WRC 2007-2008 Off Season - Page 2

flying finn · 29 Dec 2007, 20:35 (Ref:2096294)

WRC - Pirelli control tyre specifications > http://www.rally-live.com/wrc/en/hea...28154358.shtml

tarmac > P-Zero - two compounds; harder for dry conditions and softer for wet conditions
gravel > Scorpion - two compounds; hard and soft depending on type of gravel
ice and snow > Sottozero - two patterns; one for snow and one for ice

tyre mousse is no longer allowed; tyre cutting for wet tarmac only is allowed but to approved patterns

GolddustMini · 30 Dec 2007, 13:51 (Ref:2096544)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cos

For UK viewers, WRC coverage is moving from ITV4 to Dave next year.

fantastic, i dont get dave but i did get itv4

looks like im gonna have to get myself a sky+ box after all

GolddustMini · 30 Dec 2007, 13:53 (Ref:2096546)

Quote:

Originally Posted by flying finn

WRC - Pirelli control tyre specifications > http://www.rally-live.com/wrc/en/hea...28154358.shtml

tarmac > P-Zero - two compounds; harder for dry conditions and softer for wet conditions
gravel > Scorpion - two compounds; hard and soft depending on type of gravel
ice and snow > Sottozero - two patterns; one for snow and one for ice

tyre mousse is no longer allowed; tyre cutting for wet tarmac only is allowed but to approved patterns

i think a fair few rallys in '08 will be decided by punctures

edoncke · 30 Dec 2007, 20:21 (Ref:2096735)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

i think a fair few rallys in '08 will be decided by punctures

What do you english crowd think of Francois Duval, and his part in the wrc this year.
He is going to compete in monte, in spain, and in germany whit a stobart focus07

On a Flemmish forum (almost) everyone is shure he can make Loeb and the others very nervous, but what do you guys think about that???

**BertMk2** · 31 Dec 2007, 11:30 (Ref:2097036)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GolddustMini

fantastic, i dont get dave but i did get itv4

Dave is on Freeview if you can get that in your area (think it's channel 19).

Martin C · 1 Jan 2008, 18:49 (Ref:2097679)

Quote:

Originally Posted by edoncke

What do you english crowd think of Francois Duval, and his part in the wrc this year.
He is going to compete in monte, in spain, and in germany whit a stobart focus07

On a Flemmish forum (almost) everyone is shure he can make Loeb and the others very nervous, but what do you guys think about that???

Definatly, as long as he drives in a mature way like his few outings last year and not in his must get a result at all costs attitute back in his works drive days.
I think Malcom Wilson's pulled something of a master stroke getting both Galli and Duval in other Fords, should definatly give the top two something to thnk about more so with the new tyre rules.

johnh875 · 2 Jan 2008, 02:35 (Ref:2097850)

I have mixed feelings on the new tyre rules - deleting the mousse should introduce an additional challenge for the drivers to look after the tyres. On one hand it is a shame to have the drivers at less than maximum attack, modern WRC cars also seem a bit too on rails & bulletproof to be really entertaining for me. It is sadder to see the art of tyre cutting reduced, however it should help level the competition.

Martin C · 2 Jan 2008, 10:55 (Ref:2097960)

The tyre rule could be THE interesting rule for 2008.

No cuts allowed to the tyres.
No mousse inside them.
There is only one tyre for the wet and one for the dry surface - just one compound.
Allowed 6 tyres at anyone time so can carry 2 spares. Thats not enough in places like Greece/Cypress etc
There is a clear regulation that says you cannot drive a car back to service on the rim, being able to crawl back on three wheels is over.

So basically tyres not suitable to the surface there on should produce more sliding and more driver ability to show through. Risking punctures cutting corners etc be a brave driver to do that constantly.
Could easily see retierments due to tyres this year.

Martin C · 2 Jan 2008, 11:22 (Ref:2097975)

The no cuts bit on my previous post is not quite true, on tar some cutting is allowed for possable wet conditions.

GolddustMini · 5 Jan 2008, 16:46 (Ref:2100156)

what do people think about the new WRC.com website?

i dislike the layout, the fact i have to constantly stop the wrctv stream from loading and playing (i dont want to watch it unless i switch it on!!!) although i think im right in thinking that its now all free, i hope that includes live timing though, although that appears to be missing as a link, but i presume time will tell.

saying that the old site wasnt great either

DCS · 5 Jan 2008, 23:42 (Ref:2100379)

I could be me, but I think WRC is going downhill at the moment. I had really good hopes a couple of years ago. Especially with the 206 days and the coming of the Fabia's and Focus '03. But now you miss Peugeot, Skoda, Mitsubishi...

The only good thing is that more and more WRC's are in privateers hands...
It is still nice to see a WRC in action, but you can just hear and see the restrictions it just doesn't seems to be going that fast... I mean the starts are ok, but once it is rolling... Could be faster... But that's the problem in almost every motorsport these days: Le Mans, BTC, ITC, etc: boring!

leonidas · 7 Jan 2008, 13:14 (Ref:2101155)

The fact that the WRC is now only on a tv station called 'Dave' tells you all you need to know about what's gone wrong. It's likely that the two British rallycross championships will get wider coverage on British TV this year than the so-called 'pinnacle' of world rallysport.

If that doesn't damage the championship in Britain enough then event rotation surely will. A WRC without its most prestigious event - Monte Carlo - is a joke and a very bad one. Other years there will be no events in Britain, Finland, France or Italy - the sport's backbone. I cannot believe this is what the big sponsors and auto makers want. You could not come up with a better plan to drive away fans if you tried.

silver bullet · 7 Jan 2008, 13:32 (Ref:2101161)

Quote:

Originally Posted by leonidas

If that doesn't damage the championship in Britain enough then event rotation surely will. A WRC without its most prestigious event - Monte Carlo - is a joke and a very bad one. Other years there will be no events in Britain, Finland, France or Italy - the sport's backbone. I cannot believe this is what the big sponsors and auto makers want. You could not come up with a better plan to drive away fans if you tried.

I totally agree. IMHO there are five rallies that should never be dropped from the WRC.

Monte Carlo
Tour de Course
1000 Lakes
Safari
Lomb.... Networ...... R.A...... Tour of South Wal.... sorry Rally GB

Any World Rally Championship without even one of these events missing out on excitement drama & spectacle.

DCS · 7 Jan 2008, 17:41 (Ref:2101320)

Yes there are good rallies missing! Also the tarmac ones from Italy... It is also a waste that the tarmac are almost all at once...

chunder · 8 Jan 2008, 10:45 (Ref:2101729)

To be honest the WRC has been dropping in popularity for some tie, for a start no-one likes seeing the same bloke win all the time and the cometition isnt going to get any closer this year.
We ened to Subaru team to get in there and also maybe some wilcard thigs going on like Duval in Germany last year or perhaps the Suzuki getting a random great result.
That's what creates interest, not two bokes 3 minutes in front of everyone, its a great display of talent to those thaty know what theya re looking at, but to those that don't its as dull as dishwater!

leonidas · 8 Jan 2008, 12:30 (Ref:2101794)

The bottom line is that if there are only a couple of drivers with a realistic chance of winning there is something wrong with the format. We've created a sport that is dull (to a non-specialist audience), few can afford to compete in and leading world-class drivers sit at home because they can't get a drive.

It wouldn't be so bad if the cars were actually exciting to watch but they aren't unless you are up close. My solution? How about limiting it to 2wd, production-based machinery that people can relate to? With weight limits to encourage a wide range of manufacturers? With strict controls on tyres and technology to encourage cars to slide around and tighter limits on servicing to keep down costs?

Would it be slow and boring? Well did you fall asleep in the 2wd era watching Aaltonen, Clark, Mikkola, Vatanen, Rohl? Of course not - and there are series production saloons out there today that are quicker than the gear they were using...

rbatista82 · 8 Jan 2008, 14:14 (Ref:2101873)

Do you know why the WRC is losing in popularity? I found four good reasons…
1- Taking the masters and historic events out of the championship (Like Portugal for example)
2- Less talented drivers…
3- The most important one, the WRC’s are less interesting to see comparing to the Gr. A’s..
4- The incredible cost of competing
I’ve started to see rally’s since I was 4 years old at Montejunto, one of the famous stages from the Rally of Portugal. I remember the spirit from those years, with lot’s of good drivers…
I compare that generation (Biasion, Alen, Rohl, Mikkola, Salonen, Saby, Bettega, Toivonen, Kankkunen, and then, Biasion, Alen, Mikkola, Kankkunen, Colin, Sainz, Auriol, Delecour, Makkinen, Gronholm, and now we see normal drivers like Hirvonen, Henning Solberg, Matthew Wilson, Chris Atkinson, Dani Sordo, Xavi Pons…
Ten years ago, or a lit a bit less, the fans were apaxioned by the sport and the drivers, but now it’s only Loeb, or Loeb, or Loeb!

Best regard’s to all from Portugal
Ricardo Batista – www.ricardobatista.com

**BertMk2** · 8 Jan 2008, 16:38 (Ref:2101978)

Hi Ricardo, welcome to ten-tenths

The loss of the "classic" events damages the WRC, I'd agree with SB that there are certain events that really should be on the calendar every year (the Monte being a good example) - these events are core to the WRC and to some extent define it.

The cost of competing seems to be the driving factor though - costs have gone up and manufacturers have left, the privateer teams can't compete with the remaining works outfits and the results get ever more predictable.

WRC cars are massively quick but they really don't look like they're going all that fast as they have amazing grip levels. I'm all for RWD, big power no fancy gizmos

I'm not sure that todays drivers aren't as good as those previously in the WRC - the WRC doesn't get the coverage it once did so the drivers aren't as well known and haven't become household names in the way they used to. Loeb and Solberg are the best known of the current crop - the others may not get a chance, there are far more drivers than drives so people aren't getting the time in the cars to learn (Stobart Ford seem to be an exception here). Again a lot of the problem here is money - increasing numbers of drives require the driver to bring a budget and that rules out a lot of potentially great drivers.

I really don't know what the answer is to the WRC's ills - but something needs to change.

awrb · 9 Jan 2008, 21:36 (Ref:2102933)

Suzuki hae revieled they're paint scheme for next year (its on crash.net if you havent seen it yet), and only now have I noticed just how much like the Fabia the SX4 is.
It needs to be more sucessful though, as we need Suzuki to do well to spice things up.

Maybe if Subaru get they're new car out soon, ford (and Mikko) continue to improve like they have in recent years, and this Suzuki isn't as bad as it's Skoda look-a-like, we may have a fascinating year of rallying ahead of us.

I hope so, if Mr Arrogant wins again i'll be mad. How can someone that obnoxous equal Makkinens record. It hurts to watch it.

flying finn · 10 Jan 2008, 21:13 (Ref:2103766)

Monte Carlo 2008 Entry List >
http://www.acm.mc/ramc/ramc_main.php...gages_2008.php
http://www.acm.mc/ramc/2008/docs/lis...list__2008.pdf

GolddustMini · 10 Jan 2008, 21:42 (Ref:2103785)

interesting to see francois delecour back in a wrc car on that list...

and to see matt wilson back with his old co-driver scott martin, while micheal orr replaces nicky beech(?) alongside al qassimi

cptkablamo · 11 Jan 2008, 04:16 (Ref:2103976)

Just a quick note - Loeb is not an arrogant man - in fact he is a very nice, laid back but very talented guy and the fact that he is that much better than the rest is a true testament of how good he actually is.
Although I do not relish what I fear will be a one driver championship next year, the fact that it is someone like Loeb makes the fact a little easier to bear.

What I don't like though is a rally roster, particularly if the Monte, Sweden, Corscia, Finland, NZ and GB ever have to exit the title race...and I don't like the tyre rules - the moose and the control format are both bad moves IMO

But yes, like rbatista, I miss the days of countless legendary drivers gracing the stages and something needs to be done about the cars but if someone has a real answer - you are a genius - as there will be no simple fix..

But saying all that, I can't wait for Monte

leonidas · 11 Jan 2008, 15:08 (Ref:2104261)

Quote:

Originally Posted by flying finn

Monte Carlo 2008 Entry List >
http://www.acm.mc/ramc/ramc_main.php...gages_2008.php
http://www.acm.mc/ramc/2008/docs/lis...list__2008.pdf

A reasonably healthy entry all things considered. Its a pity the harbour stage was axed - it was a good atmosphere on the Sunday morning. But Turini is back...! What more can you ask for?

Of course the real Monte Carlo rally is taking place a few weeks later...

http://www.acm.mc/rmch/rmch_main.php...lpha_2008.php#

That's an entry list to make the moderns week - over 300 competitors starting from several starting points and about every major manufacturer represented...

cds_uk · 12 Jan 2008, 22:41 (Ref:2104949)

It is good to see Francois back, whilst i will be the first to admit i am not a huge rally fan he has always been a favourite of mine, it would be nice if he could sneak a point.

Burnsie · 16 Jan 2008, 15:09 (Ref:2107324)

It would be good to see Gronholm entered as a wild-card in a few of the rallies, just to prove that he could have given Loeb a run for his money this year!
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/140120...lm-return.html

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