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Well, cycling has Sky pouring millions into it. Plus 2 of the top cyclists in the world in Froome and Wiggins. The same cannot be said about rally currently. Probably the Boreham Ford/Prodrive Subaru and later Colin and Burns eras are comparable.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyRAC
They wouldn't pump money in if it wasn't worth it. Rallying in the UK is mainly invisible; the flagship event gets derisory mainstream coverage....Quote:
Originally Posted by macebig
Off topic, but Sky's brand benefits from its association with cycling, it doesn't really gain anything directly from promoting the sport of cycling itself. Sky doesn't even broadcast cycling, it's almost entirely on Sky and ITV. So yes, Sky are pouring millions into cycling, but they're primarily doing it to promote their own brand rather than promote cycling as a sport to the masses.Quote:
Originally Posted by macebig
Sky wouldn't pour millions into rallying because rallying is a shadow of its former self and is virtually invisible to the masses in the UK nowadays...
Fair point re Sky money & cycling.Quote:
Originally Posted by macebig
But having great UK athletes like Cav, Wiggo & Froome isnt so important and not relevant to rallying.
When I started going to the RAC Rally in the 80's there were no British winners but the crowds were still massive. The rally went all over the country and the public got to know about it coming to or through their area.
The years stuck in S.Wales killed its poplarity.
Only Finnish winners 8)Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Another thing that p*ssed me off this week, UK related. Even in F1, the FIA/FOM/MSA are set to let the Silverstone GP run over 4 days, Thursday to Sunday. Yeah, it's only F2 and GP3 practice on the Thursday, but it still shows that even F1 are now more willing to think outside the box and be more flexible than the WRC... What an embarrassment.
Isn't Rally GB having a stage on Thursday night as well?Quote:
Originally Posted by the sniper
It's not confirmed, but as far as I know they're only now looking a doing a short nothing stage in the small town of Towyn, on a facility like and not much larger than, a (motorcycle) Speedway...Quote:
Originally Posted by rallyfiend
In 2013, the last time they managed to run Thursday stages, it was really good. They ran Gwydyr, Penmachno, Clocaenog, a perfect loop given that they seemingly have to have the start in Conwy County and end in Deeside. It was perfectly in character with the event and its history and was at least a nod to what this rally used to be. Sadly it was never to be repeated.
If they can't/won't run forest stages on the Thursday, I'd rather they all headed over from the start to Oulton Park circuit for a stage starting at around 2030hrs. Oulton Park, used in the RAC Rally on and off for many decades (see here the itinerary from 1962, featuring many other familiar stage names too: https://www.ewrc-results.com/timetab...-britain-1962/ ) is closer to the service park in Deeside than any of the stages actually used in the rally, yet it's never been used once since they've been based in Deeside. We've had a few micky mouse stages around small country homes 'for the public' in recent years, all of which have seemingly suffered accessibility problems for spectators, yet Oulton Park goes unused. I'd love to know whether there's a good reason for this or whether it's just a symptomatic of the lack of imagination/ambition the organisers have.
For those outside the UK, circuit rallying has been becoming increasingly popular in the UK. The Neil Howard Stage Rally is held in November as the last round of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship at Oulton Park. You can see in this video that even as just a largely unpublicised national rally it get's a decent number of spectators. Imagine how many people would turn up for a Rally GB stage there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcTro5cV7fs & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRExmdp6W4U or onboard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q4JOGTYywQ
Sorry for ranting about Rally GB again!
What is the minimum distance for WRC events ? If it is 300km then 2017 Wales Rally GB will require an itinerary tweak, such as a Thursday night SSS. With removal of Sundays Gwydyr 1 stage the total competitive distance reduces to 299.13km.
FIA 2017 WRC Sporting regulations pdf
13. RALLY CHARACTERISTICS
13.1 RALLY CONFIGURATION
13.1.1 The surfaces of a rally may be mixed but must remain the same between two overnight regroups
(minimum 45’ service). Within a special stage the road surfaces must not be mixed.
However, for the use of limited sections of asphalt on gravel stages, a request for a waiver may be sent to
the FIA.
13.1.2 The total distance of the special stages shall be between 300 km and 500 km.
There shall be no single special stage minimum or maximum distance. However, there shall be no more
than 80 km of special stages between visits to service parks or tyre fitting zones.
- No one stage or part of a stage may be run more than twice in a rally, super special stages excluded.
How many kilometres do events being observed for WRC status have to run? e.g for the Tauranga 'RallyNZ' in November?
299.13km = 186 miles......similar to a F1 Grand Prix distance. Quite ironic really....
299,13 km = approx. 1 145 000 bananas ( more handy and more used measurement than miles) ;)
New Thursday night stage confirmed for @WalesRallyGB this year as event will now begin in Towyn, County Conwy. https://t.co/DPSdDx8sJN https://t.co/99Jd6SMTwZ
"The 1.1-mile floodlit stage will incorporate parts of Tir Prince’s trotting track and other areas within the park and will also feature a jump and donut."Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
N.O.T will love this
Meaning doing a donut is going to be part of a competitive stage?
No, I think they have to eat a donut while driving through the stage. +1s for every 10g of donut left at the end.Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
That happens a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson
Do we know whether its a ring donut, or a jam filled donut?? These things are important.... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
This is the C3 WRC of jokes.Quote:
Originally Posted by seb_sh
Is the new Rally GB stage at Tir Prince ... ;)
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/me...ce-raceway.jpg
Well no, its actually going to use part of the trotting track:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDQDqiVU0AA5R8H.jpg
“Rallying is an amazing sport, but it can be difficult for people to get to see it, so we are always looking for innovative ways to bring it to new audiences"
When will these clowns realise that they aren't bringing rallying to new audiences, they're bringing a sideshow that features the same cars. A fecking trotting track, FFS!
You've got to introduce the public to rallying somehow. They just arent going to discover it in a forest in the middle of nowhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
Stages at a safari park, stately home, horserace track and a race circuit were my first experience of seeing rally cars in action... and I'm still a fan 30 years later.
I don't want to paint too dark a picture but I think it is difficult to keep motorsport alive into the distant future. I'm a millenial and I literally have one single friend who is a petrol head. Some of them like it when they see a Lambo or a Porsche on the street, but the interest doesn't go much further. The vast majority are not interested whatsoever or even find it a bit silly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
If we are being real that is just the way it is. Oil will get too precious to burn it, cars will get less exciting, motorsport will lose its appeal. Rallying has always been in the shadow of circuit racing (bar the hight of Group B) to a degree and it is now amplified by the zeitgeist we are confronted with.
We are dinosaurs, my dear fellows.
And what is the ironic thing about this? The UK used to have a huge event that did just that; and had massive publicity & media.....Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
You reap what you sow....
With the GB situation and the criticism it's tricky because the organisers can only work within the confines of the paltry regulations. So a lot of what people want is unrealistic. That said I think they are playing it overly safe, but as others have mentioned it's not like counties and regions are lining up to host this event.
As a fan I want more stage variety (I've done the current ones multiple times) and as many chances to see the cars in 'competitive' action as possible. That makes it easier to swallow the hefty cost of a world rally pass.
Hopefully we'll get a bit of a revamp next year.
Wales Rally GB @WalesRallyGB
We have more fantastic news coming tomorrow. We can reveal all very soon. #WRGB #WRC
Hmm.
I accept that Mickey Mouse stages have been around for years, but at least a ponce around Chatsworth had some roads to it. A trotting track?! And at the end of a day messing around silly stages they headed north and a full rally of proper stages through places like Dalby and Kielder. Those are the stages that grab people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
But Watson is right, we're dinosaurs. Sport is consumed differently these days, gone is the time that you'd sit and watch rallying on Grandstand because there were only 4 channels.
Any of the above would be better than having them all do a doughnut in an 'amusement park' in the back end of Towyn...Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Folks rather than dominating this thread with Rally GB we might as well get going with a dedicated Rally GB thread. If you don't mind I taken the liberty of starting this year's thread here: http://www.motorsportforums.com/show...78#post1143978
https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/...poland-924434/
Someone has big dreams
It's the same article as autosport.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Direct quote:"Andreas Mikkelsen is confident he and Kris Meeke could have challenged for the WRC manufacturers' title for Citroen if they had worked together all season."
So if anything it's more of criticism of Matton. Saying "you should have hired me in December".
I retrospective he is probably right. Whether they would fight for title is one thing, but clearly the car would get changed much earlier.
I take your point absolutely re the Towyn 'SSS' .Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
A short 'proper' stage would be much better and would attract just as many fans. Like the SD in Poland today, hugely popular:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDe15roXgAAy1wk.jpg
I'm sure they could find a better alternative than this trotting track and in an accessible place.
Hayden Paddon*@HaydenPaddon
Tomorrow we will be hosting our Facebook live Q&A at 10am CET (8pm NZT) Get your questions in early at http://Facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc* #paddonspack
not sure if it's the correct thread but i wonder why Tanak is not backed up by Red Bull like 90% of the field (or almost)? they seem to sponsor lot less talented drivers now...
Interesting interview with Martin Prokop. Sorry for google translate, I know it doesn't work very well with Czech.
Apparently the team struggles quite a lot with new car, at least financially.
According to him the new Fiesta is hugely complicated, he had to hire bunch of additional engineers to work on it, and it's much more expensive to maintain and repair than the old car. From his statements it seems like they might not sustain the situation till the end of the season. I seem to remember they planned to have two 2017 Fiestas later this year, which is apparently off the table now.
Doesn't look like the 2017 WRC cars are very privateer friendly.
Does he mean hire tech people from M-Sport? Much like the old Subaru S10-12s etc? You could not look at one without a Prodrive (£500 a day) tech guy plugging his laptop in to get the car moving.....If so sounds like another of Malcolm's little earners.Quote:
Originally Posted by USER47
Well they do cost €750,000 so... Makes a lot of sense... Shame really that the FIA isn't doing anything to help the situation, well I guess they don't really care do they? (please correct me if I am wrong).Quote:
Originally Posted by USER47
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
Actually he did not say that the main problem is money (although he said it is very expensive) but the massive amount of work compared to the older car. He said that that his people are totally exhausted and that the team has to make a decision how to continue.
Not sure if he got some people from M-Sport, but at least some guys came with Mads.Quote:
Originally Posted by noel157
According to Prokop, there are troubles with engine, differentials...And all the carbon parts that break off easily on the stages and are very expensive to replace. They are big time over the budget and in the summer they need to sit down and decide how to proceed.
They are used to run quite an economical operation, but with this car it's just not possible, if it's supposed to run well.
I do have sympathy with the Prokop/ Østberg team, but it was their choice to try to run with the big boys with a '17- spec car.
The ex-works 2016 cars were meant to be used by any privateers (hence getting their own Trophy) but they chose to try to run the latest car and finance was bound to be a much bigger issue..