RallyBuzz interview with Neil Cole, the presenter of World Rally on Dave

SebNeil RallyBuzz interview with Neil Cole, the presenter of World Rally on Dave

RallyBuzz caught up with the presenter of World Rally on Dave, and all round top bloke, Neil Cole just after he returned from Rally Japan.

Neil currently presents World Rally on Dave Sundays 6pm, an interview show on the Audi Channel called Personality Driven, is a DJ for NME Radio weekdays 10am - 2pm and is also a stand-up comedian. He has previously presented the hugely popular WRC Shakedown programme and was a VJ on MTV Europe amongst other things.

In the interview Neil tells us about his experiences in Japan, his co-driving debut on the Richard Burns Memorial Rally and who's good for quotes in the WRC Service Park.

He gives us detail on some of the drivers and co-drivers tastes in music (Neil should know a thing or two about music as he is a fan of Mark E Smith and The Fall, a passion also shared by this interviewer).

Also, Neil gives us his thoughts on who could be Britain's next world rally champion.

5551 RallyBuzz interview with Neil Cole, the presenter of World Rally on Dave

The RallyBuzz interview

RallyBuzz:

You have just recently returned from the latest WRC round in Japan. Tell us about your experiences of Japan and did you find yourself lost in translation at any point.

Neil:

It’s an amazing place. I certainly had some lonely, homesick alienated moments at the first WRC Japan in 2004 – we were stuck out in the middle of the Akan National Park, in some random all-Japanese retreat (to be closer to the forest stages). I had failed to take the essential iPod, book etc in my satellite bag, and jetlag kicked in properly. No sleep, nowhere to go, nothing to do, and certainly no Scarlett Johanssen... awful night.

This year, 2008, was much more manageable – Sapporo is a thriving city with excellent karaoke bars and a million restaurants (watch out for the ones that look like normal barbecue but turn out to be skewered chicken feet, or liver & beak stew...).

The Japanese organisation was marginally less impressive than its usual impeccable – the super special in the Dome was a little shambolic (as well as being the rallying equivalent of trying to play squash in your socks...) but the fans and hospitality of the people in general is always awe-inspiring. Oh, and to be at the Stop control of SS29 and witness Loeb/Elena cross the line, and hand in a timecard making them 5 times World Champions, was quite a special moment I was lucky to witness.

A special moment for Neil was witnessing Seb Loeb and Daniel Elena claiming their fifth world title on Rally Japan

Image: ©willyweyens-rallyworld

RallyBuzz:

The Richard Burns Memorial Rally took place in September and you made your navigating debut sitting with John Wood in a Mtsubishi Evo 4 decaled up as Richard's old car P12 MRE. You finished a creditable 11th overall. How was that experience and would you do it again.

Neil:

It was an incredible weekend. I probably learnt more about the real nuts and bolts of rallying in those 2 days than I have in 5 years working in the sport. I would do it again in a flash.

Here’s a snippet from my blog about it:

“The experience in the car was fast, crazy... catching up and overtaking slower lower-seeded cars made it occasionally bumper to bumper combative like touring cars or rallycross, hard on the neck, sweaty, sickly woooooah too fast, too late braking, we hit that cone (is that allowed?)... we hit lots of cones, stop worrying about it... making illegible notes (to try and decipher later when i’m not doing 100mph – was that “cut” or “don’t cut”, “opens late” or “tightens late”, crucial stuff...) remembering to try and enjoy the moment, but also focusing on keeping up (and keeping breakfast down)...”

you can read the rest at:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=52786316328&ref=mf (if you do facebook) or here www.theneilcoleshow.com if you don’t.

Neil sitting with John "Ric" Wood on the Richard Burns Memorial Rally

john wood neil cole RallyBuzz interview with Neil Cole, the presenter of World Rally on Dave

Image: www.joebridge.co.uk

In at the deep end

RallyBuzz:

Would you ever consider competing as a driver on a rally at some stage in the future?

Neil:

I would more than consider it, yes of course – it is my dream! I am under no illusion that I could be a contender, but I love driving and I have had bits of rally tuition on all surfaces, from all kinds of teachers (including Makinen, Loeb, Meeke, Ligato... plus locals in Cyprus, Finland, Sweden and Mexico...) so any opportunity to (legally) put that into practice would be snapped up. I am no Valentino Rossi, however, who can cross disciplines so effortlessly. I am more Francis Rossi from Status Quo.

RallyBuzz:

When growing up what rally cars did you notice that inspired you?

Neil:

Well, naturally the golden era was the Group B days and it was probably the Audi A2 which caught my imagination the most (and my dad’s, whose interest in rallying I inherited). But I think the first rally car I saw that made me go “Blimey!” was a Hillman Imp. Having said all that, my first car at 17 was a Vauxhall Nova SR...

Driving the car that captured his imagination

RallyBuzz:

Which WRC drivers give you the best interviews and quotes?

Neil:

I miss Marcus from the championship, because he is a genuine character, funny, passionate, open and honest... some of his quotes over the years have been classics. Plus he is insanely tall, so I always felt like part of a Vaudeville double-act standing next to him, and I think in a way he did too.

GG Galli, naturally... i will always remember an early interview with him where he was still learning English from the Lion King DVD (!) – we were walking along a beach in Sardinia, and he pointed at a seagull and said “This bird... what is... I know I know it... Swan-Sea!”. Priceless. His English is excellent now, and I can’t wait for him to make a full recovery and get back in the car.

Chris Atkinson is great – a bloke’s bloke with a good Aussie turn of phrase, which livens up an interview. But they are all good – well-trained, yes, but not to the extent that they become repetitive automata (like some motorsports), so over the years I have had unexpectedly great funny quotes from Loeb, Sordo and even Markko Martin – quite reticent, but a very dry wit.

RallyBuzz:

There are some pretty crazy fans on the WRC. Which country do you consider to have the craziest?

Neil:

Define crazy!

Presuming there is nothing “crazy” about camping out in sub-zero temperatures in the middle of a forest to watch the action unfold in noisy 10-second bursts... it’s usually a combination of rally-in-the-blood and massive-amounts-of-liquor-in-the-blood, so it would have to be the Argentinians and Finns and Swedes, who each have their own unique, impossibly strong moonshine-tipple to “keep them warm”.

Looking rather dapper

Neil Cole RallyBuzz interview with Neil Cole, the presenter of World Rally on Dave

RallyBuzz:

You have pretty decent musical tastes and influences (bit like myself, I hasten to add). Which driver, in your opinion, has the best music tastes in the WRC Service Park?

Neil:

Look, none of them are likely to own a Smiths record, or be aware that The Cure have a new album out... and Petter still loves his disco music... but Mikko Hirvonen (like most Finnish males) loves hard rock & heavy metal, Chris Atkinson (like most Australian males) seems to like hard rock & heavy metal – and he wears an iPod on the road sections to help him stay “in the zone”. Oh, and Tomi Tuominen (Suzuki, co-driver to Toni Gardemeister) is the frontman in a pub-rock band... and he’s pretty good too!

RallyBuzz:

Who do you think can be the next British world rally champion and is the MSA Rally Elite Scheme enough to nurture and support talent to make it to the top of the WRC?

Neil:

Straight out of the box I would like to see Kris Meeke getting a full WRC drive. He is very talented and quick, and is probably our best hope right now.

The MSA Elite scheme, and the Academy, is a massive step forward. Is it enough? Well, the French model is enviable, the clear impact of the FFSA on talent like Ogier proves the point. But with the talents of Martin McCormack, Adam Gould, Wozencroft, Pritchard, and many others, getting training and experience to maximise their potential, the future is certainly brighter.

Neil with Kris Meeke in 2005

RallyBuzz:

Wales Rally GB is returning to mid Wales this year for the first time since 2000. Are you looking forward to the stages there and will you be taking an air-horn with you to Sweet Lamb?

Neil:

I can’t wait for these stages... although it will be difficult to be everywhere, I hope to see action in Hafren & Myherin too. But Sweet Lamb is a must – an air-horn might be asking too much, what with juggling a microphone, stopwatch and notepad already, but I’m sure everyone else will make more than enough noise to make up the difference.

RallyBuzz:

And finally, can we expect to see you on our screens for the 2009 WRC?

Neil: