Posted Sunday, January 16, 2022 at 11:05pm
Wvery year the carpet seemed to get thicker. More sumptuous. And more red. There was only one thing a deeper shade of red than the floor of Monaco’s Sporting d’Hiver: Tommi Mäkinen’s face.
Twenty years ago this week, the four-time World Rally Champion marched up the stairs to sit in the place he least wanted to be: the post-event press conference following his second place on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally.
Beside him sat a considerably more chirpy looking Sébastien Loeb. The then 27-year-old Alsatian enjoyed the applause for his maiden World Rally Championship win. An apparent 45-second success over Subaru debutant Mäkinen.
Except that wasn’t the whole story.
