2020 Rallying

[cg7aa]

I wish this was widely available for all to see:


https://www.wrc.com/en/news/season-2...of-a-champion/

[hoffman66]

They are trying to make money still when their series is canned, you cant blame them, they dont have a pot like F1 or MotoGP, so they want you to pay.

I never will, just find it later on a torrent or something

[S griffin]

Should be an interesting story and kill a bit of time till everything is back to normal

[Alex Langheck]

As we are in a lockdown, with no proper motorsport, most of the major series have organised e-Sports events. Unsurprisingly, the WRC is again behind the curve, and haven't done anything. The IMSA & Indycar events were quite good, as was the VLN at the weekend - all with most of the proper drivers, commentators.

I'm not sure a vote for greatest WRC driver is quite the same thing......

[BertMk2]

It's ok - the VHS Rallies account on YouTube is posting lots of great content - definitely worth a look!

[NaBUru38]

Happy 40th birthday to Mikko Hirvonen!

[S griffin]

Hirvonen, one of the best never to get the title and one who probably retired earlier than perhaps he should have

[hoffman66]

I think he knew he was going through the motions, fair play to him, much like Latvala, good but not good enough, unlike the last really flying Finn, Marcus who might be the last Finnish champ for a while.

They have NEVER been good enough on asphalt, always the let down

[NaBUru38]

Hirvonen lost the championship by 1 point in 2009 and by 8 points in 2011. Latvala was never as close.

[S griffin]

Hirvonen was a lot more consistent, just maybe wasn’t as fast on raw pace as Latvala

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Hirvonen was a lot more consistent, just maybe wasn’t as fast on raw pace as Latvala

I'd go along with this - Hirvonen was always there or thereabouts, a very decent driver who so nearly won the title. Latvala has incredible speed but is also prone to throwing the car into the scenery, that's what's cost him over the years - small mistakes with big consequences.

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by hoffman66

I think he knew he was going through the motions, fair play to him, much like Latvala, good but not good enough, unlike the last really flying Finn, Marcus who might be the last Finnish champ for a while.

They have NEVER been good enough on asphalt, always the let down

And there is less tarmac than ever; a proper WRC should have a more even split of gravel/tarmac. For some reason the FiA/ Promoter don't like tarmac.....

[S griffin]

Maybe because they think tarmac belongs in circuit racing

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

And there is less tarmac than ever; a proper WRC should have a more even split of gravel/tarmac. For some reason the FiA/ Promoter don't like tarmac.....

Originally Posted by S griffin

Maybe because they think tarmac belongs in circuit racing

I'm not sure how much there is "anti-tarmac" bias, but I do wonder if the current generation of cars is too quick for tarmac events? With the downforce they're generating the speed they can carry on tarmac is very impressive -- however, the flipside of that is that when a driver gets it wrong it goes wrong in a big way. Maybe more gravel events is a way of reducing the risk?

Having said that I feel that the WRC should contain as wide a variety of surfaces as possible - ice, snow, tarmac, gravel - and multiple surfaces on a single event is fine too. Even multiple surfaces on a single stage - that way the car setup is a compromise so the driver and team have to get the setup bias correct and the car isn't totally dialled in for any one surface.

[hoffman66]

Think back to the glory years of WRC or mid GpA, all you had asphalt was Monte (a lottery most times) Corsica, Catalunya. That was it!

It's always been this way.

My point here is that WRC like most series try and sell their series to new places, like Mexico, and the few others that have entered the series, Poland even, Turkey, cyprus before that.

Hopefully Ypres comes in, a proper tar rally, would love to see the Manx or Ireland be there again.

Even in the old days there were only a couple of mixed surface rallies and they were changed to one surface, Portugal and SanRemo.

Ice and snow is tough with global warming

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Maybe because they think tarmac belongs in circuit racing

Well they're pretty ignorant of the history of the sport then. Most of the early events were all on asphalt....

[S griffin]

I do enjoy the mixed surfaces event, that's always a good challenge

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I do enjoy the mixed surfaces event, that's always a good challenge

Agreed - mixed surfaces are good although I'm not so keen when it's 'day 1 tarmac, day 2 gravel' that gives the teams the chance to change the car's setup completely. I prefer 'stage 1 40% gravel, 60% tarmac', 'stage 2 50% tarmac, 50% gravel' etc. That way the car setup is compromised and it's all about who gets the setup bias right and who can deal with it best.

[Alex Langheck]

https://www.dai-sport.com/wales-rall...risis-economy/

[Alex Langheck]

https://petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/244155

[Alex Langheck]

A British driver leads the WRC........

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

A British driver leads the WRC........

Yep - and it's not even made a ripple on the sports pages here

I haven't seen a lot of the coverage from Turkey yet - but from what I have seen it looked like a proper gravel rally, rough stages that really test car and crew.

[S griffin]

Come on, I don't expect mega coverage, but there should at least be an acknowledgement of the sport.

I'll have to watch the highlights tonight to see if the rally was any good. I do miss events like the Safari and Rally GB, so I hope this is a decent substitute for some rallies that are missing this year

[Alex Langheck]

I've said before, the mainstream media are only interested in F1; that is motorsport to them. When Le Mans struggles to get any mainstream coverage, then you know anything else isn't going to get any.

In some ways, it's self inflicted; have they done enough to promote the sport to a wider audience? No....

When the mainstream coverage started to tail off there were several reasons given that would see it return:

We need a British driver in the WRC.......CHECK
We need a British driver challenging in the points......CHECK
We need a British driver challenging for wins.....CHECK
We need a British driver winning an event/ events.....CHECK.
We need a British driver to win RallyGB......CHECK
We need a British driver to challenge for the WRC Title.....CHECK

Accept it, it's not coming back, they're not interested anymore.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

I've said before, the mainstream media are only interested in F1; that is motorsport to them. When Le Mans struggles to get any mainstream coverage, then you know anything else isn't going to get any.

In some ways, it's self inflicted; have they done enough to promote the sport to a wider audience? No....

When the mainstream coverage started to tail off there were several reasons given that would see it return:

We need a British driver in the WRC.......CHECK
We need a British driver challenging in the points......CHECK
We need a British driver challenging for wins.....CHECK
We need a British driver winning an event/ events.....CHECK.
We need a British driver to win RallyGB......CHECK
We need a British driver to challenge for the WRC Title.....CHECK

Accept it, it's not coming back, they're not interested anymore.

Interesting points. On the flip side, you could argue why do we need the validation of the mainstream? A part of me thinks 'Let them live in their ignorant bubble where sport = football or F1 only and nothing else'. Their loss.

They shouldn't be the arbiters of what is sport, culture, music, fashion or anything else for that matter. They know nothing, a bunch of charlatans who only exist because folks insist on giving them some credence by consuming whatever it is they produce.

Back on topic...Rally Turkey was insane on the final day!