Mid Wales Stages - 2016

[the sniper]

I'm not a great fan of the championship joker card, mainly because it disadvantages some guys more than others. Most guys will use it on their home round, but someone like Fredrik Ahlin is disadvantaged as he doesn't have a home round that he knows like the back of his hand. For this reason though I'm really surprised Ahlin didn't use his joker on the Mid Wales, as those stages were the only ones this BRC season that he would have experienced before, on his two previous Rally GB outings. Surely he's made a mistake there?

[Andre Oliveira]

The joker can't be used in final round.

[focus206]

The joker can't be used in final round.

Good, it would have been quite ridicolous otherwise

[MrJan]

It was a really good rally, I can't wait to see the highlights on TV now!

I'm not sure if it was mentioned but the car parks were shut on Pike’s Peak/Myherin on Saturday evening due to the snow, luckily there was plenty of road side parking space and a lay-by which seemingly accommodated most people who wanted to get into the lower car park though at least. It was a bit silly really, as the car park was completely clear and people still walked in anyway.

The car park we were in on Sunday was still snowy/icy from about halfway up. I think it would have been a complete s**t show in the dark with people getting stuck or struggling to turn around. We were disappointed on Saturday that we had to make a late dash into Sweet Lamb, but ultimately I think it was the right call.

Edit: Oh finally found out when the BT coverage is, 3:30am Sunday morning! Okay for anyone with a set top box, not so good for those of us that can only watch online.

[Nornbugger]

I'm not a great fan of the championship joker card, mainly because it disadvantages some guys more than others. Most guys will use it on their home round, but someone like Fredrik Ahlin is disadvantaged as he doesn't have a home round that he knows like the back of his hand. For this reason though I'm really surprised Ahlin didn't use his joker on the Mid Wales, as those stages were the only ones this BRC season that he would have experienced before, on his two previous Rally GB outings. Surely he's made a mistake there?

Who all played their joker cards on this event? Evans did as expected, I would also have expected Ahlin to do so given the terrain to be as familiar as any will be this season for him and also that he has a lot of experience in the R5 Fiesta whereas several other quick guys were on their 1st proper event in new cars or their 1st gravel event in them.

[the sniper]

The car park we were in on Sunday was still snowy/icy from about halfway up. I think it would have been a complete s**t show in the dark with people getting stuck or struggling to turn around. We were disappointed on Saturday that we had to make a late dash into Sweet Lamb, but ultimately I think it was the right call.

Oh yeah no doubt, I avoided the top car park for the whole event as imagined it might be a bit precarious. The lower car park was fine on the Saturday though, completely clear of snow, but they were probably more worried about the risk of ice so closed it too. There was no ice in the end but you can understand their caution. Plus as I say no one was really put out too badly down there in the end as there was plenty of roadside parking space.

Edit: Oh finally found out when the BT coverage is, 3:30am Sunday morning! Okay for anyone with a set top box, not so good for those of us that can only watch online.

It's seemingly going to be repeated at 0815 on Sunday on BT Sport 1 and on Monday night at 2230 on BT Sport 2, which is a bit more sociable for those watching 'live'.

Channel 4 highlights will go out at 0730 on Saturday, but obviously are only 26 minutes long.

[the sniper]

Who all played their joker cards on this event?

Elfyn Evans, Norwegian Sindre Furuseth (who came second in the Juniors but now leads that championship), Josh Cornwell (finished 4th in Juniors) and Osian Pryce in the R5 Mirage (who won the National category).

According to BRC's Facebook page, Sindre Furuseth used the joker on this round as although he never rallied in the UK, he'd watched the stage onboards from Rally GB on WRC+ and thought that these stages were similar to the ones he'd rallied in Norway.

[MrJan]

Oh yeah no doubt, I avoided the top car park for the whole event as imagined it might be a bit precarious.

It wasn't too bad on Sunday. We got stopped by a marshal about halfway up and told to park up, but there were quite a few spaces beyond us and it seemed okay. In the break between stages I moved the car and got right up to the stage with no issues (in a 1.6 diesel Focus with 3 people + gear + 1 mountain bike)

It's seemingly going to be repeated at 0815 on Sunday on BT Sport 1 and on Monday night at 2230 on BT Sport 2, which is a bit more sociable for those watching 'live'.

Channel 4 highlights will go out at 0730 on Saturday, but obviously are only 26 minutes long.

Nice, the Monday one works a bit better for me (8am is no time to be up on a Sunday). Am happy to watch the C4 highlights on Demand, but as you say it's a lot shorter and I'm interested in the extended coverage of the Juniors because those guys were super committed.

[the sniper]

Chris Harris' rally will feature on his You Tube channel, which will seemingly be promoted on the Top Gear website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/top-...-gear-website/

Nice to see rallying talked about by a mainstream media outlet at a time other than when someone has died... Even if it is only another Top Gear-mania cash in article! I was glad to see Harris get to the end though, as he hasn't had much luck in this game.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Couple of good videos:

https://youtu.be/sAD2TYNgBkM

https://youtu.be/4S8rRi-qmbI

Plenty of great sounding cars, esp the 208 & DS3.

I love the pure sound... wont get that on the TV show with Desborough talking non-stop.