[ERC] Circuit of Ireland 2014

[Mirek]

Exactly, that is a good question. I have absolutely no idea what sense it makes to run rallies for just 30 crews. Yet there are people on this forum who support this idiotic idea. Unbelievable!

Out of curiosity I did a little statistics ;) Here are the numbers for crews which actually passed scrutineering of international events in international field. Red are events bellow average, blue upon average number of participants.

2014:

WRC
Monte Carlo 68
Sweden 39
Mexico 26
Portugal 84

Average 54

ERC
Jänner 79
Liepaja 56
Acropolis 29
Circuit of Ireland 32

Average 49

Highest international participants so far in 2014: Portugal 84
Lowest international participants so far in 2014: Mexico 26

2013:

WRC
Monte Carlo 73
Sweden 43
Mexico 25
Portugal 70
Argentina 32
Acropolis 46
Sardegna 51
Finland 96
Deutschland 76
Australia 29
Alsace 82
Catalunya 59
Wales 56

Average 57

ERC

Jänner 84
Liepaja 37
Canarias 27
Acores 37
Corse 51
Ypres 99
Sibiu 37
Barum 90
Poland 64
Croatia 60
Sanremo 53
Valais 68

Average 59

Highest international participants in 2013: Ypres 99
Lowest international participants in 2013: Mexico 25

[Mirek]

Very nice full stage onboard of Ernie Graham from Hamilton's Folly with Escort Mk.II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9BJv7nu6Eg

[Jarek Z]

Thanks for your analysis Mirek! It confirms the pathetic condition of our beloved sport.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Theres also some info here on the Irish Rally Forum ;
http://www.rallyforums.com/forum/showthread.php?45074-Circuit-of-Ireland-2014-National-Rally/page10

A lot of the Nat info was on Twitter feeds all weekend

Cheers, sorry didnt realise there was a section for NI rally !!

I've been following the Tarmac Championship for years but the website is now really poor. The series has also deteriorated of late with fewer WRC cars but it's still been better than the UK.

Twitter is good though for keeping up to date and its great to watch highlights on Motors TV.

Video gives a good idea of what the spectators could see with the National runners after the ERC (from 2.20):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlmBM1OHpPg#t=254

[Mirek]

A bit wrong picture size but nice action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ2gemgBnxY

[WUff1]

Thank you Mirek for your interesting analysis!

[vino_93]

Thanks for your analysis Mirek! It confirms the pathetic condition of our beloved sport.

the major problem is car I think ... small cars are boring, they all cost too much due to manufacturers monopoly, not a lot of manufacturers are interested by doing them, and they don't travel a lot in countries out of Europe.
Let people do and homologate some small cars, from R1 to N4, and maybe there'll be local entries.

[Mirek]

Full stage onboard Neil Simpson SS12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yokeTgEILg8

[Nornbugger]

seems like the ERC was a total disgrace, as usual. but in the national champ. there were very good cars. where can I read more about it? the "British & Irish Rallying" section here is empty.


The ERC section was fantastic actually, the Irish championship was a sideshow last weekend, on friday their was a lot of people leaving for the next stage once Lappi went past and not watching the Irish championship guys at all.

In the National the oil seller led till he went off on the last stage handing the win to the alcohol seller both driving S12B Imprezas with the energy supplier ending up 2nd in his 08 Focus WRC. They are all decent drivers with decent cars and its great to have them, but Lappi, Breen and Abbring are a level higher at the wheel


Also, great debut by Daniel McKenna in the Pirelli prize DS3, very impressive, had the matching of Korhonen from the start

[Mirek]

Here also SS11 from Neil Simpson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUCe5jLJvzI

[Jarek Z]

The ERC section was fantastic actually, the Irish championship was a sideshow last weekend, on friday their was a lot of people leaving for the next stage once Lappi went past and not watching the Irish championship guys at all.

In the National the oil seller led till he went off on the last stage handing the win to the alcohol seller both driving S12B Imprezas with the energy supplier ending up 2nd in his 08 Focus WRC. They are all decent drivers with decent cars and its great to have them, but Lappi, Breen and Abbring are a level higher at the wheel


Thanks for your impressions. It's always good to hear the impressions from someone who was spectating the rally on site.

I have just compared the overall results of the ERC competitors and the National competitors. After SS12 official Skoda driver was over 37 seconds faster than the Irish oil seller. SS13 was probably cancelled for the national drivers, so it is hard to compare further results.

After SS12:
Esapekka Lappi (Skoda Fabia S2000): total time 1:23:13.6
Garry Jennings (Subaru Impreza WRC): total time 1:23:51.7

[Mirek]

Awesome video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCknYFF4k6M

[dimviii]

couldnt follow Ireland due to Easter vacations,but read all pages here,and watched stage by stage times,and some videos.
So r5 this time hadn t power advantage as some drivers were complaining at Acropolis.
About 208 retirements seems that have a serious problem,and they can t afford to tell the truth due to pr/ecomomic reasons.
All these ''due to broken radiator'' are laughable.Aluminium radiators can repaired at some minutes from local garages worldwide.
So even if a works team haven t got enough spares(lol) can repair very easy the existing 3(lol) ones .
208 uses a stock block 1,6 liter,while fiesta uses a 2 litre cylinder block with less displacement to be ok with regulations.
A 2 litre engine has wider block coolant channels,a 1,6 litre has smaller ones.Maybe the problem starts from this.If this speculation is true,is something difficult to fix.Its really starnge they didn t saw this problem at testing...
Imho from videos i saw, 208 were no way near fabias excellent setup.
Good for Lappi,he really needed a good result.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Final word (hopefully) on Breen's exit and "radiator-gate" from Peugeot-Sport official site: 'The car stalled and was never able to restart after a sensor problem...'

[dimviii]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t31.0-8/10286799_299082740247035_441505574390969365_o.jpg

[pucky54]

;)
http://www.autosport.cz/img/fotografie/258caa6f9a1eb72793fffd06442963b7.jpg

[Jarek Z]

Too much light Pucky! Use faster shutter speed ;)

[Mirek]

Another great video, a looooot of jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzMcjmYD8cA

Donnelly onboard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNR2ZyIM75Y

Consani onboard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0VolIEhI88

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Another great video, a looooot of jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzMcjmYD8cA



Brilliant footage !

I was looking forward to the ERC on Eurosport but was really disappointed at the lack of excitement. Those brilliant stages should have been much more thrilling to watch but apart from Lappi onboard on SS3 it was very poor. Video's like the one above puts the official ERC coverage to shame...

[mousti]

Nice onboard of Chris Ingram!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFyv88rIjts

[Filip]

Nice driving, there are also some interesting onboards on his channel.

[satnav]

Here's another good video of the event ;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCknYFF4k6M

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Nice vid of Ingram's event - amazing speed and commitment ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoPcMhNHlo8

[RS]

So r5 this time hadn t power advantage as some drivers were complaining at Acropolis.


I think they probably did, just that the Fabias superior chassis made the difference here.

Anyone know what gearbox the 208s were running in Ireland? Presumably shorter one than at Acropolis.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

The CoI is certainly a fairly specialist tarmac event in terms of chassis set-up and the vast experience of Skoda certainly paid off ahead of pure power.

Watching the videos again the 208 looks very 'heavy' over the jumps and Breen was lucky on one notable occasion when the car nearly went off the road after being badly unsettled landing after a crest...

[Mirek]

Onboard Jan Černý SS6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC0mu2cEy5Y