I would rather see 10 Al-Qassimis in 2017 machinery, than 20 Rovenperas (as good as he is) in an almost silent R5, any day of the week.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
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I would rather see 10 Al-Qassimis in 2017 machinery, than 20 Rovenperas (as good as he is) in an almost silent R5, any day of the week.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
me notQuote:
Originally Posted by T16
Errrrm, no.Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
WRC is also quite quiet, when driven 30%... not to mention speed and action.
It's also sad to see such a waste of resource.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarmop
Eh... good for you.Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
Do you mind me asking - the guys that replied to me above (Barrels / StefanVV / Tarmop / Allez Andruet) - have you all seen both 2017/18 WRC cars and R5 live on a stage?
No, I don't mind at all. To give you a short answer: yes, I have.Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
Fortunately I've been lucky enough to have witnessed all the noteworthy rally cars from the late 80's onwards. Even the group B monsters, although not on a rally stage, but in rallycross and in what we call rallysprint here in Finland.
I've seen plenty of rally cars last 30+ years. I can assure You the car doesn't drive itself, it's the driver who makes the difference, no matter what class it's in.Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
I was going to ask the same of you to be honest. Are you mainly just spectating on straights or hairpins? I've seen Al-Qassimi on Rally GB last year and Rally Finland this year. On GB he appeared a bit 'meh', with the stop start nature you still get something out of the acceleration of the car, but in Finland he looked particularly uninteresting compared to many of the R5s, it was very apparent that he was just cruising with very little commitment being shown.Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
Qassimi has a role to play in wrc , he is the "average joe " a benchmark of sorts. Makes Neuville Ogier and Tanak skill more visible.
So, have you seen both the new WRC cars and R5 live on a stage?... you didn’t make your answer that clear.Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanvv
Sorry, but for me I just much prefer the top cars. Even with someone like Al-Qassimmi driving it.
I like the old, normally aspirated stuff... anything that makes a noise.
Not at all, I spend a lot of time researching lfor high speed corners before I go.Quote:
Originally Posted by the sniper
Don’t mind a straight, as long as it has a fast corner just at the end (which I can see).
I hate hairpins and I detest doghnuts!
Then you need to come to Finland to see Ilmo Lario's BMW M3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5bsB9c-OAYQuote:
Originally Posted by T16
I have also seen WRC2017 and R5 as well as a variety of older factory cars live on stage and I think R5 stands well in spectacularity. Much better than Group N as a support series.
But one thing about the privateers annoys me is that competition-wise, they are in no man's land. There's usually only one privateer driving their own pace with no competition to the works cars. Maybe they would be more competitive in an R5? This was the case of Henning Solberg this year. Even in Østberg's Fiesta WRC, he couldn't beat the WRC2 top drivers, but in Turkey he was the best-positioned (maybe not fastest) R5.
EDIT: in terms of noise, the 208 T16 R5 is probably the best of its class, but competition-wise it's among the worst.
All from the current spec. Fiesta WRC several times. And they are all quiet cars when driven with no angst.Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
A shame to see only one driver testing for M-Sport.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbmarcus21
I don't think they have more contracted drivers at the momentQuote:
Originally Posted by tomhlord
Sigh - such a shame :(Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
We have not seen Mikkelsen or Paddon testing either obviously. I think Mikkelsen to MSport should be a no brainier for Malcolm. He can do well if the car is set up for him.
**edit** I stand corrected.. Mikkelsen did in fact test. Thanks guys!
Mikkelsen tested for Monte.Quote:
Originally Posted by racerx1979
Just going to leave this here.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfJ7e9vLN04Quote:
Originally Posted by racerx1979
Ahhh...I will now take my head out of the sand!Quote:
Originally Posted by BobJones
How many times Hyundai needs to announce they have UNCHANGED crew for Monte... Neuville, MIKKELSEN, Sordo. He have a contract and he will be in Hyundai for another year. The question is (if Loeb is really signed for the squad) if Paddon will stay (despite Hyundai is the only offer), what he will be driving, is it WRC, or old WRC or R5. I think that R5 and WRC2 Pro is really right place at the moment and he could well promote their product and challenge Skodas or even win the title straight away.
Skoda seems to be light years ahead of Hyundai when it comes to R5 machinery. Not saying he couldn't do a terrific job there, but Paddon surely would have his hands full vs. the Skoda squad.Quote:
Originally Posted by deephouse
I wonder what effect this will have for Loeb vs Ogier popularity in France.
For Hyundai it's only positive, for Mikkelsen especially as Loeb will certainly have leverage to introduce changes to the car on tarmac and his style is much close to Mikkelsen (and Ogier) than how Neuville is driving on tarmac these days. Better to possibly miss a few rounds if the car gets changed than drive as last WRC with no changes in sight on tarmac.
https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...s_12122018.pdf
Sporting Regulations 2019 are published.
Or worse for Mikkelsen as another team-mate outperforms him...Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Please, read those, there are some changes for 2019Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I can't be bothered reading 107 pages tonight, I'll wait for someone else to summarise the interesting bits.
That´s good enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by GravelBen
Many people here don´t know rules for sport they follow...
and they often ask "stupid" questions.
Commenting on the low-point of the WRC history.
In my view, 1997 hasn't been the lowest, there were three manufacturers involved with full time schedule (Ford, Mitsubishi and Subaru) with Toyota entering selected rallies as fourth. In 1996 and 1995 we didn't have Toyota in so it was just three manufacturers.
But... Following Subaru withdrawal after 2008 season we had only two (2!!) manufacturers involved, albeit with junior and satellite teams. So for seasons 2009 - 2010 it was just Citroen and Ford. Factoring in Mini's minuscule (pun intended) involvement in 2011-2012 could extend this period further. And with level of Citroen's domination, it effectively was single-make series. That is what I call the low point in WRC history.
True, but 1995-1996 the teams often entered three cars. And although Toyota was disqualified in 1995, the spectators still got to watch their three cars as well. However, in 1997 with only one exception (Subaru in RAC) the teams always entered just two cars.Quote:
Originally Posted by jonkka
I could agree with you, but still we have to remember in 2009 the championship title was decided by a single point. 2010 was more Citroen and Loeb & Ogier & Sordo single-make series, yet even then there were 4 different winners. Still, 2010 was more of a low point than 2009 in my opinion. Spectator wise, 2010 introduced a lot of S2000 cars, so it compensated. Oh well.Quote:
Originally Posted by jonkka
If the number of entries is the chosen way to quantify the series' quality or health, then 2009 is the absolute low point. That season there were only 695 entries across all the 12 events of the season, down from 1063 entries of the previous season (admittedly, with 15 events).
How about a this kind of index: the number of main class factory entries divided by the amount of rallies in a season?
So did you print it all out? ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
I´m too lazy to find out changes. Could you give us a hint? :)
https://rallysportmag.com/exclusive-...r-yves-matton/
Seems like an interesting interview behind the paywall
Quote:
EXCLUSIVE: FIA Rally Director, @Yves_Matton, spoke exclusively to @RallyHolmes about the future of the @OfficialWRC, and of major changes coming to the sport, including a new ‘Rally 3’ category, more events outside Europe, and a new ‘Pyramid’ system.
"Rally 3", "Pyramid system" :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Main changes are:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
- Art 8: New FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship (WRC 2 for manufacturers)
- Art 13.1.2: The total distance of the special stages shall be between 300 km and 350 km (between 300 and 500 km in 2018 and before)
- Art 17.1: P1 drivers may request a specific number provided that the application is endorsed by the FIA and the Promoter. Number 1 may only be chosen by the World Champion driver of the previous season. Requested numbers may not be greater than 99.
- Art 17.2: Competition numbers between 21 and 40 for WRC 2 Pro competitors and between 41 and 70 for WRC 2 competitors shall be allocated rally by rally, according to the provisional classification of the Championships concerned. Greater numbers may be allocated if required.
- Art 20.1.5: On a road section that is a public road and at the start of a stage, a competition car may only be driven on four freely rotating wheels and tyres. Any car not complying with this article will be considered as retired as per WRC Art. 46. An additional penalty may be imposed by the stewards.
- Art 45.2: P1 drivers re-starting on Saturday and/or Sunday under WRC Art. 46, shall on all subsequent days start as a merged group before the other P1 drivers in the reverse order of their position in the classification.
- Art 49.2.2: The schedule for each car in the service park is as follows: 40 minutes between two groups of stages (30 minutes in the past)
- Art 66.1.1: On a permanent testing site proposed by the Manufacturer before its first rally of the year and notified to the FIA. The area of the permanent testing site shall be within a maximum radius of 5 km (free in the past)
That's all, folks!
So if Breen and Paddon go out, Meeke and Loeb will be back in and no new young drivers are driving WRC cars, this year will have a pretty higher average age than latest years.