I'm not a fan of Doran, but it would be shit if the track reached a point where it was no longer economically viable to run events.Quote:
Originally Posted by tomhlord
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I'm not a fan of Doran, but it would be shit if the track reached a point where it was no longer economically viable to run events.Quote:
Originally Posted by tomhlord
I could end up eating my words, but I think (hope!) we're a way off that yet. I have spent a lot of weekends in the last 15 years at Lydden, I'd be gutted if they stopped running rallycross there.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
As you guys have said I would expect an expanded calendar for this to be a proper Americas Championship, but perhaps they are keeping it small scale on the first year?
Will it have a replayable livestream on YT..?Quote:
Originally Posted by tbtstt
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I was at Silverstone on Saturday for the opening round of the British Rallycross Championship, with a entry that included a few World Championship drivers. Easily the coldest day I have ever spent at a track, the windchill was below -10 at times and everytime I used the camera my fingers were frozen within a couple of minutes. I managed to take barely 100 pictures over the whole day.
I actually thought the viewing for spectators was better than expected. I initially feared that the grandstand area was the only place to view, but the top part of the track was all accessible...
...lot of high fences though, so very limited options for spectators taking pictures (unless you were packing big lenses!). Not the worst UK rallycross circuit for spectator viewing that I have been to, it struck me a bit of a mix of Blyton and Croft in many respects (better than the former for spectators but not the latter).
The grandstand and top of the Stowe building gave a good overview for seeing the entire track and the standing areas were never more than two people deep, so finding a spot you wanted wasn't hard. If they hit the 30,000 spectator target they have talked about for Speedmachine though, that will obviously be a different situation.
It's a very twisty circuit. Seemed quite compact and slow, even when it dried out. I didn't think the Supercars really got a chance to stretch their legs. The track obviously had to drop into a specific area, but it seemed like there was unused space at the bottom end of the circuit (after the jump). Loeb agrees that it's a bit slow as well:
https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2...ebastien-loeb/
Be interesting to see if they can make any changes for the World round.
Interesting, thanks for the review. Will try and watch some coverage of the event at some point, although doubt it'll tempt me to Speedmachine instead of going to Santa Pod that weekend. I guess that being slow could engineer some 'excitement', a bit like Hockenheim...although it could end up more like the bottom hairpin at Barcelona, which I always find really boring.
I went to Silverstone with a mate and met a couple of friends there: all of them are tempted to go back to Silverstone for the second British Championship round later in the year, but none of them are tempted by Speedmachine yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
I really wish they would straighten the bottom section of the track out (the approach to the bottom hairpin) as that would increase the chances of them coming to the hairpin in a group rather than in single file.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
Critical to Silverstone RX track.
Both Löeb, Bakkerud and Timmi Hansen tried out the new Silverstone RX track in the UK round this weekend.
Löeb and Bakkerud were not impressed. The track was so slow and mickey mouse like, that they said there was very little chance to fight and overtake. Max 70 km/h according to Löeb. As said longer down in the thread.
Lets hope they take the signals from the drivers, and adjust the track, to get some more more action for drivers and fans.
Just to clarify, I believe that Loeb said "no corner quicker than 70km/h"Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulland
Yeah, that's right. Have any comments from Bakkerud been published online Sulland?Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
See what you mean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGWcpTyKzNsQuote:
Originally Posted by tbtstt
Not sure about the surface, looks a bit like the Weston beach race at times. Hopefully just a byproduct of the weather, although doubt they'll have the time to sort anything out in the next 6 weeks or so.
VW Motorsport have unveiled the 2018 car:
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0d&oe=5B2D590B
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c9&oe=5B444720
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...c2&oe=5B33999B
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...36&oe=5B3DBCEC
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...bf&oe=5B2AA0D8
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net...41&oe=5B4C2F96
Front bumper looks different, as does the rear wing, but otherwise there doesn't look to be any other cosmetic changes from last year. Seems like the front mounted cooling package has been retained as well.
Yeah, it´s still OLD model Polo, current (NEW) 2018 model is only available 5-doors version.
Few shots of the World Rallycross guys in action at Silverstone:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/821/27...b57f1436_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4782/2...a545fe4b_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4784/4...d488921a_b.jpg
Mattias Ekström have been awarded the Prins Bertil medal.
https://www.facebook.com/mattiasekst...97980566928269
Day two of testing at Silverstone today. Prodrive/GCK seem to be very secretive about details of the Megane, the more info that trickles out about the car the more impressive it seems. The World Rallycross Facebook page has mentioned about a forthcoming reveal of the car. I really hope that they release some more technical information on the car (though I suspect that they may keep the really clever bits under wraps).
Ekstrom was quickest yesterday and is ahead again today as well.
Interesting stuff that Megane. Brakes are mounted near the diffs instead of inside the wheels. The wheels themselves are a bit weird. The center tunnel is really small compared to the other cars, not sure how they've done that, I doubt anything sticks out underneath. They are also running front radiators like the Polos.
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I'm not sure about the location of the radiators. The car is running side intakes which would imply a rear mounted cooling package, but the little video clip from the grid at Silverstone didn't clearly show the radiators in the back (or where the air is exiting in the car: though I might have a theory about that).Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha
I assume that the brake discs are mounted near the diffs (is this confirmed in pictures anywhere?). Or have Prodrive gone really out there and mounted brakes to the propshafts?
You're right.. It's the Olsbergs MSCs cars that run front radiators. Megane has rear radiators.Quote:
Originally Posted by tbtstt
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Also, times for the test weekend:
Ekström, 41.601, 71 laps
Timmy Hansen, 41.867, 31 laps
Bakkerud, 42.059, 65 laps
Kevin Eriksson, 42.222, 63 laps
Kristofferson, 42.223, 46 laps
Baumanis, 42.754, 54 laps
Grosset-Janin, 43.381, 55 laps
Solberg, 43.191, 73 laps
Chicherit, 43.381, 55 laps
Demoustier, 43.897, 91 (!!) laps
Couple of surprises there! But it's only testing..
Full list at fiaworldrallycross.com.
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20 more laps to be 2+ seconds off the pace?
Big surprise for me is that Solberg is a so far back (1.5 behind Ekstrom!), but with all testing you're never quite sure if it's genuine pace.
The Megane's livery.
Am I reading too much into the lack of Renault badges? Obviously, not a manufacturer team, but not allowed to run branding either?
Has inboard brakes (wow) and a non-Renault new-build engine.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DaA90vLXUAAfJMC.jpg
I have spent most of my lunchbreak zooming in on these pictures and having a bit of a geek out! There is a cutaway on the Top Gear site that is really good as it gives a better idea of the internal configuration of the car than any picture.
I am really curious to learn the benefit of the rear radiator setup: are they using the radiator air as part of a blown diffuser setup for the back of the car?
Perhaps the radiator is in the rear due to packaging involved with the engine being longitudinal? That and, traditionally, radiators have been rear mounted in RX for years before VW changed things up.
Apologies, my previous post could have been clearer! The positioning of the radiator isn't what has me so intrigued, it's the layout: pretty much every other supercar with a rear mounted radiator blows the air through openings in the boot. Prodrive seem to be directing that air down through the boot floor. I wonder what possible gain there is by doing that, which leads me to think that they might be using that air for some sort of aerodynamic gain.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
Slight change to the Barcelona circuit layout as they've changed the startline...not sure why they've done it though.
Joker lap strategy will be different. Also turn 1 much more important than before.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere official, but a comment on Facebook suggested that the original start line wasn't wide enough to conform to FiA regulations. I do seem to recall it was pretty tight there last yearQuote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
Shame, as it means the pack will probably be split up before they get to what was the first corner. Last lap jokers could be a lot more significant though.
Forgive the double post, but I just published a 2018 season preview:
http://fueltopia.co.uk/world-rallycr...-2018-preview/
If anyone is interested!
From this weekend the FIA World Rallycross Championship is LIVE on free-to-air TV in the UK
1pm on FREESPORTS TV.
#WorldRX #freesports https://t.co/PS7iCKWktS
The same in Latvia (RX will be able on free-to-air channel LTV7). Could it be some kind of strategy to move broadcast on free-to-air channels?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Would be nice if I could access it, keep doing searches but it never shows up...it's like the mythical Channel 5 all over againQuote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
In 2016 it was shown Q3 & Q4 + semi-finals + finals for Lites and finals for Supercars on our channel. Last year half of lives were cut or shown next day. But I watch on Motorsport TV and directly from Official World RX site. Of course it was locked for my country like every live broadcast but I use VPN.
Bennett has revealed the Mini, looks better than I expected
http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/ar...team-xite-mini
Not sure what his aim is though, taken an untested car into the World Championships just strikes me as odd. It's an awful lot of money to plough into something that he's just looking to get into the semi-finals at some point during the season.
Edit: I missed this too...seems a bit fluffy though http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/ar...d-rx-ambitions
Yeah, agree with both of your points there: it's much better looking than the car that was shown at Autosport earlier in the year.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
In a way I admire him, he obviously has the money behind him to have a crack at the World Championship and, if I had a big pot of cash, I would love to do the same. That said I can't help but think Bennett is going to be very lucky to make a semi-final this year: would think that the European Championship would be a much better place to race this year.
Arrrgghh, my eyes!Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
New Mk.8 Fiesta for Eriksson and Larsson.
Just watched the official coverage of the event at Silverstone and was not too impressed with that track.
Lacks the character of Lydden and was very hard to see the Joker laps being taken and how they affected the races.
So, after all, Ford didn't really leave the series... Let's see...
22 minutes of paddock walk, very interesting!
https://youtu.be/P6pJirPw9aA
I noticed that Pernilla and Johan underscored that they've only done "small changes" and aren't "reinventing the wheel". I wonder if they actually didn't do much or if they're just saying it to lower expectations.. Hmm
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Petter on top? In the wet?! That's usually where we find Johan. Also, the VWs seems to be on the pace after all. And an MSE car I'm the top five? Impressive as well. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...715afaeafe.jpg
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Still no live stream of the Qualifying. :(
Clips on Twitter is all:
https://twitter.com/FIAWorldRX/statu...26642132705280
Q1
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DavkksFX4AAgyws.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Davh_U7X0AMb-UW.jpg