WRC Croatia Rally 2021

[mknight]

Yeah, WRC gets a bit "dull" when it's ran on same rallies for 5+++ years often exactly same stages.
New events are great to also "confirm" that WRC is something that can run "anywhere" and not just on "set" tracks.

Obviously I understand that rally organizers need predictability but from WRC Promoter/FIA side it also looks like laziness to just run the same all the time.

Stages were indeed nice, question is if they plan same stages in the future (read something about moving closer to coast). Another is off course how crowd control/organization will work when there are less/no restrictions.

Out of the "new" rallies this year I rate Croatia highest (so far) in terms of stages. Arctic is imo a bit boring (and WRC goes back to Sweden anyway) and from what I have seen previously I don't have high hopes for Ypres.

EDIT: Slippery roads were one of the reasons why this looked good on TV. Corsica has for example nice looking roads, but it's a bit boring when cars drive on rails whole weekend.

Anyway as you probably noticed now is the time when WRC can get "easy" deals to run different rallies. The typical tourist countries have no visitors and are desperate to restart tourism. WRC is a way to show that they are still here and safe to visit. Hence why we get Croatia and Acropolis (the Greek guy on allive on Sunday said it pretty directly)

[Mirek]

Thank you for the info. Please have in mind that Czech and Belgian roads are not slippery. Here in Greece, we have some roads that when they are dry, especially in summer, they are much more slippery and more unpredictable than your roads when they are wet. This is what we have in mind when we say "slippery tarmac". I don't know how Croatian roads are and what they mean by "slippery".

P.S. Personally, I want this rally to remain. First of all, I believe that more tarmac rallies are needed. Second, it is very easy to travel from Greece to Croatia and if there was not Covid I would have gone this year.

Yes, I know that our asphalt, especially the old one has very good grip. On the other hand the dirt on high-grip surface makes it more unpredictable with bigger changes in grip. In the past our drivers liked a lot to drive in Croatia and Slovenia when there was still the coefficient system for the ERC or when the CEZ had so many events in here that 2-3 events abroad were enough for scoring full championship points. Also I think that such slippery surface and stages which are often narrow can suit quite well to drivers who aren't proper asphalt racers (perfect line isn't really a thing on a stage like the PS yesterday but in Calatulya if you don't have perfect line you may end driving a kilometer longer rally than the winner).

[Mirek]

Hopefully not a repost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDdgx39SsUo

[Pršljen]

Stages were indeed nice, question is if they plan same stages in the future (read something about moving closer to coast). Another is off course how crowd control/organization will work when there are less/no restrictions.

Out of the "new" rallies this year I rate Croatia highest (so far) in terms of stages. Arctic is imo a bit boring (and WRC goes back to Sweden anyway) and from what I have seen previously I don't have high hopes for Ypres.

Anyway as you probably noticed now is the time when WRC can get "easy" deals to run different rallies. The typical tourist countries have no visitors and are desperate to restart tourism. WRC is a way to show that they are still here and safe to visit. Hence why we get Croatia and Acropolis (the Greek guy on allive on Sunday said it pretty directly)

Well, Croatia tried for years to get this rally on the calendar and cancellations of some rallies definitely helped a lot. However, nothing would be possible without help and funds from local and state government, and also sponsors who recognized the event.

It's a great thing for the country that suffers a lot from travel restrictions and decline of tourism but it would've been held event without that. Also, it was held in Zagreb area which is not the main region for tourism. As for moving towards coast, I doubt it. It would change the nature of this rally a lot and I doubt that it will happen. You have some nice stages in Istra, region on the Adriatic, but these current stages are better IMO. They are more unpredictable, as well as weather, and they are mostly used for rallying for a long time.

[Pršljen]

Also, one sidenote, I read about people making fun of the trophies. They look weird but these are actually ancient symbols from glagoljica, ancient historic script that was used in medieval Croatia. They represent letter A, B and V but also numbers 1, 2 and 3. Ogier and Ingrassia have A1 here, obviously.

[MartijnS]

Good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMpU2s7AfOc&t=1s

[meh]

Here is your bone: https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/colin...river-ratings/

[EstWRC]

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?s...07553550792788

[meh]

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?s...07553550792788

I saw it spreading and I just make one comment on this title: Culture of “rallyfans” in Croatia

If in Rally Estonia 2 guys behave like idiots, I would not like it's called "Culture of "rallyfans" in Estonia. It's labeling based on exceptions (I hope).

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMpU2s7AfOc&t=1s

Good ? AWESOME !