by Rob Wilkins

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH RUSSELL BROOKES: 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:CLICK HERE

1977 and 1985 British Rally champion, Russell Brookes was at the recent Castle Combe Rallyday in the UK and he reckons Mikko Hirvonen will only be able to beat Sebastien Loeb and win the 2008 WRC drivers' title if he avoids 'pussyfooting around'. wuqian0821.com Radio asked the questions...

wuqian0821.com:
Russell, what have y༺ou made of this year's Rallyday?

Russell Brookes:
The ಞweather has made it. The sun is absolutely brilliant. It is a beautiful day and the sun has really drawn the crowds out. There is a brilliant atmosphere and it is very friendly. It is great to see people I have met many times in the past in rallying and good to be reunited with some of the old rally cars.

wuqian0821.com:
How important are events like this?

RB:
I think it is very important and it brings all the branches of the sport together. You🐭 have got people who were rallying cars in the early 1960s with their cars here. You have got current WRC people with their WRC cars. You have got Rally Raid cars and you have g𒁃ot stunt cars - absolutely everything. It is a great petrol heads day out.

wuqian0821.com:
You have♈ been on track - do you enjoy getting back behind the whee✱l and driving?

RB:
Yes I do. I feel a bit rusty on occasions, but I was reunited with the Talbot Sunbeam Lotusಌ I drove on the 1981 RAC Rally. We don't say much about that because I put it in a ditch and stayed there permanently! Also I drove the Opel Manta 400 which I won the championship with in 1985 and then used later to win the 1987 Welsh International before it was sold by General Motors to a museum ꦬin Switzerland.

wuqian0821.com:
Are there any of the current cars thaജt you would like to try?

RB:
I'd love to try a WRC car - or even better one of the current Rallyc✅ross cars. The acceleration is phenomenal apparently with these Rallycross cars - and I was talking to a couple of the guys and they reckon they do 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds. That ⛄has got to be mind blowing.

wuqian0821.com:
Mikko Hirvonen is the headline act today at the Rallyday. He is currently batt💜ling with Sebastien Loeb for the 2008 title. Have you got any words of advice for him?

RB:
Go for it - it is the only thing to do. There is no way you will win a championship like that by pussy footing around and I am sure he will be trying as harꦕd as he can.

wuqian0821.com:
There ꦰare𒀰 four events left in the WRC and forty points up for grabs. He is only 8 points behind. Can he do it? Is it still open?

RB:
It is still open, although assuming everybody finishes each event without too much trouble eight points can seem a long way. But you don't run through every event without a problem and it just depends on the way the dice falls. I th𒆙ink 💮he is in there with an equal chance of winning the title.

wuqian0821.com:
The WRC and BRC has evolved over the years -𝕴 𒁏what do you think of the sport at the moment?

RB:
I think it use to be better than it is now, but then I am an old guy and I would say that. But I have to take my hat off to some of these modern drivers. In my day when we did the World Rally Championship we use to get almost unlimited periods of practice. I remember going to Corsica and we spent six weeks practising for the event. Nowadays they are allowed over the special stages just three times at sꦑlow speeds - once to make the notes and twice t𒈔o check them - and then boy do they go flat out on those pace notes. They are really skilled at it.

wuqian0821.com:
How would you like to see the sport develop in♕ the future?

RB:
I'd like to see it become a bit more adventurous. The rallies could do with being a bit longer than they are now and I think there is an over emphasise on these single service points to the detriment of the sport. Also I'd like to see more night stages included. I believe people miss those 🔴and spectators miss the excitement of them. If you had a bit more variety and added a bit more endurance into the e💛vents they would be very, very good indeed.

wuqian0821.com:
What do you think of this idea of rotat🤪ing events?

RB:
I don't know. But it must be very hard for the organisers because having wound your organising team up for one event it is then very difficult to stand them down ﷽for a whole year and then wind them up again in two years time. Likewise I think sponsors want more continuity than that provides. But I am not close enough to that end of the sport to be able to really pronounce on it.

wuqian0821.com:
T𓂃his year's Wales Rally GB is going to include some of the older stages in a new look line-up for day 1 on the Friday. Is that a positive thing?

RB:
It is very good and I think it is going in the direction I was talking about earlier. I think a little bit more of that, a little bit more adventure and a few more night stages will be good fun. Night stages add an entirely different aspect to the sport. It is a different challenge for the drivers' - and the one thing rally drivers' should be able to do is cope with having anything and everything thrown at them unlike grღand prix drivers.

wuqian0821.com:
Do you follow Formula 1?

RB:
I do and I🅘 am willing Lewis Hamilton on. But he does seem to get the bad luck and he seems to catch the stewards having got 𝔉out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning!

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH RUSSELL BROOKES: 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:CLICK HERE