 1973 in the format it runs.
40 years.
And if you think about it, Loeb has won 23% of all the
championships.
Citroen won eight Manufacturer Championships.
One before Loeb.
And seven of those nine, when Ford snuck in two of their
three championships in 2006 and 2007.
Lancia has the most Manufacturers, with 10
championships.
Citroen is at eight.
Peugeot at five.
Three each for Fiat, Ford, Toyota, and Subaru.
Two for Audi, their 1982 and 1984.
And one each for Renault Alpine, Talbot, and
Mitsubishi.
And technically, WRC went like this.
Specs I don't care about up until the group E
cars of 1982 to 1986.
The group A spec through 1996.
The first generation, the megatech WRC spec.
In 2011, like I said, the smaller, more controlled spec
WRC cars of today.
History class over.
Loeb's moving on.
What else is going on at WRc anyway?
Well, 2014 is going to be really big.
Three new manufacturers.
VW Polo, testing, testing, testing.
And using Skoda to race test.
Hyundai's back in the game, and hopefully, more serious
than with their other racing commitments which, by the way,
they've cut completely in the Us to focus on this WRC car.
And by the way, opening the door for Kia in the US to
really step up their racing game.
Maybe an ALMS Grand Am program, maybe the IndyCar
Indy Lights engine, something.
NASCAR?
Hope not.
Toyota's coming back to WRC, right?
And Mini BMW.
It's time to really step up that program with more
conviction to the brand and more respect for
Mini's rally history.
And who else should be on the mix, on the list
to come into WRC?
Who, in your opinion?
How about Lancia?
Come on back, please.
Or Fiat?
Hey, Sergio Macchione, andiamo.
You want to be a big world leader brand?
If VW can race every name they have, really?
This Bentley GT3 is so big, it [BLEEP]
Polo WRC cars.
You, Sergio, with Fiat and Ferrari and whatever,
whatever, can do it too.
And don't get me started on ignoring Alpha and Maserati
racing history.
And how about a real Ferrari factory road racing team?
Remember this stuff, or this?
I do.
And in WRC, I say, Chevy.
If you're going to dump your World Touring cars, and not
road race, get in there in WRC.
So who else do you think should be in WRC?
OK, I'm done.
Remember, live chatting with me during the Korea F1 race
over at my Leo Parente Facebook page.
Ask me anything.
Well, within reason, because if this turns into some dare
you fetish line, I'm clicking off.
[MUSIC PLAYING]