Interesting to see James Williams appearing to buck the trend and going to Ford from a Hyundai
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Interesting to see James Williams appearing to buck the trend and going to Ford from a Hyundai
A new rally magazine-style show announced by Special Stage - it’ll be on TV as well as youtube and, my favourite, facebook :D
Watching rallying last year through only stage-side video with no commentary for an idea of the overall story of the event just got boring really quickly.
https://youtu.be/J6Ju2gj1s9s
Especially as last year his main sponsor was Hyundai Power ProductsQuote:
Originally Posted by Sal yet again
@PaulWoodford84
More exciting rally news! We’re bringing back the monthly round-up rally shows, thanks to Seacon UK.
Not only that; you’ll be able to watch on TV, on the ‘Sporty Stuff’ Sky / Freeview channel as well as online!
What a year this is going to be for rally TV ! :)
M.Wilson Rally seeded entry...
https://www.rallies.info/webentry/20...ies.php?type=s
Car number 38 snuck in under the radar of the BRC hype machine!
Well-spotted ! How is he seeded so low down ??Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal yet again
Btw, anyone know what's happened to Rhys Yates ? Not heard any plans from him for ages and he was one of the better-funded young drivers we had.
Osian Pryce has also gone quiet after suggesting he was targeting the ERC...
https://www.fiaerc.com/erc/news/erc/...g-erc-step-up/
Keith despite his success in the past always seems to struggle for a proper budget so guess it was last minute .com again.
Regards the drivers who have dropped off the radar I suppose you could add Ruari Bell to that list? Yates though has gone from being everywhere Goodwood Speedweek/BRC/WRC2 to nowhere.
Ruari Bell is still very much active on Social media about rallying so would be surprised if there's not a plan for events this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal yet again
Sadly, winning the BRC doesn't mean the sponsors will come rolling in; Cronin, Edwards among the multi winners having trouble raising cash. And as already said, Pryce's plans for a ERC campaign don't look like they've come to much.
I can't say I've been overly impressed with the EVO involvement; I was expecting more from them.
British rallying is once again in a slightly odd position. The Wilson despite being a BRC/BTRDA round is not showing a reserve list which is interesting. One of the future rounds of the circuit championship at Cadwell which a couple of seasons ago would be oversubscribed at release is showing around 50 or so entries. Contrast that with the East Riding stages last weekend which was up around the 140 entry mark. Are we seeing a shift or just crews wanting a new challenge?
The Irish on the other hand seem to be unaffected even if its all a bit up the air about Donegal and they are supporting multiple drivers at ERC and WRC level..
Don’t leave us hanging like that… what’s going on with Donegal??Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal yet again
There were some suggestions that the organising commitee had resigned en masse and other issues however a statement has now been issued stating the rally will go ahead as planned now.
Spooky... this just appeared on my FB feed...
https://www.motorsportauctions.com/c...s-package.html
Special Stage Rally Show Ep1.
https://youtu.be/0NC08ytO5gY
Reduced mileage all but confirmed by the looks of it. The BRC’s only extra stages will be a third run through Greystoke
https://www.ewrc-results.com/timetab...ally-brc-2023/
Ah Greystoke, which is of course not a spectator stage......
Never feel the Malcolm Wilson is the most 'spectator friendly' event. The Whinlatter stages are quite early, then it's a drive south to get to Grizedale.
Looking at the Grizedale mileage I think Plan A was repeats of those two, which would have made it more worthwhile for the trip to those forests. You could almost see this coming when the BRC manager Reece Tarren was absolutely losing his nut in an interview over the prospect of 61 miles/98km running all in one day... As if that was supposed to be mind-blowing
It's the BRC, it's meant to be hard...98km in a day shouldn't be thought of as unfair. One concludes that too many have become used to 45 miles (72km) BTRDA events......
2nd place for Matt Edwards on his 2023 'comeback' in the Irish National Championship Midland Moto Stages.
A great result in the Fiesta beating of both the Moffett's (i20s) and just 10s behind the Polo of Devine.
The BRC really ought not to be catering for those who are only prepared to do a 45 mile rally, it’s meant to be the top rung of the sport in this country.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyRAC
It should be positioned towards those semi-professionals who aren’t quite at WRC level yet or have had their chance and accept they should step back into another strong championship. Østberg went to do the Hungarian championship, Kristensson went to Poland, the French championship has loads of top WRC-2/former WRC-2 level drivers, Breen is doing the Portuguese championship…
It’s not easy, but still not impossible to add value to those pro/semi-pro competitors who fancy the challenge of British forests and lanes. MSUK’s stance appears to be ‘we’ll make an effort to edge slightly away from clubman-level events and hope that the competitors and sponsors take a leap of faith on the BRC so we don’t have to put the real hard work in to make this a credible domestic championship again’
Having heard of some quite disturbing behaviour at a BTRDA awards evening a few years back, I hope he is having a quite miserable future ahead of him. Dickhead.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
The Greystoke stage becoming non-spectator was a real blow for spectators on the event. Greystoke was always a relatively easy forest to access from the M6 with decent view points. I've marshalled in the Whinlatter area and they are great stages with good viewing points, but with the restriction of running so early it was a mad early start to the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyRAC
Yes, I'd agree with that. I recall when Whinlatter was run morning and afternoon; then it became one run in the morning, then it became early morning.....so the FC can re-open mid morning for walkers/MTB-ers.Quote:
Originally Posted by hutchie
Having been to Greystoke, there were issues with parking on verges, which may have caused the issue.
As I said earlier, for a BRC round, it's not spectator friendly; they should be trying to reduce traffic on the local roads, and run some spectator stages twice.
A very happy man !Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpa9QZwj...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Gary Pearson 2023 BRC campaign... with Dan Barritt alongside !
https://www.britishrallychampionship...c-win-in-2023/
Reading further down this article on Kieth Cronin it appears Adrien Fourmaux is doing the championship, just nobody is sure how many rounds he’ll do:
https://www.britishrallychampionship...-brc-comeback/
Snowy weather forecast this week for Cumbria ! :uhoh:
I can see it being cancelled already as with snow Thurs/Fri it’ll all be ice by Saturday. All depends what FC decides.
Yeah, that was my thought as soon as the possibility of snow occurred......It will be the FC who will cancel it.....
Update from Osian Pryce....
I’ve been fairly quiet on socials regarding my rally plans this year. There has been a lot been going on behind the scenes and still going on. There have been a lot of set backs than I anticipated, but hopefully if progress improves i’ll be able to share some sort of plan with you.
Some have probably noticed by now that i’m not on the entry list for the 1st round of the British Championship, and that i wont be defending my crown this year. This is My own choice.
I thought I’d hop on here and give the reasons why, as i seem to see a lot of “gurus” on social media giving the British Rally Championship a hard time for one reason or another and presuming why I wont be taking part.
My reason for not defending the title is NOT due to there being no incentives, and lack of competition bla bla bla.
When you have the likes of Keith Cronin pushing you at the front, theres no lack of competition, there may not be quantity but there is quality.
My reasoning is more of a personal one. I’ve supported the BRC for over half of my rally career, and i feel now is the time to give something else a go to see how it goes….its now or never.
I’ve also been looking at things outside of rallying, a few things have sparked my interest over the last few years and i was lucky to enough to try something id always fancied at the end of last week, and needless to say i loved it.
Ive followed a “path” for as long as I remember so now I’m going to change that path and enjoy some high level of competition in new areas and environments. After all, Rallying so far, is a hobby of mine, and all my family and friends are a massive part of it too, so it’s important we all enjoy it so I can go on and be competitive for years to come.
OP
And I get the feeling the FC in that part of the country would be the quickest to call time on a rally...Quote:
Originally Posted by J4MIE
I think Yorkshire are similar........
Riponian was canned a few years back because of wind and the Grizedale Stages because of ice on the access roads. Its a sign of the times as still remember sliding down the Wythop stage on my backside after slipping over in 85 on the RAC and the cars had already gone downhill with that drop before then!
Looks like all the official car parks for the MW have sold out so if lots of others turn up it could be busy which I guess is to be expected of a rally fan base deprived of seeing the current top level of machinery. Dont think the message re the stage mileage being reduced has been widely broadcast though so could be some disgruntled punters. Hope the weather and potential spectator numbers dont affect the rally.
Sadly I wont be going now as just tested + for Covid! Thanks Wife!
My weather app is showing mostly sleet for the area so it might be ok. It will be freezing overnight though.
I’ve woken up to about 4-6 inches of snow here in Herefordshire, christ knows what it’s like up in the Lakes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rally North Wales at the end of the month still had some snow drifts about the place
Looking like there will a massive turnout of spectators going by the online chatter so hope the access roads etc are unaffected as there could be issues otherwise.
Entrance to car parks by tickets bought online; You can bet there'll be loads turning up without tickets, some genuinely not knowing. What happens then? Could be chaos....