Quote Originally Posted by AnttiL View Post
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/the-b...2020-revealed/

Here we have information on the now-disposed routes for Wales Rally GB 2020
Somewhat underwhelming, though I did set the bar pretty high with my opening post! Going back to this article, to be fair, Iain Campbell did only say "we’d come up with something a bit more radical". Should have realised the emphasis should have been on 'a bit'. I'm not not sure what to make of it. It would have been very useful as a basic proof of concept, to set a precedent. If they could have introduced a remote night stop into this event, you've essentially got the framework to allow a modern 'RAC' style event. But it seems a bit odd that they wouldn't have made more of it for this year. All that effort for Myherin, Sweet Lamb Hafren and Dyfi, the usual suspects. Come on, not even Taliesin?! Seemingly it might have been a Newtown base, so why not have given Radnor a shot instead Dyfi, at least?

The Sunday is another case of what could have been. If nothing else, it shows how short of money the organisers are, abandoning the forests entirely. But why just Oulton? I've wondered whether bringing back a day of 'Sunday Stages' would be possible. Maybe as a pre-Rally GB event, as I wouldn't personally willingly sacrifice a Sunday in the forests on a three day Rally GB. But, given they've gone down this road and made that sacrifice, why not be more ambitious?

SS14 Oulton Park
SS15 Trentham Gardens
SS16 Sutton Park
Finish Birmingham

Think of the impact that'd make! That could get noticed. That could attract the attention of sponsors. They've already taken the brave step out of Wales years ago now, last year particularly, so would it hurt to be a little more adventurous?

The only great loss from that route for me is the 25km in Clocaenog. I'd have loved to have seen the stage in there. Some of the new roads in there around the wind farm, which surely would have had to have been used, are Finland like, fast and wide. Combined with the more traditional narrow Cloc tracks, it could have been interesting. Something new-ish. Shakedown in Cloc would have been better too.

Sadly, all this became irrelevant courtesy of Covid 19. I suppose the upside to them having played it conservatively is that there's nothing too special to lament losing... At least it isn't hard to imagine what we'll be missing...