Dirtfish

[Sulland]

Are one of the long term aims of Dirtfish also to lift the US championship to a larger sport in America?
I like what Mr Rimmer have done so far, both on Dirtfish and his Rallycar collection!

They have hired a very good team so far, so they could do it, to get more TV coverage, and by that more money into the sport in US/Canada.
Is that their aim?

If North America would embrace the rallysport, by getting it into TV, ala WRC in a light version, it could become huge over there!

[AnttiL]

This seems like "sponsored content"

https://www.dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/tanak-the-movie-find-out-even-more-about-the-champion/

[swanny]

Gotta pay the bills somehow....

[AndyRAC]

Following the fallout of Autosport/ Motorsport News, with David Evans moving to Dirtfish, others from that stable have set up a new magazine/website called The Race. However, rallying isn't among their portfolio.

F1, MotoGP, Indycar, FE, e-sports

[Franky]

This seems like "sponsored content"

https://www.dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/tanak-the-movie-find-out-even-more-about-the-champion/

Well, Tanak is "their guy" and it will help introduce him to people a lot easier than some articles or some short videos. But I get what you mean.

[mknight]

In quite a few countries you have to marke paid content to stay within the law.

What we kind of see here as that two of the main rally journalists moved from semi-promotional positions at autosport and wrc+ to an outift which might even publish fully commercial content.

We'll see how it pans out in the long term.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Following the fallout of Autosport/ Motorsport News, with David Evans moving to Dirtfish, others from that stable have set up a new magazine/website called The Race. However, rallying isn't among their portfolio.

F1, MotoGP, Indycar, FE, e-sports

Is this where Jack Benyon has gone, as he's also just bailed out of Autosport ?

[Fast Eddie WRC]

And on Dirtfish, I have to say the quantity of content and interviews has been pretty impressive so far.

They have really gone all-out at Rally Sweden and come up with some good comment and interviewed some new people.

But I wonder how long it will stay free ?

[tommeke_B]

It'll stay free for a long time I think. Their goal seems to be to build a larger fanbase for rallying in America, you can't work on that behind a paywall.

[EstWRC]

And on Dirtfish, I have to say the quantity of content and interviews has been pretty impressive so far.

They have really gone all-out at Rally Sweden and come up with some good comment and interviewed some new people.

absolutely agreed, im so glad that they came into the scene. this is the level that wrc.com should have, unfortunately they dont and now having dirtfish, i dont even care about wrc.com (not that i really did before too)

good videos, articles and interviews during the rallies, and let alone today there has been like 5 articles from them.

good job so far and i understood from Colin there will be even more stuff coming.

[deephouse]

They are quite reveal important news in quite a weeks now. While Autosport just guess and then sometimes hit the right news. And mostly was just nothing what we already knew. Just my opinion. I know it's the same people that are working but clearly they have better management.

[Tarmop]

Well, there isn`t much guessing going on at the moment...sillyseason is sillyseason.

[AndyRAC]

While Autosport just guess and then sometimes hit the right news. And mostly was just nothing what we already knew. Just my opinion. I know it's the same people that are working but clearly they have better management.

I'm not sure Autosport care too much about rallying; for most of the weekend, the main part of the home page had nothing about Rally Sweden - it was the best part of an hour before Evans win appeared. And with The Race not bothering with rallying, Dirtfish seems to be the only place for English language coverage of the sport. And they've made an impressive start.

[dimviii]

https://www.dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/scott-martin-pays-tribute-to-his-co-driver-hero-park/

[dimviii]

https://www.dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/rovanpera-convinced-of-his-rally-finland-chances/

[mknight]

I'd say the purpose of this thread is to talk about DirtFish as a concept, pros, cons, issues, feedback etc. Not to talk about the actual news posted there, those fit perfectly well in the News and Rumors thread.

[Gregor-y]

Yes. As an US fan I'm naturally skeptical of any US millionaire that gets interested in rally for a few years only to drop off when something else attractive comes along. So far and good - not to mention so much commitment with their hiring spree.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

You would hope that D.Evans and C.Clark joining them was a good sign that DF is into rally for the long-term.

And its good to see Colin Clark is still doing his own Kitchen Table vlogs (albeit now with a DF microphone !)

https://youtu.be/wwZOqL74dFo

[dimviii]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-disaster-of-rally-portugal-1986/

[Rally Power]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-disaster-of-rally-portugal-1986/

Despite that sad memory, opening DirtFish site during this week to read David Evans pieces on Rally de Portugal history was a really nice way to cheer up Portuguese fans for not being at the stages, watching WRC heros and theirs mindblowing machines. Huge thanks to Evans and dirtfish.com crew for this RdP special!

My favourite pieces of the week:
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/alen-beats-mikkola-in-epic-finish-the-1978-rally-portugal/
https://dirtfish.com/rally/what-makes-portugal-such-a-challenge/
https://dirtfish.com/rally/the-best-portuguese-drivers-from-six-decades-of-rallying/
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-best-photography-of-rally-portugal/

[cali]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-disaster-of-rally-portugal-1986/What I have read and seen footage Balestre was a complete ignorant tyrannical d%*k. Unbelievable idiocy!

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

[AnttiL]

What I have read and seen footage Balestre was a complete ignorant tyrannical d#%*k. Unbelievable idiocy!

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

While Toivonen's car was still smoking in the Corsican ravinne, Balestre showed up at the location. Toivonen's teammates Alen and Biasion where shocked and grieving, but Balestre told them to get the rally going again! I think Alen's response was pretty straight no...

[doubled1978]

Balestre was an egotistical fool, and some dark episodes in motorsport have his stain on them.
I remember watching a documentary, it may have been the one mentioned in the article, and there were two friends who were involved in that Portugal incident interviewed, one accepted they were stood in a stupid place, but the other guy solely blamed Santos for the incident. He made some ridiculous reference about if a house is at the side of a road and car crashes into it, you don’t blame the house, and that Santos wasn’t good enough to control the RS200, all sorts of stupid stuff rather than just accept he was an idiot for standing there.

[AnttiL]

Balestre was an egotistical fool, and some dark episodes in motorsport have his stain on them.
I remember watching a documentary, it may have been the one mentioned in the article, and there were two friends who were involved in that Portugal incident interviewed, one accepted they were stood in a stupid place, but the other guy solely blamed Santos for the incident. He made some ridiculous reference about if a house is at the side of a road and car crashes into it, you don’t blame the house, and that Santos wasn’t good enough to control the RS200, all sorts of stupid stuff rather than just accept he was an idiot for standing there.

Yeah, that's from Great Balls of Fire. Those comments are quite unbelievable.

[dimviii]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/toyota-boss-explains-rally-gb-title-loss/

[the sniper]

I found this article quite funny... https://dirtfish.com/rally/ara/travis-pastrana-us-rallying-perfect-as-it-is/

The MSUK/British Rally Championship PR 'team' would love to have him onboard. :D

[AndyRAC]

I think even he would have a job 'polishing the BRC turd'. I think the US championship is a better series, with better events than the BRC.

[RAS007]

As a general remark, I think Dirtfish have done a prety good job so far. I particularly like the way they incorporate articles from WRC history, Thiry's agonizing 1995 loss in Corsica and Sainz's title loss in 1998 being two recent examples. This is a welcome departure from WRC.com and WRC promotion in general, which over the last few years, has almost totally ignored anything prior to the Loeb era.

[EstWRC]

It’s funny that wrc.com has started to use dirtfish articles in the last couple of weeks.

[AnttiL]

It’s funny that wrc.com has started to use dirtfish articles in the last couple of weeks.

Where?

[AnttiL]

As a general remark, I think Dirtfish have done a prety good job so far. I particularly like the way they incorporate articles from WRC history, Thiry's agonizing 1995 loss in Corsica and Sainz's title loss in 1998 being two recent examples. This is a welcome departure from WRC.com and WRC promotion in general, which over the last few years, has almost totally ignored anything prior to the Loeb era.

I would say Dirtfish is doing what Autosport used to do, but with an even stronger team and more enthusiasm and focus on rallying, whereas in Autosport it was buried behind MotoGP and F1, at least for me it was impossible to follow them on twitter for instance.

WRC.com hasn't really done any useful journalism in the recent years. Sometimes they have broken news as the first source, but not always. At least they have never had any "long read" articles.

[EstWRC]

Where?

This from yesterday for example https://www.wrc.com/en/news/season-2020/wrc/taenak-back-at-the-wheel/

And I have seen on some other occasions too

[AnttiL]

This from yesterday for example https://www.wrc.com/en/news/season-2020/wrc/taenak-back-at-the-wheel/

And I have seen on some other occasions too

It's just journalism, they're using Dirtfish as a source of information, and it has to be cited. And I'm sure they previously used Autosport articles as a source as well. It happens all the time, it's normal. In case of Tänak, he probably is happy to give first-hand interviews to Dirtfish.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

It's just journalism, they're using Dirtfish as a source of information, and it has to be cited. And I'm sure they previously used Autosport articles as a source as well. It happens all the time, it's normal. In case of Tänak, he probably is happy to give first-hand interviews to Dirtfish.

He is sponsored by them.

https://www.wrc.com/images/redaktion/Web-2020/Drivers-CoDrivers-Teams/Drivers/Ott-Tanak-2020_9a9eb_f_1400x788.jpg

[Fast Eddie WRC]

As a general remark, I think Dirtfish have done a prety good job so far. I particularly like the way they incorporate articles from WRC history, Thiry's agonizing 1995 loss in Corsica and Sainz's title loss in 1998 being two recent examples. This is a welcome departure from WRC.com and WRC promotion in general, which over the last few years, has almost totally ignored anything prior to the Loeb era.

If you look back, quite often they (their journos Evans & Clark), are just re-hashing old stuff they did in the past for Autosport.

As an example they did a recent feature and podcast about the late Henry Toivonen. It was near identical to this for Autosport last year...

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/142540/video-toivonen-and-group-b-tragic-mystery

[EstWRC]

It's just journalism, they're using Dirtfish as a source of information, and it has to be cited. And I'm sure they previously used Autosport articles as a source as well. It happens all the time, it's normal. In case of Tänak, he probably is happy to give first-hand interviews to Dirtfish.

i mean, wrc.com should be the one who is making the stories first and big headlines but they are basically useless, 2-3 days late always with the news and etc.

Dirtfish has clearly outdone them is what i want to say.

[AnttiL]

He is sponsored by them.

https://www.wrc.com/images/redaktion/Web-2020/Drivers-CoDrivers-Teams/Drivers/Ott-Tanak-2020_9a9eb_f_1400x788.jpg

That's what I meant. When he goes to test a car in Estonia, he doesn't tell anyone else except the company who pays him, so they get the story out first.

However, I don't think WRC.com has proper rally journalists working for them, just someone who can rewrite press releases or cite other articles like in this case. It's very rare that WRC.com breaks any news first, unless it's news coming from the WRC promoter maybe

[GigiGalliNo1]

However, I don't think WRC.com has proper rally journalists working for them, just someone who can rewrite press releases or cite other articles like in this case. It's very rare that WRC.com breaks any news first, unless it's news coming from the WRC promoter maybe

Evans has been in the sport for very long, he even gets stories up this was on Autosport and now DF before teams even send out a press release. 15 mins before to even a day before!

[Steve Boyd]

i mean, wrc.com should be the one who is making the stories first and big headlines but they are basically useless, 2-3 days late always with the news and etc.
I'm not sure why you think that wrc.com should be first with anything. It isn't an independant magazine that makes its money by selling its stories it is just the company publicity site for WRC Promoter. All you should expect from it is the output from the WRC Promoter publicity department once the corporate marketing executives have checked it's what they want to see.

[Norm75]

I'm not sure why you think that wrc.com should be first with anything. It isn't an independant magazine that makes its money by selling its stories it is just the company publicity site for WRC Promoter. All you should expect from it is the output from the WRC Promoter publicity department once the corporate marketing executives have checked it's what they want to see.
This. WRC.com is for marketing and putting out data and tv content.
Autosport et al is pure journalism and their jobs are to break news.

Doesn't matter who puts out what content and when, we all get the news we want to read or hear from a number of sources.

[AndyRAC]

As a rallying website, Dirtfish will provide plenty of stories, as that is what fans/visitors want. Conversely, Autosport will provide the bare minimum, as the sport isn't that important/ doesn't get the same interaction from fans of the sport. Supply & demand.

[pantealex]

Check F1.com How many news you find ?

Both F1 and WRC are homepage´s of World Championship series, where you should find:
-calendar/schedule
-entries
-points table
-results

I´m not expecting any rumours or testing reports from Official series sites.

[Kaps]

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This moron has more accounts, (AmyRok, Ivy Rok...) and litters his/her shite all over this forum!

Moderators, please, do your job, and get rid of him/her/whatever from here!

[PLuto]

This moron has more accounts, (AmyRok, Ivy Rok...) and litters his/her shite all over this forum!

Moderators, please, do your job, and get rid of him/her/whatever from here!

This is usually spam bot. System find plenty of attempts, but some of them are going through. This one must be manually deleted (it is possible to delete whole profile including all (usually one) messages by one click, so immediatelly it is noticed, somebody of us is killing it soon.

[AnttiL]

I always press the report button for those spam messages.

[dimviii]

Why did the Finns stop flying?

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/podcast-why-did-the-finns-stop-flying/

[dimviii]

Ogier realizes Toyota’s true Finland speed in test

Six-time WRC champ's time in the test car has opened his eyes

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/ogier-realizes-toyotas-true-finland-speed-in-test/

[AnttiL]

Ogier realizes Toyota’s true Finland speed in test

Six-time WRC champ's time in the test car has opened his eyes

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/ogier-realizes-toyotas-true-finland-speed-in-test/

I think we can post this sort of articles just in the news thread or Toyota thread. This thread should be used only for discussion about Dirtfish itself.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Why did the Finns stop flying?

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/podcast-why-did-the-finns-stop-flying/

They dismissed the fact that the Seb's were just too good.

[thaka]

nice post https://www.motorsportforums.com/

[Rally Power]

There’s no doubt that DirtFish site is a bless to all rally fans around the world, as it’s a joy to have people like Evans or Clark fully dedicated to inform us about this splendid sport, yet sometimes it’s a bit annoying to see DF pushing some matters with very little, or none, interest to Rally, particularly the Extreme E future series.

After all the exaggeration on Formula E coverage from most of the media, affecting the traditional forms of motor racing, is it reasonable to give so much attention to this new entertainment (it’ll hardly be defined as a proper motorsport form), potentially hurting the WRC and other long established off-road series?

Wake up DirtFish; it’s time to stop feeding the enemy.

[GigiGalliNo1]

Well no... it is categorised as Dirt... meaning a sport that will feature on Dirt. What would be silly if they started reporting on ATV's! :D

Welcome to the future Rally Power... Electricity is coming!

[AnttiL]

There’s no doubt that DirtFish site is a bless to all rally fans around the world, as it’s a joy to have people like Evans or Clark fully dedicated to inform us about this splendid sport, yet sometimes it’s a bit annoying to see DF pushing some matters with very little, or none, interest to Rally

It's just business. Also, remember that it's an American company and they write about things which are more popular there.

[Rally Power]

Welcome to the future Rally Power... Electricity is coming!

Despite the green propaganda, the change to electricity is not about saving the planet; it’s about saving the automotive industry and the consuming society. It won’t be easy for any of us to face the consequences of ours unsustainable way of life, but hearing hypocrite politians promising the world salvation if we start buying EV’s or eat tofu instead of beef won’t certainly help.

Unfortunately, this neo-green BS already started in motorsport with Formula E, turning racing into a real scale video game, and apparently it’ll continue through Extreme-E TV reality show, disguised as a cross-country raid. For sure that’s not the future I wish for Rally.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

EV's may not save the planet but they are the future as the auto industry sees it and therefore rally (and it's fans) has to also if we want car Manu's to continue in the sport.

I'm no fan of EV's in terms of driving, but I admit they will be a big help to people in our cities who are dying younger due to air pollution.

[Franky]

I'm no fan of EV's in terms of driving, but I admit they will be a big help to people in our cities who are dying younger due to air pollution.

I thought humans are living longer and longer as the years pass...

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I thought humans are living longer and longer as the years pass...

To put it correctly, studies state there are 1000's of premature deaths in cities linked to air pollution caused by vehicles.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28245-nitrogen-oxide-is-not-so-harmless-and-could-damage-human-health/

[Tarmop]

Well, then we eat it in or drink it in, either way the end result is the same.

[rallyfiend]

There’s no doubt that DirtFish site is a bless to all rally fans around the world, as it’s a joy to have people like Evans or Clark fully dedicated to inform us about this splendid sport, yet sometimes it’s a bit annoying to see DF pushing some matters with very little, or none, interest to Rally, particularly the Extreme E future series.

After all the exaggeration on Formula E coverage from most of the media, affecting the traditional forms of motor racing, is it reasonable to give so much attention to this new entertainment (it’ll hardly be defined as a proper motorsport form), potentially hurting the WRC and other long established off-road series?

Wake up DirtFish; it’s time to stop feeding the enemy.

DF is also very closely aligned to Andrea Adamo (I assume he pays them to attend all these random events they've bee doing) so it is probably a mouthpiece for pushing his agenda.....

[AnttiL]

DF is also very closely aligned to Andrea Adamo (I assume he pays them to attend all these random events they've bee doing) so it is probably a mouthpiece for pushing his agenda.....

Not Adamo, but Hyundai Motorsport...

You could guess that for a certain amount of $$$ DirtFish writes about your team/driver/event.

[logic]

df is also very closely aligned to andrea adamo (i assume he pays them to attend all these random events they've bee doing) so it is probably a mouthpiece for pushing his agenda.....

lol

[the sniper]

You could guess that for a certain amount of $$$ DirtFish writes about your team/driver/event.

I don't think it'd involve some kind of direct financial arrangement like that. But inviting and covering expenses for them to attend Hyundai supported events will inevitably result in them covering the team more and being more familiar/closer to them. Let's not forget, Dirtfish are paying one of Hyundai's drivers!

[GigiGalliNo1]

DF is also very closely aligned to Andrea Adamo (I assume he pays them to attend all these random events they've bee doing) so it is probably a mouthpiece for pushing his agenda.....

I don't believe so... just because there was an Italian event on and they covered the event - and interview with him? (Also, Hyundai was the only team that possibly granted them access to their gravel testing?) That they're so much aligned? Now they're doing specials on M-Sport so are they aligned with M-Sport? Watch out Toyota!

It's what ever is in the news, on topic and they can go out and cover!

They're even doing videos on WRC2/3 testing before Turkey which came out great!

[Hartusvuori]

I don't think it'd involve some kind of direct financial arrangement like that. But inviting and covering expenses for them to attend Hyundai supported events will inevitably result in them covering the team more and being more familiar/closer to them. Let's not forget, Dirtfish are paying one of Hyundai's drivers!

Would you run a business for a couple of copywriters based on they get invitations and expenses covered? It'd be short-lived. If Dirtfish wouldn't be billing for some of their work, it'd be even crazier than it seems now. And it's not just Hyundai Motorsport and Tänak. There are many more for sure.

[AnttiL]

Also worth noting how Dirtfish's website doesn't run any external ads.

[mknight]

Since Wednesday, number of articles talking (only) about:

Breens move to MSport:
10

Lappis signing at Toyota:
2

Solberg and Sordo signing at Hyundai:
2

[rallyfiend]

I thought their ethos was to try and grow the audience outside of the normal audience?

It's just turned in to one massive internal back-slapping club.

Evans, McKlein, Clark, Donaldson etc etc.

None of these people have a clue how to reach out to new audiences. They talk constantly in 'insider' language.

[mknight]

Well for my part I kind of find their podcasts close to unlistenable. Compared to C.Clarks kitchen table which was "enjoyable" with just the right length, depth and engagement.

The dirtfish podcasts are just veryyyyy long babbling where they cover minimum of topics over very long time, basically just repeating what they already wrote somewhere else with no new info.

[AnttiL]

One distinct thing about DF is the American audience. Stages listed in miles, ARA events with extra coverage, Sean Johnston’s column…

I like the podcasts, although sometimes I skip some seconds when they have just random chat, not relevant to rallying.

I also enjoy Evans’s written pieces and Clark’s videos. Can’t find many better people to do these things. There’s also a lot of great historical articles and listings.

I’m also… flattered by the way they have copied my concept of long route preview articles and last-minute stage-by-stage preview tweets.

[AnttiL]

Since Wednesday, number of articles talking (only) about:

Breens move to MSport:
10

Lappis signing at Toyota:
2

Solberg and Sordo signing at Hyundai:
2

Dirtfish is not charity, it’s commercial business. Again, note how the site runs without ads. Where does the money come from?

[Hartusvuori]

I would've expected more stories on Solberg. Maybe Solbergs don't need Dirtfish that much anymore.

[er88]

Since Wednesday, number of articles talking (only) about:

Breens move to MSport:
10

Lappis signing at Toyota:
2

Solberg and Sordo signing at Hyundai:
2They stated they got exclusive content surrounding the Breen to Msport move, by holding back and not announcing the move well before Msport did.

[mknight]

Dirtfish is not charity, it’s commercial business. Again, note how the site runs without ads. Where does the money come from?

Well lets turn this around.
The quantity>>quality approach in this case imo reduces their appeal to readers. Which will hurt those who pay for their own promotion there.

Like 1/2 of these articles could have been 2-3 sentences within the other articles. Just like they are for Solberg and Lappi.

[bomber21]

Well, DF is not perfect but it is the only media devoted 100% to WRC. They share and produce rally content everyday when other motorsport media do the same weekly or biweekly…

[EstWRC]

This is not about dirtfish but what I found funny about Breen announcement that in Twitter the people were complaining how shitty tea he made in that msport clip.

Seemed at times even bigger talking point than the announcement

[er88]

This is not about dirtfish but what I found funny about Breen announcement that in Twitter the people were complaining how shitty tea he made in that msport clip.

Seemed at times even bigger talking point than the announcementIt didn't look great tbf!!

[EstWRC]

It didn't look great tbf!!

Well, as we now know he didn’t make it.

But the differences in cultures are so funny. Estonians don’t give a damn about tea

[AnttiL]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/10-things-to-look-forward-to-in-2022/

I think this is already the second article where they try to put together multiple disciplines like WRC and Nitro Rallycross. Hopefully it's just an experiment and won't last long.

[seb_sh]

They mixed stuff in the year end quiz too but that maybe doesn't count.

This article I actually found interesting, there's potential in dirtfish but they insist to be weird or clickbaity too often.
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/inside-toyotas-banned-1996-season/

[AnttiL]

Yeah I think the quiz was the other one I referred to. I stopped filling the quiz at the first Nitro Rallycross question.

Let's see if this becomes a trend. Maybe Colin Clark's next driver top 10 will have Travis Pastrana and Stephane Peterhansel.

The Toyota 1996 article meanwhile was absolutely excellent, Dirtfish at their best.

[cali]

I guess they see the need to produce more content to keep the wheels going.
I'm 50/50 about Dirtfish but definitely they are a good thing to rallying in general.



Sent from my DN2103 using Tapatalk

[AnttiL]

I guess they see the need to produce more content to keep the wheels going.


To me it feels 90% of their views has come from WRC related content and now they try to push other disciplines along WRC news to get more exposure for them.

Scrolling quickly through their twitter handle, it seems WRC news get 60-120 likes although WRC seasons is on a break, while currently active Dakar news get 50 at most. World RX and ARA news get only like 10-20 likes, Extreme E something from 10 to 50.

[cali]

To me it feels 90% of their views has come from WRC related content and now they try to push other disciplines along WRC news to get more exposure for them.

Scrolling quickly through their twitter handle, it seems WRC news get 60-120 likes although WRC seasons is on a break, while currently active Dakar news get 50 at most. World RX and ARA news get only like 10-20 likes, Extreme E something from 10 to 50.120 likes is really low... Which is quite concerning

Sent from my DN2103 using Tapatalk

[AnttiL]

120 likes is really low... Which is quite concerning

Sent from my DN2103 using Tapatalk

It's another problem, but these numbers are relative. Official WRC twitter handle gets 100-600 likes on their tweets.

[EstWRC]

im sure they arent there for likes but for article clicks, so its not a big problem.

[AnttiL]

Twitter is just one way to follow WRC news and possibly a niche one, but it's the only indication we get from the popularity of the articles. It could also be that WRC users are more active on twitter than ARA and Nitro Rallycross fans?

EDIT: On facebook the numbers are not as consistent. One Dakar article had 400 while most have 100. But fb ads could distort that result.

EDIT2: This is another mixed-discipline article https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/my-season-highlight-stephen-brunsdon-the-end-of-two-iconic-eras/ Or actually the whole series, where the journalists are picking their highlights from all Dirtfish-covered sports.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Twitter is just one way to follow WRC news and possibly a niche one, but it's the only indication we get from the popularity of the articles. It could also be that WRC users are more active on twitter than ARA

Twitter is surely where most people get (links to) the latest WRC news and features. Who goes to all of the rally websites every day to see if there is news or an article they're interested in on there ?

[AnttiL]

Twitter is surely where most people get (links to) the latest WRC news and features. Who goes to all of the rally websites every day to see if there is news or an article they're interested in on there ?

Like I said, facebook has much more likes on the links.

[Franky]

Twitter is surely where most people get (links to) the latest WRC news and features. Who goes to all of the rally websites every day to see if there is news or an article they're interested in on there ?

That's where the beauty of the forums is. Good stuff ends up here.

[Rallyper]

That's where the beauty of the forums is. Good stuff ends up here.

This is the genuine place where even insiders speak out. Wouldn´t ever never dream of leaving this golden place.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Colin Clark sat down with Mohammed Ben Sulayem a few weeks ago to hear what the now FIA president's plans for the future of rallying are.


https://art19.com/shows/spinning-the-line/episodes/dc7c3e4b-ea02-4bfe-8bdf-28b3e4ca26e8

[lmmjvss]

I listened to this and I think he could really improve the rally scene in middle east, africa and china. I think the plan is like... "Ok, you can all do like new zealand and argentina. Dont need to follow everything FIA demands for european rally" hahah something like that?

[WRCStan]

I listened to this and I think he could really improve the rally scene in middle east, africa and china. I think the plan is like... "Ok, you can all do like new zealand and argentina. Dont need to follow everything FIA demands for european rally" hahah something like that?

Also replying to your Thoughts? Q in the Rally1 thread:

Why do all WRC cars have to be the same segment, silhouette and engine with maximum and minimum lengths, heights, with four seats etc? I've wondered this for years, I believe it's protecting existing (European) stakeholder's interests frankly. That protectionism is how you ensure you get left behind. In my simple mind, Rally1 to Rally5 should be based on maximum power/weight and cost, be road legal, series production cars of any shape and size with as few regs as possible but for safety. Hopefully MBS will see liberation as the answer to improving the regionals, he's alluded to that in the interview. Improve the regionals and you will improve the WRC IMO and so I hope he doesn't introduce formulas for the Middle East that don't work in Africa and so on.

[AnttiL]

Please use another thread for stuff made by Dirtfish. This is a meta thread about Dirtfish itself.

[becher]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/who-will-be-wrc-champion-we-predict-the-2022-order/?fbclid=IwAR0jzYMZ5Opx6nRquntJMxy547QAIEGbP3XtGC1M eqJvX6SKD2zLw7ccY3I

[AnttiL]

Please post that in the news thread.

Meanwhile, Dirtfish changed their advertising logic on twitter, some posts said "go to dirtfish.com to find out" instead of linking directly to the article...annoying again

[EstWRC]

they have started now with some sort of analysis after the rally but nothing special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytXe7pmvq9Y

[AnttiL]

they have started now with some sort of analysis after the rally but nothing special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytXe7pmvq9Y

...from their rally teacher instead of the usual suspects.

[becher]

Pretty poor in my opinion.

[macebig]

Credit where credit is due, the Tony Pond Retrospective is an excellent read. Job well done on that one.

[cali]

Credit where credit is due, the Tony Pond Retrospective is an excellent read. Job well done on that one.That was a great piece! Really enjoyed it. Tony Pond is maybe not the most known or praised drivers but from the footages I've seen he has been mighty impressive, specially in the TR7.

Well done Dirtfish!

Sent from my DN2103 using Tapatalk

[Got Mail]

I'm a bit worried about Dirtfish.

It's been several hours since they posted an article about Adamo.

Can someone check they are okay?

[AnttiL]

Colin Clark's stage preview/interview videos include a commercial deal with a watch company. Is that their first commercial deal outside products for rallying (brake pads, oil, etc)?

Aaaand they also have again an interview with Adamo today.

[ouvreur]

I'm a bit worried about Dirtfish.

It's been several hours since they posted an article about Adamo.

Can someone check they are okay?
Normal service has been resumed. Now he's on their podcast.

Someone at Turdfish must have a super hard crush on Adamo... either that, or Adamo is desperate to be remembered and is giving his time and 'expertise' free of charge to them, just to stay in the public eye...

[rallyfiend]

It really is becoming exceptionally tiresome.

He was a clown-show of a team principal - indicated by his firing - and the clown-show now continues despite lack of relevance....

[wyler]

It really is becoming exceptionally tiresome.

He was a clown-show of a team principal - indicated by his firing - and the clown-show now continues despite lack of relevance....

months spent asking to have some peculiar character in the rally world and now they're running with him, it quite normal. no one else is nearly so amusing/offensive, it's good for the views...
(btw: rumors on his firing are quite the opposite bell)

[AndyRAC]

I've never understood the fascination with Adamo - and I still don't. He's gone, get over it.......

[Danny0405]

Yeah, never understood the hype about Adamo personnally.

From a strictly sporting point of view, his picks were rather good: he took the only two titles of Hyundai until now; he uses quite cleverly his line-up in 2019 (Loeb was hired by Penasse-Nandan and the Loeb/Sordo compatibility was clearly not good, for the 45-year old Loeb I mean); Breen’s choice was also quite efficient; he took Tanak from Toyota and Tanak was a really high contributor to Hyundai’s title in 2020 (maybe the highest) even if Toyota outsmarts this move with Ogier and Evans.
Let’s see for Solberg’s choice which is his heritage (like Rovanpera was Makinen’s one from a young prospect point of view).

But from a technical point of view, it’s a disaster. The gap has been bigger and bigger between Toyota and Hyundai on the car and, even with this, Hyundai was far behind Ford and Toyota in terms of preparation for the new regulation.

Moncet (if confirmed in the job) lets me a better impression: less talk and more action (clearly better in Sweden than Monte-Carlo).

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Whatever the DF guys reason for the fascination with Adamo, they must know the truth of why he left Hyundai.

Surely this indicates it wasn't a sacking for some bad actions and more likely he did leave/resign for a personal reason ?

[EstWRC]

lol

[the sniper]

Yeah, never understood the hype about Adamo personnally.

He was good fun, but the joke started to get a little old, then turned rather sour in the end.

Dirtfish is one of those types who laughs at a joke for too long, to the extent that everyone else has stopped laughing and is instead now giving them funny looks. If they don't stop laughing eventually, you just have to presume they've gone mad.

[TypeR]

If the pos car had stayed together in 2020/2021.. Tänak would have been WDC and everybody would have praised Adamo.

Let's be honest, he brought some excitement to WRC and all the interviews.

[becher]

Yeah people jump to conclusions to quickly. Claiming Moncet is doing a good job because the car performed better in Sweden than on the Monte is madness, regardless of how competent Moncet is.

[Danny0405]

Yeah people jump to conclusions to quickly. Claiming Moncet is doing a good job because the car performed better in Sweden than on the Monte is madness, regardless of how competent Moncet is.

I just say that he gives me a better impression on first sight from his 1st months in the job. But it is still to be confirmed over the season for sure.



If the pos car had stayed together in 2020/2021.. Tänak would have been WDC and everybody would have praised Adamo.

Quite a non-sense.
Adamo was the team principal so in charge of all the aspects of the team; so he is also responsible of the gap getting bigger between Toyota and Hyundai (not the only one maybe but one of the responsible).
Performance does not come by chance.
For me, he is no better than a Matton or a Quesnel (not completely awful still).

[djip]

I just say that he gives me a better impression on first sight from his 1st months in the job. But it is still to be confirmed over the season for sure.




Quite a non-sense.
Adamo was the team principal so in charge of all the aspects of the team; so he is also responsible of the gap getting bigger between Toyota and Hyundai (not the only one maybe but one of the responsible).
Performance does not come by chance.
For me, he is no better than a Matton or a Quesnel (not completely awful still).

He was ways better than Matton or Quesnel who were complete disasters (the former for being incapable of keeping it shot prospect (Ogier), the latter for basically being in charge of a team that delivered nothing). Give Adamo credit of 2 manufacturers championships thqat were a first for the team, after years of failing short despite big money. Not just rolling on the heritage like the citroen boys...

[Lancia Stratos]

Whatever the DF guys reason for the fascination with Adamo, they must know the truth of why he left Hyundai.

Surely this indicates it wasn't a sacking for some bad actions and more likely he did leave/resign for a personal reason ?

It's called putting a positive spin on something that wasn't very positive....... and you are believing it!

[Fast Eddie WRC]

It's called putting a positive spin on something that wasn't very positive....... and you are believing it!

If its spin - why would DF do this for Adamo ?

[rallyfiend]

If its spin - why would DF do this for Adamo ?

Because he gave them a lot of money in the past.

[Danny0405]

He was ways better than Matton or Quesnel who were complete disasters (the former for being incapable of keeping it shot prospect (Ogier), the latter for basically being in charge of a team that delivered nothing). Give Adamo credit of 2 manufacturers championships thqat were a first for the team, after years of failing short despite big money. Not just rolling on the heritage like the citroen boys...

Nothing comparable in terms of position: Adamo also rolled on the heritage; the Hyundai was probably the most consistence car on the sum of 2017 and 2018 and he had a top driver in his line-up from the beginning (Neuville)
+ the budget is not the same than Matton’s era in Citroen.
And the technical gap between Hyundai and Toyota has gotten bigger and bigger all along his tenure (and, even with this, they were late for the new regulation).

Short-term results does not mean that you are a great team manager and you can even be a bad manager and having good results because the context is good.
A great team manager is to build from scratch, to manage titles, to make choices that are consistent but not always safe choices and to prepare the future (so that the team survives your departure): Frequelin was a great manager, Makinen also (with his flaws sometimes) because they cover all this aspects.

[dimviii]

Adamo lifts the lid on Hyundai’s struggles

The ex-Hyundai boss explains why its no surprise the team is behind its rivals
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/adamo-lifts-the-lid-on-hyundais-struggles/

[ouvreur]

Adamo lifts the lid on Hyundai’s struggles

The ex-Hyundai boss explains why its no surprise the team is behind its rivals
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/adamo-lifts-the-lid-on-hyundais-struggles/

Ah, another day, another Adamo 'article'.

What the hell do Turdpish think this crap achieves? What fresh insight does he give us that stage time and previous interviews don't already? Are Colon Clark and David Evans so in love with him that they actually think what he's saying is in some way revelatory or even interesting?

-Hyundai started developing the car later than M-Sport and Toyota? We knew that, he told us that before he... left... them.
-It's hard to catch up if other teams start before you? Anyone with a functioning brain knows that.
-Monte was a bad event for Hyundai? No way, really?
-Thierry's crash in testing delayed Hyundai? You don't say!
-The Puma looks like a good car? Wow, thanks for that, I don't think anyone else had noticed.

Honestly, it's f*cking embarrassing. Motorsport 'journalism' at its very worst.

[WRCStan]

Ah, another day, another Adamo 'article'.

What the hell do Turdpish think this crap achieves? What fresh insight does he give us that stage time and previous interviews don't already? Are Colon Clark and David Evans so in love with him that they actually think what he's saying is in some way revelatory or even interesting?

-Hyundai started developing the car later than M-Sport and Toyota? We knew that, he told us that before he... left... them.
-It's hard to catch up if other teams start before you? Anyone with a functioning brain knows that.
-Monte was a bad event for Hyundai? No way, really?
-Thierry's crash in testing delayed Hyundai? You don't say!
-The Puma looks like a good car? Wow, thanks for that, I don't think anyone else had noticed.

Honestly, it's f*cking embarrassing. Motorsport 'journalism' at its very worst.

To be fair it's more a transcript of the podcast then a fresh article but maybe that doubles your point?

[Fast Eddie WRC]

You have to remember that everyone isn't a rally fanatic. Belive it or not, but many people dont follow every detail and story of the WRC. Dirtfish also caters for such people.

Average fans of rallying may just see Hyundai failing with their new car and think it's just a poorly designed or built car and/or the team isn't very professional.

If the reasons for the cars poor results aren't widely publicized then Hyundai's general reputation is getting damaged and they could even pull out.

[rallyfiend]

If you look at the numbers of video views, and interactions / likes on social media, I don't think anyone other than the hardcore, fanatical fans are reading Dirtfish....

[becher]

If you look at the numbers of video views, and interactions / likes on social media, I don't think anyone other than the hardcore, fanatical fans are reading Dirtfish....

Still they can't just go and say ''the people on this one forum know this allready so we won't bother with it'' to appease to them. The goal for them is for sure that more people read it than the people who allready know this stuff.

[Lancia Stratos]

Because he gave them a lot of money in the past.

Correct.

And there are some senior job vacancies available right now.

Although you would think the organisations concerned would go nowhere near after his, erm, departure from Hyundai.

[WRCStan]

Correct.

And there are some senior job vacancies available right now.

Although you would think the organisations concerned would go nowhere near after his, erm, departure from Hyundai.

Any chance you will either shit or get off the pot?

I get that "we can't tell all in public", but by saying something negative must be implied, but never what, about Adamo is also spin by intent, amongst claiming positive Adamo spin is in the Dirtfish relationship and also not forgetting the other threads where Adamo has and will keep coming up. Whatever the secret is isn't useful to most if you don't want to share, or do share it and let us put the issue to bed. I think that's fair given the general expectations asked of Dirtfish.

You're making it sound like there is enough politics that DF would rather be closer to Adamo than current Hyundai, where Adamo has something to sell and needs a clean public image. In the past, was there envelopes of cash being passed behind the podium celebrations? Please!

Whatever happened, which he hasn't felt the need to go into hiding, the guy has independent expertise and DirtFish can use it.

[ouvreur]

Whatever he may or may not have done in his last few months at Hyundai which precipitated his hasty departure, I don't see why the FIA would go within a mile of him. His prickly nature, his obviously gigantic ego, his famous temper... is that offset by his 'insight' or 'expertise'?

If the point of all this helmet polishing is to push him as a frontrunner in the FIA Rally Director race, I'm not seeing anything particularly expert or insightful in anything Turdpish are publishing about him lately, however much Clark and Evans worship him. For all their claims he's 'needed' and the 'service park is worse without him', neither he nor Turdpish are giving many reasons why that might be the case.

[seb_sh]

We're giving them too much attention maybe. Some articles are good, many are filler. Clark is a great reporter an average journalst and a crap analyst, Evans is and has always been clickbaity. Their Podcast is weak and usually boils down to people talking over each other or rambling. I stopped listening to them and prefer Absolute Rally podcast instead (sadly Desborough sometimes pops up in that one).

As for Adamo I guess they invited him over for a Podcast and are now milking that with an article as well. I guess he was bored at home and I hope he goes away soon.

[er88]

I personally think Dirtfish have been great for the WRC/ rallying.

I don't read articles on the wrc website. In fact I can't remember the last time I even went on that website, as I don't use WrcAllive anymore because BT sport shows all the stages here in the UK anyway.

Autosport couldn't care less about the WRC, and most of their best journalists/ reporters left for The Race (F1) or Dirtfish (Evans etc).

Rallying is a niche sport. We need folk passionate about it reporting on it, rather than folk getting a trial run at autosport reporting on wrc, before they get moved up to report on their beloved F1.

Evans and Clark chat some utter pish at times, but they are rallying fans at heart. If you don't like Clarks driver ratings (which are his opinion and very often seem "wrong"), don't read it. If you hate any Adamo article or podcast - and he boils your piss - do yourself a favour and don't read or listen. I have noticed recently Clark has been shifted from writing articles, and is more back in his best lane as reporter.

Think about the youngsters getting into rallying and wanting to read content, get daily articles and weekly podcasts etc...., Dirtfish is currently one of the go to places now.

And I have to echo what was said above, these absolute vague comments about Adamo have to stop. Either grow a pair and make a serious comment where everyone can get the drift, or drop it. The main two drivers have had nothing but praise for him, Adamo is out in the media acting like he has nothing to be worried about, and Dirtfish as an organisation wouldn't be "loving" him if everything rumoured is true.

Adamo might have had a harsh style and the world is full of snowflakes thesedays who can't take a telling off, but he was the team principal who won Hyundai their only two championships. He wasn't the disaster some make him out to be..., unless anyone wants to tell us what he supposedly was upto....

[AnttiL]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/reflecting-on-solbergs-last-full-length-wrc-victory/

Guanajuato Rally of Nations is doing promotion through Dirtfish, it's even mentioned on the article credits. Is this the first time Dirtfish mentions commercial partnership?

[Tom K]

I think DirtFish was partner of Estonian rally which was about to take place in 2020 before they decided to do WRC round

[ouvreur]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-tough-job-the-fias-new-rally-director-faces/

Spoiler: the 'tough job' that new FIA Rally Director Andrew Wheatley faces isn't 'being more Adamo' :laugh:

[Gregor-y]

Dirtfish has injected a lot of energy (maybe also cash?) into the ARA rally series in the US. The publicity has drawn a lot more spectators and competitors, though that may be because so many events were cancelled since 2020. As most events are in remote locations the only reliable communications system is a 2M radio network. Secondhand Tag timing equipment died out over ten years ago and was replaced with a variety of home built clocks and stopwatches synchronized before the event. Starting last year we've gotten RallySafe which uses satellite tracking in the cars and devices for the stage crew. I'm still dubious about the accuracy but so far it matches what trained finish line crew does with a calibrated stopwatch. Battery life of the tablets running RallySafe are the only concern as the antennas they need draw a lot power.

It's also been very useful for emergencies. Here's an example from a few weeks ago. The stage crew was able to hold all remaining cars at the start of a ten mile stage and dispatch an ambulance from there at least five minutes before the older radio network would have gone into action. I don't know if Dirtfish is spending more for other national series, though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5m0Vu9ofdw
Both crew members were taken to hospital and released.

[Sulland]

I have subscribed to Autosport, Motorsport News, Racecar Engineering and a few others, both on paper and then online.

Autosport that is the Bible, but the rallypart got smaller and smaller, and then their rally boss quit. He is now in Dirtfish.
It is important that we habe someone that dear to write about issues manufacturers, and FIA does not want to raise. Some of the challenge is that the rally family is small, and everybody know eachother. It is always harder to write a critical article, and then interview them next weekend on another matter.

Dirtfish have shortcomings, but still they are among the best. And they will improve!

[AndyRAC]

I have subscribed to Autosport, Motorsport News, Racecar Engineering and a few others, both on paper and then online.

Autosport that is the Bible, but the rallypart got smaller and smaller, and then their rally boss quit. He is now in Dirtfish.
It is important that we habe someone that dear to write about issues manufacturers, and FIA does not want to raise. Some of the challenge is that the rally family is small, and everybody know eachother. It is always harder to write a critical article, and then interview them next weekend on another matter.

Dirtfish have shortcomings, but still they are among the best. And they will improve!

Autosport really has fallen from grace; I subscribed from about 1991, until about 2001/2. It used to be a fabulous magazine, and covered a variety of motorsport. And their rally coverage has also fallen; I suspect they'd argue it's in line with how rallying has fallen. And The Race took a lot of their journalists, but doesn't even bother with rallying which really did make me realise the sport isn't doing as well as we'd like.

As you say, Dirtfish is the only English language place/website for the sport. It's not great, is it? One hopes it does improve.

[ouvreur]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/new-zealand-rallying-just-made-a-massive-statement/

"It’s Monday. The Monday rally fans from across New Zealand and – in any other year – from around the world fear most. The Monday after the ENEOS Otago International Classic Rally."

I know it was a slow news weekend, and they were 'in partnership' with Rally Otago, but... seriously?

The Monday rally fans around the world fear most?

Does David Evans actually get paid for writing this stuff? That's without even mentioning the "most world's most famous Mk2"...

[AndyRAC]

The issue is there are far too many 'slow news weekends' in our sport; it's nearly mid April and we've only had 2 WRC rounds, and it started before every other major series. Once F1 & MotoGP start their seasons, the interest often drops off, and only the WRC diehards are interested.

As for Evans, he builds things up to be far bigger than they actually are......He should be nicknamed 'Hyperbole'.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

They gave a lot of coverage to Rally Mexico but most people here wouldnt give it the time of day because of the 'Nations' aspect.

Seems Otago is the same.

Unless it's in the WRC, other 'far away' rallies seem to be treated as second-class by many.

[AnttiL]

Yes, Otago and Mexico/Nations were two heavily sponsored events in Dirtfish, the first time it was mentioned in the articles that it's a paid partnership, although you could speculate if such partnerships have happened in the past as well.

If David Evans can "overwrite", Colin Clark has a tendency to "overtalk" rallies based on other than competitive values (like Coffs Harbour Australia and Lebanon)

[WRCStan]

Guys you crack me up. :D

At the end of the feared Monday after ENEOS Otago International Classic Rally, it works for them; y'all constantly be consuming, sharing, driving traffic to and chatting about their free articles.

[AnttiL]

I didn't click open a single one of the Otago rally articles. Maybe some of the Rally of Nations ones, the point weighting system for different classes of cars was interesting.

[Sal yet again]

There are too many journos/hacks chasing too few gigs these days and its the same old names that are hanging onto a last slip of work. Problem is its too much like an old boys/girls club so nothing new is being brought to the table. Experience and knowledge of the history of the sport is great in some respects however its does breed a certain amount of complacency. Hats off to Evans and the Scotsman if they can get paid to travel the globe and do their little double act, who wouldnt do the same in their position?

[AnttiL]

There are too many journos/hacks chasing too few gigs these days and its the same old names that are hanging onto a last slip of work. Problem is its too much like an old boys/girls club so nothing new is being brought to the table. Experience and knowledge of the history of the sport is great in some respects however its does breed a certain amount of complacency. Hats off to Evans and the Scotsman if they can get paid to travel the globe and do their little double act, who wouldnt do the same in their position?

Have you noticed that Dirtfish has also younger writers such as Luke Barry and Alasdair Lindsay? Both are doing good job and have also gotten to feature on the podcast.

[Sal yet again]

Yes but generally its the same old front and centre across all the English speaking platforms especially in the official WRC ranks. Just not a fan of the Scotsman and his collection of Keffiyehs...

[becher]

There are too many journos/hacks chasing too few gigs these days and its the same old names that are hanging onto a last slip of work. Problem is its too much like an old boys/girls club so nothing new is being brought to the table. Experience and knowledge of the history of the sport is great in some respects however its does breed a certain amount of complacency. Hats off to Evans and the Scotsman if they can get paid to travel the globe and do their little double act, who wouldnt do the same in their position?

Funnily enough both Evans and Clark are proper muppets when it comes to the history of the sport. They can't remember anything properly and they allways end up in the "ohh but Colin....blabla" corner. I admit they are entertaining and sometimes they bring up good points, but quite often you smell the bias and the utter incompetence with technical stuff. George Donaldson and to a lesser extent Lisa O'Sullivan are carrying Dirtfish through their podcast contribution, at least for me.

[seb_sh]

Dirtfish recently posted 3 videos on their youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l8dTJXUVyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j4Ew69lV0Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOfm5V5Lfbc

I like the style, it's a Podcast type format and the lead/moderator is Luke Barry. It reminds me of The Race podcasts which i think are very good. Contrast with Spin the Rally Pod, Dirtfish's own podcast which is sometimes quite low quality from all points of view I think it's a step in the right direction. I gave a like on youtube I hope they do more of this and less of talking about Colin's feet in the podcast...

[lmmjvss]

Dirt Fish's "Live Center" is REALLY cool IMO! Hope everybody is taking a look. I dont have a twitter, so this was very fun to me!

[seb_sh]

Indeed it seems like they're actually trying lately!

I also like the morning interview videos, it's something that David Evans and Colin Clark are really really good at, maybe the best at. Today Tanak even got out of the car to talk in the frezing cold, then ended the interview with "I would prepare by sitting in the warm car but I had to get out to talk to you", but it ws quite fun and tongue in cheek, pleasant interaction. Only shame is it gets posted while the stages are already running. That kind of content should be live on WRC+.

They also did a good job with the silly season last year, all they said was spot on. I don't hesitate to criticise them but I want to be fair they do good things as well.

[240RS]

Dirtfish have moved up a step in their morning and evening sum-up videos.

Initially, I was very skeptical there would be anything worth viewing, given the dominance of the official broadcast team - WRC+. But Colin Clark and his team have made the production a must-watch lately. They have managed to mix-and-match WRC+ material with their own fan-friendly interviews and analysis; something the official version lacks for obvious reasons.

It's a shame, though, that some competitors, particularly navigators, seem to take a dislike to granting early morning interviews. Can only hope they come to understand how appreciative the dyed-in-the-wool fan is to hear their opinions.

[meh]

It's a shame, though, that some competitors, particularly navigators, seem to take a dislike to granting early morning interviews. Can only hope they come to understand how appreciative the dyed-in-the-wool fan is to hear their opinions.

I would like to hear from everyone as well, but we need to understand - they are preparing for competition and getting fully focused. To get some extra attention may cause risk of loosing focus or forgetting something. It would be similar than sprinter (lets say Bolt) start to take starting position and then some journalist running around with microphone and asking not-that-important questions...

[ouvreur]

I would like to hear from everyone as well, but we need to understand - they are preparing for competition and getting fully focused. To get some extra attention may cause risk of loosing focus or forgetting something. It would be similar than sprinter (lets say Bolt) start to take starting position and then some journalist running around with microphone and asking not-that-important questions...

All the more so on a tarmac rally, where there are changes and updates to make to pace notes based on gravel crew info.

I think there's middle ground here for rally fans - getting to see them prepare and take care of all those things before a stage is more interesting than stage end 'interviews', but maybe it's too much to expect the co-drivers to appreciate having a microphone being put in their faces... it's nice that someone read my comments on here and started going to where the crews are getting ready before stages, anyway :smokin:

[meh]

I agree with that part - it is actually interesting when media is just present there and kind of covering what is going on. Most of the audience (including me) does not have first hand experience on all the process and procedures. Rallying is not just stages, it's also arriving/navigating on time to correct place etc, it's interesting to see that part as well.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I've noticed these new DF videos have been getting plenty of Likes and almost 100% positive comments. Credit where it's due, they have done something a bit different and it's been quite refreshing.

However I'm not sure of them getting a bit carried away, chasing through the trees trying to get to a driver that's gone off (like Neuville), or when they make a big deal out of a minor issue like with the oil leak on the road section when Tanak wasn't remotely bothered....

[dimviii]

However I'm not sure of them getting a bit carried away, chasing through the trees trying to get to a driver that's gone off (like Neuville), or when they make a big deal out of a minor issue like with the oil leak on the road section when Tanak wasn't remotely bothered....
whats the problem with these two examples?

[rallyfiend]

whats the problem with these two examples?

They errr on the side of 'clickbait'.......

[dimviii]

They errr on the side of 'clickbait'.......

so if you want to know Neuvilles opinion after the accident,or to know if puma had a oil leak is clickbait?
for me its not.

[Paul Hudson]

It Was funny on Sunday Morning, WRC+ Julian Porter saying that they had no idea what Neuville had hit, just it was something hard !, Maybe they should have watched the "Dirtfish" coverage from Saturday then they would be more up to speed with what had happened. So well done to the Dirtfish team for going that extra mile to get the information for the fans.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

whats the problem with these two examples?

IMO it seemed a bit desperate and trying too hard to make a story.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Like, do we really need all this ?! :rolleyes:

DIRTFISH

RUNNING THROUGH THE WILDERNESS TO FIND NEUVILLE. OUR TEAM ON THE GROUND HAD A JOB ON THEIR HANDS TO FIND NEUVILLE AND HIS STRICKEN HYUNDAI

We weren’t sure what we were about to find.

We knew Thierry Neuville had gone off and out of the lead on Croatia Rally. Thanks to some expert planning and coordination between Colin Clark and DirtFish videographer Eliot Barnard, we knew where Neuville’s Hyundai had come to a stop as well.

But we didn’t know if Neuville would still be there.

All of the effort, it could have been for nothing.

Finding a World Rally Championship driver on the scene of their accident is no easy task, trust me.

I’m still a relative newbie to the WRC service park – Croatia is just my fourth event on the ground – so I’ve not been on this journey so many times. But Colin and Eliot, they knew what they were doing. And sprung into action immediately.

As soon as we saw that Neuville had gone off, action stations were engaged. The newsdesk team back at base pinpointed his location on the tracker, and Eliot dived into the maps to work out what possible routes we had to get to him – without of course using any of the special stage.

If we drove on the stage we would miss him as the recovery truck can transport him out of the stage as soon as it’s over, and Hyundai then collects the i20, Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe and takes them back to Zagreb.

We had to get inventive instead.

“There’s a big gold star for you if you get this right,” Colin declared to Eliot, who is vying to become unofficial ‘chief planner’ this weekend.

Eliot had found two routes. One looked faster, but we couldn’t tell how accessible it was going to be.

The sudden drop off the main road and onto a beaten track suggested plan A may have been a gamble too bold.

Off we went, testing our Dacia Duster hire car to the limit as Colin – just for a moment – became McRae and not Clark.

Tricky corners, rough surfaces, even a deep puddle resembling more of a water crossing couldn’t stop us as we threaded our way towards an exclusive interview.

The determination was steely. We were going to do it.

Until we weren’t.

Negotiating around a pack of parked cars, the ruts began to deepen. The surface got muddier. The challenge got greater. The towel had to be thrown in – we had no choice.

Turning around and heading back down the way we came to trial route B wasn’t a valiant moment. Determination was still as high but hopes were perhaps dashed.

We would soldier on, but every lost second counted.

However, like in all good Hollywood movies, it was at this point that we were rewarded with a stroke of luck.

Approaching the junction back to the main road, a van towing a trailer drove right past us. And it just so happened to have ‘ALZ’ at the start of its registration plate.

What does ALZ mean? Alzenau.

What does Alzenau mean in our world? Hyundai.

“Let’s just follow him.”

So we did – but to his credit Eliot had the route crafted out perfectly anyway, which was just as well as we would soon be waving goodbye to our beacon of light.

As the Hyundai recovery team headed for stage-end, we veered right onto our chosen access route to try and intercept Neuville.

Faced with a stream of spectator cars who were travelling against us, trying to leave the stage, again things were against us. But we had to at least give it a go.

So the Dacia was parked up and we set off on foot to walk the couple of kilometers back to where Neuville’s dream had turned into a nightmare.

But, with the stage still live, we had to get adventurous. No walking on the road – we would be walking in the wilderness instead.

I was bringing up the rear as my colleagues morphed into mountain goats, leaping through the shrubbery and making a mockery of the challenging topography.

Spot the guy who hadn’t really done this before.

After some adventurous ducking and daring through the forest, we made it to a clearing where the battle plan was altered.

A friendly marshal informed us there were only three cars left to pass, and that meant the sweeper would soon be through. That meant we could walk on the road.

I couldn’t really hide my relief.

But the new challenge was the aforementioned race between us and the recovery teams. The stage being cleared meant they’d be heading in to collect the stricken Hyundai.

We were still over one kilometer away, so there was nothing for it. We had to run.

Glancing down at my smart watch to discover my heart was beating at 186bpm was a rather sharp reminder that I’ve got some serious work to do on my fitness.

Apparently a life of sitting at a laptop and eating chocolate bars has its side effects.

Calves on fire, breathing getting heavier, I was at least committed to the cause. We all were.

Eliot, the youngest and fittest of us, had made a bit of a break for it. He turned back and uttered two extremely important words.

“He’s here!”

[satnav]

Indeed but the real point is everyone is different and what I don't like you might like and vice verse, so i say just let them get on with it maybe all they do ain't to everyone's liking but i for one just takes what i like out of their stuff, and after all its different than the usual questions at the stop line.....

[er88]

@Fast Eddie WRC..... it was a big story you fud.
It's got like 200k views on youtube, so whether you like Dirtfish or not they try hard to promote rally unlike Autosport - which is basically just an F1 rag.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

@Fast Eddie WRC..... it was a big story you fud.
It's got like 200k views on youtube, so whether you like Dirtfish or not they try hard to promote rally unlike Autosport - which is basically just an F1 rag.

What you on about - with Neuvilles off it was clear from the start how it happened. It didn't need that OTT report from DF as if they were gonna find some huge breaking news.

[ouvreur]

What you on about - with Neuvilles off it was clear from the start how it happened. It didn't need that OTT report from DF as if they were gonna find some huge breaking news.

It's normally 'clear' what happens when cars go off or even break down. People still want to hear what happened from the crew themselves as soon as possible. I'm no Dirtfish fan, but they've got to try, haven't they?

[er88]

What you on about - with Neuvilles off it was clear from the start how it happened. It didn't need that OTT report from DF as if they were gonna find some huge breaking news.Nearly 200k have still watched the video of Neuville explaining it though, after Colin Clark and Co made their way to the crash site. They did the same with Lappi and that crash in Mexico, so it's quite clear these videos/reactions/reports generate interest.

[Myrvold]

Nearly 200k have still watched the video of Neuville explaining it though, after Colin Clark and Co made their way to the crash site. They did the same with Lappi and that crash in Mexico, so it's quite clear these videos/reactions/reports generate interest.

But as we saw when they interviewed Solberg in Finland last year, they should be more aware of what they are doing. That interview wasn't top class.

[steve.mandzij]

But as we saw when they interviewed Solberg in Finland last year, they should be more aware of what they are doing. That interview wasn't top class.the driver wasn't top class either...

[WRCStan]

Scoop of the season?: https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/ogier-keen-for-10th-monte-carlo-win-but-not-yet/

[seb_sh]

Luke Barry leaves Dirtfish! https://twitter.com/lukebarry97/status/1735713860240232541?t=RZgKJp7ub__7BYbw-Nq-ag&s=19

[Eli]

Luke Barry leaves Dirtfish! https://twitter.com/lukebarry97/status/1735713860240232541?t=RZgKJp7ub__7BYbw-Nq-ag&s=19

Saw it earlier, shame, liked his pieces better than Colin’s top ten and what not.

[AndyRAC]

@Fast Eddie WRC..... it was a big story you fud.
It's got like 200k views on youtube, so whether you like Dirtfish or not they try hard to promote rallying unlike Autosport - which is basically just an F1 rag.

I'm no fan of Autosport, and haven't subscribed for about 20 years.....However, if rallying as a whole (not just WRC) was in better health, then I'm sure they'd give it more recognition. Go and look at the rallying forum on the Autosport forum.....350 posts all year....