The 2017 Rallying thread
Discussion
bananachips said:
df76 said:
lucido grigio said:
Meeke ,words fail me ,didn't realise he broke it on the opening stage.
Was great to see Mikkelsen doing the business in the Citoren.. really showed what the car is capable of (in the right hands).A friend was over in Finland and was told by the drivers parents and the driver himself who he was having dinner with that the just can't handle the jumps, it was completely unpredictable.
We'll just got done watching the Channel 5 coverage of Germany, great event and win by Ott. cant help feel he was somewhat handed it with SO & TN battling it out and both having issues. but smart tyre choices left him ahead early on and managed to stay there and a win is a win and Ott is fast, tarmac not necessarily his strongest surface so he'll obviously be buzzing at that.
Seb had a whinge about his set up and not getting what he wanted. I was under the impression Seb took one or two of his trusted engineers with him to M-Sport? maybe i'm wrong but hes had 3 new fiestas this season now and seems to complain after each one about the set up, maybe its time to stick with an old one!
Great drive by Mikkelsen, not sure the dig was needed about the car being good on tarmac, the car has been doing well on tarmac all season, its the loose stuff when its f
ked on.
I'd expect to see him in a C3 full time next year, with maybe Craig & Lefebvre sharing one. Maybe Meeke in the 2nd car, but who knows, the decision for drivers isn't made by Matton, it's by PSA hierarchy and someone there obviously someone there that isn't fond of him. Dropping him for Poland clearly hasn't worked.
His mistake on the opening stage was the last we heard about him on the TV stuff, but once he got back out he was right up there setting 2nd, 3rd and 4th fastest times on the stages, beating or equalling Andreas on some too! Then his water pump failed and he was out. So had he not smashed it up in the first place on a tight and pointless stage it'd been a completely different story. Not sure if anyone's watched the onboard but it was really tight for '17 spec cars and I think had Meeke not done it then one of the others certainly would have. the section he hits is 1.25 and looks barely wide enough to get the car through! No sear filter on the vid mind! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGZGt-woKec
WRC Turkey will either be cancelled due to political unrest/threats or just a boring dusty gravel event. That's if the cars get to stages and aren't smashed up on road sections, they cant drive for st out there 
Seb had a whinge about his set up and not getting what he wanted. I was under the impression Seb took one or two of his trusted engineers with him to M-Sport? maybe i'm wrong but hes had 3 new fiestas this season now and seems to complain after each one about the set up, maybe its time to stick with an old one!
Great drive by Mikkelsen, not sure the dig was needed about the car being good on tarmac, the car has been doing well on tarmac all season, its the loose stuff when its f
ked on.I'd expect to see him in a C3 full time next year, with maybe Craig & Lefebvre sharing one. Maybe Meeke in the 2nd car, but who knows, the decision for drivers isn't made by Matton, it's by PSA hierarchy and someone there obviously someone there that isn't fond of him. Dropping him for Poland clearly hasn't worked.
His mistake on the opening stage was the last we heard about him on the TV stuff, but once he got back out he was right up there setting 2nd, 3rd and 4th fastest times on the stages, beating or equalling Andreas on some too! Then his water pump failed and he was out. So had he not smashed it up in the first place on a tight and pointless stage it'd been a completely different story. Not sure if anyone's watched the onboard but it was really tight for '17 spec cars and I think had Meeke not done it then one of the others certainly would have. the section he hits is 1.25 and looks barely wide enough to get the car through! No sear filter on the vid mind! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGZGt-woKec
WRC Turkey will either be cancelled due to political unrest/threats or just a boring dusty gravel event. That's if the cars get to stages and aren't smashed up on road sections, they cant drive for s
t out there Alex Langheck said:
They're still ignoring NZ; absolutely shameful.
I agree, but then you would expect that! 
Some photos from my most recent local club rally here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6usSP1
DSC_6859 by Ben, on Flickr
DSC_6984 by Ben, on Flickr
DSC_7627 by Ben, on Flickr
DSC_7166 by Ben, on Flickr
DSC_7423 by Ben, on Flickr
DSC_7568 by Ben, on Flickr
DSC_7730 by Ben, on FlickrTo give you an idea of some of my local roads, here is an in-car vid from that rally. Yes he is simultaneously that casual and that committed on a blind rally, and yes the codriver is grabbing the gear lever on slower corners to stop it popping out of second...
https://www.facebook.com/MattSummerfieldRalliSport...
https://www.facebook.com/MattSummerfieldRalliSport...
Edited by GravelBen on Sunday 27th August 11:56
K50 DEL said:
Cracking looking stage Ben, can't help but think the driver might have been even quicker with some pace notes from the left seat.... He seemed to just have a roadbook on his lap, what's the story there?
A lot of club rallies here are run that way, drive it as you see it - but with junctions, hazards and particularly deceptive corners cautioned in the road book.Reduces event costs and time commitment for volunteers with less organisation needed, shorter events without an extra day of recce etc.
Our national championship rallies use notes, but still only 1-pass recce rather than the 2-pass system of WRC.
Love the Legacy
It was Mewla yesterday and I managed to get up there (only done 2 rallies this year... lack of speccy info and stage maps is really off putting!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbJ83PAtTM0
Done one of my videos
It was Mewla yesterday and I managed to get up there (only done 2 rallies this year... lack of speccy info and stage maps is really off putting!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbJ83PAtTM0
Done one of my videos
GravelBen said:
K50 DEL said:
Cracking looking stage Ben, can't help but think the driver might have been even quicker with some pace notes from the left seat.... He seemed to just have a roadbook on his lap, what's the story there?
A lot of club rallies here are run that way, drive it as you see it - but with junctions, hazards and particularly deceptive corners cautioned in the road book.Reduces event costs and time commitment for volunteers with less organisation needed, shorter events without an extra day of recce etc.
Our national championship rallies use notes, but still only 1-pass recce rather than the 2-pass system of WRC.
Either way, always fancied rallying in NZ and that video confirms it lol
GravelBen said:
A lot of club rallies here are run that way, drive it as you see it - but with junctions, hazards and particularly deceptive corners cautioned in the road book.
Reduces event costs and time commitment for volunteers with less organisation needed, shorter events without an extra day of recce etc.
Our national championship rallies use notes, but still only 1-pass recce rather than the 2-pass system of WRC.
Hi Ben,Reduces event costs and time commitment for volunteers with less organisation needed, shorter events without an extra day of recce etc.
Our national championship rallies use notes, but still only 1-pass recce rather than the 2-pass system of WRC.
Looks like great fun - quick question - are those road public or private?
Here in the UK, almost all the gravel rallies are on private roads (often government-owned Forestry Commission) and the notes/recce system is limited by access permission. That's why people like Pattersons / Scotmaps / Killian Duffy provide Route Notes (i.e. no competitor recce) for most rallies and only the BRC and WRC allow competitor recce. Recently a competitor was excluded for alleged illegal recce (or at least, allegedly being on the stage prior to the event).
Closed-public-road rally is a regular thing in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, it's coming to England in 2018, hopefully Wales and Scotland soon subject to various issues. We did have two closed--public-road rallies in Scotland but they are currently suspended awaiting new legislation.
Rallying is mostly on public roads here (that vid above is all public road), but some events also use private forestry roads which tend to be narrower, rougher and muddier. The nature of stages varies around the country too - where I am down south there are more fast, flowing, cresty roads (often compared to Finland, even by Finns), and up north you get more tight, winding roads through thick bush.
I think the events that do use/permit notes give competitors the choice between provided notes (which they can edit if they do recce) or writing their own from scratch - the more experienced drivers generally prefer to write their own when they can.
Classic rallies like the Silver Fern (which a few of your compatriots come over for) don't permit notes either, I've heard of competitors being exluded in the past for using notes obtained from previous rallies on the same roads.
I don't compete myself due to cost etc but being public roads means I can still drive the same roads the rest of the time... good fun (within the limits of visibility and sense obviously).
I think the events that do use/permit notes give competitors the choice between provided notes (which they can edit if they do recce) or writing their own from scratch - the more experienced drivers generally prefer to write their own when they can.
Classic rallies like the Silver Fern (which a few of your compatriots come over for) don't permit notes either, I've heard of competitors being exluded in the past for using notes obtained from previous rallies on the same roads.
I don't compete myself due to cost etc but being public roads means I can still drive the same roads the rest of the time... good fun (within the limits of visibility and sense obviously).
I think it's a smart move by Hyundai; give Andreas a taste of the car/ team in preparation for next year. Why else would you put him in the car for 3 rounds? A team with Neuville is pretty strong; let Sordo & Paddon share the other car, unless there are 4 cars for all rounds.
As for Citroen, who knows what will happen next year? Hopefully both Breen & Meeke keep their seats for 2018. Is Ogier returning to Citroen. Surely not Loeb...
As for Citroen, who knows what will happen next year? Hopefully both Breen & Meeke keep their seats for 2018. Is Ogier returning to Citroen. Surely not Loeb...
Alex Langheck said:
I think it's a smart move by Hyundai; give Andreas a taste of the car/ team in preparation for next year. Why else would you put him in the car for 3 rounds? A team with Neuville is pretty strong; let Sordo & Paddon share the other car, unless there are 4 cars for all rounds.
As for Citroen, who knows what will happen next year? Hopefully both Breen & Meeke keep their seats for 2018. Is Ogier returning to Citroen. Surely not Loeb...
Didn't see that one coming, but thought it should :As for Citroen, who knows what will happen next year? Hopefully both Breen & Meeke keep their seats for 2018. Is Ogier returning to Citroen. Surely not Loeb...
Slippydiff - 22nd August said:
If I were Hyundai/Nandan I'd be cutting Dani or Hayden loose (I know Dani's father is very wealthy and paid for Dani's drive in his early days with Citroen, so there's every chance he's paying Hyundai some money too) but they'd be crazy to miss out on Ogier, and the dream team of him and Neuville together would be awesome for the sport.
Surprised Meeke's kept his seat, Neuville and Mikkelsen at Hyundai would make a superb second option if Ogier walks away from the sport.Not hugely surprised with Paddon losing his seat for Spain. He really hasn't kicked on since his win, and people like Lappi have blown this "gaining experience" thing out of the water, getting on the pace straight away. Sordo is just a plodder and when he does push he goes off the road, just like in Spain. I would be looking to replace one of those two next year, even if they do have contracts in place.
I see Ogier has been negotiating with Citroen and wants a deal sorted by the end of the month. Would rather see Ford Performance pull their finger out and back M-sport, keeping Seb there tbh!
I see Ogier has been negotiating with Citroen and wants a deal sorted by the end of the month. Would rather see Ford Performance pull their finger out and back M-sport, keeping Seb there tbh!
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