Printable View
There are basically two types of rallyfans:
1: those where the cars and tech development is the most facinating and important
2: those where the drivers ability to master the cars is the most facinating and important! Differnt cars should match eachother, so the driver is the decisive factor.
Those two groups have problems agreeing on the future of rallying. One of the facts of life!
Lets just agree to disagree, and hope both groups will enjoy the future!
and the Brain-dead who just see the ending number of entry lists...count the no of WRCs and S2000 and they are happy if they are high enough.... nobodies and a waste of space.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulland
Is there something wrong with me, I have been agreeing with N.O.T. too much lately :(
Ray
that is how brain washing works...if someones opinion is everywhere (and in my case if it is backed-up) you start thinking if the person has a point or not at the end....
I wouldn’t count my self either of them. I’m a little bit of a tech freak and interesting how things works (not only automotive technical things) and what can be done by the rules. On the other hand I’m also interested in the driver’s different driving styles and how they get their max speed.
The group that cannot agree about how the future would like, are the manufacturers. Once read in “Vauhdin Maailma” an interview of the four manufacturer present at that time in WRC. Everyone had a different opinion what should be done and what should be allowed etc.
Time for the FiA to decide what is better for the WRC, not what's better for the Manufacturers - they've led us down a blind alley.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldF
I can agree with that. If the manufacturers can’t agree what is the best way to go, FIA should take the responsibility to decide how the tech regs and others are in the future.
On the other hand, it’s the manufacturers that make the championship. If they aren’t comfortable with the rules, they wont registered to WRC.
How to find the golden middle way to go?
PS Now it’s time for few hours of sleep. Have a Merry Christmas guys!
I think the first thing that needs to be done for the WRC is that the FIA needs to find a way to encourage new manufacturers to actually do full seasons. I remember when we used to have half a dozen manufacturers, but then they started dropping out and doing half-seasons. Now we've only got two and a half (MINI don't have the budget for a full works campaign) and it's pretty sad. Hopefully some way can be found to get MINI and Volkswagen in full-time. But part of me suspects that they're waiting for Loeb to go before committing to a full program so that they actually have a chance.
I was very encouraged when I saw the story about Argentina expanding its route for 2012, especially since Jean Todt favours it. I have a copy of Automobile Year 1981-82 lying around, and I was leafing through it the other day when I noticed that the shortest rally in 1981 - Finland - was longer than the longest rallies we have today. Argentina was the longest in 1981, with 1370 competitive kilometres. These days we're lucky to get 1370 kilometres in total. And I still remember the epicly-long stages that we used to have, like the 45km Wellington Dam stage in Australia. The WRC today is watered-down and television-friendly, with routes decided by how far television crews can (/are willing to) travel. There was a time when every stage in the rally was only done once, not twice.
I think I'd also like to see the calendar expand out. I'm glad that Monte Carlo is back, but I think the sport needs to push out. A rally in America and another in somewhere like India might be a good place to start.
I've decided that it's time to do something with the hours I have wasted on the Google Maps Pedometer. This is my proposal for a rally - the Rally of America, based in Denver, Colorado:
Day I - 150.70km
Stage 1/5 - Black Hawk (31.19km)
Stage 2/6 - Echo Lake (10.66km)
Stage 3/7 - Squaw Pass (11.80km)
Stage 4/8 - Windy Saddle (21.70km)
Day II - 162.66km
Stage 9/13 -Carriage Hills (11.05km)
Stage 10/14 - Bald Mountain (22.84km)
Stage 11/15 - Switzerland Trail (27.29km)
Stage 12/16 - Sugarloaf (20.15km)
Day III - 119.92km
Stage 17/21 - Dakota Hill (21.17km)
Stage 18/22 - Berthoud Falls (26.18km)
Stage 19/23 - Winter Park (14.72km)
Stage 20/24 - Epworth Lakes (18.93km)
Stage 25 (power stage) - King Flats (10.28km)
Total competitive distance - 433.28km
Okay, so it's not perfect. I don't live in Denver, so I don't know the roads. And access to some of them might be a little difficult. But I think it would make for a fantastic high-speed gravel and low-speed tarmac event, and if it were run at the right time of the year, some of the higher-altitude stages could be run in snowy conditions.
PS - Tried to edit this into my last post, but couldn't do it. Apologies for the double-post.
And yet television — in the shape of major terrestrial channels, i.e. those with by far the biggest national audience shares — has never been less interested in the WRC. Maybe the way in which rallies have ceased now to be 'events', in the way that the RAC Rally used to be a big national 'event' in the UK, is partly to blame for this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys