One of the oldest international neighbourly rivalries handily applies to the World Rally Championship’s two top teams, one English, one French. With events early in the Rallye de France blowing the WRC race wide open, which side will have the last laugh?
In the history of national conflict, there have been few nations more violently opposed to each other than the English and the French, which certainly lends the World Rally Championship – chiefly contested by the Citroën team from France and the England-based Ford team – certain piquancy at the moment.
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Last year, Sébastien Loeb won his seventh world title here, in a patriotic display of Gallic pomp that would have made even Charles de Gaulle weep. This year, it’s going to be somewhat different, as Loeb was only 15 points ahead of his key rival Mikko Hirvonen from Ford going into the rally – but with national pride at stake for both, disaster struck Loeb for the second consecutive event as engine failure ruined his charge yesterday, while an offroad incident for Hirvonen means the initiative has been handed to Sébastien Ogier.
You could argue that the biggest battle in rallying lately has been France versus France, as both Red Bull-backed Citroën drivers, Loeb and Ogier, seem intent on thrashing the hell out of each other. While 11th place in the previous event had seen Ogier write off his chances of superseding Loeb, a win here would see him close the gap to just four points with two rallies remaining – or as little as one point should he win the Power Stage on Sunday and grab three valuable bonus points.
So with such early drama in Alsace, this is probably a good time to reflect on the volatile nature of international relations, seeing as it might just boil down to a showdown on British soil (albeit in Wales, where you’d be hard-pressed to find huge support for the English either).
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The English justify anything that’s rude by claiming that it’s French, and the French do exactly the same but in the opposite way… Take the common English phrase “Pardon my French”. This is usually pronounced before uttering an obscenity, such as: “Pardon my French, but I believe you’re a [insert unprintable swear word].” The English also refer to a condom as a “French letter” and “taking French leave” as running away.
Compare and contrast the exact French equivalents. A “capote anglaise” is a prophylactic and “filer a l’anglaise” means to desert. The French even refer to “une education anglaise”, which means to repeatedly flog children for sexual gratification as an aid to learning.
Loeb, however, likes to take a more international perspective. Perhaps it’s because he’s from Haguenau in Alsace (just down the road from Strasbourg, where this rally is based) and so is nearly Swiss or German instead. Currently, he lives in Switzerland.
Citroën Racing Media
“I’ve been resident in Switzerland for many years and I like it there: it’s nice and calm,” he says. “But I like Germany, too, and England as well, I don’t think it’s true that the French and the English don’t like each other. Although it is definitely true that the English can’t cook or make wine.”
One thing that Loeb has certainly got the stomach for is an almighty battle for an eighth world title. “We’ve played our jokers already,” is how he put it before this ill-fated event. “We’ve got to push hard to try and win. But not so hard that we go off.”
So while it’s effectively France v England in the Constructors’ shake-up, unless Loeb can find a new hunger to fight back, it looks as if perhaps there could at last be a coronation for a new King Of France very soon – how ironic if that were to come on the other side of the English Channel…
Want more?
- Official World Rally Championship website wrc.com
- Relive WRC Australia at our event page
- Sébastien Ogier profile
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