Why isn't Rallycross popular anymore?
Discussion
Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when Rallycross was regularly televised by the BBC on Saturdays - Minis, Escorts, Imps, Capri 4x4s, and the "invaders" from Europe (Jan de Rooy and his DAF for example).
Apart from a brief resurgence in the mid-80s (when Jonathan Palmer & others had a go), British interest in rallycross seems to be minimal.
Pitting a small grid of WRC cars against each other on a short, multi-surface track ought to be a recipe for spectacular entertainment - so what's gone wrong?
Apart from a brief resurgence in the mid-80s (when Jonathan Palmer & others had a go), British interest in rallycross seems to be minimal.
Pitting a small grid of WRC cars against each other on a short, multi-surface track ought to be a recipe for spectacular entertainment - so what's gone wrong?
I'm old enough to remember that too. Top entertainment; short races, lots of contact and sideways action. Appealed to the casual observer aswell as the enthusiast.
Lydden Hill was a popular venue, and hosted some iconic motor sport moments - a disintegrating Mini, and a famous 'Murrayism' from Murray Walker.
Also churned up the infield and deposited lots of mud on the tarmac, which must have been a headache for the host circuit.
Lydden Hill was a popular venue, and hosted some iconic motor sport moments - a disintegrating Mini, and a famous 'Murrayism' from Murray Walker.
Also churned up the infield and deposited lots of mud on the tarmac, which must have been a headache for the host circuit.
I remember those days too - at first it was heavily pushed by TV here, then the broadcast association who had the rights here thought it had gone 'too professional' with big budgets and all and killed it off with a rather vitriolic article in their TV guide...
Shame, as Saab went on to be triple European champion (with Anders Norstedt (sp?) in the 900 Turbo) in '87, '88 and '89...
[edit] Oh, and the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard did have the famous 'Blomqvist Street' of course...[/edit]
Shame, as Saab went on to be triple European champion (with Anders Norstedt (sp?) in the 900 Turbo) in '87, '88 and '89...
[edit] Oh, and the Eurocircuit in Valkenswaard did have the famous 'Blomqvist Street' of course...[/edit]
Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 3rd April 07:27
If Pat Doran has anything to do with it, you'll be seeing alot more!
He's taken over the lease on Lydden and is spending a big wedge getting the facilities up to scratch - tarmac'd the paddock, new office buildings, couple of grandstands on the hill, etc. I gather the intention is to relaunch the circuit as a top rallycross venue, get European level events there and attract in both the punters & presumably the TV. And all this is good news for regular Lydden club circuit racers like me.
Have a look at the new Lydden website http://www.lyddenracecircuit.co.uk/
He's taken over the lease on Lydden and is spending a big wedge getting the facilities up to scratch - tarmac'd the paddock, new office buildings, couple of grandstands on the hill, etc. I gather the intention is to relaunch the circuit as a top rallycross venue, get European level events there and attract in both the punters & presumably the TV. And all this is good news for regular Lydden club circuit racers like me.
Have a look at the new Lydden website http://www.lyddenracecircuit.co.uk/
fcat said:
If Pat Doran has anything to do with it, you'll be seeing alot more!
He's taken over the lease on Lydden and is spending a big wedge getting the facilities up to scratch - tarmac'd the paddock, new office buildings, couple of grandstands on the hill, etc. I gather the intention is to relaunch the circuit as a top rallycross venue, get European level events there and attract in both the punters & presumably the TV. And all this is good news for regular Lydden club circuit racers like me.
Have a look at the new Lydden website http://www.lyddenracecircuit.co.uk/
Bet me to it. Pat's going to put it back on the map and has applied to run the Rallycross GP there I believe. Just such a boring drive to Lydden - unless you live near the place....He's taken over the lease on Lydden and is spending a big wedge getting the facilities up to scratch - tarmac'd the paddock, new office buildings, couple of grandstands on the hill, etc. I gather the intention is to relaunch the circuit as a top rallycross venue, get European level events there and attract in both the punters & presumably the TV. And all this is good news for regular Lydden club circuit racers like me.
Have a look at the new Lydden website http://www.lyddenracecircuit.co.uk/
FCAT the other advantage of the return of Rallycross is that you'll still be able to blame the rallycross boys and their dust for your poor performances on-track
Motors TV are still showing British Rallycross.
http://www.rallycrossuk.com/coverage.php
Modern TV dictates that we have to go away from terrestrial TV for all the interesting motorsport (but at least we can still watch it).
http://www.rallycrossuk.com/coverage.php
Modern TV dictates that we have to go away from terrestrial TV for all the interesting motorsport (but at least we can still watch it).
Edited by Nicol@ on Thursday 3rd April 09:34
forsure said:
I'm old enough to remember that too. Top entertainment; short races, lots of contact and sideways action. Appealed to the casual observer aswell as the enthusiast.
Ahh yes I remember them days, Brands Hatch, 6r4's, T16's 
what fun they where to watch. The starts where my favourite part massive acceleration of the line, I remember a cossie Mk1 with a drag racing clutch 
fastest standing start by a 2 wheel drive car I have ever seen!forsure said:
famous 'Murrayism' from Murray Walker.
Not sure if it was Murray however the best one I remember was along the lines of "....they have the holes cut in the windscreen so they can still see where they are going even with all that mud.." then the car proceeded to miss the corner and crash front first into the barrier 
Edited by boycieboy on Thursday 3rd April 11:22
_Batty_ said:
ahh the good old days...
(Will Gollop in his 6R4)
The car park at the end of the meeting was always fun! I remember everyone turned to a 'crosser on the way out... fun times in my Mk1 XR2
Edited by boycieboy on Thursday 3rd April 10:41
boycieboy said:
forsure said:
I'm old enough to remember that too. Top entertainment; short races, lots of contact and sideways action. Appealed to the casual observer aswell as the enthusiast.
Ahh yes I remember them days, Brands Hatch, 6r4's, T16's what fun they where to watch. The starts where my favourite part massive acceleration of the line, I remember a cossie Mk1 with a drag racing clutch fastest standing start by a 2 wheel car I have ever seen!forsure said:
famous 'Murrayism' from Murray Walker.
Not sure if it was Murray however the best one I remember was along the lines of "....they have the holes cut in the windscreen so they can still see where they are going even with all that mud.." then the car proceeded to miss the corner and crash front first into the barrier robbo1 said:
Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when Rallycross was regularly televised by the BBC on Saturdays - Minis, Escorts, Imps, Capri 4x4s, and the "invaders" from Europe (Jan de Rooy and his DAF for example).
Apart from a brief resurgence in the mid-80s (when Jonathan Palmer & others had a go), British interest in rallycross seems to be minimal.
Pitting a small grid of WRC cars against each other on a short, multi-surface track ought to be a recipe for spectacular entertainment - so what's gone wrong?
Rallycross would be good place for all those WRC-spec cars to go when they are phased out. Brands, Lydden and Croft all have rallycross tracks, you could rework Silverstone's superspecial into a rallycross track and the International track could be remade quite nicely as well. Rockingham would make a great rallycross track as well. Apart from a brief resurgence in the mid-80s (when Jonathan Palmer & others had a go), British interest in rallycross seems to be minimal.
Pitting a small grid of WRC cars against each other on a short, multi-surface track ought to be a recipe for spectacular entertainment - so what's gone wrong?
The only problem I could see would be the running costs of WRC cars.
Edited by johnph on Thursday 3rd April 11:25
From my memory of the early days of rallycross on TV the cars were pretty standard and close to road spec - I even remember my Dad saying about entering Mum's mini into a race! As is the case with many series based on road cars I feel that the more the cars move away from the spec you can actually buy and drive on a daily basis the less the appeal. The current rallycross cars bear very little resemblanc eto anything which might be used on the road, in addition to costing fairly large amounts of money. I think this is similar to the situation with WRC cars such as the Citroen C4 - I don't see a turbo, 4WD model in the brochure so what is the relevance to me?
Dogsey said:
Happy days. Lydden Hill, Dimi Mavropoulos and his black Castrol sponsered mkII Escort, wlaking around the whole circuit on my own (aged about 8) while my Dad was out in the middle taking photo's.
Oh to be a kid again.
Oh to have Castrol pumping cash into the Sport again...Oh to be a kid again.
Calorus said:
Dogsey said:
Happy days. Lydden Hill, Dimi Mavropoulos and his black Castrol sponsered mkII Escort, wlaking around the whole circuit on my own (aged about 8) while my Dad was out in the middle taking photo's.
Oh to be a kid again.
Oh to have Castrol pumping cash into the Sport again...Oh to be a kid again.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwphoto_kent/94206364...
Edited by Dogsey on Thursday 3rd April 16:10
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff