I can think of a few:Safari, San Remo, Corsica, and we could get rid of Mexico, Germany and "Rally D'Alsace"..........
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I can think of a few:Safari, San Remo, Corsica, and we could get rid of Mexico, Germany and "Rally D'Alsace"..........
Safari way too expensive nowdays... Also dangerous, just think of the PR damage to the sport when stages are driven on open roads and small children from some village would be hit by rally car... No no no.Quote:
Originally Posted by RAS007
I see no point in getting rid of Rally Mexico, a huge spectactle there for/by the spectators. Germany is also nice "special" tarmac rally and taking into consideration their meaning automotive-wise in Europe, totally should have an event. Finally they have started to use new stages, thank God.
Agree on Alsace, rally is too same kind with Germany. But as French are also big automotive-wise, they need to have an event. So Corsica would be good - but I don't know would it be politically possible to organize an event there at the same time calling it "RALLY FRANCE".
Safari has always been an expensive excersize, but I agree, it may not be valuable in these dark economic days. About safety, there´s been some incidents sure, but it proved harmless over the years. But I think this event is long past from FIA´s consideration anyway, unfortunately.Quote:
Originally Posted by Juha_Koo
Corsica is on French territory not? It was called Rallye de France before and everyone believed it then. Alsace is only run in Alsace region too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Juha_Koo
the best North American rallies are in Canada namely Rally of the Tall Pines in Ontario and Rally Baie Des Chaleurs in Quebec, perhaps this may seem a bit biased coming from a Canadian, but both of these events are highly regarded and draw teams from all across Canada and America.
We are years away here (both in Canada and America) though from seeing even an event reach even close to the level it would need to be for consideration. Sad because the north american market is huge obviously for Ford, but also for Mini and VW.
Perhaps the event that may be nearest for consideration is the Targa Newfoundland event that draws teams from abroad as well. (albeit this event is geared alot towards vintage cars) but the organization and participation is top notch.
I was in Corisca late last year after WRC France (Alsace) for the Tour De Corse Historique , everywhere seemed very French to me (France French) but they hold onto their heritage much like Sardinia seems to with Italy or prior to Italy I guess I mean :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Juha_Koo
Yes, Corsica is French territory but it's not a usual political borough called "région" - but a "territorial collectivity" which means it has greater autonomous political powers. There's also many Corsican nationalist movements which don't see Corsica as a part of France but as an independent country. But I don't know how strong these kind of views are among the people. I've only been to one course dealing contemporary France so I'm by no means a professional on this matter. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Josti
I don't excatly know how it was during the times it was driven as "Rallye De France", atleast I don't remember any major problems with it. These are "small" things with bigger political perspective, just like Mikkelsen's car mysteriously happened to carry regular Skoda colours instead of Union Jack painting in Circuit of Ireland driven in Northern Ireland...
Yes, there are always nationalist people who take distance from where they´re officially a part of, but that isn´t the championships problem (I don´t think there´s ever been incidents on this matter anyway, as far as the Tour de Corse goes). In any case, I do like to vent that I much prefer Corsica over Alsace, which is a nice rally but hardly as characteristic like the former.Quote:
Originally Posted by Juha_Koo
To give you guys a feeling of how small time and invisible rally is in America in general and in California in particular, the state is long, and like many real long conutries the North and the South are considered distant strange places with nothing in common.
In "Northern" California, in the San Francisco area according to wilipedia:Last weekend a regional event was just held and there were a total of 12 entries: Reg 1 Results It was a friend who won in a very modest Golf MkII, another friend who was second on my own suspension.Quote:
The city is also the financial and cultural hub of the larger San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area, with a population of 7.4 million.
Southern California , again from wiki17.7 million..Quote:
The Census Bureau also defines a wider region based on commuting patterns, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside Combined Statistical Area (CSA), more commonly known as the Greater Los Angeles Area, with an estimated population of 17,786,419.[4
Typically they might have 20-maybe 30 entries. Most extremely modest levels of prep...many near stock.
There is simply no the numbers of people in the sport at even the most rudimentary level to support more than just fun events...
The guy above is right, Canada, especially the nearer to "New France" aka Quebec you get, they better the event, and there are even spectators at 'Baie de Chaleurs" , but as much as I enjoyed canadian events when i did them, it is dreaming to think the events could ratchet up and cooperate..and pull off a real event with 100-180 entries.
More particularly I think any North American event would need to be in the east, making transport much easier. A west coast event would be a big logistical move like Australia, New Zealand, or Japan. As much as I'd like to see the WRC at an event I can get to easily like Sno*Drift - run in late January - Canada is probably the better bet. Guess I'd need to take more days off work, then.
If there was a way to incorporate it into a long event like Targa Newfoundland it could be even more unique.
Someone posted a video link to a tarmac rally in Norway, unfortunately the video title was in Norwegian so I cant remember the name :dozey: Really nice looking roads there, Monte style mountains, frozen lakes and the like. May have been Grondal driving...?