WRC and other rallying

Oops! · 01-03-2021 2:16pm

I hate to say it but Breen's chance of a full time seat in a top car is gone....

h3000 · 01-03-2021 3:17pm

Oops! wrote: »

I hate to say it but Breen's chance of a full time seat in a top car is gone....

It’s going to be tough to get a competitive seat alright. There is quite a few very quick drivers but very few seats, fewer is Hyundai do leave. Craig can be really quick but never really had the program or car to develop the consistency. Hopefully he will have a program next year.

Oops! · 01-03-2021 4:32pm

h3000 wrote: »

It’s going to be tough to get a competitive seat alright. There is quite a few very quick drivers but very few seats, fewer is Hyundai do leave. Craig can be really quick but never really had the program or car to develop the consistency. Hopefully he will have a program next year.

He's 30 now, not the new kid on the block anymore. He's had the programs, the cars and more importantly the £££££ behind him to get where he is today. He'll still get drives and programs at other levels, but the top level full time seat is gone now....

h3000 · 01-03-2021 5:55pm

Oops! wrote: »

He's 30 now, not the new kid on the block anymore. He's had the programs, the cars and more importantly the £££££ behind him to get where he is today. He'll still get drives and programs at other levels, but the top level full time seat is gone now....

Maybe so alright, though it seemed to be very difficult to get the best out of the C3.

I fear you are correct but I hope he will have a good chance in the Hyundai.

recyclebin · 05-03-2021 10:35pm

Is there talks of Hyundai leaving? WRC would be dead if that happens. M-Sport are just hanging in there as is. That would only leave Toyota.

h3000 · 05-03-2021 11:12pm

recyclebin wrote: »

Is there talks of Hyundai leaving? WRC would be dead if that happens. M-Sport are just hanging in there as is. That would only leave Toyota.

The is/was some concern about it as Hyundai have not committed to 2022. There was also talk that Hyundai hadn’t given the go ahead to develop the 2022 car. There has been an update on the situation just released today though (link below).

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/adamo-optimistic-hyundai-will-stay-in-wrc-beyond-2021/5590448/

afatbollix · 06-03-2021 11:43pm

I remember talking to Breen when he was 16, He had money to go down the BTCC route. He did very well at karting and had the two options.

Rallying or track racing.

If any kids are reading this, there is no money in rallying go race on tracks as much as you can.

It's a shame that's it true as rallying is just another level!

Car99 · 06-03-2021 11:52pm

h3000 wrote: »

The is/was some concern about it as Hyundai have not committed to 2022. There was also talk that Hyundai hadn’t given the go ahead to develop the 2022 car. There has been an update on the situation just released today though (link below).

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/adamo-optimistic-hyundai-will-stay-in-wrc-beyond-2021/5590448/

Is WRC that important to the sport of rallying ? There will all ways be international and national rally championships with just as impressive machinery and pilots if not better machinery depending on whatever style floats your boat.

Oops! · 07-03-2021 2:17pm

Yes it is... But the problem is manufacturers have no interest in rallying anymore... It's too dirty, doesn't fit the image of the modern day green eco boxes they are trying to sell.

h3000 · 31-03-2021 9:27am

I know that hybrid tech isn't everyone favorite in motorsport right now but I think this is good news for the future of the WRC.

https://twitter.com/OfficialWRC/status/1377153966627188739?s=20

h3000 · 01-04-2021 8:11am

From some really positive news yesterday to what I think is a frankly stupid idea today.

https://www.wrc.com/en/news/2021/wrc/crazy-corner-adds-new-scoring-element-for-drivers/

Edit: As pointed out by kksaints. I'm an April fool.

kksaints · 01-04-2021 8:41am

h3000 wrote: »

From some really positive news yesterday to what I think is a frankly stupid idea today.

https://www.wrc.com/en/news/2021/wrc/crazy-corner-adds-new-scoring-element-for-drivers/

Good April fools joke alright. Just enough doubt as to whether it's real or not.

h3000 · 01-04-2021 8:51am

kksaints wrote: »

Good April fools joke alright. Just enough doubt as to whether it's real or not.

Ah...... I can't believe I fell for one. I had a fifteen hour day yesterday if that's any excuse.

afatbollix · 03-04-2021 9:55pm

I watched extreme e today.

Not sure what thread it should be in but this seems right.

A few crashes today, Some surprising times and it was entertaining.

Not sure what races are going to be like but the time trials were alright when I watched on Facebook. Seems they are getting the right PR anyway. Might get rallycross back on the map.

ricimaki · 04-04-2021 11:45am

afatbollix wrote: »

I watched extreme e today.

Not sure what thread it should be in but this seems right.

A few crashes today, Some surprising times and it was entertaining.

Not sure what races are going to be like but the time trials were alright when I watched on Facebook. Seems they are getting the right PR anyway. Might get rallycross back on the map.

This just popped up on YouTube for me. I'd never heard of it before, but it looks interesting. Races are live here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQXkRbjQw1w

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton both have teams through to the finals. Mix of rally, rallycross and formula 1 drivers

h3000 · 11-04-2021 8:51pm

Breen won in Sanremo then took a 10 second penalty (apparently to had win to Italian Hyundai driver Crugnola) but the penalty has now been cancelled handing the win back to Craig. It all seems very strange.

https://twitter.com/rallyinsight/status/1381331818448830464

JMR46 · 22-04-2021 3:47pm

Craig had quite a slow time in Shakedown in Croatia, even after 3 runs, he was slowest WRC

Hopefully this doesn't mean he will struggle on this event. It's his first proper tarmac rally in the Hyundai

h3000 · 22-04-2021 3:55pm

JMR46 wrote: »

Craig had quite a slow time in Shakedown in Croatia, even after 3 runs, he was slowest WRC

Hopefully this doesn't mean he will struggle on this event. It's his first proper tarmac rally in the Hyundai

Hopefully he was just saving tyres. Even on a very bad day I can see him being nearly 1.5 seconds a km slower than Elfyn.

h3000 · 26-04-2021 10:29am

Rally Croatia proved to be a great rally. Not a great weekend for Breen unfortunately. He could not get any confidence in the car but Tanak seems to have had a similar problem. Hyundai messed up Saturday's tyre choice too.

Ogier had a crash on the road section before SS17 which came very close to ending his rally. He also had a bit of hassle with the local police because of said crash. Ogier took the win in the end by .6 seconds over Evans. Evans lost a second or so on the very last corner.

Top Dog · 26-04-2021 1:17pm

He nearly ran over one policeman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cygNKsgHTZI

h3000 · 26-04-2021 1:38pm

Top Dog wrote: »

He nearly ran over one policeman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cygNKsgHTZI

It was all very messy. Apparently one police officer told him he could leave but the other didn’t no that. Apparently the police spoke very little English too. He was fined €5000 and received a suspended one race ban for the whole incident. He was fined another €2000 for breaking a red light too.

Driving at a police officer is never a good look though.
https://twitter.com/SebOgier/status/1386369617241821197

JMR46 · 26-04-2021 5:26pm

h3000 wrote: »

Rally Croatia proved to be a great rally. Not a great weekend for Breen unfortunately. He could not get any confidence in the car but Tanak seems to have had a similar problem. Hyundai messed up Saturday's tyre choice too.

Ogier had a crash on the road section before SS17 which came very close to ending his rally. He also had a bit of hassle with the local police because of said crash. Ogier took the win in the end by .6 seconds over Evans. Evans lost a second or so on the very last corner.

The Power Stage was a great watch, right down to the wire after 3 days to be decided on the last corner. Seriously entertaining!

jelutong · 26-04-2021 9:24pm

Massive amount of spectators on some of the stages. If there’s an increase in COVID numbers in Croatia because of this it could jeopardise future events in the WRC.

afatbollix · 26-04-2021 10:10pm

jelutong wrote: »

Massive amount of spectators on some of the stages. If there’s an increase in COVID numbers in Croatia because of this it could jeopardise future events in the WRC.

Not to take it off topic but FYI track and trace have said that only 1 out of 1000 traced cases was transmitted outside.

It's the safest place to be.

It's the first rally I haven't had WRC +, I felt shafted last year and canceled my account after the year. Didn't miss it, unfortunately.

h3000 · 27-04-2021 10:09pm

Craig Breen is off to compete in the Targa Florio rally again. It really can’t have been an easy decision to reach. Best of luck to him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COLTC2DHigp/

JMR46 · 27-04-2021 11:21pm

h3000 wrote: »

Craig Breen is off to compete in the Targa Florio rally again. It really can’t have been an easy decision to reach. Best of luck to him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COLTC2DHigp/

Brave decision, you'd have to admire it.

h3000 · 30-04-2021 9:44am

Paul Nagle is on the Dermot and Dave Show TodayFM at some stage this morning to do an AskMeAnything.

kksaints · 12-05-2021 9:09pm

https://www.wrc.com/en/news/2021/wrc3/ex-soccer-boss-realistic-on-portugal-expectations/?fbclid=IwAR1YK7PkNBp8nCd3zz7NcCTvb5iQaMMGpr2Mqq7LEGelco2Xvzh69C7J8Ao

One of those weird sporting crossovers that you get every now and then.

Oops! · 13-05-2021 1:02pm

Has had a very interesting life that man.... Fair f**ks to him!

h3000 · 06-06-2021 2:16pm

Great rally by Ogier again. Broken Hyundai for Tanak again.
And a bit extreme by the officials
https://twitter.com/DirtFishRally/status/1401526289731891203

h3000 · 11-06-2021 10:32am

Breen & Nagle back in the Hyundai for Rally Estonia next month. I hope things go their way and they put in a really good performance. I'd say it could be important for next year.

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1403260784638152705?s=20

Car99 · 11-06-2021 4:59pm

h3000 wrote: »

Breen & Nagle back in the Hyundai for Rally Estonia next month. I hope things go their way and they put in a really good performance. I'd say it could be important for next year.

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/1403260784638152705?s=20

How do the part time WRC drivers make a living , is payment for a few WRC works drives per year enough?

h3000 · 11-06-2021 6:31pm

Car99 wrote: »

How do the part time WRC drivers make a living , is payment for a few WRC works drives per year enough?

I’m not too sure but I’d imagine it’s partly through sponsorship. I believe Craig does a lot of development testing with Hyundai too so I’m sure that’s paid work. I really don’t know if a part time driver like Craig would be on a salary for rallies alone.

Oops! · 13-06-2021 2:03am

Of course they are. You sign a contract, you get paid.

h3000 · 13-06-2021 1:51pm

Oops! wrote: »

Of course they are. You sign a contract, you get paid.

Fair enough. As I said I wasn’t sure. There are many drivers out there who are not paid by the teams and only earn through sponsorship. I’m glad to hear Craig is being paid.

Oops! · 13-06-2021 1:57pm

Hyundai and Toyota are manufacture fully funded Teams.... Msport on the other hand have a very different business module.

afatbollix · 13-06-2021 9:46pm

Reportedly about 300k a year for Craig.

Him and Kris Meeke moved to Andora for tax reasons a few years ago. You don't move there for your normal wage.

Inquitus · 15-06-2021 12:55pm

It's a shame how far WRC has fallen since it's Group B heyday. I was watching the 1982 to 1986 seasons there last week, when the legend Michèle Mouton should really have won the Drivers championship but for a cruel twist of fate on the final stage of the final rally. The popularity of the Sport at that time was unprecedented, 100,000's at the roadside, in some places the crowds were just mad, some of the footage of the cars going through the sea of people is frankly ludicrous and would never be tolerated in this day and age.

Even with the demise of the Group B cars the sport still remained very popular through the 90's into the early 2000's with the likes of Subaru and Colin McRae, Carlos Saintz Sr. and Tommi Mäkinen. Hard to put a finger on when its popularity waned, it truly is a shame, I remember as a youngster studying at Leeds University going to 1995 stage in Leeds with the cars going off as the sun had set, was quite the sight. I also caught a stage of Rally Ireland up in the Silvermines mountains in Tipp very close to my late Grandfathers house.

Anyone got any idea when the support levels really dropped off? I remember that highlights were on BBC or ITV every night when I was a kid, those days are sadly over.

Oops! · 15-06-2021 11:12pm

Early 2000's it was all down hill from there. manufactures had seen what was coming.....

afatbollix · 16-06-2021 10:38am

When normal TV lost the TV coverage. Tried to do an F1 with it by giving it to a commercial partner. They just wanted money so sold the rights to pay TV or only an hour on Sunday.

Even tho it's a niche sport, They still get huge amount of fans on the side of the stages, Unlike F1 you could have millions at the side of the road. In Wales it's only when the other 20 miles of forest roads are full of parked cars is when they stop letting people in. Spain they have to close motorways....

Eurosport is handing back the rights to ERC and the WRC is going to run that. I hope that means that WRC could end up back on Eurosport. Used to love watching the WRC each night on Eurosport. Life is too full to watch all of the live stages but I do watch quite alot of it.

h3000 · 25-06-2021 6:27am

The new “Safari” rally just kicked off proper stages. It’s going to be interesting.

h3000 · 25-06-2021 7:29am

h3000 wrote: »

The new “Safari” rally just kicked off proper stages. It’s going to be interesting.

Well maybe it’s a little bit Safari like after all. Car breaker. Big gaps.

Oops! · 25-06-2021 8:11am

Going to be interesting is right!

Oops! · 25-06-2021 8:15am

One Toyota and one Hyundai already out for the day, Another Toyota and a Hyundai in big trouble.... An and a 91 year old Polish man running at the back of the field in a brand new rally 3 Fiesta....

Oops! · 25-06-2021 9:30am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLLX4p1DdNM

Local driver Tejveer Rai had a heavy shunt on SS3.

JMR46 · 25-06-2021 10:58am

https://twitter.com/joshuafolks/status/1408320076282015745?s=20

This is some shot. Flying past wildlife at massive speeds!
Good rally so far. Attrition rate could be very high.

h3000 · 25-06-2021 12:15pm

Ogier, Neuville & Tanak not happy with the second loop so far. The rutts are far too deep and the cars a bottoming out. The second running of Chui Lodge is 12 seconds slower fastest to fastest so far.

Oops! · 25-06-2021 12:41pm

This next one coming up could take a victim or two..... They may get over it and get used to it and drive accordingly.

h3000 · 25-06-2021 1:16pm

The cars on the previous runnings of Safari used to be a lot closer to rallyraid cars than to the tarmac or even gravel cars. They could handle the rough conditions a lot better.

JMR46 · 25-06-2021 2:45pm

Another one gone ....Rovanpera got stuck.

Katsuta up to second, great craic

Wouldnt be surprised if he won it but my money is still on Ogier, he knows how to keep it going in any conditions

WRC and other rallying

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