Anyone going to Rallye France?

[makinen_fan]

I have just being curious of how much will cost me to go to Rallye France and to my surprise I found cheap tickets with Eurostar to Strasbourg, so I am intrigued to book them. Anyone else going this year? Maybe willing to share hotel room and car?

Is there spectators entrance at the stages? Also how friendly is the organisation and marshals? Any tips are welcome guys!

Hope I ll decide in favour, and get the chance to see the last battle of the Sebs!

[Mintexmemory]

I was considering a friday night dash (by ferry) to see Saturday and Sunday if a car full could be organised. However your suggestion sounds interesting could you pm me with the eurostar cost and timings sir ;)

Spectating is free, but some organisation problems (if you look at the last 2 years Rally France threads). Nevertheless, as you say - last chance to see.....

[makinen_fan]

PM sent

[Mintexmemory]

LIMITED PERIOD OFFER 1 or 2 guys to join makinen_fan and I on a dash to Rally France for the SEBSHOWDOWN

This is the deal:
Leave London about 2100 Thursday night, Dover midnight Thurs/Fri
Drive from Calais to Alsace
Arrive Hagenau area stage in time for morning run.
2 nights accom near Colmar
All day Saturday
All day Sunday including podium (dependent on Seb L victory)
0200 Monday morning ferry from Calais (Back in London by 0430 hours)

Cost for: Ferry, return petrol to Alsace, accom and breakdown cover
£83 pp (4 sharing) £114 (3 sharing). Roof box will be used to ensure adequate passenger space ;)
A tank-full probably required during the rally and food - say £45 quid each on top (individual alcohol purchase will be facilitated)
Would consider a pick up between Pas de Calais -France Nord / Bruxelles ring
Anyone interested?? If so please PM me before 2000hrs CET on Sunday 1st Sept because alternative arrangements by existing party are time-dependent.

Prices quoted are indicative but will be kept within 10% and do not take account of possible exchange rate fluctuations. Final costing will be notified when bookings are made

[tommeke_B]

Been to Alsace the 3 times they were in WRC so far ('10, '11, '12), but not planning to go this year. No entrance to the stages, that is for free. For me '10 and '11 were great, last year was still got but not the same. In '10 and '11 there were many gravel parts, which made it interesting. For it were mixed events, we saw them 6x on asphalt and 6x on gravel. In most places there are no Marshalls but police officers. In 2010 the safety measures were below any level, some of the most dangerous things I've ever seen, people almost on the road in exit of very fast corners, on both gravel or tarmac, often before some object that kept them from moving... In 2011 the safety was fair, I would say.

Last year it was completely over the top... Police literally in every corner, and they didn't allow you on any place except for public areas, on several stages. In the end they had to cancel a stage... Police sent everyone away who they saw "go to the public area", often walking with them. So maaaaany spectators tried to hide somewhere in the wineyards, which caused the cancellation of the stage. You just need some luck with the police officers, but don't expect them to speak and understand English (just like you can't expect an English to speak French, right? ;) ). Sometimes they are OK and friendly, sometimes they are quite rude. Last year where Solberg crashed one officer was trying to get people to go back (even more than the 20m they already were), but people refused because it didn't make sense. The officer started shouting "I'm just doing my job, I hate rally, etc etc." He was very lucky that rally-spectators are very nice people in general. I bet he wouldn't dare to say that to a group of drunk football-fans...

Next to the safety issue, there are more and more spectators every year, especially since it's free... So I'm skipping this year, maybe going back next year (but mostly because it's just a 4,5 hour drive). Like the 2010 and 2011 editions were, I prefered them over Rallye Deutschland. Like last year was, and by seeing how Germany was this year (all perfect except the shakedown on wednesday and the not so interesting thursday stages), I prefer it over France for sure...

So that's what I could say. Not to scare anyone, just to let you know what to expect.

Dinner and accomodation are very good and relatively cheap in the Alsace region. Last year we were in Molsheim (Hotel du Centre), hotel on 50m of a few restaurants and a café, had a lot of fun, and great location to go to the stages. Also don't forget that local people are pro-Loeb, it's crazy. In '11 when Loeb retired, a friend of me joked to a waitress "it's good for the excitement that Loeb retired", she refused to come back to take our orders, someone else came in stead... :D

If there are any more questions, just ask...

[miniwintz]

The French don't care much for this sport except for Loeb.

The organisation had the best live TV set up last year and yet they managed to **** it up big time with the two retards they put in the commentary booth. They basically hadn't heard of any of the other drivers, they didn't have a single clue about the WRC regulations and they pretty much kept repeating "look at how handsome he is, look at how fast he is!! we so proud!!"

[makinen_fan]

Thanks Tom for the answer.
Just another question, where can I find more info about stages (such as official spectator points, closed roads etc)? Are they going to release some kind of spectator guide in the website nearer the date, or do you have to buy the official rally guide from shops locally?

[306 Cosworth]

Thanks for the advice above tommeke! I'm a little nervous about going now, but hopefully it will be ok.