WRC Croatia Rally 2021

[scn]

havent seen anything yet but i really liked it and i hope it stays in the calendar, now after Corsica and Germany have been left out its a good replacement with a mix of both

very challenging for the drivers.

As I am both driver and spectator, I can assure you that the criteria of a driver are totally different than the criteria of a spectator.
The reason I am asking is because the info I read is that it is mostly slippery tarmac with lots of gravel from cutting corners. I don't know if it really is like this. Also, I don't have info about drivers from other countries, but in my country this is the least liked condition among drivers and co-drivers. Actually, the majority of the drivers in my country hate these conditions.

[Mirek]

As I am both driver and spectator, I can assure you that the criteria of a driver are totally different than the criteria of a spectator.
The reason I am asking is because the info I read is that it is mostly slippery tarmac with lots of gravel from cutting corners. I don't know about drivers from other countries, but in my country this is the least liked condition among drivers and co-drivers. Actually, the majority of the drivers in my country hates it.

That really isn't universal. I know for sure that for example in Belgium the crews mostly hate anti-cutting obstacles and prefer dirty cuts (hence why anticuts are not a thing there). Here it's usually that the faster drivers hate anti-cuts and prefer dirty road (and some know very well how to use that for their advantage), while the slower drivers and gentleman drivers prefer anti-cuts and clean road. In the the end the amount of anti-cuts is decided by the local administrations which don't give permition to run the event without them. Some like dry, somelike wet and slippery conditions....

[Eli]

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/c...ndai-/6469710/
Based in Zagreb, the third round of the World Rally Championship was well received by each of the manufacturer teams and their crews, and was the 34th new addition since the competition was first established back in the early 1970s.

Fans came out in their thousands to watch the action, even though it was not officially open to people, to witness Sebastien Ogier clinch his fifty first career win to move to the top of the drivers’ standings.

Adamo said countries like Croatia demonstrated what is possible with passionate people at the helm and questioned the status quo of sticking with the same line-up of counters from one year to the next.

“I think the World Rally Championship deserves to have proper events, whether they are new or not,” said Adamo.

“It is time to decide on some old events that deserve no more to stay in; I prefer to see new ones done by passionate people, people who are really focused on doing things the proper way.

“I think what we are seeing in Croatia is just a highlight. An event like this has shown it deserves to be in the World Rally Championship.

“OK, it is the first time and everything can be made better, but I think the stages we have seen are proof that this rally is a nice one.”

Ogier was equally as positive in his summarization of Rally Croatia, telling Autosport in the days leading up to the rally he was happy to go to new rallies and to new events” because “that makes the WRC very exciting”.

Returning to the subject during Sunday’s post-event press conference, he added: “I think we saw after the recce that it was going to be a big challenge but probably good fun to drive – Rally Croatia definitely delivered.

“It has been fantastic to drive these stages, especially with these conditions.”

Croatia is the second of three entirely new events for 2021, with the other two being February’s Arctic Rally Finland and August’s Ypres Rally in Belgium.

Nice to know the venue had a nice feedback from Crews and Fans alike.

[scn]

That really isn't universal. I know for sure that for example in Belgium the crews mostly hate anti-cutting obstacles and prefer dirty cuts (hence why anticuts are not a thing there). Here it's usually that the faster drivers hate anti-cuts and prefer dirty road (and some know very well how to use that for their advantage), while the slower drivers and gentleman drivers prefer anti-cuts and clean road. In the the end the amount of anti-cuts is decided by the local administrations which don't give permition to run the event without them. Some like dry, somelike wet and slippery conditions....

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.

[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