By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

When he crested a hill during a stage of WRC Rally in Finland, Evgeny Novikov’s lead foot nearly caused his Citroen C4 to pull a burly back flip. Yikes! The in-car footage actually reminds me of the view from the cockpit of my Dad’s old Piper during takeoff. First, the nose comes up, and then it’s  nothing but sky. As the announcer—in my opinion, hysterically—points out, this near-miss “indicates why not every jump should be taken flat-out.” That’s some classic British understatement for you.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Ok, across the pond, they call them telegraph poles, but no matter what they’re called, I’d think that a high-speed collision with one would render a car inoperable.  But somebody apparently forgot to tell World Rally Championship driver Chris Atkinson that, because even after his Citroen C4 took out a telephone pole during a WRC stage in Ireland, he was able to keep going and manage a 10th place finish. Huh? What the hell do they make telephone poles out of over there? Balsa wood?

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

Over the weekend in Greece, Sebastien Loeb lost it during about halfway through the Acropolis Rally and wound up making eight revolutions before coming to a stop.The good news is that Loeb and his driver are both in good shape. Unfortunately, that can’t be said for the pair’s Citroen C4, which is as bashed-up as you’d expect it to be. During interviews following the wreck, the world champion said that he basically came in to the turn too hot and over-corrected, which send the car over the edge of the road and started the tumble. Hopefully he and his team have better luck next time out.