[WRC] News & rumours (part III)

[MJW]

Another thing that I think is wrong is that the cars are underpowered for the cost. A WRC needs another 50 or 60 bhp but is still mentally expensive in its currenf format. I think R5 may save wrc. Costs need controlling and more competitive drivers in R5 will help.

[Doon]

I don't know about itsveryone else but there are two big problems with the current WRC TV coverage. Well they're minor really but they reduce my enthusiasm for watching it so much.

1. In-car cameras used to be positioned behind the the driver/co-driver - not only could you see the scenery bearing down on the car but you could see the driver hard at work fighting the controls and the co-driver trying to keep cool whilst being thrown about. What was wrong with that and why do we now have to view through a tiny portion of the windscreen that often gets covered in muck, thereby reducing total visible action?

2. Helicopter shots, helicopter shots and more helicopter shots! Rally cars tearing through open moorland, over Alpine roads or between giant trees looks about 10 times less spectacular when viewed from above with these ruddy heli-cams. All you can really see is the car covering ground rather than the way it takes the crests and puts it's power down out of a hairpin bend. The few times we do see stage-side action - Argentina's power stage for example, due to fog rendering the heli-cam useless - it is so much more spectacular, mainly because you get a proper sense of the speed the cars travel at.

So when promotors/team bosses/FIA talk about getting fans interested in Rallying again and only talking b*ll*cks about 'new media', more live coverage etc I just shout at my computer screen because they're missing the point. The product isn't failing, it's the boring way most of it is broadcast. Just think how boring RX, F1, Moto GP etc would become if around 70% of the event was shown from a helicopter. Or depending on your opinion on those sports, how much more boring it would become

I agree totally with the footage aspect....its shit. I think the hardcore fan have a far better idea about the future of the WRC.

[Francis44]

I fear however than another downgrade on the cars will throw many fans away from the sport, I myself dont see me doing hundreds of km's to see R5's as the top category on a World Championship level.

Malcom Wilson said the difference between current WRC and R5 on the eye is pretty much unnoticeable, well allow me to disagree. If you see both on the same spot you will clearly see the difference, plus the Fiesta R5 may just be the most boring car to come out of the M-sport facilities in the last years.

[Doon]

I think the FIA, teams etc can make all the changes they like and the WRC will still never be a very popular sport. The masses want glamour, if Ogier was dating Jennifer Laurence, Neuville playing the field with supermodels, Hirvonen married to Cheryl Cole and Latvala seeing a bikini model, you can bet your bottom dollar that the WRC would become popular. Its sad, but in the late 90s and early 2000s driver salaries were higher and this created more buzz, more news coverage, and thus more followers. Example of this was McRae signing for Ford, loads of media attention, Focus tv adverts, more computer games etc etc. Apart from Loeb in France ive not seen a WRC driver promoting a branded product, for years.

[Mirek]

What's glamour about Dakar?

[dimviii]

+1 @ Jack4688
very well said.

[Doon]

What's glamour about Dakar?

There isn't, and;

A. I've never seen it on TV
B. It's not in the news (unless someone dies on a motorbike)
C. Not in the national papers
D. Don't know anyone who knows any drivers as a household name
E. Never heard a conversation about Dakar or anyone or it's driver down the pub
F. Never seen a manufacturer promoting their car through the Dakar


Must I go on? Dakar is less visible than the WRC

[stefanvv]

Well, Peugeot except huge expenses are actually concerned mostly about the promotion of the sport. R5, R5+ would be also good if there are no wrc cars imho. The important thing is how the sport is promoted. The presentation package perspective - land cameras - cumbersome, heli cams - boring, has someone actually consider drones - they present such attractive perspective.

[EightGear]

There isn't, and;

A. I've never seen it on TV
B. It's not in the news (unless someone dies on a motorbike)
C. Not in the national papers
D. Don't know anyone who knows any drivers as a household name
E. Never heard a conversation about Dakar or anyone or it's driver down the pub
F. Never seen a manufacturer promoting their car through the Dakar


Must I go on? Dakar is less visible than the WRC

Dakar is quite huge here in the Netherlands. During January you will hear people talk about it in the pubs etc. WRC is invisible.

[Doon]

Are there dutch driver in Dakar?

I don't think we can compare the Dakar and WRC anyway. For a start the Dakar is not the Dakar, and its only one event like the Fafe Rally Sprint.

Personally I don't think there is anything wrong with the WRC apart from the TV coverage (in the UK). I have been to rally gb for the last 12 years, and the speed and commitment has only grown. The problem is not the sport itself but the people who expect more from it.