submission for entries deadline was on friday., i guess we are going to have some upadates on the website this week or the next...
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Rally Guide 2 is listed on the website but is password protected...
70 entries, 13 Rally1 (6 Ford)
https://www.ewrc-results.com/entries...y-greece-2022/
- Expected Ogier to do more rallies now that his circuit program seems to be reduced.
- no Solberg in Rally2
- no Kajetanowicz which is kinda weird. He did it last year and imo had better chances for good results here than in Spain. Does he plan to do both NZ and Japan then? (He can wait to see Mikkelsen and Rossels results in Ypres and Greece and then see if it's worth going to Japan).
Ogier is not that much of a surprise for me, some medias told he could increase his rally program but he was pretty clear he wouldn’t do more than NZ + another one which is probably Japan.
Kajto is a bit more surprising indeed because, even if he does NZ+Japan, it might not be enough for the championship (depending on PS points also): Mikkelsen may win Belgium+Acropolis and even if he is only 2nd in one of them, Kajto is absolutely not sure of winning in NZ against Paddon when we took a look at what Paddon did in Finland. So clearly risky to do it with only 6 rounds; maybe we will see him in Catalunya (as the cars his team rents come from a Spanish team, so maybe it’s a bit less expensive) but I would have seen Acropolis most efficient for him.
Some other surprises IMO:
- 6 M-Sport is a bit surprising to me with the shipment for NZ-Japan;
- no Joona in WRC-3 Open (even if registered in Junior) whereas he has one round remaining and win was pretty easy there.
- Mikkelsen and Bulacia are registered as Team for Toksport whereas Toksport I has already used 5 rallies + Belgium where they are registered as such from my understanding; so normally, they shouldn’t be able to make another rally as Team.
individual stage maps are now available onthe website, but no info on access points yet.
Its a nice entry list.
sometime after the 20th of august i will visit some stages and will report on the places i found and where they are.
The plan is to go through shakedown, loutraki, harvati. livadia, pyrgos and perivoli... i will not go through the whole of the stages just a few kms from them in order to see the spots i already spotted though the youtube recce videos...
Friday stages are very interesting, saturday stages are complete dog shit from a spectators point of view, sundays stages are good also but i will not spectate sunday. Just wish that saturday and sunday were reversed as stages go.
Thanks for this NOT.
I still think my plan is:
Thursday: SSS1
Friday: SS2-4, SS6
Wanted to park somewhere near the start of SS2-4 and maybe just hike up a bit past the start line. Should be able to park somewhere in that little village?? Probably leave SS4 after half the cars come through to make it to SS6 in time.
Sat: SS 10-13?
I have no idea on what to do Sat to maximize how many stages I can see. It really looks difficult to see more than 2 stages with the drive time, unknowns of the roads, parking etc. We are not spectating on Sunday.
Why not SS7 on Friday? This way you will not be in rush.
Parking used to be easy around Loutraki stage, I do not think this have changed.
For Saturday, I believe we must choose one of the stages and just stay there for the two passes. Then spend the day in the service park.
My schedule is similar to yours. SS1 and then stay overnight into Loutraki stage for both passes and then SS7.
Yeah we are doing similar...
SS1 then driving to stay in Loutraki overnight. Get up early and do 2&4.
We were going to do SS7 but our Airbnb wont let us check in real late on Friday night so we gotta be in Lamia at a reasonable time.
everything you need to visit the stages are now online with google earth maps and access roads on the acropolis website.
Tomorrow i will visit the shakedown and ss11 and ss12 and will post what i found here... the stages seem to be rather boring for spectating but we will see if that is the case.
Around early september (1-2) i will visit the friday of the stages which look far better than those of saturdays.
https://www.rally-maps.com/Acropolis...of-Greece-2022
4 km was cut off from the end of SS5. There would have been a short worn tarmac bit. Quite boring stage actually.
after careful consideration i decided to cancel my tomorrows trip to the stages... they are not worth the efford. I will just go through the fridays stages in september.
Do not really know why the organisers choose saturdays stages... they are uniteresting and bad from a specating point of view.
for this year i will just spectate the shakedpwn and fridays stages.
The last 4 kms that were cut from the end of SS5 Dafni, are mainly gravel, barely some meters of old worn asphalt.
I think you underrate this stage.
It has quite a lot fast places for an Acropolis.
Also before the cut of last 4 kms it had many places at the end, easily accessible from spectators from the main asphalt road above the stage.
I do not know the reason of cut.
But this way you make the spectators to avoid parking at the aforementioned main asphalt road, because the new stage end is too far away.
Also the current stage end is a few hundred meters before the stage reaches the Monastery of Profitis Ilias.
Maybe the priests did not want the noise of a fully attacking rally car.
But generally I agree that Saturday's stages are a bit of a surprise.
Especially SS9 - SS12 Perivoli, despite it has beautiful landscape, it is boring.
The other 2 are not bad, but without many places to spectate.
At Saturday we usually expect.
Pavliani.
Gravia (the downhill version of Drosohori included last year).
Karoutes (the whole original downhill stage, not the uphill portion of it that is included in the recent extended version of Bauxites).
Even Kaloskopi or Stromi (is one stage but the name depends on where the start is) has something beautiful and classic to provide, the fir tree forest with Gkiona mountain at the background.
None of them are included and I really miss them.
The best stage maybe is Livadia.
But I would really like after 5.8 kms to continue to the west, out of Koronia village, at the current asphalt road that used to be gravel at old Evangelistria version.
This asphalt road of about 6 kms is currently evacuation and spectator access road.
Since I drove this part recently, I can assure you that it had so many places for spectators and also fast and flowing spots. With gravel tyres on asphalt, would have been fantastic.
Now the stage at 5.8 turns to the south and after 6 more not spectacular kms meets again with the old version of the stage until the finish to the fir tree forest of Elikonas.
Generally a very good stage with variety of road sections, accesses, spectators spots and landscapes.
Wanted to see if anybody had any ideas on where I could park so I could leave SS4 a little early?
I don't want to park on the access road if it is not allowed or will impede traffic (I don't know how wide that road is) Maybe park near that little village further North and walk to the start of the SS.
I fear that if I park in the designated area that I will be stuck for a long time till the end of SS4.
Attachment 2302
I'd like to try the access road to that stage at 5.3 km in. Actually, I had that in plan already last year, but there was a queue of cars (there was one rough section where cars were getting stuck), so I decided to park on side and run for 2-3 km up the hill until I reached the stage. But there were hundreds of cars up there and many of them arrived later, so it WAS possible to get through. There's a lot of space so leaving earlier shouldn't be problem.
My plan is (so far) similar to yours: 2-4-6 for Friday. On SS 6 I'd like to arrive at 11.68km into the stage. On SS 5 (according to recce onboards) is a nice section of fast flowing bends in open area at 7.92 km, but according to the spectator guide, that access road is suitable only for 4x4 or Enduro bikes - anyone (NOT?) can confirm this? No chance with regular car? (well we should have some kind of SUV, but that doesnt mean much).
Anybody knows if the road to the watersplash is really too hard for a Hyundai Tucson? ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE4R-2GIr2o
well everything is completely dry at the moment (the watersplash is at 10.05 of the video) and there is an even bigger one at 4.55 (but i do not know if it fills with water or not.
we expect heavy rains thoughout the country this week so i will let you know when i visit them if they are dry or not.
https://itgetsfasternow.com/2022/08/...y-greece-2022/
All stages will have varying surfaces (rough/smooth) and characters (technical/straightforward).
"SSS1 Athens Olympic Stadium twin-car super special. The last time this stage was used in 2005 and 2006. It’s a new configuration but still run on a tarmac surface – mostly narrow between fences with a jump on the crossover. Like always, there is nothing to lose but everything to win."
Intended joke? :)
Very interesting rally to come IMO
A lot of drivers are playing one of their last bullets of the season for their future:
- Lappi is not guaranteed to be kept by Toyota, a strong result here could help him to convince the brand of to be in Hyundai’s vision
- clearly, it could be Fourmaux’s last chance to save his future in international rallye; a mistake and I would be very surprised to see him in New Zealand. Probably not a big performance to wait still as he will have orders
- Loubet will only have one round remaining after this one (and should be complicated to show himself on tarmac in Catalunya)
- one of the 2 last chances for Rally2 drivers to show their skills, especially the one targeting Rally1 for next season such as Mikkelsen, Suninen, Huttunen, Rossel...
In addition to that, Evans has found some consistency in the last 4 rallies and Neuville will finally have an interesting road position. And for sure, what can do the Breen-Loeb combo for M-Sport?
Evans tested today in greece, the stage looks like the first kms of pavliani, but i am not sure
https://youtu.be/Gcp0yMYHrpk
Old SS Elikonas…
No rally Acropolis for Fourmaux.M-sport can't fix on time the Puma after Ypres crash.
Well, I was a bit wondering if M-Sport would be really able to enter 6 cars in case of problem in Ypres with the Pacific shipments coming soon after (+ at least 4 cars in Catalunya) but yeah, the damages from Ypres on Fourmaux’s car doesn’t sound that big.
More like a benching as you said or a will to save money/parts with maybe sponsors not wanting to put extra-money for all the cars he has broken (but as I told before, it should have been done earlier in the season).
However, with no Greece, I’m not sure he’s the best solution for NZ after that (would more see Loubet personally because it’s the last time this season M-Sport can use the road position). For Catalunya, it’s different as they don’t have many options for tarmac.
Well anyway, now, he is in the eye of the (shit)storm. Let’s see if he can answer as Solberg did in Ypres. It’s in that type of situation that you can reveal your character or fade completly.
i think is in between...they could probably fix it in time with an extra effort, but probably is not worth it money and time wise. plus, it becomes an "educational" bonus...
It's still a tinpot mentality from the team
Give it a rest with the constant sniping. I wouldnt blame Msport if they pulled out of WRC if all rally 'fans' were like you.
1. You dont know the facts of the damage
2. They dont have the resources of Toyota/ Hyundai
3. They run more Rally1 cars than anyone
If you want to blame anyone its Ford. But they aren't in great shape financially either...
Anybody know the best chance to snag an Autograph from a driver/co-driver? I was not sure if there is a meet and greet before Thursdays SS stage or if you have to just try to get one at the service park?