This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

The 78th Monte Carlo rally this week broke new ground on several levels.

First, the winner – Mikko Hirvonen – was driving a Ford Fiesta Super 2000, the first event win for the car in its first international competition.

Hirvonen is one of the world’s best drivers finishing just one point from last year’s World Rally Championship.  This week won by nearly two minutes.

But the Monte Carlo broke ground on more fronts.  The sanctioning body, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, published an iPhone App that you could download and follow the rally through live updates.

And the IRC’s media partner, Eurosport, broadcast 14 of the 15 stages in the Monte Carlo.  That, along with Rally Radio webcasts, let Monte Carlo fans keep close tabs on one of the most famous brands in all of motor racing.

With all of this success you wonder why the World Rally Championship let the event go from its calendar allowing its competitor, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, to pick it up and get acclaim from a traditionally popular rally season opener.

Dumb stuff like that by the WRC shows major executives can make dumb decisions costing themselves millions.

To coin a phrase: there’s no explanation for stupid, is there?

You don’t even need a co-driver to come to that conclusion, do you?

Peace.