Brc 2013

[Juha_Koo]

Why is the BRC so popular amongst the Finns?

Rallies are to some extent similar nature what in Finland with a good addition of tarmac events. UK is not too far and therefore budgets are reasonable. It's a known championship which gives good international experience and visibility. Maybe the new ERC will attract some Finns, but still, I believe it's more expensive than BRC and in the land of small budgets, it's never a good thing.

[Mintexmemory]

What do we think about the Sunseeker in October? Personally, I'd swap with the Rally NorthWales (The Bulldog), so that returns to it's October date, but they must have their reasons.

I've not seen any quoted reason, presumably it's tied up with forest availability. Ideally though I agree with you re. the dates

[Allyc85]

What do we think about the Sunseeker in October? Personally, I'd swap with the Rally NorthWales (The Bulldog), so that returns to it's October date, but they must have their reasons.

The Sunseeker has been fading as an event for a few years now so some kind of change was needed. Hopefully the new date and new rally base in Poole can get the event something like back towards how it used to be.

[MrJan]

The Sunseeker has been fading as an event for a few years now so some kind of change was needed. Hopefully the new date and new rally base in Poole can get the event something like back towards how it used to be.

I'm not so sure. Speaking to drivers it seems that the entry fees are stupid, it's a long way to travel for a lot of drivers and the stages cut up quite a lot....plus BRC events are a bit tepid now that they don't let real cars enter.

[Steve Boyd]

Sorry about the poor format for the Irish Tarmac Championship, but you can see the dates.

Although named differently in each calendar, the Todds Leap Ulster Rally is actually a round of both the British and the Irish Championships

I think you'll find that they are actually two different rallies even though they will be using the same stages on the same days and based in the same HQ. The restriction of the BRC to two wheel drive cars means they will run in a separate event from the ITRC. Last year there were 7 different events - ITRC, BRC, 2 × BRC Challenge, Historic, National & National Trophy.
Confusing isn't it? - but such is the state of modern rallies.

[tommeke_B]

plus BRC events are a bit tepid now that they don't let real cars enter.

A bit respectless, calling R3 and R2 cars "no real cars"... I would say it different, a real driver can drive with any car.

[Mirek]

Tom, honestly, would You travel to watch only FWD cars on a muddy gravel event? I wouldn't. Any championship is nothing without spectators and those spectators needs spectacle...

[tommeke_B]

Tom, honestly, would You travel to watch only FWD cars on a muddy gravel event? I wouldn't. Any championship is nothing without spectators and those spectators needs spectacle...

Without the French DS3 Trophy, honestly, I wouldn't have done any of the 3 French events I did this year, and one gravel event was included in that as well... For me the quality of the drivers is the deciding factor (if else I could do the whole Dutch championship...) But of course for the occasional spectator it's interesting to have some nice cars, but the championship itself would suffer from lack of a good competition if you allow super-expensive cars... I would love to see the Belgian championship having less expensive cars as "top-class" in fact...

[Mirek]

Often there were hardly 20 cars in BRC this year so the simple cheap cars obviously didn't help much.

It may be just a coincidence but here in CZ the strongest entry fields were when WRC were allowed and the championship was by far most popular in its history. When they went for much cheaper gr.N cars spectators were gone and the entry lists didn't get better at all. Only when another expensive cars (S2000) came to scene all started to grow up again (until the tragic braking point).

[tommeke_B]

That's true... But for a real rallyfan or a real passionate driver, it doesn't really matter what the cars are, I think... Anyway if the sport can't survive in long-term it's no option... My point at first was a reaction on the "no real cars"-thing...