2024 Rallying

[AndyS]

The issue for me is the use of promoters by the FIA. In its current form it doesn't work. They exist purely to make money. Calling them promoters is misleading as they actually don't seem to do much promoting. They should be called what they are, commercial rights holders. That, in reality, is their sole reason for being, to do deals for the TV coverage, hosting fees and sponsorship to the highest bidder. There is seemingly very little emphasis on the best interests of the sport.

You need it run by people who have the sport as their first and foremost interest. I'm sure there is a reason, but why the FIA don't run their various categories in house I've never understood. Probably the opportunity to make a load of money, I suspect! In House they can still do deals but the best deal for the promotion of the sport, not the annual profit margin. Clearly they can't run it at loss, but equally they don't need to run it to squeeze every last penny out of it.

It's blindingly obvious what needs to change, but whenever they have these reviews, nothing ever changes other than a bit of tinkering round the edges and gimmicks. They only need to look at the aforementioned recent RAC to see how it can be done. Oliver Solberg made the comment about how it worked so well and that the people organising the WRC could learn a lot from it.

[justracing]

The WRC is heading the same way as the Andros trophy.

[flatlandsman]

Another sad bit of news, the guys running VHS rallies on youtube are calling it time. A great channel adding considerably to our enjoyment and being very careful about what they posted and making sure to do it right. I gather this is just tiredness and also a lack of financial return, but also probably a serious amount of work been done.

Hope it is nothing more sinister than Duke or some arse getting uppity about 40 years footage being free on a social media channel!

[Firehawk505]

Points are interesting to ponder, but it's 2am, so I'll wait on that. I'll just say that rallies seem so short now compared to the 70's. I love watching old videos of, say, the Safari Rally, which, IIRC, used to actually be pretty long.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by AndyS

The issue for me is the use of promoters by the FIA. In its current form it doesn't work.

I'm sure there is a reason, but why the FIA don't run their various categories in house I've never understood.

The reason is that the European Union intervened: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/pres...l/en/IP_99_434

Now football is undergoing similar issues: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/...cp230203en.pdf

The EU is somehow pushing for the North American model, where professional sports teams can join and leave leagues with total freedom.

[ArnageWRC]

Yeah, the FIA had to let go of many series. In reality, governing bodies have no business running series, that's not their remit. Let the 'experts' run, organise, promote series.....(look at the mess with road cycling, where the UCI want control, and are hopeless)

The problem is, Promoters don't seem to do much in the way of promotion - and as already said, just sell TV/ media rights. It's in their interest to have as many rounds in a series as possible, as they get the fees......look at both F1 & MotoGP - adding ever more races.....

The WRC has been appallingly run for 15+ years; too many involved think it's bigger than it actually is.
We first saw this back in the early 00s - 16 rounds in the WRC......Was completely unsustainable.....the expected returns never materialised - and manufacturers left in droves, leaving us with Citroen & M-Sport Ford......

[ArnageWRC]

Originally Posted by Firehawk505

Points are interesting to ponder, but it's 2am, so I'll wait on that. I'll just say that rallies seem so short now compared to the 70's. I love watching old videos of, say, the Safari Rally, which, IIRC, used to actually be pretty long.

That's because they are so short; most are approx 300km - not even 200 miles.
Those at the top of the WRC told us that Endurance style events were no longer relevant in the 21st century. So we get the same generic event all season long....with a Power Stage on Sunday lunch time.

Some events need more freedom to do what they want; I don't have a problem with one or two short events starting on Friday morning, and ending Saturday night.
As long as we can see a proper Monte, with a final night over the Col du Turini, as once happened - and a more challenging Safari.....

[NaBUru38]

The Monte Carlo Rally entry list has 70 entries.

There's just 8 Rally1 entries:

* Hyundai: Ott Tänak, Andreas Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville.
* Ford: Sébastien Ogier, Adrien Fourmaux, Grégoire Munster.
* Toyota: Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta.

There's also 29 entries in Rally2, 7 in Rally3, 12 in RC4, 9 in Rally5, and 5 in RGT.

[ArnageWRC]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The Monte Carlo Rally entry list has 70 entries.

There's just 8 Rally1 entries:

* Hyundai: Ott Tänak, Andreas Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville.
* Ford: Sébastien Ogier, Adrien Fourmaux, Grégoire Munster.
* Toyota: Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta.

There's also 29 entries in Rally2, 7 in Rally3, 12 in RC4, 9 in Rally5, and 5 in RGT.

A sport in rude health........(or maybe not)

And on the same weekend as the Rolex 24 isn't a great idea. Should have been the weekend gone.

[NaBUru38]

I'm all for avoiding date clashes, but WRC and IMSA (or Formula E) are different worlds.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The Monte Carlo Rally entry list has 70 entries.

There's just 8 Rally1 entries:

* Hyundai: Ott Tänak, Andreas Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville.
* Ford: Sébastien Ogier, Adrien Fourmaux, Grégoire Munster.
* Toyota: Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta.

There's also 29 entries in Rally2, 7 in Rally3, 12 in RC4, 9 in Rally5, and 5 in RGT.

237 entries in the Historic Section according to the ACM Website.:
https://acm.mc/en/edition/26th-rally...nt/entry-list/

[ArnageWRC]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I'm all for avoiding date clashes, but WRC and IMSA (or Formula E) are different worlds.

Well there was a time they were on consecutive weekends; Vic Elford won both in a Porsche in 1968......

I know which event will be getting the most interest - and it won't be in southern France.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by E.B

237 entries in the Historic Section according to the ACM Website.:
https://acm.mc/en/edition/26th-rally...nt/entry-list/

IMO more interesting than the main class...

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by FIRE

IMO more interesting than the main class...

+ 1! Thanks E.B

[justracing]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The Monte Carlo Rally entry list has 70 entries.

There's just 8 Rally1 entries:

* Hyundai: Ott Tänak, Andreas Mikkelsen, Thierry Neuville.
* Ford: Sébastien Ogier, Adrien Fourmaux, Grégoire Munster.
* Toyota: Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta.

There's also 29 entries in Rally2, 7 in Rally3, 12 in RC4, 9 in Rally5, and 5 in RGT.

Sorry to correct your normally accurate post but Seb Ogier is a Toyota driver albeit part time this year as is Kali Rovanpera in selected events I believe.
Tremendous start on Thursday night for Evans, some of the night footage revealed strong spectator support with flares and fireworks, not seen this level of spectators at the Monte for years.

[justracing]

A couple of icy sections on the early stages today caught out Tanak and Katsuta dropping them well down the order, Neuville and Seb had strong stage finishes on Friday to close down the slim lead of Elfyn Evans. On dry roads clear of snow and virtually ice free the pace of the top runners is pretty damn quick! Really strong spectator support again on Friday's daylight stages, I'm always amazed at their level of commitment, I've only ever attended one pukka rally and it took me all day and lot of legwork to 3 stages, these spectators are from a different planet!

[AndyS]

Really hoping Evans does it this year and wins the title. If it's not to be then I'd prefer it to be a Hyundai just for the sake of variety if nothing else.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by justracing

Sorry to correct your normally accurate post but Seb Ogier is a Toyota driver albeit part time this year as is Kali Rovanpera in selected events I believe.

Oops! I was too busy copying and pasting that I forgot to read...

[Gerard C]

Final classification gives: Thierry Neuville/ Hyundai, Sébastien Ogier/ Toyota and Elfyn Evans/ Toyota.
Yohan Rossel/ Citroën C3 WRC2 category winner.

[cg7aa]

Hello rally fans, it's been a while. How are we all doing?

I caught up with the action from Sweden yesterday; the conditions reminded me of rally Sweden from the early to mid-2000s. It looked fantastic so that even when the overall winner was more or less guaranteed I didn't mind so much.

The stage name '#42 Brattby' is such a classy tribute to Craig Breen, whomever thought of it should be congratulated. I'm looking forward to the fan 'pure sounds' footage on YouTube. Should be awesome.

Going further back in time to the Monte, Neuville's speed was just staggering. Has any Hyundai driver ever had such confidence in the car? That must have been the sweetest of sweet spots in terms of car setup, driver feel, pace notes, the lot. He was untouchable really.

[ArnageWRC]

Second placed Evans gets more points than winner Lappi.........Tells you everything about the current WRC......

[AndyS]

Just caught up on the coverage this morning. Stages looked fantastic and back the Rally Sweden of old. Superb performance by Lappi and Formeaux (not sure that's spelt right!). Title chase already looks interesting.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Hello rally fans, it's been a while. How are we all doing?

Welcome back

Originally Posted by cg7aa

I caught up with the action from Sweden yesterday; the conditions reminded me of rally Sweden from the early to mid-2000s. It looked fantastic so that even when the overall winner was more or less guaranteed I didn't mind so much.

Originally Posted by AndyS

Just caught up on the coverage this morning. Stages looked fantastic and back the Rally Sweden of old.

Agreed - the conditions looked really good this year and the snowbanks were there in all their glory. It looked like the stages held up pretty well so we didn't see the problems with them cutting up really badly like they have done in recent years.

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Going further back in time to the Monte, Neuville's speed was just staggering. Has any Hyundai driver ever had such confidence in the car? That must have been the sweetest of sweet spots in terms of car setup, driver feel, pace notes, the lot. He was untouchable really.

Before the event I assumed Ogier would just disappear into the distance and win with ease. Neuville certainly looked to have the car hooked up all weekend, it seemed to be one of those weekends where everything came together for him.

Originally Posted by ArnageWRC

Second placed Evans gets more points than winner Lappi.........Tells you everything about the current WRC......

Originally Posted by AndyS

Superb performance by Lappi and Formeaux (not sure that's spelt right!). Title chase already looks interesting.

The points system is certainly odd, there's no way the event winner should be leaving with less point than anyone else. Pleased for Lappi to get the win though, enjoyed his stage end interviews as well Formeaux had a great event too - I must admit I don't really have high expectations of him but he certainly put in a good drive and took advantage of others failings to pick up a strong result. A little bit gutted for Katsuta, he was quick in Sweden last year and had good pace again this year, he looked to be on for a great result until a small error took him into the snowbank. On the flip side Rovanpera never really looked like he got into the groove at all, he even described his own driving as "embarassing" at one point.

Sweden is probably my favourite rally of the season and it certainly delivered again this year. The only real downside is the lack of depth in the Rally1 field, a couple of retirements and it all looks a bit thin at the front.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by ArnageWRC

Second placed Evans gets more points than winner Lappi.........Tells you everything about the current WRC......

Well, yes and no. I'm not overly keen on the new points system and the old points system was the least of the WRC's problems at the top end! It's tinkering around the edges of a championship which is in a precarious position however spectacular the top bunch of cars are: one of the two and a bit bona fide manufacturer's pulls out and that's a dead championship but I digress massively!

Back on topic, the overall winner does have the option of pushing for the points too it must be remembered. Circumstances and choice might prevent that but there's nothing stopping them in theory. Evans wasn't simply handed the points on a plate. He drove for it. I remember going to rally Finland in 2007 and being disappointed by the driving in the top class on the Sunday. The podium position drivers had no need to push and so they didn't, they just drive through which for me as a spectator was dull.

There you go, my two cents...

[Tel 911S]

Found a program on TV last night called Sport Stuff TV .
Had the ARCTIC LAPLAND rally on , so had to watch it .
It was from February . Very fast stages in snow with high snow banks and quite a good event .
Not an event I have ever done .
When I was doing European Championship events a few years ago I avoided winter rallies as they were too cold and needed very good knowledge of studded tyres
.Although I was offered a very good deal to do some . Which included the use of a heated underground garage while there . It was then I worked out that the diesel service van fuel would freeze up if left outside overnight .

So never did any Winter rallies , but watching last night I thought it was a very good event and thought I should have had a go .