*The offical Rally GB Thread*

[deadmau5]

Some friends and I did Clocaenog Main on Saturday and Alwen on Sunday. It was certainly worth walking further to get to better spots. Sunday was the best; we walked up a few hundred yards back up the stage from the bridge. 5th gear corner on a crest and we were within touching distance. The marshall was very laid back compared to others.

[Trophybloo]

Had a fantastic day at Ruthin remote on Thurs where I managed to blag my way into the VW / Hyundai service area so had unrestricted access for taking the daybreak service shots and get some autographs on my large size photos. Friday was great too, I was on Dyfi at the point where Mikkelsen hit the bank. 16 deg, fantastic rallying, F16s flying by and hipflask of White and Mackay's finest - could life be any better - NO!!
Saturday morning I got a double puncture en route to Dyfnant. Had to leave the car as I couldn't get a signal and the kind rally fan who stopped for me needed to get to Dyfnant too. So I saw the WRC run then went to the phone box at Vyrnwy to contact RAC. Started the process at 11.40, finally, after unsuccessfully trying to get a taxi, at 13.30 I had to bite the bullet and pay for recovery to Oswestry Kwikfit - RAC recovery doesn't cover punctures! Was told ETA would be 15.15 so was optimistic that only Saturday was wrecked but when I only got picked up at 17.00 I knew that Sunday spectating was gone too. Still found a nice real ale establishment in Oswestry and reflected that no-one died etc.

[covmutley]

I went to Sweet Lamb with my old man and had a good day.

First run through was wetter and more entertaining. I couldnt believe how many foreign people were there. Is the following that much bigger on the continent?

We noticed that lots, if not most of the cars, had 'CCC' drawn on the muddy rear windows/panels. Can anyone explain that?

Edited by covmutley on Tuesday 18th November 12:36

[Trophybloo]

covmutley said:

I went to Sweet Lamb with my old man and had a good day.

First run through was wetter and more entertaining. I couldnt believe how many foreign people were there. Is the following that much bigger on the continent?

We noticed that lots, if not most of the cars, had 'CCC' drawn on the muddy rear windows/panels. Can anyone explain that?

Edited by covmutley on Tuesday 18th November 12:36

I'd say that continental enthusiasts are more likely to travel outside their own countries than Brits. I have noticed that in Germany, Italy, France and Spain there are never as many Brit or constituent country flags as you see Poles, Czechs, Belgians, Nogs, Swedes and Finns over here.

[Leptons]

Great Pictures Matt!

deadmau5 said:

Some friends and I did Clocaenog Main on Saturday and Alwen on Sunday. It was certainly worth walking further to get to better spots. Sunday was the best; we walked up a few hundred yards back up the stage from the bridge. 5th gear corner on a crest and we were within touching distance. The marshall was very laid back compared to others.

I did find a couple of the Marshals on Alwen a bit OTT but then I guess its not an easy job. Me and some others ended up having to go the long way around to get to the Hairpin but it was worth it in the end.

[RyanTank]

covmutley said:

We noticed that lots, if not most of the cars, had 'CCC' drawn on the muddy rear windows/panels. Can anyone explain that?

Its the initials of the car club that cleans the cars leaving a stage( I want to say its something like Chester car club or some similar, but don't really know the actual club name), the cars are governed by local road traffic rules and must have visible numberplate's, and the rally gods like the car numbers to be visible as much as is possible.

Leptons said:

I did find a couple of the Marshals on Alwen a bit OTT but then I guess its not an easy job. Me and some others ended up having to go the long way around to get to the Hairpin but it was worth it in the end.

Some can be right bds! I've been stuck in a team with some like that before and we didn't get along at all! I however like to think I'm more laid back, and as long as your being safe about where you go then I'll let you be there. But I do only ask once, often its all that is needed. however this year there were some right pricks spectating, giving me back chat after asking them to not stand in the area that is clearly marked as a prohibited area!
Next year I may let them stand where they like, but I'll make sure I have donor cards for them to have before leaving them there.


Sorry to hear of your trouble Trophy, especially as the first run of Dyfnant was cut short!

[deadmau5]

Leptons said:

Great Pictures Matt!

deadmau5 said:

Some friends and I did Clocaenog Main on Saturday and Alwen on Sunday. It was certainly worth walking further to get to better spots. Sunday was the best; we walked up a few hundred yards back up the stage from the bridge. 5th gear corner on a crest and we were within touching distance. The marshall was very laid back compared to others.

I did find a couple of the Marshals on Alwen a bit OTT but then I guess its not an easy job. Me and some others ended up having to go the long way around to get to the Hairpin but it was worth it in the end.

The hair pin at the top of the hill? We went there for the second run. Those were the marshals who were being very strict. Did you see the nutter Polish dude with the Kubica flag?

[Allyc85]

3 pics from an enjoyable Wales Rally GB.

Aberhirnant Wales Rally GB 2014 by Alastair Cummins, on Flickr

Aberhirnant Wales Rally GB 2014 by Alastair Cummins, on Flickr

Aberhirnant Wales Rally GB 2014 by Alastair Cummins, on Flickr

Friday we did Sweet Lamb, watching from the fast approach between a hairpin left and the water splash and in the afternoon the stage finish, getting a close look at the cars and the hard work of all the marshalls.

Saturday was Aberhirnant where we found 2 good spots at a fast, downhill section. Meeke was very sideways into view, and Kubica wide, showering me with rocks! Loved the night stage!

Sunday was alright, but a bit of a downer as I hope to watch from the water side at Brenig, but the marshalls were having none of it. I am glad to see some people managed to get through! The highlight was watching the TV chopper barely flying 20-30ft above the ground, some of the angles were insane, those boys are brave! Shame that Marty McCormak's Fiestas engine failed infront of us in the afternoon, another 30k down the drain according to him.

One thing that royally pissed me off was the amount of litter left behind by ignorant scum. The mess after Aberhirnant was beyond a joke and must have taken ages to be tidied up.

Still great rally, looking forward to the 2015 season now!

[Allyc85]

Quentin Gilbert on the first run through Aberhirnant..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZjurhVern4&li...

[Leptons]

deadmau5 said:

The hair pin at the top of the hill? We went there for the second run. Those were the marshals who were being very strict. Did you see the nutter Polish dude with the Kubica flag?

I was standing next to him for a while on the Second run! I think he was getting on people's tits after a while but it was quite funny at first. There was quite a group of them, I think they'd had a few Tinnies. "Photo, no problem"

[alistair1234]

Link to my shakedown album

https://www.flickr.com/photos/96551949@N03/sets/72...


Untitled by alistair.carruthers, on Flickr

Edited by alistair1234 on Tuesday 18th November 22:39

Untitled by alistair.carruthers, on Flickr

Edited by alistair1234 on Tuesday 18th November 22:42

Untitled by alistair.carruthers, on Flickr

Edited by alistair1234 on Tuesday 18th November 22:44

Untitled by alistair.carruthers, on Flickr

Edited by alistair1234 on Tuesday 18th November 22:45

[alistair1234]

Untitled by alistair.carruthers, on Flickr

Edited by alistair1234 on Tuesday 18th November 22:44

Untitled by alistair.carruthers, on Flickr

Edited by alistair1234 on Tuesday 18th November 22:47

Edited by alistair1234 on Wednesday 19th November 09:26

[Pwig]

One for the chap who was service crew for the EVO

[Cyder]

We had an interesting weekend running the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC in the National Rally getting a satisfying 4th overall following a tough weekend with some gearbox issues and tyres going off.



From the start of stage 1 on the Friday throughout the whole event we had intermittent gearbox issues that resulted in I think 3 full round trips from Deeside to Daventry in order to collect new sensors and parts on the Friday night/Saturday.

This is the spare gearbox that we considered fitting but decided it looked like a headache and probably wouldn't have fixed the issue o we put it back in the truck.


The attention the car got was quite something, as the only 2004 Lancer WRC left it was drew quite the crowd especially any time we fired it up. Visitors we had included loads of mechanics/engineers from the works M-Sport, Hyundai, VW and Citroen teams. The works boys were really interested in our car in particular the fabrication and design around the suspension units and inside.
The Mitsubishi was produced in an era where nobody really cared about costs so the amount of titanium and carbon fibre used is impressive, and we were lucky enough to visit the Hyundai and M-Sport service areas behind the barriers and saw they're clearly designed to more of a budget than the WRC's of old which I guess explains the interest from them.

The car looking a bit sorry for itself on the stands.


The car certainly kept us busy into the evening on the Saturday so I think we fully deserved our pints of Cider once we'd finished.


We were lucky enough to also have guest passes so finally on the Sunday got into Alwen 2 to watch the Internationals before heading off to Llandudno for the finish. Them top boys are quick aren't they?!

[Cyder]

Pwig said:

One for the chap who was service crew for the EVO

Thanks Pwig!

[Allyc85]

Cheers for the write up Cyder, I never knew it was the only 2004 model left! Its a stunning bit of kit (That cog box looks nuts!) so hope to see it out on a few BTRDA rounds next year

[Slippydiff]

Cyder said:

We had an interesting weekend running the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC in the National Rally getting a satisfying 4th overall following a tough weekend with some gearbox issues and tyres going off.

From the start of stage 1 on the Friday throughout the whole event we had intermittent gearbox issues that resulted in I think 3 full round trips from Deeside to Daventry in order to collect new sensors and parts on the Friday night/Saturday.

This is the spare gearbox that we considered fitting but decided it looked like a headache and probably wouldn't have fixed the issue o we put it back in the truck.


The attention the car got was quite something, as the only 2004 Lancer WRC left it was drew quite the crowd especially any time we fired it up. Visitors we had included loads of mechanics/engineers from the works M-Sport, Hyundai, VW and Citroen teams. The works boys were really interested in our car in particular the fabrication and design around the suspension units and inside.
The Mitsubishi was produced in an era where nobody really cared about costs so the amount of titanium and carbon fibre used is impressive, and we were lucky enough to visit the Hyundai and M-Sport service areas behind the barriers and saw they're clearly designed to more of a budget than the WRC's of old which I guess explains the interest from them.

The car certainly kept us busy into the evening on the Saturday so I think we fully deserved our pints of Cider once we'd finished.

We were lucky enough to also have guest passes so finally on the Sunday got into Alwen 2 to watch the Internationals before heading off to Llandudno for the finish. Them top boys are quick aren't they?!

Great post !
I saw the car you can up close and personal in Finland in 2004.
I've a long time mate who worked at Ralliart for 20 years. He got us into the Mitsubishi service area on the first day of the event. As we went through the barriers Tommi appeared from the hospitality, my mate called over to him "Alright shag".

"Ok shag" Tommi replied in his monotone Finnish drawl

We were shown around the cars and then shown the various components. the damper/spring sets come in stout aluminium flight/transit cases. I think they were running ExeTC's then. So here's a teaser for you all :

How much was a set of four dampers and springs for a Mitsubishi WRC car ten years ago ?

The cars were indeed beautifully built, more like works of art, the Ralliart lads were scathing of the Prodrive level of preparation, they considered their shell prep and general build standards well above those of the Banbury squad.

So another teaser :

When Mitsubishi changed models at the end of its life, what would happen to stuff such as the intercoolers that would no longer be used /fit ?

My mate is still involved in the WRC, and says that the modern cars aren't built to anything like the standard they were ten years ago. The shell prep and welding in particular isn't a patch on the Lancer and the Imprezas. (though my mate says he's impressed with just how minimalist the Polo is)

And for complex transmissions, check out Melvyn Evans Irish tarmac winning Impreza WRC gearbox :

[covmutley]

....and a few more

022 by covmutley, on Flickr

003 by covmutley, on Flickr

018 by covmutley, on Flickr

029 by covmutley, on Flickr

038 by covmutley, on Flickr

Edited by covmutley on Wednesday 19th November 20:58

[Cyder]

No probs Ally, you've probably seen it on some of the South West events I guess, I think the plan is for BTRDA next year but not sure if anything is confirmed yet.
There are nearly all the parts to build a second '04 car but I think some minor bits are missing like an engine and centre diff.

Slippydiff said:

Cyder said:

We had an interesting weekend running the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC in the National Rally getting a satisfying 4th overall following a tough weekend with some gearbox issues and tyres going off.

From the start of stage 1 on the Friday throughout the whole event we had intermittent gearbox issues that resulted in I think 3 full round trips from Deeside to Daventry in order to collect new sensors and parts on the Friday night/Saturday.

This is the spare gearbox that we considered fitting but decided it looked like a headache and probably wouldn't have fixed the issue o we put it back in the truck.


The attention the car got was quite something, as the only 2004 Lancer WRC left it was drew quite the crowd especially any time we fired it up. Visitors we had included loads of mechanics/engineers from the works M-Sport, Hyundai, VW and Citroen teams. The works boys were really interested in our car in particular the fabrication and design around the suspension units and inside.
The Mitsubishi was produced in an era where nobody really cared about costs so the amount of titanium and carbon fibre used is impressive, and we were lucky enough to visit the Hyundai and M-Sport service areas behind the barriers and saw they're clearly designed to more of a budget than the WRC's of old which I guess explains the interest from them.

The car certainly kept us busy into the evening on the Saturday so I think we fully deserved our pints of Cider once we'd finished.

We were lucky enough to also have guest passes so finally on the Sunday got into Alwen 2 to watch the Internationals before heading off to Llandudno for the finish. Them top boys are quick aren't they?!

Great post !
I saw the car you can up close and personal in Finland in 2004.
I've a long time mate who worked at Ralliart for 20 years. He got us into the Mitsubishi service area on the first day of the event. As we went through the barriers Tommi appeared from the hospitality, my mate called over to him "Alright shag".

"Ok shag" Tommi replied in his monotone Finnish drawl

We were shown around the cars and then shown the various components. the damper/spring sets come in stout aluminium flight/transit cases. I think they were running ExeTC's then. So here's a teaser for you all :

How much was a set of four dampers and springs for a Mitsubishi WRC car ten years ago ?

I vaguely recall talking to one of the guys running Mark Higgins on the '05 BRC in his Subaru and I'm sure they told me the whole corner including upright and hub was ~£10k.

For reference, the gearbox in that picture is ~£30k.

Slippydiff said:

The cars were indeed beautifully built, more like works of art, the Ralliart lads were scathing of the Prodrive level of preparation, they considered their shell prep and general build standards well above those of the Banbury squad.

So another teaser :

When Mitsubishi changed models at the end of its life, what would happen to stuff such as the intercoolers that would no longer be used /fit ?

My mate is still involved in the WRC, and says that the modern cars aren't built to anything like the standard they were ten years ago. The shell prep and welding in particular isn't a patch on the Lancer and the Imprezas. (though my mate says he's impressed with just how minimalist the Polo is)

I have no idea what they did with the kit that wouldn't fit, I know they must have kept some to keep the old cars running, but I can imagine stuff just being chucked in a skip knowing how much money was being thrown around back then.

Your mates view echos what we saw and were told by the WRC teams mechanics, the cars now are built to a budget and are very simple in comparison to the older gen WRC's. The Polo is very smart though, and the Hyundai looks a bit like it was cobbled together in a shed up close!

Slippydiff said:

And for complex transmissions, check out Melvyn Evans Irish tarmac winning Impreza WRC gearbox :

I wouldn't know where to begin with witchcraft like that, is that from his S12?

[Slippydiff]

10/10 A set of dampers was £40k back in 2004.

When the Galant was pensioned off, all the bespoke intercoolers and radiators were passed through a bandsaw and chucked in the skip. As a no-profit making arm of Mitsubishi, nothing could be sold.

I briefly owned an S5 Impreza, when they were current cars and thus under contract, the overhaul costs were engine £20k, gearbox/front/center diff £15k, rear diff £5k. Engines were rebuilt after 1000/600 stage kms/miles.

The images are of Melvyn's old S11 Impreza.





The car is currently up for sale :

http://www.subaruwrcspares.com/14.html

http://www.subaruwrcspares.com/resources/MC54+WRC+...

The Polo is an incredibly well sorted car, it seems to be better suspended and far more stable than the Fiestas and i20. Though the Citroen is still good considering the lack of money being spent on it's development. But VW have made a massive commitment to the WRC, and like Jost Capisto or not, their commitment has most likely encouraged Hyundai and Toyota to rejoin the WRC.

The top five drivers in any WRC event will always been simply gobsmackingly impressive ! The level of commitment in modern WRC rallying is almost unbelievable. Viewed from a good spectating point, the cars are in many ways more impressive (speed wise) than the Group B cars.

Take a look at this video of the '85 Sanremo when Groub was pretty much at it's peak :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIdOHxyda3s

Whilst the Group B cars may have been faster accelerating, a modern WRC car would be quicker under braking, and I suspect on corner entry to apex. Throw in a hairpin like the one featured early in the above video, and the modern WRC car would leave even the SWB S1 quattro trailing in it's wake !

Still, it wouldn't be bad if they went back to a 38mm restrictor (as used in '92) on the current cars ....... My guess is they have a nice round 400hp