I’ve known a few Finns. They are a weird bunch. If you need any proof of that, just watch this video. The spectators are as nutty as the drivers!
Those with weak constitutions or those unable to stomach the occasional vintage sedan being brutalized by trees, ditches, and/or telephone poles should not watch.
Jos minun Suomen kielioppi on väärin, pyydän anteeksi jo etukäteen. 😉
Yes, the Finns are all undoubtably certifiable. I guess that’s what happens when you live through winters where there are only 4 hours of daylight every day. You can either drink industrial strength potato vodka or go rallying. Having seen them attack stages at 11/10 in the most atrocious conditions I confirm that they are fearless maniacs when it comes to competitive driving. Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen were both products of this system. And I’ve just read that Kimi Raikonnen is abandoning F1 for the WRC. BTW, did you notice that the only car to come through that carnage unscathed was a MIni…?
“Jos minun Suomen kielioppi on väärin, pyydän anteeksi jo etukäteen.”
So’s yer momma.
>:)
“BTW, did you notice that the only car to come through that carnage unscathed was a MIni…?”
And what was directly in FRONT of it? A ~Trabant~….HA! Yikes….
I always wanted to do Pro Rally but there weren’t many oppos in this country to do so, and I couldn’t afford the ‘learning curve!’
The great Eric Carlsson was once asked how it got so damn good at going sideways, fast, at night, through the woods, in a SAAB. He replied, something to the effect of, “I had a sponsor that could afford a LOT of new cars.”
No Sher, shitlock!
I rolled a car once (at an autocross; don’t ask) and, had I *known* which direction was UP, I would have thrown in that direction.
;(
8:13–
“You OK, ma’am?”
“Yea. How’s my hair look? *fluff fluff*…..
LOL!!!!
More observations…@:15: “Maybe *now* might be a good time to left-foot brake, you moron!”
Eric Carlsson’s nickname was “On-the-Roof Carlsson” -no prizes for guessing why.
Does anybody else think there are a disproportionate number of Ford Escorts going off here…?
PS Paul, I did drive a Trabby once in Hungary. It was not as bad as I expected. Give that they were made out of recycled yoghurt pots and coat hangers they would not be my first choice as a rally car, though 🙂
MD, I did notice the ‘Escort’ effect; guess it speaks to how plentiful and/or how tuneable the cars were for this work. In either case, there’s a boatload fewer, now!!!
I love the one where the wheel falls off the front, and the driver just keeps his foot in it somehow thinking that he can accelerate his way out of the problem.
What was the most-heard comment from almost every navigator: “Sanoin hidastaa!”
(I told you to slow down!)
Hi Chuck! Ok, otherwise pretty fair, except I’d say the one where the spectators get hit, is not from Finland, the car does not have Finnish plates and the people and the surroundings look non-Finnish! Most of us are crazy enough to drive like that, but nowhere near that crazy to be standing on the outside of a tight curve! You know someone is going to be hit! What comes to the driveing, well everybody can’t be a world champion, but my god, be sure about it, most try hard! After all you can’t win if you’re not going fast!!! :)))) Cheers! -Pekka T.
PS. The first comment is a polite apology for poor grammar! And I love the aunthentic spectator comments like “Jumalauta”, it’s like OMG on steroids.
Yeah, and you will get funny comments in Finnish if you have title in Finnish where the second sentence makes 0% sense, get rid of it and you will only say “Finns are crazy!”, the one saying roughly “Noting become crazy all Finnish people who are falling down!” Huh? but that’s what is says up there. Cheerio, Pekka T.
I searched YT for more of the same poster’s videos and there are a HOST of other clips that show some cars, where they’ve actually landed back on the wheels, take off, bent up, wheels askew, but, “HEY! Wea re hero rally drivers, and we WILL make it to parc ferme!”
LOL!!
Hell, I bet MD tried to make the Mini go, the time it got stuffed!
I can assure you, though, that though it loloks like most got out relatively unharmed, the next day? Wuh boy.
When I roooed the datsun, I wasn’t hardly able to move the next day! ‘Corse, my seatbelt *let go* somewhere mid flip (I heard the *click*) and I somehow came to rest, my byootocks settin’ on the headliner. I wasn’t really hurt…till some beanbag *dragged* me out, across the broken shards of glass.
Ow.