Modri Heydan
I admire people who open their columns like this. My editor rang again today and asked me to write the piece – the editor-in-chief is breathing down my neck, asking where on earth the copy is. And I just can't create, dear God. I've been going through such a painful process that I've started questioning my own creativity. Inspiration isn't coming, you understand, it simply isn't coming, as some people say. I'd like to embrace them with love, too. Of course, nobody expects a Nobel-nominated piece from us. We're just a handful of people who have given years of our lives to this sport anyway... If we don't do it, who will?
My only problem is that I've grown far too used to laziness. Sitting at home all week growing a "belly" and then going on air at the weekend, I realised I'd started using the computer purely as a piece of decoration, with cigarette ash, simit crumbs and, ahem... anyway...
When Atıl unloaded his charming "where's the piece, mate?" message on me today, I decided it was time to do something. He probably didn't believe it either, but he'll be delighted reading this now. Bless him...
So I thought I'd take the easy way out. I wanted to put together a quiz. Since the star of this year is the WRC, I'll share with you a quiz I've prepared from events in WRC history. Since I don't think there could be a worse joke than Murat Bostancı's Instagram post after his gravel tests – "we've done our gravel test" – I'd like to get straight to the point. Yes, he really did post a photo of a clay pot...
1) In 2007, Marcus Gronholm beat Sebastien Loeb by the blink of an eye to win Rally New Zealand. So how big was the margin?
a) 4 seconds
b) 1.7 seconds
c) 0.3 seconds
d) In a flash
2) On stage 26 of the 1992 Acropolis Rally, two Toyota Celicas went off at the same corner and ended up side by side. Do you remember the drivers?
a) Carlos Sainz - Juha Kankkunen
b) Armin Schwarz - Markku Alen
c) Tolga Şansal - Kerim Tar
d) Didier Auriol - Colin McRae
3) Rally legend Colin McRae had a huge crash on the 2000 Tour de Corse and, lying in hospital with broken bones in his face and unable to speak, asked for a pen and paper to get his message across. So what was Colin's question?
a) Is there a lot of damage to the car?
b) Tell me the truth, was Malcolm very angry?
c) If I'd finished, it would have been a certain win, wouldn't it?
d) When can I start preparing for Sanremo?
4) On the 1989 Monte Carlo Rally, Lancia was testing the new two-pedal Integrale with Alex Fiorio. Alex Fiorio went off the road in that rally, which led to the death of one of Lancia's test drivers. Who was this driver?
a) Lars Erik Torph
b) Kalle Grundell
c) Valla Tahminen
d) Henri Toivonen
5) Which driver was able to hold the world championship title for only 11 days, losing it to Juha Kankkunen when Peugeot's appeal against the disqualifications in Sanremo was upheld?
a) Carlos Sainz
b) Markku Alen
c) Petter Solberg
d) Manfred Stohl
6) Which driver, while greeting the crowd from the roof of the car during a special demonstration, lost balance and fell off, then managed to catch the runaway Subaru after it had kissed the barriers?
a) Sebastien Loeb
b) Jari-Matti Latvala
c) Petter Solberg
d) Ott Tänak
7) On the 1995 Rally Catalunya, the Subaru team insisted that Colin McRae hand the rally to Carlos Sainz. Colin McRae didn't follow the order until the final stage – so what did his team-mates do to get him to hand the win to Sainz?
a) At the previous service they put too little petrol in the car
b) They threw sand in Colin McRae's eyes
c) They jumped out in front of him mid-stage and waved their arms to say "slow down, slow down"
d) They threatened to tell his dad
8) On the final stage of the final round of the 1999 World Rally Championship, with 500 metres to the finish, the engine of Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya's Corolla WRC gave up the ghost, costing them the title and leaving them in deep shock. So how did Luis Moya react to this bad luck?
a) He chose the wrong day to quit smoking and asked the spectators for a light
b) He glared at Carlos Sainz as if to say it was all the driver's fault
c) He stuck his helmet in through the car's rear window
d) He stripped off his overalls and ran to the stage finish in his underpants. Then he argued with the officials about whether that counted as finishing
9) There is only one driver who has won a rally in the World Rally Championship in a Group N car. Do you remember who it was?
a) François Chatriot
b) Yves Loubet
c) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
d) Alain Oreille
10) Let's ask one about our own country too. A bet was made at the WRC round in Kemer. If both of Ford Türkiye's drivers finished in the top ten, team director Serdar Bostancı would do "something". So what would Serdar Bostancı have done had it come true?
a) Shave off his moustache
b) Dance a halay on his own in the service area
c) Buy the whole team chicken döner and ayran
d) Dye his hair Ford blue instead of black
So that's our deranged quiz...
I'll tell you now that I'll resort to this method again whenever I can't find a topic, so there are no hard feelings later.
To those asking "where's the answer key?"... There's no such key – send me your answers and I'll look them over and give you your mark.
Right then, may God grant you clarity of mind – you can start from any question you like.
