when will next year's calendar will be published?
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when will next year's calendar will be published?
You talking about money? Do you know we have just sold Emerald Coast? It's just one of biggest Qatar Holding (QIA-controlled company, Qatar Investment Authority) properties - and is near Olbia! They're planning/building a monster real-estate development...Quote:
Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys
You know, "probably" they're interested to fill their hotels not only in July-August and "probably" a 1-week event like WRC is not bad for them...
P.S.: "your" Wales is in our SAME situation...
I'm sorry, but what do you mean by "my" Wales?
my suggestion is Safari Rally Kenya. i would like to have that again back..pretty good challenge for the drivers and machines
I don't think the Safari Rally would work unless it was restructured to fit the current format. Looking at some maps of the country, there's some good stuff around Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria.
I'm afraid that at least for the next couple of years the WRC's calendar won't be to our liking.
In answer, to the question posed by this thread, regrettably I have to suggeest New Zealand (to the 2016 WRC Calendar!) because it looks likely that rally will be on the sidelines until at least then. Too bad!
Rally Australia remains positive on three-year WRC bid - Speedcafe
The upside is that the Australian round this year at last looks like it will bring back more of the 'magic' absent since the event moved from Perth.
Pffff I rate rally NZ higher then the current Coffs Harbour... Maybe because its a classic
Also wondering what the "magic" is what 'Rally Hokkaido' is talking about. 6x the same show-stage isn't the way to do it... Also I will never get used to the idea that you are allowed to see only one or 2 places a stage... Part of the "magic" in rallying for me, is finding your own place, and discover something special...
speaking of hokkaido where's rally japan gone??? we haven't seen it in the calendar since septmeber 2010, shame.
How do you like this? Much of my thoughts.
MAXRALLY - CALENDAR: the argument for staying the same
“Why the constant fiddling? Why the great intrigue? What’s the trouble with what we’ve got?
What am I talking about? The calendar for the 2014 World Rally Championship.
At the moment, it seems to be one of the world’s greatest conundrums. And I don’t know why. We seem to be firmly in the situation where we’re trying to fix something which isn’t broken.
Yes, yes, I know President Todt wants to take rallying around the world, but, to be quite frank, the world’s not ready for rallying at the highest level yet. So, let’s stop messing around and stick with what we’ve got.
We’re told the Acropolis is for the axe, along with Sardinia. MAXRALLY’s newshounds regularly report that these two are at the bottom of the FIA’s league table, but having attended both events this year, MAXRALLY can report both to be in the rudest of health. The Acropolis was a classic, with day one as tough as any day in Greek rallying history (with the possible exception of the 1979 event, which included more than 1000 competitive kilometres, 58 stages, four days and about 10 minutes’ sleep).
And what about Rally Italia? Sardinia was supposed to be the real black sheep of the family; the one which simply wouldn’t come into line and go to the mainland. What, I ask you, does mainland Italy have that Sardinia doesn’t? Sanremo advocates will blether on about a stunning coastline and fabulous mountain scenery. Sardinia’s coastline goes all the way around and the inland moonscape is just mental. And this year there were more spectators than ever.
We start with the Monte and finish with Rally GB and what’s in the middle is fine by me. OK, there is just one possible exception… could we have New Zealand back please?
Forget all this energy being wasted on emerging markets like China and Brazil – in rallying terms they’re not even emerging yet. And the last thing we want to do is get there and suffer a rally being run at a standard way below what the WRC has come to be judged by. These things take time, so let’s give them time and enjoy the brilliant events we’ve got in the calendar right now.
Apart from being on the wrong side of the Tasman, I’m 100 per cent happy with where we’ve been and where we’re going this year.
And keeping things the same would give rallies the chance to develop long-term business strategies in the way Rally Finland did with long-term agreements with both a national television broadcaster and the then WRC promoter.
Long-termism’s about the best ism around. Let’s not ignore it.”
I read that news also. Would be nice to have those two guys in a live chat and see how it ends up (both sitting nicely in their chairs or….) :arrows:Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
I don't think there's a problem with the calendar as it is. But I also think that if new events can be found that offer a greater challenge, then they should at the very least be considered for inclusion. If an event is just going to be a carbon copy of another rally, then it's a problem, but if you can find an even with its own distinct character and stages with their own challenging surface, then it should be considered.Quote:
Originally Posted by OldF
For example, if you ran a rally somewhere in northern India, you could conceivably have an event run at high altitude in the foothills of the Himalayas. The thin air would affect the engine's performance, giving the event is own character. Similarly, if you had an event in Malaysia, then it could be a rally run in oppressive tropical humidity, which also gives it character. And that, I think, is the sort of thing that should be considered.
it looks as if more & more they will take down rally acropolis & sardegna and instead have poland so my theory calendar for next year is:
Monte-Carlo
Sweden
Mexico
Portugal
Argentina
Poland
Finland
Germany
New-Zealand/Australia
France
Spain
Wales GB
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys
Quote:
“Why the constant fiddling? Why the great intrigue? What’s the trouble with what we’ve got?"
Those were not my words, just copies from the article and not my key issues from the article.
I’m not saying any new rallies outside Europe shouldn’t be added to the calendar but it should be a rally, as you said, offering great and new challenge.
I don’t understand the point that FIA want to have a rally in a country just because it’s a growing market if the rally hasn’t any local interest from people and media and especially if the manufacturers are not interested. If the manufacturers are interested it’s OK but only thing I’ve read about is VW is interested to go to Brazil.
Maybe FIA should do some test marketing in the growing markets to have a clue how much media exposure a WRC rally would have in a growing market country. I know construction companies does this in Finland before starting a new project to get some view if it’s worth to start building houses in a certain area or not.
A more worldwide WRC would of course be nice which could mean a stronger ERC. The only problem is that the manufacturers should be more interested (putting more many) in ERC or ERC teams getting more sponsorship. As I recall for example Renault haven’t been involved in rallies outside Europe since the Alpine era. Maybe Europe would be a market large enough for some manufacturers to invest more in a strong ERC?
It's been said before, yes we want a global Championship, but if there is no market or interest in the WRC in the BRIC countries, no point in going there.
Concentrate on making the current events even better, and keeping hold of the 'classic' events - as well as having a more even spread of Tarmac/ Gravel. Endless dry, dusty gravel events are boring, and have no 'road relevance' to the Manufacturers.
it's really frustrating, the FIA is really not doing it's job properly, who the hell cares about Poland rally, and to take out rally sardegna and acropolis for it???!!!
I care, and I want to go there if it is run. Amazing fast and flowing stages in my opinion. :) Somewhat like Finland, but more open, more narrow, and a softer surface. The stages were nice when it was in WRC in '09, but for me, from videos, the stages they used last years when it was ERC look even more impressive. On top of that it's always nice to discover something "new", therefor the years with alternating calendars were not bad at all... :) All events that made it into the WRC are nice, in my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
Like wise. The 2009 event left me with very good emotions. The roads were interesting, the atmosphere was great and the region is just stunning.Quote:
Originally Posted by tommeke_B
I care. Why do other/new rallies not deserve to be in WRC? I love Sardegna and want this rally to stay but at the same time want Poland to be in.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
Frankly I like to see some different Rallies each year and that's what rotation principle is about. Some "fresh blood" couldn't harm and could only do good with limited number of events and so many new candidates willing to enter. In that respect even some remote but "exotic" Rally is good for the championship I think. About Rally Poland, I liked it 09', but recent changes are in wrong direction imho. They should go back to the good old Rally Poland we saw back then with these nice forest stages.
The only change I am aware of is new date of this year editon -September.Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanvv
+1. I'm no expert of Mikolajki stages but I don't recall any significant changes in stages in last years. The last major change for me was moving the rally from the old asphalt stages.
At the moment
Monte Carlo
Sweden
Mexico
Portugal
Argentina
Italy
Finland
Germany
Poland
France
Spain
GB
Plus another one between them:
Greece(?)
NZ/Australia(?)
Hope unpredictable Greece. :)
or maybe:
Monte-Carlo
Sweden
Mexico
Portugal
Argentina
Italy
Poland
Finland
Germany
France
Spain
Wales GB
It looks a 13-events calendar...
I would be surprised if they got rid of NZ/Australian round. Keep alternating would make the most sense.
i would be too but i read in autosport that sardegna is in the best position to be kept for next year, and by the way "Motorsportfun" it's 12 rounds not 13.
I think we've seen the last of the rotation system and Rally NZ. I reckon you'll find Australia is the choice for the region.
The rotation system was a vote-grabbing load of bull by Max when it was introduced, and was economically unsustainable - which is why it never really happened to start with. It was never about the best interests of the WRC or its organisers / competitors / manufacturers.
All it's done in Australia and NZ is run down two events. To run a WRC event (and grow it) you need full-time staff, good media interest, sponsors and government interest. Every two years kills all of that.
I think it'll be a 12 event calendar - same as this year, but no Greece or Sardinia. Although if the Italians find a mainland event it'll get added as a 13th event. It's an election year for Todt rememeber!
We had a similar topic recently (perhaps 1 year ago while waiting for the 2013 calendar) but I'll explain again my view on the events. Please people from mentioned or skipped countries don't get offended, my views are only sport-wise.
I think due to the tough financial times and the absurdish prices of the cars (and their running costs) it is still early to extend the calendar so 12-13 events are okay. 10 of them to be the same and rest 2-3 to be changing.
The 10 constant are:
Monte
snow - Sweden
dust - Portugal
mud - somewhere in Brittain
Argentina
Finland
Australia rotating with New Zelaand
all-tarmac in Spain, Italy, Greece
Changing: Mexico, Sardinia, Turkey (only one amongst them per year joining Portugal because they are all dusty); one of Russia, Estonia, summer Norway for a thick-forest smooth-gravel; there should be 1 more proper tarmac event too.
nice calendar, i would add Corsica,Cyprus and Norway in the summer, nice idea. keep Sardinia thoughQuote:
Originally Posted by SlowSon
Sure Corsica, I knew I have forgotten something :up:
I would prefer Acropolis than Cyprus, it is basically the same surface and stage characteristics and is much more affordable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
i would prefer both ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanvv
That might be very difficult :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli
+Quote:
Originally Posted by SlowSon
From what I have seen, Cyprus from last years is a very different event compared to mid-2000s (you know, the slow rough stages with average speed of 60 kph). Much faster and less fragile (also the region is different now). For example the "golden stage" was a very nice and relatively fast stage. :)
if the calendar was up to me it would go like this:
Monte-Carlo
Sweden
Norway (or put Norway in the summer as "slowsun" suggested)
Cyprus
USA-they really should have a WRC by now, unless you still want Mexico.
Argentina
Greece
Italy(Sardegna/San Remo-you decide fans)
Finland
Germany
New-Zealand
Spain(bring it back to full tarmac please)
Corsica
Japan
Australia (back to Perth already!!!)
Ireland (Great event-still don't understand why nobody want's it back- a tarmac rally with all of the gravel characteristics).
Wales GB
I know it's more than the 16 rallies held back in the years 2004-2007 but i don't care, i mean if Formula 1 has at least 20 rounds why can't the WRC have more than 16 and in these difficult days 12-13.
17 events?? 16 were already too many... I seem to recall also teams and some drivers criticizing the 16 events calendar, am I right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Eli