Rally Discussion and Bar Talk Thread

**lmmjvss** · 5th April 2021, 15:59

Thoughts on that new extreme-e series?

I tried to watch but its not for me. Its more like a talk show about climate change than an actual racing championship. One hour of bla bla bla and only 10 minutes of racing. Meh. Almost like RedBull's WRC highlight program. I want racing, not bla bla bla... but maybe this is how people consume racing now. Meh

Also Way too dangerous to have multiple cars racing on that amount of dust... Next round is on sand too. They are planning to use just time-trial format ( https://inside-electric.com/2021/04/...-senegal-agag/ )... I bet the race on Ice will have some visibility problems too without proper track preparation (RedBull Frozen Rush for reference)... and then the rain forest race will also have some dust from the natural soil.

The races were decided on the "first corner" - which no one could see shit on the broadcast. We missed the two Kristoffersson's decisive overtakes for the win in the semi (on Loeb and Sainz)and in the finale (on Hansen). IDK why they havent thought that when deciding where to put the cameras.
Some big crashes from Matthias ekstrom's team... and the American squad. Kyle Leducc is such an amazing Pro4 driver but its like... Of Course he would be the one crashing out. Its like Ken Block. Maybe its an American thing.. IDK.

Anyway...Im still interested in seeing how the electric class in Dakar will looks but extreme-e is just Not for me. All the luck for them. GoKristoffersson. Bye!

**dimviii** · 5th April 2021, 16:02

same impressions from me too.Also very dangerous as you mentioned.

**focus206** · 5th April 2021, 16:17

I followed the semi-finals live on Youtube. I mean, it's more or less how I expected it, I would have been surprised to see more than a couple of overtakes. There was a live chat and you could see all the F1 fans kids complaining and being confused on why the big gaps between the cars and why no overtakes, because of course they only ever followed F1 and have no clue about rallying, rallycross and rally raid... and they could only talk of Rosberg vs Hamilton, as if they were the ones actually driving their teams' cars. Some people even thought that Carlos Sainz was the F1 driver Carlos Jr

And I feel Extreme E was made also to appeal these fans... I was surprised about how dangerous it looked, I thought they were going to build some sort of rallycross track, but I guess that goes against the environmental impact. In my opinion, it should have either a rallycross format (so they'd need to create some safer short tracks) or a rally/time trial spirit, which would certainly appeal less to the average F1 fan that they want. Like this it feels like some old arcade videogame, but real life is different...

**NickRally** · 6th April 2021, 12:09

Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

I put together a drone video from last summer's vacation in Norway, some nice driving roads in here also if anyone needs some inspiration for a travel destinations

https://youtu.be/65Ah6KjP5Lw

Magnificent, cheers SubaruNorway!
Couple of years ago, went on a driving holiday from the UK to Bergen, then Flam, then back to the UK - exceptional roads and sceneries. Would like to one day return and follow the coastal road beyond Bergen, all the way north.

**Gregor-y** · 6th April 2021, 12:29

I took a two week driving holiday in 2015. It's worth the time. The inland mountains are really vacant and great for hiking. The coast and fjords from Trondheim down to Bergen hits all the main tourist points. I only wish I'd had added a full day in Oslo. All I managed there was the Viking Museum.

**Jarek Z** · 6th April 2021, 13:43

Originally Posted by lmmjvss

Thoughts on that new extreme-e series?

We coincidentally saw some footage during a family dinner on Easter. We didn't see any multiple cars racing together, it looked more like a time trial competition. Some comments from my family:

My brother (a rally fan):
- Jeez, how boring it is!

My brother's wife (not a rally fan, but saw some rallies with my brother):
- Is there really no engine sound or are you making fun of me?
- Is this really the future of motorsport?
- Boring, but I like those mountains on the desert! (https://www.extreme-e.com/images/m21...415682DA73.jpg)

My brother's 8-year old son (likes cars and I think he saw 1 or 2 rallies in his life):
- Why do all the cars look the same?

Just our 2 cents

**AndyRAC** · 6th April 2021, 14:47

I'm not totally sold on it, it needs a few tweaks here and there to improve it. However, they've got the promotion well and truly sorted. Big names of motorsport, Free to air coverage on YouTube, many TV channels, all over social media, etc

And tellingly, social media, and car/motorsport website/forums had plenty of comments/interaction - and far more than you'd get for a WRC round. There were also articles on BBC Sport, and the Guardian sport website; something which WRC struggles to do. Whether it stays like that is another matter - but it makes you wonder just what RBMH/ WRC Promoter are actually doing with their promotion.

**Mirek** · 6th April 2021, 14:50

I may be ignorant to social media but I personally haven't realized that something went on before reading it in this topic.

**dimviii** · 6th April 2021, 16:36

“They had a very, very good car but the team was not working 100% with me,” Auriol explains.

“On Tarmac, it was OK but still I need to fight with the team to set up my car [as I wanted], just to accept my decisions. I want this, I want that – no, they say! You put this on your car, you put this, and I say no. I never drive like that.

“I developed all my cars until ’86; [between] all my cars I have won every rally in the world, and Lancia, and Toyota, and you ask me to do something where I don’t choose [what goes on] my car? So I was a little bit fighting all the season with the team. It’s why I stopped.

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/why-a...didnt-pan-out/

**NickRally** · 7th April 2021, 09:36

A bit split on Extreme E - spectacular backdrops (future ones may differ), very intense starts, but then a bit of a procession, plenty of media attention, though as AndyRAC pointed out we don't know how long that would continue. Naturally, as a design engineer, I am not a fan of single make series, and obviously competition would have led to a faster rate of technology development, but such scenario is more challenging from budgets point of view. It will be interesting how the Dakar gets on with the new technologies class, it is certainly more appealing to me. Back to Extreme E, I am not entirely sure how the dust slipped their attention and what their expectations were when they set up the series, as visibility was always going to be an issue racing in the sand. Anyway, they are now talking about time trials and from my point of view something like the Isle of Man TT type would work best, with min gaps just to ensure the dust settles. It would also mean the drivers can't afford to relax till the finish, rather than settle for the position they are in knowing they can't overtake/be overtaken. Constant on screen time info is vital to keep spectators informed.