Can Anything Save the GRC?

[USRallycross]

Now I know GRC doesn't have many fans on here but I had really hoped that this would see rallycross break into the US. I am currently watching the Dallas round where there are just 10 Supercars.......Mind you this is on NBC the equivalent of BBC or ITV in the UK not on some crappy small channel and in prime sports time on a Saturday afternoon.

But with this level of entry it's not much of a show for the TV audience and it's a 90 minute show. It's not what we imagined when we came up with all this not so many years ago.

So is this the last year or can anything be done to save the series?

No point debating the real courses vs. car park courses because reality in the US is that car park courses are do-able and promoters will fund their creation. Most road courses here are as full of themselves as Mr. Palmer and won't let anyone mess up their precious grass.

With so few cars thankfully the contact has reduced a lot this year and I do think driving standards led to a lot of people pulling out. When I explored entering a two car team as a 'junior' team of the one of the established teams the budget for repairs was crazy but I knew it to be real from what we saw with the Best Buy cars - and we had little damage compared to most (David always crashed the Amex or eBay cars!)

The biggest error IMHO was pushing away the privateers like Morro and Verdier. They needed 10-14 'real' super cars and then another 10-14 'clubman' super cars. We were getting there in the first year at NJMP and then in the first full year but then people saw $ signs and required stupid manufacturer entrant fees and downhill it went.

Add to that them killing the 2WD class and what had been looking like a promising start to establish rallycross in the US lost momentum after just three years and now 5-6 years on looks like it is on its deathbed.

Even Subaru (Vermont Sportscar) are choosing to run Rally America with no TV coverage whatsoever vs. running GRC with all its TV coverage.

Others have better insights now since I stepped out of the sport but I still believe it can be something.

Thoughts?

[Pozi]

The lack of replies pretty much sums up GRC, even the people who hate it do not want to speak ill of the dead!!

[BertMk2]

I watched a couple of rounds last year but didn't see anything that made me want to watch it again - and it seems to be a common view. Sad to say but I think GRC is dead in the water - there aren't enough entrants to make it worthwhile. As you say Mark pushing away the privateers was a big mistake (and possibly one that IMG are making too with WRX?) as it leaves a very thin field of entries - get a couple of retirements (always likely given the likelihood of contact and the general reliability issues of supercars) and you're looking at a very meagre grid. Are any of the events financially viable with such a small field? It seems inevitable that the series will die.

[Hickey]

I just thought that Marks post seemed to hunt at the answers! I don't know anything about it other than what I've seen on TV which is demolition derby and stupid jumps. Admittedly these have improved of late. But it seems like losing support classes and charging too much money has cost the grc. Hopefully img will take note

[crossfades]

They would need a total revamp and to bring back privateers in order to save the series. There are so many things wrong with it IMO. I too have wondered how the series stays alive but with Red Bull as main backers and other big sponsors along with big teams like OMSE, Andretti, Ganassi etc., it somehow keeps going. But probably not for too long.

I'm not sure what my feeling are about GRC really. Partly it takes away interest from teams and drivers for WRX but it does bring rallycross to an American audience which I think is quite cool. The main thing I don't like about the series though is how they "americanized" rallycross. Silly jumps, tracks, rules, along with other things is just too much, even if I understand that things needs to be different in order to reach a greater audience, especially in the US. But for me it has become something else than genuine rallycross.

The series seems to depend a lot on Europe for cars and know-how. For example the Subaru's which last year that was US-built didn't stand a chance against the other cars. Volkswagen just built two Beetle's and handed it over to Andretti to race with and Honda dosen't really seem to be involved in the project from what I've seen. The other cars (Fiestas) in the series has been bought and built from and by OMSE and M-Sport, and Millen's Hyunday utilizes an engine from Julian Godfrey. The lack of American built cars shows the lack of interest in rallycross from Americans IMO.

I know that IMG is heading the WRX in a similar direction but at least it has a growing interest and is situated in Europe where rallycross has a history and base. Besides, IMG has not interfered with track layouts (for what I know at least) or tried to change the rallycross into something more extreme, although they've done some bad things like raising costs through the roof strangling some tracks and privateers. Hopefully WRX won't go as wrong as GRC, which seems to be dead within in a year or two.

[NaBUru38]

As a motorsports fan in Uruguay who last drove a 50cc kart at a shopping mall 12 years ago, I can't talk about team or promoter finances.

There's different ways to promote a sport.

One is focusing on action, and rallycross has plenty of that. Having eight 500hp cars running at a 1-mile course with hairpins and jumps is extremely exciting. However, four-car races get very boring.

Another is personalities. I think that Block, Foust, Pastrana and Deegan bleeded personality on television. Some of the current drivers are more boring to hear. Being nice doesn't equal boring.

But the broadcasts rarely show drivers talking to an interviewer or even smiling to the crowd. That should be fixed: after every race, each driver should get 20 seconds to celebrate, expose frustration or criticize that awful driver who smashed them to the damn wall.


Having live broadcasts on NBC is great, but that only works if people know about them. Motorsports on NBC Sports should be crosspromoted. Also, they should air a talk show on Tuesdays or Thursdays, featuring a panel of drivers from the different series. A great example is Última Vuelta (Fox Sports Argentina).

[chunder]

There are a lot of similarities between GRC and what becomes WRX (I refuse to call it rallycross).

IMG have moved rallycross away from existing venues to places that are near big urban areas on temp carpark tracks like Mettet, Barcelona, Hockenheim. This is exactly what GRC tried to do with a much bigger emphasis on being near big areas buit also a lack of understanding of what rallycross really was. THe water on track at NASCAR venues was pathetic for instance.

THey have introduced jumps, and daft joker laps and team racing, all from GRC.

I think it could still work, but it needs to work with CORR or something as right now it is dead and now Eriksson has gone to Honda his support will probably soon lean off, now it's fine as he built the cars and supplies the parts, but once that dies so will GRC.

And IMG couldn't care less as it will then mean they can take their beloved marketing garbage to the place that will eat it up for breakfast, dinner and tea for 20 dollars, diabetes and an extra large. You will lose Euro rounds to get there as IMG are American and want it to work there above all, and it probably will.

[toledo47]

I honestly love GRC (and WRX). Its definitely not perfect, I think some things like the jumps don't really add much and are just there to attract the monster truck crowd, but overall its a blast. I love the temporary parking lot circuits they make, unlike a traditional circuit, from the grandstands the fans can actually see like 90% of the circuit. Doesn't make a difference to people watching at home on TV, but when you are there in person it is awesome that the cars never go out of view. I've attended 6 GRC weekends (as well as 1 WRX weekend), everyone in attendance seems to be enjoying themselves and get pretty into the races, however they are all very casual fans that often have never even seen GRC on TV, doesn't seem like many hardcore motorsport fans attend either. And anytime i've talked to people at other races (i attend races of all forms of motorsport short track, road course, dirt tracks, NASCAR, Indy, etc...), most people still have never heard of rallycross, or at best have maybe heard of the series, but have still never watched it.

I was at Dallas, the racing was great, car counts in supercars were a little rough, though I have heard that Subaru will be back in July. If them taking off time means they will be more competitive then i'm all for it. That team was terrible last year....
I like seeing the 10 car final, however, seeing the meaningless LCQ where all cars qualify for the main event is kinda annoying. If they can't get their car counts up a bit maybe the series would be better off going to a format closer to WRX, starting less cars in the final. They nearly had a 9 car field in the final, Brian Deegans car caught on fire during warm ups and did miss the semi finals, but they managed to get the car out there for the LCQ and final.

Any idea how long Red Bull has signed on to be the title sponsor ?
I imagine they are the biggest part of the NBC TV deal the series has.
I guess if the series loses Red Bull, then the series is in big trouble, but if Red Bull stays on, the series will probably continue for a while?

Originally Posted by USRallycross

Now I know GRC doesn't have many fans on here but I had really hoped that this would see rallycross break into the US. I am currently watching the Dallas round where there are just 10 Supercars.......Mind you this is on NBC the equivalent of BBC or ITV in the UK not on some crappy small channel and in prime sports time on a Saturday afternoon.

But with this level of entry it's not much of a show for the TV audience and it's a 90 minute show. It's not what we imagined when we came up with all this not so many years ago.

So is this the last year or can anything be done to save the series?

No point debating the real courses vs. car park courses because reality in the US is that car park courses are do-able and promoters will fund their creation. Most road courses here are as full of themselves as Mr. Palmer and won't let anyone mess up their precious grass.

With so few cars thankfully the contact has reduced a lot this year and I do think driving standards led to a lot of people pulling out. When I explored entering a two car team as a 'junior' team of the one of the established teams the budget for repairs was crazy but I knew it to be real from what we saw with the Best Buy cars - and we had little damage compared to most (David always crashed the Amex or eBay cars!)

The biggest error IMHO was pushing away the privateers like Morro and Verdier. They needed 10-14 'real' super cars and then another 10-14 'clubman' super cars. We were getting there in the first year at NJMP and then in the first full year but then people saw $ signs and required stupid manufacturer entrant fees and downhill it went.

Add to that them killing the 2WD class and what had been looking like a promising start to establish rallycross in the US lost momentum after just three years and now 5-6 years on looks like it is on its deathbed.

Even Subaru (Vermont Sportscar) are choosing to run Rally America with no TV coverage whatsoever vs. running GRC with all its TV coverage.

Others have better insights now since I stepped out of the sport but I still believe it can be something.

Thoughts?

[SeanBolgerMotorsport]

I love the GRC but as we've just learnt here in Australia the drivers are keen but the track owners, councils and the motorsport association just makes it to hard to get a series up and running without mega cash...

I'm only 14 and want a career in Rallycross what hope do I have being from Australia where there isn't anything happening again!

[crossfades]

Logged in to facebook today and got a notice that Red Bull Global rallycross had changed it name to just Global rallycross on facebook.

Has red bull pulled out?

[chunder]

In many ways I hope so, at least then WRX can have access to America, where it belongs now.

So say IMG

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Logged in to facebook today and got a notice that Red Bull Global rallycross had changed it name to just Global rallycross on facebook.

Has red bull pulled out?

I wondered what was going on there. I note that they are still using Red Bull in all the hashtags and the like.

Says that the 2017 schedule will be released Thursday, so perhaps all will be revealed then.