What’s
in a
name?

But while ‘Loebinen’ didn’t exactly stick, these are some unofficial nicknames that have stood the test of time, as WRC.com explains.

Possum: The late Peter Bourne became Peter ‘Possum’ Bourne after he famously crashed a car avoiding a possum that had wandered onto the road.

The King: Spain’s legendary double world rally champion was given the name ‘The King’ by his country’s media. He’s also been known as ‘The Matador’.

Il Drago: Italian great Sandro Munari was called ‘Il Drago’, or ‘The Dragon’ due to his aggressive fighting spirit.

The Therminator: Successful Finnish businessman Mattias Therman tackled selected WRC events with the name ‘The Therminator’ emblazoned on his cars.

Coco: Rallying hero Colin McRae, who sadly died in a helicopter crash in 2007, was known as ‘Coco’ at school for occasionally acting like a clown. Conversely his schoolmate and occasional WRC driver turned TV presenter Robbie Head earned the nickname ‘Hector’ for being slightly more attentive in class.

Bosse: Marcus Gronholm, one of the WRC’s greatest, was called ‘Bosse’, a variation of brother, by his sister. For the record, his co-driver Timo Rautiainen was nicknamed Timpa.

Fast Freddy: Once Belgium’s big tip for future stardom ‘Fast Freddy’ Loix enjoyed stints as a factory driver with Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Peugeot.

Monster: Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima, the man behind Suzuki’s WRC successes, wasn’t called ‘Monster’ for having hands the size of Africa. Instead it was a name given to him for the manner in which he wrestled cars around dirt courses in his native Japan during his early career.

The Iceman: Kimi Raikkonen, who spent two seasons in the WRC during his switch from Formula One, was the ‘Iceman’ (pictured) because of his ice-cool persona.

Mad Mads: Before blending his impressive speed with similarly impressive consistency, Norway’s rising star Mads Ostberg spent an impressive amount of time crashing, hence the nickname ‘Mad Mads’.

Pa Taket: Eric Carlsson was a rallying legend before the WRC took hold. ‘Pa Taket’ loosely translates from Swedish as ‘on the roof’ although Carlsson earned his reputation for what he achieved on four wheels.

Mr Maximum Attack: It pretty much does what it says in the tin in Markku Alen’s case. The original ‘Mr Maximum Attack’ was one of the best WRC drivers never to win the world title.

Hollywood: Petter Solberg became ‘Hollywood’ for his showman-like tendencies and his movie star-style blond hair.

Burnsie: The much-missed Richard Burns was, quite simply, ‘Burnsie’ in the same way that Chris Atkinson is, of course, ‘Atko’. Didn’t take a genius to come up with either but that’s how they are universally known.

Grizzly: It was always better to keep on Citroen’s respected former team head Guy Frequelin’s good side rather than his occasional ‘Grizzly’ side, apparently.