World Rallycross Championship 2018

[chunder]

Sadly Duxford looks to have a very poor flight plan for the ticket prices. Not much flying that is interesting.

Brunters for me, Cod war Jets day on Sunday, best 20 quid you will ever spend in your life.

Speedmachine has had hundreds of thousands spent on marketing and endless offers. They will be paid bonuses on making it work, so this is speculate to accumulate.

I would imagine they will need to have 50000 people there to pay the bills of those groups and the discounts they have been doling out. A lot of it will be corporate obviously, that is their end game, hence the car trials etc.

I couldn't care less about WRX anymore anyway, haven't watched any of it this year and don't feel the least bit sad about it.

Rallycross for me at this level died a few years ago courtesy of people that should know better.

I don't necessarily blame IMG entirely, they are just doing what cretinous American companies like this do with everything, ruin it. But people like Whittington should have had more thought for fans, legacy and what the future holds.
Instead they just took the money and ran with it

[crossfades]

They are streaming the heats on Facebook right now and throughout the weekend.

[Marcopolo]

Top ARX drivers time would have been 13th in WRX... 5.5s between the top drivers.


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[Silhuette]

That's pretty interesting, the Polos run the same engines as the Beetles. Are the WRX cars running active diffs?

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[tbtstt]

Track conditions could be a factor as it was wet yesterday and the ARX cars ran first today? Most of the front running World drivers have done a lot more laps of the circuit as well.

If we see similar results in Q2 then I think it's reasonable to conclude that the World cars are faster though!

[S griffin]

Don’t forget you can watch it on Freesports tomorrow

[Marcopolo]

Btw where are most of you people from? Sounds like britian to me... I'm from South Africa

Originally Posted by S griffin

Don’t forget you can watch it on Freesports tomorrow

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[chunder]

Lol dirt is so hard packed it isn't really dirt, seems IMG are using the same dirt at every track.

Awful. Caught a few clips, you looks miles away watching, and hard to gauge crowd, but didnt looke that big.

[Marcopolo]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Track conditions could be a factor as it was wet yesterday and the ARX cars ran first today? Most of the front running World drivers have done a lot more laps of the circuit as well.

If we see similar results in Q2 then I think it's reasonable to conclude that the World cars are faster though!

ARX times were slower in Q3 that ran straight after WRX Q2 so I think the Q2 comparison is fair, apparently the cars are 25kg heavier than the WRX cars, sure IMG plan to bring them to the same rules eventually,

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[crossfades]

VWs average lap times for Q1 and Q2 for WRX, Q2 and Q3 for ARX:

Petter Solberg: 38,689
Johan Kristoffersson: 38,691
Tanner Foust: 39,187
Scott Speed: 38,902

Average lap times for just WRX Q2 and ARX Q3:

Petter Solberg: 38,475
Johan Kristoffersson: 38,440
Tanner Foust: 38,526
Scott Speed: 38,534

[S griffin]

VW seem to have got a handle on this series, judging by their times. Did well getting Solberg in the car and Kristoffersson is a great rallycross driver. Foust not sure about him and Speed just needs a good series to compete in. Seems they are going to have a good season.

Hope the action was good on both days, you have all the drivers and cars to make great racing

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Marcopolo

apparently the cars are 25kg heavier than the WRX cars, sure IMG plan to bring them to the same rules eventually

Yeah, I have read that a few times on Facebook but not seen any official confirmation yet.

There was a similar weight penalty (30 kilos) in the World regulations a few years ago when they were trying to close all the loopholes, so the additional weight would make sense if they are trying to pull all the GRC cars in the same direction.

So I'm afraid to say that I was presented with a last minute opportunity to get to Silverstone for free, so I caved in and went yesterday (yeah, I know, Judas).

The positives? This was much better organized than the British Championship round. Quick parking, quick entry and a quick exit. The whole street food thing was uber hipster, but I can't deny that there was some decent grub and the prices, although steep, were not excessive for a track event. There were a lot of static displays in and around the paddock area (plus some moving stuff), so quite a lot to check out aside from the racing. I'm fairly confident that you couldn't get anywhere near the same amount of content into the existing Lydden layout.

Would the above influence my decision to go to the event? Personally no, but I can see the day/weekend being a lot more appealing for the casual racing fan and I guess a wider audience is part of what Speed Machine is all about.

And the negatives? Well, as nice as the above refinements were, I don't think (as has been discussed before) that they justified the steep increase in ticket cost.

I did a brief walk around the spectator area and the jump area was the only place for photos. The crowd line is actually pretty close around turn one, but (obviously) there is high fencing there, so no photo opportunities. That said, I guess you could make the same critique of a number of European circuits. There are no high fences down the bottom of the circuit (and there seemed to be quite a number of people watching from there at the end of the day), but it's quite a way back.

The core issue for me though is still the track layout. There have definitely been refinements made since the British round, but it's still a slow circuit and not conducive to overtaking. With five months until the next use of the circuit I wonder if changes will be made?

Oh, and how many times do I have to say it: can people please stop employing Christian Stevenson. I would rather **** in my hands and clap then have to listen to his excruciating stage patter.

[S griffin]

There is definitely something going on, but we don’t know for sure. They might have added weight to it. It seems nothing much changed the circuit, I’d rather keep British Rallycross at the circuit. Seems the spectators got a bit of what they paid for. At least they had a good experience. There’s always gonna be critics of this series. And it’s not exactly pure motorsport to be honest

[leonidas]

A absurdly overpriced event at a slow, dreary circuit with spectators kept miles from the action. This is not rallycross at its best.

It says everything that the majority of hard-core rallycross regulars on here didn't go - and this is supposed to be the highlight of the year.

I still want WRX to succeed but I'm starting to think it may well be a bubble that is about to burst.

[feewaybill]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

The core issue for me though is still the track layout. There have definitely been refinements made since the British round, but it's still a slow circuit and not conducive to overtaking.

I only watched on TV and this was a real issue. They have managed to make the most exciting and dramatic cars look tame, particularly in comparison with earlier rounds. The racing was strung out and poor, and it was clear that the spectator area was distant from the majority of the track. No sense of inclusion in the event that you always got at Lydden.

I have no doubt it will be publicised as a huge success, but to my mind they have real issues with the core product caused by a disappointing track layout.

I am not sorry I decided to stay at home.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by feewaybill

I am not sorry I decided to stay at home.

I had a cracking weekend at Brands Hatch instead of going to Silverstone. Still haven't seen any of the coverage from Silverstone - I'll probably catch the highlights when they're televised.

[Hickey]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I had a cracking weekend at Brands Hatch instead of going to Silverstone. Still haven't seen any of the coverage from Silverstone - I'll probably catch the highlights when they're televised.

You'll be able to catch up on all the overtakes in the time it took you to read this post...

For me, I would want the track improved and more entries. I thought that one of the reasons to move from Lydden was paddock space. But then Silverstone filled half the paddock with a bandstage and scattered about 40 entries around the other half.

If they reduce the price next year, and make the track quicker, then I'll go. Doubt they will though.

The view from the grandstand when we went in March was actually decent. The cars looks slow cos of the circuit not because of how far back you are. A grandstand by the jump would be good.

[tbtstt]

Probably of limited interest to all of you, but a few pictures from Sunday:








(Incredibly consistent car placement from both Kristoffersson and Solberg: pretty sure most of the black marks on the inside of this corner were from them)

Few more shots here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...57695807647101

[S griffin]

Caught the highlights this morning, my was it hard to pass, which is why Timmy Hansen did a bit of tactical driving in one of the heats. Seems the Joker Lap really was effective there. And what about that pile up in the semi final?

[geordiecriag101]

Cheers for those Steve, cant help but notice how much bigger the Subaru's and Renault's are compared to the rest. At lest one thing, it was a tad warmer than March for the British RX.

[1975DCS]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Probably of limited interest to all of you, but a few pictures from Sunday:

















(Incredibly consistent car placement from both Kristoffersson and Solberg: pretty sure most of the black marks on the inside of this corner were from them)



Few more shots here:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...57695807647101

Not limited at all to me! I like private RX pics, tnx!

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Caught the highlights this morning, my was it hard to pass, which is why Timmy Hansen did a bit of tactical driving in one of the heats. Seems the Joker Lap really was effective there.

Yeah and, once again, I can't help but think that EKS were off with their tactics.

Originally Posted by S griffin

And what about that pile up in the semi final?

I personally thought it was very unlucky, if Solberg had moved over fractionally later or Kristoffersson had been a touch earlier on the brakes they both would have got away with it. Unfortunately it seemed to cost Petter his chance at the win as I assume the contact was the cause of his retirement.

Total commitment from Tommy Rustad though: he just tried to steamroller his way through the barrier!

Originally Posted by geordiecriag101

Cheers for those Steve, cant help but notice how much bigger the Subaru's and Renault's are compared to the rest.

Yeah, both the Megane and the WRX STI have a longer wheelbase than the rest of the field but - and it could have just been my imagination - the Renault looked so much more agile than the Subaru.

Originally Posted by geordiecriag101

At lest one thing, it was a tad warmer than March for the British RX.

Good thing really or I'd have been straight back in the car: I couldn't take another day of that!

Originally Posted by 1975DCS

Not limited at all to me! I like private RX pics, tnx!

No worries!

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by geordiecriag101

Cheers for those Steve, cant help but notice how much bigger the Subaru's and Renault's are compared to the rest. At lest one thing, it was a tad warmer than March for the British RX.

Did GCK or Prodrive mention why they chose the Megane instead of the smaller Clio?
Except Block all rivals use smaller cars A1, Polo, i20, Ibiza, Fiesta.

[crossfades]

The entry lists for WRX and ERX in Höljes have been revealed.

http://media.rallycrossrx.com/docs/2...es%20(SWE).pdf

http://media.rallycrossrx.com/docs/2...es%20(SWE).pdf

It really annoys me that there is a limitation in entries. I don't understand why there is one either. Would be fun to watch Oliver Solberg and Tobias Johansson in Höljes.

[tbtstt]

Great to be able to watch all the qualifying live again this weekend. Was I the only one who was a bit frustrated by the racing this weekend though? Unlike last season, there are at least two teams out there that have the cars and drivers capable of challenging the Polo, but none of them seem to be able to get things right.

Timmy Hansen seems to be cursed, yet another incident that wasn't his fault and another podium snatched from him. In terms of pace I think Timmy should be challenging for the lead of the Championship, instead he is down in sixth. Second to sixth in the Championship split by just 10 points though, the real battle this year looks to be who is going to take second, as Kristoffersson looked absolutely flawless on track this weekend.

Interesting footnote from the TV coverage is that Munnich has now switched to a front mount radiator setup in the Ibiza. That's three cars with a front mount setup now, I wonder if that trend will continue to become more widespread in the Supercars?