The 2015 Rallying Thread
Discussion
Ouch!
Blayney said:
Great stuff, despite that awful weather I still wish I could have gone!RyanTank said:
Gutted I missed Epynt again. Bloody work getting in the way 
on happier news! Guess who's going to WRC Portugal . . . . ME!!
Most excellent news!on happier news! Guess who's going to WRC Portugal . . . . ME!!
Allyc85 said:
Ouch!
I overheard a conversation while on SS7. Guy had been codriving in the 44 Civic in the morning and had a nasty off. Found the onboard - it's right at the end of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jZu-mNkuQ0Blayney said:
Great stuff, despite that awful weather I still wish I could have gone!Also if you guys watch Special Stage on Motors TV my footage of the mk2 escort going off on SS3 might be included in their Tour of Epynt show!
From a co-drivers perspective I hate catching the car in front, drivers being the primitive beasts that they are only have to see the tail lights of the car in front 1/2 mile away and you suddenly feel the red mist come down in the car and sense that they aren't really listening to you anymore and are hell bent on catching the car in front. So many accidents happen in that way, admittedly that one doesn't appear to be the Civic's fault.
Lunatics
Lunatics
Cyder said:
From a co-drivers perspective I hate catching the car in front, drivers being the primitive beasts that they are only have to see the tail lights of the car in front 1/2 mile away and you suddenly feel the red mist come down in the car and sense that they aren't really listening to you anymore and are hell bent on catching the car in front. So many accidents happen in that way, admittedly that one doesn't appear to be the Civic's fault.
Lunatics
Guilty. "Fast left over crest", I heard the crest bit, but I was concentrating more on getting past the the rather rapid RS2000 that was three or four car lengths in front of us (in the dark). Game over.Lunatics
We're like kids us drivers, you need to get strict with us when it appears we're not paying attention (cos we're not) ! !
I had a very close shave on an event a few years back.
A long fast blind right to the flying finish was the location (on gravel), I was manning the timing on said flying finish.
Car comes to a complete stop just after the boards, despite our shouts of keep going! Move!! driver sat there with a gaping look on his face, I could hear another car rapidly approaching so ran over to them to get them to bugger off. Driver tries to hand me the time card, I shout at them that this is FLYING FINISH and the stop line is where they can see the big blue Discovery on the top of the road. (I think they were French or something, so the language barrier didn't help)
Before I know it a WRC Subaru comes hammering around the bend to the flying finish. Much tank slapping ensued as he managed to avoid the still stationary car. The Subaru driver must have been taking his belts off mid tank slap because he was out of the car faster than a bullet screaming all sorts at me and the other car.
Managed to calm him down and explain everything. He was apologetic for screaming at me but he "had the mist" as he put it.
Doing a lot of finish & flying finish duties you'd be surprised at just how many cars seem to pull up to a crawl as soon as they've gone through the boards. often oblivious to a car right up their chuff!
A long fast blind right to the flying finish was the location (on gravel), I was manning the timing on said flying finish.
Car comes to a complete stop just after the boards, despite our shouts of keep going! Move!! driver sat there with a gaping look on his face, I could hear another car rapidly approaching so ran over to them to get them to bugger off. Driver tries to hand me the time card, I shout at them that this is FLYING FINISH and the stop line is where they can see the big blue Discovery on the top of the road. (I think they were French or something, so the language barrier didn't help)
Before I know it a WRC Subaru comes hammering around the bend to the flying finish. Much tank slapping ensued as he managed to avoid the still stationary car. The Subaru driver must have been taking his belts off mid tank slap because he was out of the car faster than a bullet screaming all sorts at me and the other car.
Managed to calm him down and explain everything. He was apologetic for screaming at me but he "had the mist" as he put it.
Doing a lot of finish & flying finish duties you'd be surprised at just how many cars seem to pull up to a crawl as soon as they've gone through the boards. often oblivious to a car right up their chuff!
Cyder said:
You can hear the co driver in the videos voice change tone, get louder and emphasise things when he notices 'the mist' has landed in the video above! 
You're right, managing drivers is like looking after a naughty child!
Haha you're spot on . My nav used to rap me over the knuckles with a steel ruler when the mist came down , bloody hurt too .You're right, managing drivers is like looking after a naughty child!
http://www.somersetstagesrally.com/2015/03/16/impo...
The downfall of stage rallying on gravel has received it's first nail in the coffin.
Fields are to now run in a single group with fastest cars seeded first and so on.
I predict many of lower cars either leaving gravel series' all together in favour of Tarmac which has less of an impact on the cars. It could also spell an end to the rally first series.
I've already read a few of the lower leaderboard runners say they can't take much more, and that being low down on events like the Wyedean have had a damaging effect on their cars.
The downfall of stage rallying on gravel has received it's first nail in the coffin.
Fields are to now run in a single group with fastest cars seeded first and so on.
I predict many of lower cars either leaving gravel series' all together in favour of Tarmac which has less of an impact on the cars. It could also spell an end to the rally first series.
I've already read a few of the lower leaderboard runners say they can't take much more, and that being low down on events like the Wyedean have had a damaging effect on their cars.
RyanTank said:
http://www.somersetstagesrally.com/2015/03/16/impo...
The downfall of stage rallying on gravel has received it's first nail in the coffin.
Fields are to now run in a single group with fastest cars seeded first and so on.
I predict many of lower cars either leaving gravel series' all together in favour of Tarmac which has less of an impact on the cars. It could also spell an end to the rally first series.
I've already read a few of the lower leaderboard runners say they can't take much more, and that being low down on events like the Wyedean have had a damaging effect on their cars.
this was how it was back in the day. what's changed to make it not viable anymore?The downfall of stage rallying on gravel has received it's first nail in the coffin.
Fields are to now run in a single group with fastest cars seeded first and so on.
I predict many of lower cars either leaving gravel series' all together in favour of Tarmac which has less of an impact on the cars. It could also spell an end to the rally first series.
I've already read a few of the lower leaderboard runners say they can't take much more, and that being low down on events like the Wyedean have had a damaging effect on their cars.
Fastest cars first is normal running order in my part of the world too, how do you usually do it there?
Sometimes they will be split into classes as well though with longer gaps between each class - ie national championship cars fastest-slowest, then classics fastest-slowest, then clubman class fastest-slowest.
Sometimes they will be split into classes as well though with longer gaps between each class - ie national championship cars fastest-slowest, then classics fastest-slowest, then clubman class fastest-slowest.
For BTRDA championship they changed it so the <1400's ran at the front of the field, then sometimes historics followed by conventional seeding.
Anyway, in other news my entry is in for the Somerset Stages in a MG ZR.
Can't wait, renewed my licence today and need to order some notes soon so I can bore myself to death watching the DVD!
Anyway, in other news my entry is in for the Somerset Stages in a MG ZR.
Can't wait, renewed my licence today and need to order some notes soon so I can bore myself to death watching the DVD!
Cyder said:
For BTRDA championship they changed it so the <1400's ran at the front of the field, then sometimes historics followed by conventional seeding.
As Cyder said, this is how most gravel events run. Its always worked well for the likes of mini's and nova's as they don't get the greatest of clearance, and the rally first category in their basic Micra's/107 don't get dealt a great deal of damage. The entrants in this field are often the "on a shoestring" competitors so any damage reduction to them is a bonus to enable them to keep going for the season. Now their faced with tackling a stage already run on by 100 previous cars, mostly 4wd, so chewing it all up ahead of them, at least now you'll know they are coming from the sump thumping 
I'f I'm completely honest, I think its a backwards decision especially with spectator safety in mind. Running a field of 150 cars in one lump leaves no gaps for movement about a stage. Spectators now only have the option of staying put, moving about on a live stage, or staying away completely. At least with the categories there was an average of 10-20 minutes before last category car and first category car. It doesn't sound like much, but often its just the right amount of time to move locations, or to get out of the stage.
There's been no shortage of low seeded cars making it apparent that their low running order on the Wyedean caused damage to the car they wouldnt have suffered had the seeding's not been as they were. Perez in the Stratos a prime example (although I do feel he had a bit too much of a moan about it all). I read on a facebook page that one of the back runners wrote that he'd run on better tracks after a tank training exercise than the condition of one of the Wyedean stages!
There's already talk of a few competitors switching discipline to tarmac events too as they don't suffer the stage cutting as gravel does.
My other concern is a personal one related to my duties on a start line on events, The gap usually gave you chance to switch roles or grab a quick drink/snack/toilet break between categories. However if I'm now faced with putting 150 cars into a stage without that gap I'm going to be going home without a voice or a very sore throat, a couple of events don't have the fancy light starts and require a manual '5,4,3,2,1,GO!'. We've been running a start with minimum staffing these last few events so no one spare is able to pick up my duties etc
Cyder said:
Anyway, in other news my entry is in for the Somerset Stages in a MG ZR.
Can't wait, renewed my licence today and need to order some notes soon so I can bore myself to death watching the DVD!
Can't wait, renewed my licence today and need to order some notes soon so I can bore myself to death watching the DVD!
Have a good event Cyder, still not sure if I'm attending the event. waiting on the new work rota before I commit.Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff