2022 Rallying Thread (WRC, ERC and national rally)
Discussion
The approach here is obvious, organisers are very worried about issues, so anything that can be seen as a hindrance is treated as one. Not every rally is like this I will admit, and I do not attend that many these days, but that was because after doing so for many years post the insurance panic it became less of a thing for me to want to do.
Rallying is looked upon differently abroad, in some countries it is still pretty much a free for all, in popular rallying countries like France, Italy, Belgium there are tightish controls, but the locals embrace it, encourage it and welcome it. Less restriction on places to watch, and a ticketing system in some places too, and people seem to stick tot he rules.
I guess they do here, but I would think there are are more issues getting it planned and organised than abroad. If you watch footage from say Rallye Legend any organiser here would be ripped a new one had the MSA seen that, yet that is hugely popular, EXACTLY because it is a hark back tot he old days a little bit. it is a show first and foremost, somehting that is sadly lacking in any events in the UK, probably because of legislation.
Although I have noticed a lot of Berg Cup events do not run anymore, so I am presuming the planning for these has become harder, there have been a few fatalities in the last decade or so, high profile too so maybe the same thing is happening thee.
Rallying is looked upon differently abroad, in some countries it is still pretty much a free for all, in popular rallying countries like France, Italy, Belgium there are tightish controls, but the locals embrace it, encourage it and welcome it. Less restriction on places to watch, and a ticketing system in some places too, and people seem to stick tot he rules.
I guess they do here, but I would think there are are more issues getting it planned and organised than abroad. If you watch footage from say Rallye Legend any organiser here would be ripped a new one had the MSA seen that, yet that is hugely popular, EXACTLY because it is a hark back tot he old days a little bit. it is a show first and foremost, somehting that is sadly lacking in any events in the UK, probably because of legislation.
Although I have noticed a lot of Berg Cup events do not run anymore, so I am presuming the planning for these has become harder, there have been a few fatalities in the last decade or so, high profile too so maybe the same thing is happening thee.
Rally Finland (1,000 Lakes) this weekend; hard to look past Toyota and young Kalle....Will Hyundai be fast and/or reliable? And can M-Sport get a decent result? Not helped by no pre event test.
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/why-m-sport-didnt-t...
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/why-m-sport-didnt-t...
ArnageWRC said:
Rally Finland (1,000 Lakes) this weekend; hard to look past Toyota and young Kalle....Will Hyundai be fast and/or reliable? And can M-Sport get a decent result? Not helped by no pre event test.
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/why-m-sport-didnt-t...
Looks a great event. One for the bucket list.https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/why-m-sport-didnt-t...
Yup here it is and post interview, he's very upset in this but tbh he only has himself to blame. He went off on the first corner of the first stage of the first full day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aj6-Nr_M8
He has 9 points after his 5 rounds, and of those 5 he's binned it on 4 of those rounds. That is just not good enough, even for someone so young. He needs to go back to WRC2 and learn his craft, to be able to be fast and consistent. At the moment he's neither.
I'd say M-sport are beginning to run out of funds from repairing cars if they didn't do any testing beforehand. Given Fourmaux is hellbent on retiring from every event he's been entered in, he went off today as well!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6aj6-Nr_M8
He has 9 points after his 5 rounds, and of those 5 he's binned it on 4 of those rounds. That is just not good enough, even for someone so young. He needs to go back to WRC2 and learn his craft, to be able to be fast and consistent. At the moment he's neither.
I'd say M-sport are beginning to run out of funds from repairing cars if they didn't do any testing beforehand. Given Fourmaux is hellbent on retiring from every event he's been entered in, he went off today as well!
Young Solberg isn't ready for a R1 car; he has talent, we can see that, but he needs to develop in his own time. He's been rushed into an R1 car, and it shows. A season in a R2 car in WRC, and/or ERC is what he needs. He doesn't appear to be learning. Why on earth is he pushing like that on the first proper stage?
Death, taxes and Fourmaux going off or hitting things....If it wasn't for his Red Bull backing, I guess he'd be out of that car, he's another who keeps making errors.
Death, taxes and Fourmaux going off or hitting things....If it wasn't for his Red Bull backing, I guess he'd be out of that car, he's another who keeps making errors.
Solberg needs more time for sure. I do however think he is living someone else’s passion .Petters involvement is too full on and he is making all the decisions meaning that Oliver is not taking ownership. He’s in thrall to his father, and he basically needs to tell him to duck off for a couple of years whilst he works out how to do this.
confucuis said:
It's expensive enough as is to run a rally, never mind the risk of crashing, but then to add the cost of replacing parts due to their much shortened life having been battered.
A UK perspective on this from a long retired competitor and a only slightly more recently retired spectator It's not enough to drag me back out, but as a lowly seeded clubman the thought of running at the back of the field on the woods is completely unappealing. I've done the Wyedean and the Woodpecker with a seeding of 100+ in the days of 20/30 4wd cars, god knows what it would be like now. Having said that I know lots of events run the samller 2wd stuff at the front now which is good but thats offset by the double usage
Closed roads have a different risk of cancelled stages, I remember following the results of one event last year and the lower runners lost something like 20% of the mileage. But it's one I'd take rather than battering the crap out of my car in the woods
GravelBen said:
Yeah I thought that was a bit rough! Especially coming from a guy that gets grumpy with drivers if they dare to make comments about car problems.
I think the frustration is boiling over for all at M-Sport; they can't compete, not helped by missing a pre event test. Asking their lead driver to push, and moaning when he goes off doesn't make sense. Thought Dave Richards was behind the clubman ? Now MSUK are looking to implement a new rule without consolation banning right hand side exhausts on modern spec Escorts , what is the point of this ? They ban the likes of Andy Burton with the best car in National rallying now this tosh on top , is there an agenda?
fttm said:
Thought Dave Richards was behind the clubman ? Now MSUK are looking to implement a new rule without consolation banning right hand side exhausts on modern spec Escorts , what is the point of this ? They ban the likes of Andy Burton with the best car in National rallying now this tosh on top , is there an agenda?
Can you name a competitor with a side exit exhaust on an Escort?The reasons may be many, cost, emissions, safety, reduce potential of setting fire to the verges. It doesn’t seem like a big deal.
fttm said:
Thought Dave Richards was behind the clubman ? Now MSUK are looking to implement a new rule without consolation banning right hand side exhausts on modern spec Escorts , what is the point of this ? They ban the likes of Andy Burton with the best car in National rallying now this tosh on top , is there an agenda?
To say there was no consultation is wrong. All changes go through the various committees, I have known about the proposal since the beginning of the year and it goes deeper than just the exhaust.To be honest I think all the changes that escorts have been allowed to make have gone to far, and is actually to the detriment of club rallying.
fttm said:
Thought Dave Richards was behind the clubman ? Now MSUK are looking to implement a new rule without consolation banning right hand side exhausts on modern spec Escorts , what is the point of this ? They ban the likes of Andy Burton with the best car in National rallying now this tosh on top , is there an agenda?
I think you've got the wrong end of the stick here, an explanation that I've read adds the clarity. " There are no new rules coming in it's simple a case of the current rules that have been in place for many years being better policed. A number of cars mostly Escorts are currently on Cat 1 log books but due to their shell modifications should now be on Cat 2 log books. No cars are being band they are just being log booked correctly. Because the Escort Mk1 & Mk2 had the auto tunnel as a homologation option they were allowed to run an auto tunnel with a cat 1 long book. When these tunnels became hard to find you were allow to fabricate a tunnel to the same dimensions as an auto tunnel. Over time these dimensions have become stretch way beyond what is allowed in Cat 1 passport. All that is happening is any cars with tunnels larger than an Auto tunnel will now be given a Cat 2 passport."
As others have said, MSUK rule changes (apart from significant safety issues) are issued as proposals for all to comment on as part of consultation.
But hey, let's not let the truth get in the way of another MSUK-bashing session.
Gassing Station | Rallying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff