Yes, you can get a waiver to have a three day recce. Monte does this as well sometimes (but for sure it's more difficult for other rallies to get the waivers accepted)Quote:
Originally Posted by atsiotras79
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Yes, you can get a waiver to have a three day recce. Monte does this as well sometimes (but for sure it's more difficult for other rallies to get the waivers accepted)Quote:
Originally Posted by atsiotras79
3 day recce because so many stages are only driven once.
I believe surface is biggest reason for only 1 run, 2nd run might be fatal for current cars.
Interesting because all those 2021 single-runs have been double-run in the past with bigger entry lists, so it shouldn't be an issue really. I think they just wanted to make a more ambitious route with a wider geographical area and more stage titles, something different. The route overlay is similar to the early 90's when they started the rally in Athens, went through Corinth to Lamia and ended the rally around Lamia. It was just more dense with special stages and now with more road sections :)Quote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
Modern cars with about 55 cm suspension travel, inclined shock-absorbers and high-tech materials are a lot stronger than anything seen in the past.Quote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
The reason for this route is solely because the organizer wanted to cover bigger area, to the style of old rallies, exactly as AnttiL said.
edit. This route is far from the toughest. Actually it is a rather soft Acropolis. Even SS Tarzan has been re-surfaced and has nothing in common with the hell it used to be.
Yes, I just saw it. They give three days, a total of 34 hours for recce. This is barely enough. Some will not be able to make correct notes.Quote:
Originally Posted by atsiotras79
The reason that the rally is so spread out is that there were many politicians involved behind the committee that got the rally and all of them wanted the rally to pass from their area!
It would have been a different rally otherwise, more compact.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t like that route.
I would have done exactly the same having the above in mind, and basically I am so happy that the rally is back!!!
About the roughness of the rally, I have a feeling the first 3 SS of Friday around Loutraki will play very important role...
Ok, the odd rock (basketball size) may appear everywhere but having seen many of the tests for Turkey here in Greece in 18 and 19, the cars can handle these roads pretty well. This is not the reason for the one pass of the stages...
Actually the past two or three years several Greek organizers do a very stupid thing. In the past it was not like this. This is a very modern trend. As I saw them doing it in two of the Acropolis stages last week, I will try to describe it. Wherever there is rocky surface they put fine gravel on top of it and then they pass a road-roller on it. During recce it looks fine, you think that you will drive in Finland. But everything changes after the first 7-8 4WD cars have passed. These first cars make big ruts on it, they bring the rocks and the ditches again on the surface and, most important, they mess up the whole road, they put loose gravel everywhere and they also make it utterly impossible to drive out of the racing line. After the first cars, in the racing line there are rocks that cannot be seen easily mixed with loose gravel and out of the racing line the surface is extremely slippery loose gravel that can very easily send you to the nearby trees. This is more stupid and more dangerous than can be imagined, but I am afraid we will see it in this year's Acropolis also.
(after Portugal and Sardinia)Quote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
I´m still keeping my opinion, others are free to have their own.
Maybe you should look at onboards from Cetibeli in Turkey. Two runs, and mostly only punctures
I watch my rallies Live not from TV ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Been following WRC for years and I finally have a chance to see one in person this year in Greece. As I have never been to a WRC event (or Greece) I'm looking for some advice! Snagged an Airbnb in Lamia for Thurs-Sun and have one lined up in Athens for Wed-Fri just in case I need to modify plans. Have a rental car for the whole week.
Looking at the Rally-Maps.com info I'm trying to plan this out in my head.
Thursday:
-Ceremonial Start: 17:45
-SSS1 if possible
Friday: (is this too crazy to pull off?)
-Aghii Theodori 1: 10:18
-Elatia-Zeli: 17:15
Saturday
-Pavliani 1 & 2: 08:33/16:26
or
-Eleftherohori 1 & 2: 13:08/18:08
(I'm assuming there would not be enough time to maybe do Pavliani 1 and then jump over and do Eleftherohori 1 & 2?)
Sunday:
-Tarzan 1 & 2: 17:58/13:18
Looking for any advice. Just trying to maximize my weekend! If your gonna be at the rally I would certainly buy you a beer/coffee :)
For Thursday we have to wait to announce the SSS1 to see if both CS and SSS1 are doable...
For Friday you might be able to catch also a few cars in SS4 (second run of Ag. Theodoroi) before you leave for Elateia...
For Saturday, first Pavliani and 2 Eleftherohori easily!
For Sunday, ok.
That's awesome. Thanks for the advice!Quote:
Originally Posted by atsiotras79
I´ve met each one of you guys personally in Greece and Finland, and I´m pretty sure you´d appreciate try to meet up on the rally. ;)
Rallyper are you coming?
This is very doable. I believe you could even have a more optimistic program.Quote:
Originally Posted by subarurally
Thanks for asking. Unfortenately not. Would have liked to, but it will be Rally Finland if they let me in...Quote:
Originally Posted by atsiotras79
Maybe next if Greece joins the championship. Would be nice.
I may have to reevaluate then. I'm down for attempting to see any and all stages possible!Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
Tonight at 20.00 (Greek time), Minister of Sports will announce everything about Rally Acropolis in an event that will be held in Athens.
There are strong rumors from Greek media about SS1 that it will be a SSS in the centre of the city for the first time ever.
https://translate.google.com/transla...o-tis-athinas/
For the first time, SS1 will be a city stage in Athens around Syntagma square.
New big sponsors announced. Also new logo.
New updated website https://www.acropolisrally.gr/portal...enika/116-2021
This is not Acropolis. This is too soft and too short to have this name. I drove through the whole Pavliani stage, which used to be a tough stage. The organizers have put heavy machinery in it and now it is a much softer stage than almost all stages in Sardinia. It is not even an average stage anymore, it is rather soft. They are doing the same in Tarzan. Tarzan used to be the toughest stage outside Kenya. They work on it trying to make it like Finland. This is ridiculous.
Yeah, OK. Just don’t watch it and let us enjoy it.
It is not a matter of watching Seb, Ott and the other guys. Of course they are there to watch on whatever road they drive. The matter is that this is NOT Acropolis. It does not have the character. All stages have been re-surfaced by road-constructors.Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
P.S. Last weekend there was a national rally using two of the Acropolis stages. Believe me, it was softer than most Greek sprints. Of course, this is very good for a national rally. National rallies must be soft. But to have the name Acropolis, no. It is not Acropolis.
I know, I was in Fthiotidos rally. I watched Pavliani 1 & 2. So we must have met in Pavliani square for coffee or souvlaki! I still saw big rocks surfacing after the first cars. 14 cars retired!
What I am trying to say is that sometimes we must get rid of nostalgia and memories and go on.
Come one, we lost Acropolis Rally for 8 years and now we have it again! We have new people working on this, we have full government’s backing, new big sponsors. We are going to enjoy these wonderful cars for the last time not only in SS but under Acropolis monument as well. We had none of these the previous years.People are working for the rally and promote it like never before. Let’s be happy and enjoy it!
That´s right attitude!Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
People should be happy to get WRC in their country or near by.
Acropolis is not only about roughness. It's about people, landscapes, morning ice frappe and souvlaki! Can't get wait.
Exactly but frappe has been replaced by freddo espresso! Should you visit us for Acropolis Rally, you will see everyone caring one! Try it! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom K
The next spectacle sacrificed on this society's altar of "safety" and "comfort", all justified with the same old wishy-washy sentence: "We must move on". No, we do not "have to" move on. Time is not a person who votes on things. Time does not set the rules. People do. We can choose to keep things we consider valuable. The old "wisdom" that things "must" change is a myth. Why change something that isn't broken? And why is it always replaced with something inferior? Why is the trend in rallying for shorter and shorter rallies, shorter stages, softer stages, slower cars, etc? Who wants this? Ask around among the fans, and tell me there is widespread support for these trends. There isn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom K
Manufacturers do.Quote:
Originally Posted by MentalParadox
There is no such trend.Quote:
Originally Posted by MentalParadox
Nor this.Quote:
Originally Posted by MentalParadox
As you can see, current rallysport is more about speed than endurance. It is more and more closer to rallysprint...
Gosh, it's nearly 3 months away. The roads will change 100 times until then, especially since tourism will be in full swing pretty soon, and the usual early September rains will surface every rock that has now been smoothened. The SSS in Syntagma should be huge spectacle if political bullshit doesn't interfere. Would have liked to see it start slightly later, so cars can run with the sun setting in the backdrop.
I did not expect an Acropolis with very smooth stages.
But even if stages are smoother, or much smoother, than the past, I will not be disappointed.
As said from others, also for me, Acropolis is much more than rough stages, punctures and broken suspensions.
It is the variety of landscapes and especially the beauty of high altitude - mountainous landscapes, in combination with slippery conditions and sideways passes from world's top drivers.
It is the sun, the heat and the dust.
It is the fan of having the excursion, driving your car at the mountains along with good friends.
It is the really nice food.
Looking what is happening during FIRST day of Rally Safari where almost everyone has retired or has huge problems, I feel better that Rally Acropolis will be a bit smoother. :D
I agree with the last paragraph.Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
I disagree about the nostalgia. It is not nostalgia. It is an opinion that Acropolis MUST NOT become Portugal, Argentina or Spain (Sardinia is already much rougher, anyway). It must not become "just another sprint rally". Besides losing its character, this poses a certain danger that it will permanently lose its place in WRC, replaced by Turkey or Cyprus, because WRC needs to have one endurance event in Europe, for diversity reasons.
P.S. None of the retirements last Sunday was because of rough roads. The majority retired because of inadequate preparation and some because of driver's or co-driver's mistakes because the organizer forbitted recce for many days.
Until now, Evans, Sordo and Ogier had trouble or retired solely because they hit an object out of the road. None of these trouble was because of road roughness.Quote:
Originally Posted by bomber21
If you think Acropolis will be light and smooth you are fooled...
it will have its character even with the shorter route...
I drove on Sunday on these two Acropolis stages. Both of these roads have been fully re-constructed in many places and they are not the same as they were. The only things that are the same are the scenery and the name.Quote:
Originally Posted by atsiotras79
To give an accurate picture, the main characteristic of Pavlini before re-construction was that its uphill section, up to the 8th km, was full of stones planted in the road that made it very hard to drive and the downhill section was full of big dips and water-trenches that could break the car or send it to the trees. The stage was really tough and the driver had to protect the car in both these sections in many places. These do not exist any more. On Sunday, the planted stone sections were no more than 50 m and there was not even one water-trench. The driving, even with only one pass in recce, was without the slightest need for protection. It was a very smooth and light rally, much smoother than Sparti sprint or old Amaliada sprint.
As I have been informed, the same re-construction is happening to Tarzan and the other stages. If this information is correct, then it is not Acropolis. At least, 2021 Pavliani and Pirgos are not.
P.S. It happens that I have participated in three Acropolis in the past and watched thirty and so maybe I can tell the difference.
mimimimimi.....STOP moaning! I would be more than happy if WRC comes to my Country NO matter on wich roads! Be happy that Grecce is part of the WRC again, or stay away from the rallye, sit at home and watch Vides from your good old days...Quote:
Originally Posted by scn