"Rufant v1.0" (rufant)
02/18/2016 at 18:00 • Filed to: None
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"Rufant v1.0" (rufant)
02/18/2016 at 18:00 • Filed to: None | 3
| 14 |
I love rally. I have always loved rally and probably always will. However I am not blind to the fact it is not what it once was (insert your favourite motorsport category here, as this probably applies there too. Hello Touring Cars!).
I have just watched the (excellent) highlights of Day 3 of this years Rally Monte Carlo on WRC+ Update: I’ve just watched Sweden highlights and rebooted this to be shared here, Hi Oppo!
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(Sweden, despite the fact half the rally was cancelled due to lack of snow was pretty entertaining. The mixed conditions threw up a few surprises. The question as as always is not why Seb xxx is so fast, but how does he not make mistakes, or even when he does, they are not rally ending ones...? Go Paddon!)
It is a subscription service, but I would be happy with all motorsport being like that. Pick and chose what you want to see.
It had it’s moments, but, it’s all just a bit too sanitised these days.
Everyone blames the two Sebs, for making it predictable. They definitely operate on another level, for sure. But why is that? I have thought about this a lot, they seem to have this ability to run at the very fastest pace and yet still have the extra brain capacity to not hit that rock, or not cut that corner.
They are still freaks, no doubt about it, but I think that the fact that France’s rally championship is all tarmac, it has bred drivers that are particularly suited to the modern machinery.
Look at how well Loeb has done on the circuit.
Holy crap. This guy showed up to a F1 test session and was competitive, that is unheard of in the modern era.
Back to rally though. Modern rally cars respond to being driven like a circuit racer, neat, tidy. Some aggression but not too much. I really enjoyed last year when the championship front runner (Ogier) had to open the road. It was not fair and he complained bitterly about it at the time but we really saw what Ogier could bring if he really had too. A level of aggression rarely seen, and speed that no one had an answer for. I think he will look back on it and see it as some of his greatest drives.
Impressive? For sure, but exciting? I’ll just leave this here.
and this, (somewhere around 1.55 for the famous ‘dear God’ moment).
I spectated the RAC rally back in the day when Burns and Mcrae were will with us, the atmosphere was just incredible and the driving between the stages was almost as hot as the driving in the stages. I’m not heading back there any time soon, but I’m sure it’s not like that now.
For me a big part of the appeal back in the day was the connection between the rally car and a car you could (in theory at least) buy for use on the road. Even Group B they had to make road going versions:
Group A.
Which led to a fantastic legacy for road cars. But also meant it limited how far you could go with the competition version. Whereas now the competition version, apart from the overall shape has 4/5th of fuck all to to do with the road car. A 4wd Polo or Fiesta, keep dreaming.
I really thought with Todt running the FIA and with Michelle Mouton heading up rally we would see some sweeping changes, but no. For me the answer is ban 4wd, bring back homologation, bring back the Manx, and make the cars production based. It worked before...
SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 18:12 |
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They have insufficient magnets
Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 18:15 |
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Viewing has to be the toughest part, too expensive to have cameras everywhere or chase ‘copters though WRC+ is getting closer to that.
Its also tough to watch someone driving by themselves on the course, most racing that is popularly watched is head to head, though this can never happen in rally.
f86sabre
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 18:22 |
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In efforts to save money they cut down the types of rally. First Safari died, then hard core gravel rallies died, then they went to the notion that they had to have a common service area then the mild gravel rallies started to disappear until there are only a couple left. In my mind that is what has diminished it. That and mismanagement of the TV package. Two financial crisis in the last 15 years does not help.
Dusty Ventures
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 18:34 |
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I’d love to see homologation back, but the fact of the matter is the only thing that bringing it back would accomplish is causing every single manufacturer to leave the WRC. With today’s regulations (emissions, safety, efficiency, etc) it’s more expensive than ever to develop a car (or develop a special edition of a car), and a car’s racing pedigree isn’t as much of a selling point as it used to be. Manufacturers and the WRC know this, and that’s why homologation is dead. (Additional note, the manufacturers, both the current ones and ones that may join, all have a say in the rules. What we’re seeing today is influenced by what they want.)
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Rufant v1.0
> f86sabre
02/18/2016 at 18:39 |
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Yeah, the lack of variety in rallies is a real negative
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Rufant v1.0
> Dusty Ventures
02/18/2016 at 18:44 |
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If they made it a 2wd championship based around production cars i think it could work. Fiesta ST vs Mini Cooper vs Polo GTi vs BMW ??? It’s a hot segment for manufacturers. But i agree, it will never happen...
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Dusty Ventures
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 19:02 |
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BMW gives zero fucks about rally these days, it’s not the direction they want to go in. It sounds like you’re basically talking about making the R2/R3 spec the premier class. While I love me a good R2 car, I think the drop in speed and performance from current WRC spec to R2/3 would anger a lot of fans, teams, and drivers. And I still doubt many/any manufacturers would agree to homologation, even then.
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Rufant v1.0
> Dusty Ventures
02/18/2016 at 19:06 |
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I know. I just miss the link between the (mad) road cars and the rally cars. When they went from Grp B to Grp A it was likened to going from F1 to Formula Ford, but it ended up being brilliant. I’m just day dreaming about BMW i know...
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Dusty Ventures
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 19:17 |
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I’d say going from WRC spec to R3 is far more drastic than Group B to Group A. In the R2 I raced it was a struggle to get anywhere near 100 mph, even with a massive straight. I do feel where you’re coming from though
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Dusty Ventures
> Rufant v1.0
02/18/2016 at 19:24 |
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Also, if you don’t think there are “dear god” moments anymore...
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Rufant v1.0
> Dusty Ventures
02/19/2016 at 02:01 |
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All good vids. For me the original is still the best. However Ogier’s slide on the second day of Sweden was awesome (WRC+ has on board footage)
This was around when Paddon was monstering his lead. I love seeing Ogier lift his game when challenged.
Annnnnd then there is this (whole thing is awesome, albeit you see how far the footage has come in ten years, but the mad bit is around 4 mins in)
I’m not dissing the level of driving commitment. In general you see some awesome driving and great competition in many forms of motorsport. But everything these days is basically a silouette formula, there is no credible link from road cars to race/rally cars apart from some marketing bullshit. In my opinion probably the most interesting road performance cars were born out of homologation, everything from a (lower case) Mini Cooper to a 288 GTO. Now all the high performance road cars just seem a bit hollow in comparison, and motorsport slightly one dimensional. But as you say, it ain’t never going to happen again, so we just have to take the good bits out of what we have.
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Rufant v1.0
> SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman
02/19/2016 at 02:09 |
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FE reference?
Bit slow here...
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Rufant v1.0
> Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif
02/19/2016 at 02:14 |
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Well rally has always been man/machine vs the stage, head to head, rallycross takes care of that.
Personally I like the purity of rally, although I watch a lot of circuit racing too.
The coverage has come on leaps and bounds the last few years, but it will always be a niche offering. Spectating a rally is a different kind of fun to spectating a race.
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Dusty Ventures
> Rufant v1.0
02/19/2016 at 09:35 |
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At least rally still requires the use of factory shells and engine blocks (along with some other bits)