Open letter to Voice Of Rally/Colin Clark

Dear Colin,

I am writing you after having tried all other options to get in touch with the people behind wrc.com and production of the images we see on television from the WRC-rounds. They simply do not correspond to criticism. And I know you check this forum.

First off - WRC.com:

50-60 percent of the time the site does not work. The videos simply do not work. If there had been any interesting material on the side, it would obviously be a huge problem, but there is not. Wrc.com are apparently not informed but we are in 2011 and HD is the standard. The videos are so extremely pixilated, it's almost impossible to see what happens on the screen!

Furthermore, the camera angles are completely ridiculous. There must be a camera in the car between the seets like in the old days. So you can see the steering wheel and the road ahead.
I am the biggest onboard-fan in the world but I have not seen them in the last 10 years, because the camera-position is so bad.

Here is an example from Bonver Valašská rally 2011 where they can work it out in beautiful HD:

Bonver Vala

I can look at this for hours!


Second: The official coverage for television.

It does not capture the intensity, noise and excitement of the rally at all. It looks really just boring.

When you do find HD-videos on youtube from such people like “Rally media” or “Rallymad.com” it feels like you actually attending the rally! Amazing.

There is something very wrong!

I do not know if you have the power or connecting to change anything, but I am sure the sport is ruined by the way things are currently going.

I only hear World Rally Radio, and do not want to see it on television. How can we make people interested in the sport like this!?

I couldn't agree more. The videos of ''RallyMad'' and ''Rallymedia'' -among others- make you feel that the official coverage is from a different boring rally. O.K. they have to show the banners of the sponsors, but it has gone too far. Also keep in mind that those people that you mentioned, usually do not even have the luxury of a tabard and in most cases have to play hide and seek with the marshals, in order to be in the right places and capture the action.

Amen! I've sent to Becs and Colin ;)

I think the wrc.com is a different company than north one....could be wrong though.

Sometimes the video's on wrc.com work if you press the blue ? icon, sometimes not...

Stop paying for ESPN or whatever and pay us to do all the rallies instead ;)
You are a bit more limited also when you use a tripod so that's one of the reasons why our footage look more violent if you like.

The camera in Mikko's car this year is good! It's small too I've seen and on the seat flap so not in the way for helmets to be put in the back.

Shouldn't this be sendt to Simon Long in North one?
[email:3s0dy5rq]simon.long@northonesport.com[/email:3s0dy5rq]

Whilst most of that is nothing to do with Colin, I would simply ask that he stop calling the sport of rallying "rally".

Simon Long in 2010: "We believe that WRC is the sport for the digital age. WRC is data rich creating hundreds of hours of footage and acres of information including timings, GPS and results. A digital approach to WRC is key to how we satisfy our fans insatiable appetite for more coverage, more data and more facts."

Link for anyone interested: http://newsroom.wrc.com/content/WRC%...ook%202010.pdf

My point: Simon Long can talk the talk... but that's about it. An example of how they could care less about their 'digital approach' is their iPhone App. Open it up for it to greet you with 'Season 2010' on the screen. That's just lazy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jake Stephens

Simon Long in 2010: "We believe that WRC is the sport for the digital age. WRC is data rich creating hundreds of hours of footage and acres of information including timings, GPS and results. A digital approach to WRC is key to how we satisfy our fans insatiable appetite for more coverage, more data and more facts."

Link for anyone interested: http://newsroom.wrc.com/content/WRC%...ook%202010.pdf

My point: Simon Long can talk the talk... but that's about it. An example of how they could care less about their 'digital approach' is their iPhone App. Open it up for it to greet you with 'Season 2010' on the screen. That's just lazy.

---

What a ****wit. Back in the 80's or 90's I never recall anyone saying "ooh I wish we had GPS data from the cars!" do you?

Seriously Simon, buy youself some late 90's WRC season reviews and learn a thing or ten about on stage camera placement and in car camera placement.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daniel

Seriously Simon, buy youself some late 90's WRC season reviews and learn a thing or ten about on stage camera placement and in car camera placement.....

---

no need to do that...hire darkstar as advisor.

One thing I don't understand is the crying about incar camera angles. In 90s we didn't have same seats as today, we didn't have the same rollcage/interior designs, we didn't have the same cars. The "90s angle" is basically physically impossible to create in modern cars. I don't know what's so difficult in understanding that.

I'm happy for WRC onboards, the new angle (which is used with the new Recaro safety seats, e.g in Mikko's car; this one: http://juhake.kapsi.fi/motorsport/fi...gle_mexico.png ) is excellent in my opinion. But this angle is not possible in Citroens or in Jari-Matti's car simply because they don't use those new Recaro seats. Take a look at some photos of WRC cars taken from behind with the tail gate open. It's very narrow view through the seats. And that space is work area for the crews: they have their HANS', helmets, headsets, etc. behind the seats which they access through that small space. Crews are not there to provide fappable multimedia, they are there to compete. Take a look at Fiesta's or DS3's roll cage design and tell me where you'd put the incar camera.

I honestly like to see action from A-pillar or roof camera instead of watching the rear of carbon fibre seats.