Al news on the event is welcome.
A lot of people show interest in spectating in my suroundings.. But im curius if the will allow public..
Wil there stil run a Belgian rally championship round also?
Printable View
Al news on the event is welcome.
A lot of people show interest in spectating in my suroundings.. But im curius if the will allow public..
Wil there stil run a Belgian rally championship round also?
Moved my hotel dates but still feels 50/50 over whether this happens or at least whether fans will be there.
I guess the question is how do you keep spectators away from it in a practical sense?
Hopefully still a BRC round but I guess it will depend how many other rounds of the championship can run.
Bump on the thread, maps are here https://www.rally-maps.com/Ypres-Rally-Belgium-2020
With a lot of police and big (250 €) fines, quite simple and lucrative solution to the problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
Any word coming out of Belgium on fan attendance?
So far no news, and I don't expect any within the first month. The same organizers had one smaller event a few weeks ago. Initially they had a lot of entries from the UK and The Netherlands, but the authorities didn't allow any foreign drivers. They had spectator areas limited to 200 spectators, outside those areas no spectators were allowed. Spectators could buy a ticket for a certain zone and only go there. Ticket sales depends on the rules that will be decided by the local authorities. Prices could be high, as there's huge demand, regardless on how many spectators will be allowed. I think we can forget about a "normal" spectator experience we were used to.
All we have to do is wait and see. To be honest I hope they keep this rally without fans or spectators. Better to be safe than sorry...
Yeah, especially when there is wrc+Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph54
Yes, that was another genius idea.Quote:
Originally Posted by tommeke_B
Instead of spreading people out along the stage, you force them to all stand close together in the same spot.
I think i will have to participate if i want to be there. There will never be enough tickets for a even a small portion of the spectators.
Indeed, seems rather backwards. Compliance with the law I imagine and a way to control numbers, but seems counter productive. I'd be only too happy to go to a rally, but I wouldn't bother if it meant having to stand in a pig pen with other spectators. Pointless risk.Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
Neuville-Tänak-Breen from Hyundai
https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/sta...76755136860162
Breen also drives two rounds of the Belgian Championship with the WRC in advance.
As I predicted in August... ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
"Belgium tightens social contact rules as coronavirus cases surge."
https://www.info-coronavirus.be/en/news/occ-6-10/
It's no secret that the numbers are rising, as they are everywhere... The organizers seem to have it all sorted, it merely depends on the authorities right now. If they would decide to ban all spectators on all sport events, then that's it.
It's still more than a month until the rally, difficult to predict the situation then...
weren't they meant to decide by early this morning? I'm sure that's what I read on a dirt fish article.
yep...until 05:45 local time if I recall correctly....Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
I think it only concerns Monza. Ypres is already on the calendar, canceling it is a different thing...Quote:
Originally Posted by T16
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/fears...-this-weekend/
Yes, and that decision's taken. Monza joins the WRC calendar. http://www.speed-magazine.be/le-rall...ndrier-du-wrc/
ah ok... thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
question more to the locas i guess.
everybody is talking how important the starting position is but how have the results been the last years? the guys who have started in front on friday have won?
Usually yes, but that's just because the best drivers start at the front. Of course it made a difference, but only very little. If you are p30 it will be an issue, but not in you're starting at p5.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
But the thing is, the rally has always been at the end of june, when its warm and dry. They take deep cuts everywhere, but the ground is hard so its mostly dust and a bit of gravel here and there.
This year, at the end of november it will be cold and probably wet, it could even snow and freeze. Most likely the ground will be soft, so a lot of mud could be pulled on the road. And if that happens, it will make a big difference.
It will all depend on the weather. Evans should pray for rain, neuville should pray for a long dry period.
thanks for the answer!
it will be very interesting then
Quote:
Similar nature - if there is a corner, it's either flat, square or hairpin. And lots of straights. And chicanes.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
https://youtu.be/U5G7wH_cYjQQuote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
3:23 hairpin
3:41 chicane
You're right that hairpins and chicanes aren't as common in Ypres as in Germany, I just happened to watch that onboard as my first example. But if we take out Baumholder and vinyards from Germany, the remaining country stages are quite similar to Ypres.
The main thing is that it's relatively rare to get a medium speed corner, it's either very fast or very slow.
Well, if it rains, and if Evans uses the right tactics, and if the car is well set-up, everyone else can forget about the win. But that's a lot of "if"... ;) I'm expecting a 3-way fight between Evans, Ogier and Neuville.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/penas...es-bias-claim/
No anti-cut blocks will be used, Penasse says also that road will be dirty to start with
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkHr1KHX...jpg&name=large
Breen did the AAROVA Rally yesterday, previous event of BRC. He won the event, not difficult being the only WRC car at the start. On his social media there's some onboard images showing the conditions he had. Ypres could be similar, it's safe to say it can't be much worse than this weekend was...
Answering the comparison between Germany and Ypres, well, there isn't... Especially because we're in a different season now. Ypres has a lot of junctions indeed, and very fast sections in between, as AnttiL pointed out.
Some things typical for Ypres which you don't see much in other events:
- Ditches on both sides of the road on most places, if you're off, you lose a lot of time. In traditional years spectators help you out, if you are lucky, with a time loss varying between half a minute and a couple of minutes. This year there won't be (m)any spectators to help...
- Different types of asphalt/concrete. There are a lot of different types of tarmac/concrete on the stages, the surface and grip can change every corner. Also the grip level isn't linear from dry to wet. Sometimes it's surprising, and there's not so much margin alongside the road. It's important for drivers to be able to read and understand the grip levels. For Evans, Ogier and Neuville I don't expect a huge problem here.
- Cuts. There are lots of cuts everywhere, for a normal Ypres Rally all cuts are very visible already one month before the event (illegal recce anyone?). And guess what, as most of those who make all these cuts are amateurs, half of them is completely unnecessary. But eventually, if one starts cutting, all the others often have to follow (due to mud or gravel thrown onto the road making cutting the only possible line to follow). Some are on grass, there the road usually stays clean, if it's dry... With wet weather however they will destroy the grass and throw mud onto the road. Then there's cuts which will throw a lot of loose gravel onto the road. Sometimes it's just a wheel off the road, sometimes half of the car is in the cut, leaving the car hanging under an angle (https://scontent.fbru2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...2b&oe=5FA8E624). Also important to notice is how the transition from the cut back to the road goes. Sometimes there's an edge of the road, which makes it dangerous for having punctures. Especially on concrete roads it's something to consider. Sometimes it's better to go in only half as much as the others do, sometimes you have to go all the way. Also if it's wet, the cut gets destroyed by every car passing. It could lead to a lot of punctures in the second loop where drivers will not expect it. How you dive into that cut doesn't really matter, how you get out of it, back onto the road, does. And that's the most difficult part.
- Mud on the road from farmers. It's harvesting season, farmers are on their fields with tractors, each time they drive back onto the road they leave a lot of dirt which then gets spread by all other traffic on that road.
In short, the gravel crews will have a very important task to do, it will be just as important as in Monte Carlo, if not more... :) Fortunately there are quite a lot of straights in this event, leaving a lot of room for the codrivers to add as much info as needed.
here is a vid of that rally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvMY...ature=youtu.be
A good point about the ditches.
However, varying surfaces is common to Rally Deutschland as well, with some concrete surfaces and broken tarmac surfaces. We remember how Neuville broke the rear suspension in 2017 in Baumholder in a cut with a sharp edge.
My few cents.
In the past we have seen also a lot of impact of well selected gear ratios in Ypres because the event is very specific but I don't think it will play that much of a role with WRC cars as it had with S2000 cars (there it was very large factor due to the atmospheric engines). In general in Ypres you need often to accelerate all the way from first gear to sixth gear or to keep very high speeds. You don't need to pay that much attention to torque delivery in medium speed corners like in Spain or Corsica where it's all about that.
Reaching higher top speed is also more important than in other asphalt events and in the past especially with S2000 cars it was one important factor too (probably there won't be that big differences among WRC cars).
Traction from the slow corners is crucial too and will be even more with the mud. Since some junctions are tight it's necessary to avoid understeering at slow speeds.
Anyway I'm quite sure that we'll see a lot of retired cars dug in ditches all around the route. To find the acceptable level of risk will be a huge challenge and previous experience with Belgian events will definitely help a lot.
Well, there's not much to compare actually. I went to Germany a couple of time and did recce most of the stages. The surface changes aren't as many and as drastic as in Belgium. In the vineyard stage the grip is very predictable and probably higher than anywhere in Belgium. On Baumholder, well, it's a completely different world out there. And the Saarland stages often change a little in grip, but you have empty fields left and right on most of the places. Comparing Ypres to Germany is like comparing Portugal to Finland.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Valid point of Neuville breaking the suspension when going out of a cut. In Ypres it's unlikely to go that bad, but punctures could be a huge problem.
thanks for all the feedback guys. now i cant even more wait for the rally, it seems we will have hell of a rally in our hands.
Agreed, I'm also very much looking forward into this new challenge and seeing WRC cars on these classic stages.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Here are the maps from 1982 if you want to take a look https://www.rally-maps.com/Ypres-24-Hours-Rally-1982
One thing we haven't mentioned in the recent discussion is that Sunday of Ypres will be driven around the Spa circuit and is thus different in character. Another challenge.
Completely different challenge indeed. It's very likely that most of this will be included in SS21: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIMh...el=gtrmaxvdb99
Any infos about how they will manage the spctators? Like in Estonia or maybe in a more free way??
I am afraid that it won't be in a more free way. Organizers are the same from Monteberg and also Aarova Rally wich was held last weekend. Spectator control is very strict and you were only allowed to go in specific spectator area's. I think it will be the same in Ypres Rally, surely for first two days. Maybe on sunday, stages held in Spa region, there will be some more liberty alltough the access to Francorchamps circuit will be very limited also. That is if the rally will take place, wich i doubt because of the still rising numbers of corona infections in Belgium.Quote:
Originally Posted by polomayu
Yes. Just like Juha Kankkunen in 1995. He came to Ypres (an European Championship round at that time) as a main favourite for victory and... went into a ditch on one of the very first stages. Ypres Rally is famous for its deep ditches. You can see it at 3:09 in the following video:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAVPj0fnyrY
Another famous accident of the Ypres Rally is the diving of Umberto Scandola in 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twS7nm5ZxUQ
here with onboard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7cTSJIzEkg
This rally has a bad reputation for newcomers. It doesn't happen very often that someone wins this rally in their debut.