Brc 2021

[the sniper]

They are the ones who pay for it . . .
and I'm including the volunteers who help run the events as well as the competitors in that statement.

Like we don't know...

Can you imagine any other sport where the head of a league/Championship would freely refer to its fans as "eejits" and say of competitors that it's 'their sport'. Can you even imagine the BTCC or BSB considering using such language? Now fair enough, we know our place, British rallying has seemingly fully embraced its position of irrelevance, that is until they need us nobodies to vouch for them and campaign for them to be able to do "their sport" whenever the authorities question why they're letting these blokes tear up their facilities while more socially conscious, environmentally friendly and more popular activities are excluded for their benefit.

Regardless, I have no problem with not spectating on MoD land.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Seems to me a very unfortunate coincidence that the rally is the very weekend that an increased amount of military training is happening...

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Nicky Grist will watch his own rally at home:

http://www.nickygriststages.co.uk/ni...nline-at-home/

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Live streamed stages will be SS1 at 8.25am and SS5 at 13.15pm.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...__=%2As%2AsH-R

[Steve Boyd]

Like we don't know...

Can you imagine any other sport where the head of a league/Championship would freely refer to its fans as "eejits" and say of competitors that it's 'their sport'. Can you even imagine the BTCC or BSB considering using such language? Now fair enough, we know our place, British rallying has seemingly fully embraced its position of irrelevance, that is until they need us nobodies to vouch for them and campaign for them to be able to do "their sport" whenever the authorities question why they're letting these blokes tear up their facilities while more socially conscious, environmentally friendly and more popular activities are excluded for their benefit.

Regardless, I have no problem with not spectating on MoD land.

Football, F1 & BTCC are spectator sports - paid for by the spectators, either live or thorough TV subscriptions. Of course the management of those sports aren't going to decry the spectators - they are their customers. National rallying is a participator sport, paid for by those who take part. Spectators don't enter into it and in many cases are a cost and drain on resources. If you want you get near to the action then sign up as a marshal - they're always in short supply.

[AndyRAC]

Isn't that the whole problem; people decry spectators with 'they give nothing back'. Well, how are we supposed to? It's been suggested many times about a championship 'season ticket'. So you pay approx £50-70 for the BTRDA, or £90-110 for the BRC.....Nothing ever comes of it.

That seems to be the 'get out' all the time...it's not a spectator sport. At BRC level it absolutely should be. Is it any wonder the sport's on it's ar5e in this country?

[HKSjbg]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/brc/spect...-grist-stages/

I was reading this thinking OK it’s not too bad, just a temporary thing, we’re told. Then I read “...come Roger Albert Clark in November there might be spectators.”

Might. Not very reassuring...

[Whinlatter]

That article actually sheds a bit more light on why the MOD and organisers are being unusually blunt in their No Spectators message for this event, in that there's a new MOD management team in place and they want to understand what it means for the ranges (and their operations) to have a rally there.

I may be being naive but I'd like to think that this isn't an indicator of what other rallies may choose to do, and I would hope that NRW and the other forest management organisations take a more relaxed approach as the Covid situation and government guidelines are eased. Will be interesting to see what restrictions are put in place for the Wyedean and the Trackrod, with the Woodpecker already having made its stance clear.

I had planned to go this weekend but I cancelled those plans as I've gone without rallying for 18 months and another one or two won't kill me. I hope people heed the message this weekend and stay off the MOD land, the last thing we need is to lose such an iconic venue just because a few people think they are more important than the future of the sport.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Okaaaay... back to the rally.

Tom Cave update on his return and in a Fiesta:
https://m.facebook.com/1357980964632...494469513/?d=n

[the sniper]

Football, F1 & BTCC are spectator sports - paid for by the spectators, either live or thorough TV subscriptions. Of course the management of those sports aren't going to decry the spectators - they are their customers. National rallying is a participator sport, paid for by those who take part. Spectators don't enter into it and in many cases are a cost and drain on resources. If you want you get near to the action then sign up as a marshal - they're always in short supply.

The BRC was commercially and exposure wise on a par with at least the BTCC in the 80s or Motorcycle racing (BSB started '88). There wasn't such a chasm between it and the likes of Football, Cricket and Rugby back then. The current position of rallying in comparison to them is embarrassing. Those series didn't stay relevant by accident, they managed to stay true to their product, saw the value in their audience and commercialised that to stay viable. Rallying? Three decades of pruning its 'product', actively driving away it's ever dwindling support base with only intermittent leadership guiding the sport in any meaningful direction. We've got to the point where, the sport is so far from from relevance, that people involved now can only argue, 'duh, this is a private club activity that has nothing to do with you'...