Dirtfish

[meh]

It's a shame, though, that some competitors, particularly navigators, seem to take a dislike to granting early morning interviews. Can only hope they come to understand how appreciative the dyed-in-the-wool fan is to hear their opinions.

I would like to hear from everyone as well, but we need to understand - they are preparing for competition and getting fully focused. To get some extra attention may cause risk of loosing focus or forgetting something. It would be similar than sprinter (lets say Bolt) start to take starting position and then some journalist running around with microphone and asking not-that-important questions...

[ouvreur]

I would like to hear from everyone as well, but we need to understand - they are preparing for competition and getting fully focused. To get some extra attention may cause risk of loosing focus or forgetting something. It would be similar than sprinter (lets say Bolt) start to take starting position and then some journalist running around with microphone and asking not-that-important questions...

All the more so on a tarmac rally, where there are changes and updates to make to pace notes based on gravel crew info.

I think there's middle ground here for rally fans - getting to see them prepare and take care of all those things before a stage is more interesting than stage end 'interviews', but maybe it's too much to expect the co-drivers to appreciate having a microphone being put in their faces... it's nice that someone read my comments on here and started going to where the crews are getting ready before stages, anyway

[meh]

I agree with that part - it is actually interesting when media is just present there and kind of covering what is going on. Most of the audience (including me) does not have first hand experience on all the process and procedures. Rallying is not just stages, it's also arriving/navigating on time to correct place etc, it's interesting to see that part as well.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I've noticed these new DF videos have been getting plenty of Likes and almost 100% positive comments. Credit where it's due, they have done something a bit different and it's been quite refreshing.

However I'm not sure of them getting a bit carried away, chasing through the trees trying to get to a driver that's gone off (like Neuville), or when they make a big deal out of a minor issue like with the oil leak on the road section when Tanak wasn't remotely bothered....

[dimviii]

However I'm not sure of them getting a bit carried away, chasing through the trees trying to get to a driver that's gone off (like Neuville), or when they make a big deal out of a minor issue like with the oil leak on the road section when Tanak wasn't remotely bothered....

whats the problem with these two examples?

[rallyfiend]

whats the problem with these two examples?

They errr on the side of 'clickbait'.......

[dimviii]

They errr on the side of 'clickbait'.......

so if you want to know Neuvilles opinion after the accident,or to know if puma had a oil leak is clickbait?
for me its not.

[Paul Hudson]

It Was funny on Sunday Morning, WRC+ Julian Porter saying that they had no idea what Neuville had hit, just it was something hard !, Maybe they should have watched the "Dirtfish" coverage from Saturday then they would be more up to speed with what had happened. So well done to the Dirtfish team for going that extra mile to get the information for the fans.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

whats the problem with these two examples?

IMO it seemed a bit desperate and trying too hard to make a story.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Like, do we really need all this ?!

DIRTFISH

RUNNING THROUGH THE WILDERNESS TO FIND NEUVILLE. OUR TEAM ON THE GROUND HAD A JOB ON THEIR HANDS TO FIND NEUVILLE AND HIS STRICKEN HYUNDAI

We weren’t sure what we were about to find.

We knew Thierry Neuville had gone off and out of the lead on Croatia Rally. Thanks to some expert planning and coordination between Colin Clark and DirtFish videographer Eliot Barnard, we knew where Neuville’s Hyundai had come to a stop as well.

But we didn’t know if Neuville would still be there.

All of the effort, it could have been for nothing.

Finding a World Rally Championship driver on the scene of their accident is no easy task, trust me.

I’m still a relative newbie to the WRC service park – Croatia is just my fourth event on the ground – so I’ve not been on this journey so many times. But Colin and Eliot, they knew what they were doing. And sprung into action immediately.

As soon as we saw that Neuville had gone off, action stations were engaged. The newsdesk team back at base pinpointed his location on the tracker, and Eliot dived into the maps to work out what possible routes we had to get to him – without of course using any of the special stage.

If we drove on the stage we would miss him as the recovery truck can transport him out of the stage as soon as it’s over, and Hyundai then collects the i20, Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe and takes them back to Zagreb.

We had to get inventive instead.

“There’s a big gold star for you if you get this right,” Colin declared to Eliot, who is vying to become unofficial ‘chief planner’ this weekend.

Eliot had found two routes. One looked faster, but we couldn’t tell how accessible it was going to be.

The sudden drop off the main road and onto a beaten track suggested plan A may have been a gamble too bold.

Off we went, testing our Dacia Duster hire car to the limit as Colin – just for a moment – became McRae and not Clark.

Tricky corners, rough surfaces, even a deep puddle resembling more of a water crossing couldn’t stop us as we threaded our way towards an exclusive interview.

The determination was steely. We were going to do it.

Until we weren’t.

Negotiating around a pack of parked cars, the ruts began to deepen. The surface got muddier. The challenge got greater. The towel had to be thrown in – we had no choice.

Turning around and heading back down the way we came to trial route B wasn’t a valiant moment. Determination was still as high but hopes were perhaps dashed.

We would soldier on, but every lost second counted.

However, like in all good Hollywood movies, it was at this point that we were rewarded with a stroke of luck.

Approaching the junction back to the main road, a van towing a trailer drove right past us. And it just so happened to have ‘ALZ’ at the start of its registration plate.

What does ALZ mean? Alzenau.

What does Alzenau mean in our world? Hyundai.

“Let’s just follow him.”

So we did – but to his credit Eliot had the route crafted out perfectly anyway, which was just as well as we would soon be waving goodbye to our beacon of light.

As the Hyundai recovery team headed for stage-end, we veered right onto our chosen access route to try and intercept Neuville.

Faced with a stream of spectator cars who were travelling against us, trying to leave the stage, again things were against us. But we had to at least give it a go.

So the Dacia was parked up and we set off on foot to walk the couple of kilometers back to where Neuville’s dream had turned into a nightmare.

But, with the stage still live, we had to get adventurous. No walking on the road – we would be walking in the wilderness instead.

I was bringing up the rear as my colleagues morphed into mountain goats, leaping through the shrubbery and making a mockery of the challenging topography.

Spot the guy who hadn’t really done this before.

After some adventurous ducking and daring through the forest, we made it to a clearing where the battle plan was altered.

A friendly marshal informed us there were only three cars left to pass, and that meant the sweeper would soon be through. That meant we could walk on the road.

I couldn’t really hide my relief.

But the new challenge was the aforementioned race between us and the recovery teams. The stage being cleared meant they’d be heading in to collect the stricken Hyundai.

We were still over one kilometer away, so there was nothing for it. We had to run.

Glancing down at my smart watch to discover my heart was beating at 186bpm was a rather sharp reminder that I’ve got some serious work to do on my fitness.

Apparently a life of sitting at a laptop and eating chocolate bars has its side effects.

Calves on fire, breathing getting heavier, I was at least committed to the cause. We all were.

Eliot, the youngest and fittest of us, had made a bit of a break for it. He turned back and uttered two extremely important words.

“He’s here!”