Motorsport on Monday: 16/2/2015
More WRC WTF, and how things are looking up for Dean Stoneman
Mikkelsen and many others lost time in snow
It could be worse. You could be Jari-Matti Latvala, who was up with Ogier earlier in the rally, only to hit a snow bank and lose 12 minutes on Friday. He finished 12th. Citroen's Kris Meeke also hit a snow bank on Friday, almost recovering to sixth but finally being pipped by Ford driver Elfyn Evans.
The only consolation for Mikkelsen was that he was only in line for a shot at a win because Ogier, yes, hit a snow bank and lost 40 seconds on Friday. Oh, and that you weren't Robert Kubica, who broke a propshaft on Friday then was penalised for running too much turbo boost, dropping him down to 20th. No doubt he hit a snow bank along the way too.
Sweden a great watch. If you were there...
I searched in the Apple store for official WRC apps: no joy. I tried the official website, to see if there was something obvious there: at a glance, nothing. I asked on Twitter if anyone had any tips: even this was inconclusive. The closest I got to TV coverage was edited highlights from, I think, the day before. As there was no commentary, it was hard to tell.
I purposefully went in blind because, well, that's what the casual fan will do too. And even though I was showing willing to follow what seemed to be an exciting sport, I drew a blank. How many times must we ask you to sort it out, WRC?
Stoneman's return continues with Red Bull
Motor racing's greatest comeback continues. 24-year-old Dean Stoneman was a Brit on the up. In 2010, he won the Formula Two championship, securing him a test in a Williams F1 car: he jumped in and was fifth fastest. With a drive already secured in Formula Renault 3.5 alongside one Daniel Ricciardo, he was well and truly on the up.
Then, in 2011, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
This shattering news took racing off the agenda for while he recovered. But then, in 2013, the comeback began. He entered the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship; he won both races on his debut weekend. He'd have been in the running for the title but for a points-accrued two-race ban.
He progressed to GP3 in late 2013, finishing second in the series last year. And now, that debut in Formula Renault 3.5 is back on, with the crack DAMS team - and, last week, it was even confirmed he now has the backing of the Red Bull Junior Team. And we all know the track record of some drivers there - F1's Carlos Sainz Jr, for example
Stoneman is certainly one to watch. Now, with the backing of Red Bull - and access to things such as the F1 simulator and the steely backing of Helmut Marko, his career could remarkably be back on track into F1.
Oliver Turvey another Brit name to watch
Turvey on top
Another under-the-radar British driver to get a breakthrough deal for 2015 is McLaren test and development driver Oliver Turvey. After a frustrating season with the Delta Millennium ORECA P2 team last year - and just one race at Le Mans - he's secured a full time drive with the Dome Honda team in Japanese Super GT.
A very canny move, which Turvey apparently initiated via McLaren, and which may just put his plan to race LMP1 back on the cards. Should, of course, Honda decide to run such a campaign...
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[Pics: LAT]
It also has live maps amongst a lot of other features like head to head in car feeds of past stages.
The free WRC app has radio. Which i listened too for the 1st time this weekend as was very good. Had a lot information and kept you upto date with the action. As my daughter says, she listens to it in school to catch up.
WRC is out there for the fans
There's a few of us who like WRC and loved the final live stage on Bt sports . When the camera cut to a windscreen showing a snow bank we knew before the audio it was Mikkleson and we all sighed.
Rally will always struggle to circuit racing as TV spectator event but I'm finding that the TV coverage is very good and consistent so we had our own split points so could see in the last section who was flying.
The lack on in car split information has added to the rally as drivers don't know if to push or take it easy, although Yari-Matti might have wished for it this w/e.
The final stage was on BT sport LIVE and there is a WRC APP that streams all the stages live, at least on Android....
Don't do Fruit Products.....
The app is available for both Android and Apple...
http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/media/app/page/1042--80-...
...and again is not bad, even if some of its behind a pay wall (not much - only video footage that you can get similar via BT).
It also has live maps amongst a lot of other features like head to head in car feeds of past stages.
The free WRC app has radio. Which i listened too for the 1st time this weekend as was very good. Had a lot information and kept you upto date with the action. As my daughter says, she listens to it in school to catch up.
WRC is out there for the fans
There's a few of us who like WRC and loved the final live stage on Bt sports . When the camera cut to a windscreen showing a snow bank we knew before the audio it was Mikkleson and we all sighed.
Rally will always struggle to circuit racing as TV spectator event but I'm finding that the TV coverage is very good and consistent so we had our own split points so could see in the last section who was flying.
The lack on in car split information has added to the rally as drivers don't know if to push or take it easy, although Yari-Matti might have wished for it this w/e.
The final stage was on BT sport LIVE and there is a WRC APP that streams all the stages live, at least on Android....
Don't do Fruit Products.....
Another poorly researched PH piece ? Who'd have thought it ?
And even if you did miss all the stuff over the weekend ......
Fill yer boots :
http://www.tvguide.co.uk/titlesearch.asp?title=Wor...
The WRC is currently in pretty rude health, stop knocking it ! !
And that's before the coverage on wrc.com...and Rally Radio....and wrc+ if you want to pay for it. I'm not sure it's totally worth it yet - you don't get any extra live stages, but get maps and tracking.
And there are other ways of getting it.......
Another poorly researched PH piece ? Who'd have thought it ?
And even if you did miss all the stuff over the weekend ......
Fill yer boots :
http://www.tvguide.co.uk/titlesearch.asp?title=Wor...
The WRC is currently in pretty rude health, stop knocking it ! !
Guess my point was trying to put myself in the shoes of the casual observer who may have read all the social media buzz about WRC on Sunday morning and idly fancied watching a bit of it. As a World Championship event, the assumption may be that you can dip in and easily find out what's going on, but the neat stuff outlined above isn't all that straightforward to find. I intentionally crowdsourced and 'app-Google'd', to see what a passing fan may come up with, and wrote about the blank I drew.
But can it ever be that easy? Should it? Is WRC missing a trick by not drawing such people in, or will the sport always be out of bounds in this way because of its very nature? Does World Rallycross indeed deliver the quick 'sideways' hit we think maybe WRC should do, leaving the sport free to remain a bit more pure?
Plan to hook into BT Sport before the next round. After all, having to pay for TV access doesn't seem to have done football any harm...
BT sport app - https://appsto.re/gb/3RQ5N
World Rally Championship Highlights on ITV4 17/02/2015 20:00
BT sport had highlights shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening with live stages in between. ITV4 has a one hour show tonight at 8pm. The coverage is getting better and better. It's the marketing / advertising that is abysmal. WRC is barely mentioned on the BT sport home page and not once have I seen an advert for WRC highlights whilst watching prime time ITV.
Also if you don't fancy shelling out on the full BT subscription just download the BTsport app then ask a friend with BT subscription if you can borrow their username and password (this also works for Netflix). BT are far less restrictive than Sky go. No limit on devices and no blocking of video output so you can watch via the app and a VGA cable on your TV.
BT sport app - https://appsto.re/gb/3RQ5N
World Rally Championship Highlights on ITV4 17/02/2015 20:00
BT sport had highlights shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening with live stages in between. ITV4 has a one hour show tonight at 8pm. The coverage is getting better and better. It's the marketing / advertising that is abysmal. WRC is barely mentioned on the BT sport home page and not once have I seen an advert for WRC highlights whilst watching prime time ITV.
Also if you don't fancy shelling out on the full BT subscription just download the BTsport app then ask a friend with BT subscription if you can borrow their username and password (this also works for Netflix). BT are far less restrictive than Sky go. No limit on devices and no blocking of video output so you can watch via the app and a VGA cable on your TV.
Plenty of sports more popular than Rallying have moved to PayTV, and seen interest drop. Boxing, cricket, golf, etc
Most series promoters are more interested in making money than making their series more available to a wider audience.
We just have to accept that most motorsport is niche; only F1 and BTCC is live on free to view TV.
And as great as the finish to the Rally Sweden was; looking at it harshly – it didn’t register with lots of motorsport fans. An F1 test/ car unveiling gets more interest/ comments than a WRC event.
Plenty of sports more popular than Rallying have moved to PayTV, and seen interest drop. Boxing, cricket, golf, etc
Most series promoters are more interested in making money than making their series more available to a wider audience.
We just have to accept that most motorsport is niche; only F1 and BTCC is live on free to view TV.
And as great as the finish to the Rally Sweden was; looking at it harshly – it didn’t register with lots of motorsport fans. An F1 test/ car unveiling gets more interest/ comments than a WRC event.
I have, incidentally, bought the WRC+ package, to trial it for next time round. Buy it before the end of the month to grab a 20% off deal: £30 for a year's access sounds good to me!
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