Rally Discussion and Bar Talk Thread

[WRCStan]

Where is "autosport" right now?

I've not listened to a recent Dirtfish pod on this but context might be key. If by 'manufacturers' you/they mean car brands then I think you've got it right. Dirtfish guys are just playing the promo game for the championship, which is a promo game for the brands. These have nothing to prove or develop, consumers may translate winning to quality but really can expect their cars to work all the time, every time, everywhere, else the lease/contract is void and the manufacturer gets it back. Don't think many new car sales are people buying cars outright based on reliability, durability and engineering technology, having test driven them and not just ordered online lol.

If the claims mean these championships are a great proving ground for third party manufacturers of parts used in road cars then they may have a great point, this is more in tune with what is happening in these championships - so the likes of Kreisel, Compact Dynamics, Williams, Bosch, Continental etc. etc. could be the manufacturers put to test for selling into the road car manufacturers. I'm not sure what needs developing now for road cars more than batteries and motors, and apparently "more than two-thirds of battery manufacturing is controlled by three companies—CATL, LG, and Panasonic". Probably not what these journos mean though.

I think everybody here agrees that 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' is well out of date. Car brands now are just keen to build the best software for a dashboard display store for upselling features like trizone climate control, activating heated seats or windscreen wipers. There's no motorsport for that.

[dimviii]

Οgier teasing Sebastien Loeb

When you look at the months ahead ����: 1️⃣ @DTM race
, the @ExtremeELive
, the World Rally-Raid Championship … and maybe more ��


Come on Seb don't be shy... announce this Portugal rally ����!! History that we have a little fun ��

https://twitter.com/SebastienLoeb/st...65856763830274

[EstWRC]

https://twitter.com/kiwiwrcfan/statu...ikSlY3ybj3FKXA

I didn’t even realize before this tweet it will be that long.

Only 9 days left until rally Croatia but this long pause has left me with a feeling like the WRC doesn’t exist anymore

[AnttiL]

https://twitter.com/kiwiwrcfan/statu...ikSlY3ybj3FKXA

I didn’t even realize before this tweet it will be that long.

Only 9 days left until rally Croatia but this long pause has left me with a feeling like the WRC doesn’t exist anymore

We had the same last year really. 222 days from Sardinia 2020 to Portugal 2021 as a big gap of no gravel rallies and two months from Arctic to Croatia.

But it will be really busy after Croatia!

[dimviii]

We have asked Didier Charre for permission (rights reserved) to be able to upload this great document..��

���� It's about some pre Monte-Carlo Audi Sport tests, back in 1984, where they had a Peugeot 205 T16 to compare. Röhrl can be seen trying it out.






https://twitter.com/MundoRallyes/sta...62755479003140

[bomber21]

So big breaks are really bad for the sport. New fans are wondering if the championship still exists. Me, a hardcore fan, finds myself to lose interest.

[AndyRAC]

So big breaks are really bad for the sport. New fans are wondering if the championship still exists. Me, a hardcore fan, finds myself to lose interest.

Yes, quite agree. Whatever the reasons, it's something they need to address in the future. I much prefer the old style season with a summer break after the Acropolis in early June - and a return in late July, when it was often NZ. By April, we'd usually had 4-5 events. For new/casual fans, it seems as though it's just disappeared into the ether.

[AnttiL]

I would say it's about two things:

1) Rally Mexico not being in the calendar and other rallies not being able to move their slots
2) Calendar focused in the summer because in 2020 and 2021 COVID-19 situation was a lot better in the summer time.

I've also noticed that the rally twitter community is quite dead.

The Ukraine situation also likely takes people's attention from their normal interests.

[AndyRAC]

Yes, there are reasons, however the latter hasn't seemed to affect either MotoGP, F1 or other major series.

Those running WRC need to realise 'dead time' is a killer for interest in a series.

[Rallyper]

Ten years ago. Loutraki 2012.
Trying to paste a pic, but no...