Is modern rally footage a bit pants
Discussion
Just been watching this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og4UXHiC8fE
And even taking aside the awesome cars and variety of this era. What struck me more profoundly was how much more enjoyable it was to watch.
Modern rallying with all these in car shots just don't capture the action and sounds the same. In fact watching the WRC on Dave is almost boring by comparison.
Am I the only one that things like this?
Modern technology and progress - pah!
And even taking aside the awesome cars and variety of this era. What struck me more profoundly was how much more enjoyable it was to watch.
Modern rallying with all these in car shots just don't capture the action and sounds the same. In fact watching the WRC on Dave is almost boring by comparison.
Am I the only one that things like this?
Modern technology and progress - pah!
EDLT said:
Wait until Rally GB. The BBC made an hour long special program that was purely rallying, no interviews, no celebrities and NO ADVERTS!
It was brilliant imo.
An hour? well I just can't wait.....*It was brilliant imo.
I suppose the decline in coverage marks the decline in the events themselves gone are the 4 day endurance races and all that is left are short centralised sprint events. You could also be forgiven for thinking that the rallies today have, at most, 10-15 entrants.
- the good old days had live coverage throughout the event from around all the country day and night.
The whole thing is as boring as f
k.
The impression the viewer gets is that the WRC cars are nearly as advanced as the road going equivalents. Then the whole event seems about as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race, with idiots like Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart on jollies all around the place.
It's about as parochial as motorsport gets with little importance to brands or the futherment of motorsport itself.
Kill the current setup and bring back some Group B style machinery- the public needs to see WRC as being a technological masterclass, not some nobody in what looks like a showroom Citroen on a drive to the shops winning everything in sight. It's crap.
k.The impression the viewer gets is that the WRC cars are nearly as advanced as the road going equivalents. Then the whole event seems about as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race, with idiots like Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart on jollies all around the place.
It's about as parochial as motorsport gets with little importance to brands or the futherment of motorsport itself.
Kill the current setup and bring back some Group B style machinery- the public needs to see WRC as being a technological masterclass, not some nobody in what looks like a showroom Citroen on a drive to the shops winning everything in sight. It's crap.
The current WRC scene is dull as ditchwater ....
This is more like it !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozntieZs8Bg
This is more like it !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozntieZs8Bg
EDLT said:
Wait until Rally GB. The BBC made an hour long special program that was purely rallying, no interviews, no celebrities and NO ADVERTS!
It was brilliant imo.
Very true but it was hidden away on BBC Wales and was only on I player for a couple of days, its amazing what a difference proper commentary and better chosen footage does for a sport. It was brilliant imo.
As from next year its all change in the sport, the WRC spec cars are no more being replaced by 1.6 turbo versions of existing S2000 cars. I like the s2000s because they sound good and there are more than two makes! Making them turbo charged seems like a backward step.
Rallying in the Eighties and even the Nineties seemed so much better, more teams, more drivers all of whom appeared to have personality's and something interesting to say.
TXWRX said:
to really enjoy rallying you need to go onto the stages
Really?What is there? 8 cars in the WRC? You spend all day stood in a freezing forest to see 8 cars pass you once (and then some clingers on). Sounds..err...pants to be fair.
Circuit racing you get to see a lot more action from the headline race (usually with more than 8 cars) and the clingers on.
You either get it or you don't, out on the stages its normally the WRC class cars followed by about 50 others of various different classes. If you plan it right you can get a great vantage points and see the action from different stages through out the day, its far more involved than watching circuit racing and requires a certain level of dedication (kinda casual spectating meets hiking!) but it can be thoroughly enjoyable.
Rallying does take place in more venues than just freezing forrests, and there are more rallies in this country than just rally GB
That was probably the best way to put it, you either get it or you don't, but if you haven't been to any rallies and are basing your view on what you've seen on dave then you haven't seen the sport in its best light
That was probably the best way to put it, you either get it or you don't, but if you haven't been to any rallies and are basing your view on what you've seen on dave then you haven't seen the sport in its best light
RPM's coverage of Irish rallying is far better than any WRC coverage, in a half hour slot they cover more stage mileage than dave covers in an hour, interviews are short and sweet, no celebs & no scalextric. Each rally is normally spread over 2 shows. the first being the top 10 runners the second show covers the 2 wheel drives and modified cars. Sometimes they even throw in the classics.
It's not the footage that's pants, the events are.
There is no depth of entry to the events any more, the result of a rally is almost a foregone
conclusion. In 1980 Henri Toivonon won the RAC from a start number of 16.
I have been spectating since the late 60's and the high point for me was the Group B days.
The cars were fantastic to watch, but the entry list was full of world class drivers as well.
Whilst we will not see a return to the events of old, they should have more night stages and
the cars need to be cheaper to produce, hopefully increasing maufacturer involvment.
There is no depth of entry to the events any more, the result of a rally is almost a foregone
conclusion. In 1980 Henri Toivonon won the RAC from a start number of 16.
I have been spectating since the late 60's and the high point for me was the Group B days.
The cars were fantastic to watch, but the entry list was full of world class drivers as well.
Whilst we will not see a return to the events of old, they should have more night stages and
the cars need to be cheaper to produce, hopefully increasing maufacturer involvment.
It must be the lack of variety in the spec of the cars that makes it boring to watch on TV. In the GpB era (at least to start with) there were the Audis, Lancias, Metros, Peugeots etc, all with different engine/powertrain configurations, which gives them all a unique sound and style. Now, it appears more like a silhouette formula. The in car shots are used to keep the number of camera crews to a minimum, but they don't really allow the viewer to compare driving lines and styles throughout a stage. I am disappointed that since David Richards was given the TV rights, it seems to have got more boring to watch.
Munter said:
TXWRX said:
to really enjoy rallying you need to go onto the stages
Really?What is there? 8 cars in the WRC? You spend all day stood in a freezing forest to see 8 cars pass you once (and then some clingers on). Sounds..err...pants to be fair.
For example a couple of events I've been out on recently:-
Bulldog (Gravel / Forest)- circa 100 entries
Harry Flatters (Tarmac)- circa 100 entries
Mewla (Tarmac)- circa 150 entries
Woodpecker (Gravel / Forest)- circa 150 entries - on this coming weekend
10 Pence Short said:
The whole thing is as boring as fk.
The impression the viewer gets is that the WRC cars are nearly as advanced as the road going equivalents. Then the whole event seems about as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race, with idiots like Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart on jollies all around the place.
It's about as parochial as motorsport gets with little importance to brands or the futherment of motorsport itself.
Kill the current setup and bring back some Group B style machinery- the public needs to see WRC as being a technological masterclass, not some nobody in what looks like a showroom Citroen on a drive to the shops winning everything in sight. It's crap.
What utter sk.The impression the viewer gets is that the WRC cars are nearly as advanced as the road going equivalents. Then the whole event seems about as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race, with idiots like Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart on jollies all around the place.
It's about as parochial as motorsport gets with little importance to brands or the futherment of motorsport itself.
Kill the current setup and bring back some Group B style machinery- the public needs to see WRC as being a technological masterclass, not some nobody in what looks like a showroom Citroen on a drive to the shops winning everything in sight. It's crap.
te, as usual "some nobody in what looks like a showroom Citroen on a drive to the shops winning everything in sight"
That would be Sebastien Loeb, the best rally driver ever to have pulled on a helmet.
WRC is a "technological masterclass" that's why it's so effing expensive, one of the reasons there are so few manufacturers.
"as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race"
Ever been to a WRC event in Finland or Sweden?
Group B is dead and gone, get over it.
PH, the home of the ignorant Rally hater.
456lbft said:
It must be the lack of variety in the spec of the cars that makes it boring to watch on TV. In the GpB era (at least to start with) there were the Audis, Lancias, Metros, Peugeots etc, all with different engine/powertrain configurations, which gives them all a unique sound and style. Now, it appears more like a silhouette formula. The in car shots are used to keep the number of camera crews to a minimum, but they don't really allow the viewer to compare driving lines and styles throughout a stage. I am disappointed that since David Richards was given the TV rights, it seems to have got more boring to watch.
Couldn't agree more. Same is true of BTCC, DTM, LeMans, virtualy all formula series, ( F1 throws up a good race once every couple of months ), etc..etc..If every car looks and sounds the same then it's bound to be dull. In the end it's incidents and accidents that are the only happenings to break up the monotany which is surely not what it's about. I'm sure it's great to participate in but re spectating it's sh*t - you might as well get the Scalectrix out be done. Each to their own and all that but for me Historics and good Club motorsport are the best spectacle as you get variety in straight line performance, handling, looks, sound, smell, etc..which all combine for better viewing be it because you particularly like watching/hearing a Lancia Stratos or BRM V16 or because the variety often produces better racing. I say take the shackles off the designers/engineers but maybe somehow cap budgets so that it doesn't just become a spending competition.
PS. Re WRC we're screwed because manufactures are building bland front drive boxes and want to use rally machines to promote road car sales. If only there were more rear drive hatches and less regs to adhere to!
pixelpimp said:
PH, the home of the ignorant Rally hater.
I wouldn't say that, but you have to admit, as it stands the WRC is boring, and has lost its way. You only have to go back to the late 90's early 00's to see entertaining action on the stages. For me, i prefer to watch the irish tarmac events, for the old mk2 escorts and the likes, or the jim clark rally, but the tv coverage of rallying has gone from being good, to okay to poor as it is now. Maybe with the WRC switching to a variant of the S2000 cars we will get a return to entertaining action, but i guess we will soon find out10 Pence Short said:
The whole thing is as boring as fk.
The impression the viewer gets is that the WRC cars are nearly as advanced as the road going equivalents. Then the whole event seems about as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race, with idiots like Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart on jollies all around the place.
Willie Stobart is an absolute fk.The impression the viewer gets is that the WRC cars are nearly as advanced as the road going equivalents. Then the whole event seems about as high profile and professional as a small town's carnival duck race, with idiots like Andrew Tinkler and William Stobart on jollies all around the place.
ker for it! Gave up this year but last he competed Pendragon Stages, and only needed a member of bloody Westlife co-driving, all because he was in a WRC Focus. Malcolm Wilson is just as bloody bad...Another local rally driver recently spent 20k getting a Evo IX engine put in an Evo 8. FFS!
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