British Rallycross 2011

[MESHGA]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

I've been trying to get more interested in rallycross and it is a shame it is the most under-rated form of motorsport. I didn't even know rallycross existed until I played a Rallysport 2 on the Xbox! The racing that was on Channel 4 and on the feeds for US rallycross championship was great last year!

It's rather worrying to learn that Rallycross is becoming more expensive at a national level. If it becomes too expensive then how can the sport develop?

Answer .................

Help the "not so rich" race and put numbers back on the entry lists to make action packed events!!

Waiting sometimes 2 hours to watch 2 races of maybe 4 supercars race isnt a meeting .

[steve_r]

Excuse my ignorance, but having watched the coverage on Channel 4 last year it looks like there are simply not enough cars in the top class to really grab the general publics attention. It seemed at times like there were only a couple of fiestas, a couple of focuses and a Citroen or two out there. And many of those were not even the current models. I was half expecting to see a 20yo Metro 6R4 to make an appearance. To the outsider it must look bad seeing an "old" Ford Escort winning the "Supercar" class.

Why does someone not revamp the regs of the top class cars in RallyX, like they are doing in BTCC to make the cars more affordable. The current breed of Super Car must be mega-bucks to build and maintain. Can they not make an "off the peg" chassis and motor a more affordable option, and bring in more current cars which the public will be able to identify with?

Just an outsiders point of view. I remember Rally Cross from the 80s, it was my favourite motorsport at the time, but things seem to have gone backwards since then.

[jcrally]

Folkes I dont know if any of you noticed but I was part of a car share last year.

Gary and myself ran a near standard E30 325 BMW in the super mods last year. To some up it was great.

We balance the cost between us and did a round each. I raced in Belgium gary did Mallory we just split the cost 50/50.

Ok so you dont drive every event, so what, you are part of a team and you get as much fun out of the event as if you were sat behind the wheel

So for those of you who cant afford it on thier own , find a friend and do what we are doing .

It works and we are back this year with the same car

What would be good if the powers that be would allow the car to score points, like other classes, then we can compete as a team

regards

John

[adamszx636]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Excuse my ignorance, but having watched the coverage on Channel 4 last year it looks like there are simply not enough cars in the top class to really grab the general publics attention. It seemed at times like there were only a couple of fiestas, a couple of focuses and a Citroen or two out there. And many of those were not even the current models. I was half expecting to see a 20yo Metro 6R4 to make an appearance. To the outsider it must look bad seeing an "old" Ford Escort winning the "Supercar" class.

Why does someone not revamp the regs of the top class cars in RallyX, like they are doing in BTCC to make the cars more affordable. The current breed of Super Car must be mega-bucks to build and maintain. Can they not make an "off the peg" chassis and motor a more affordable option, and bring in more current cars which the public will be able to identify with?

Just an outsiders point of view. I remember Rally Cross from the 80s, it was my favourite motorsport at the time, but things seem to have gone backwards since then.

Just a quick one , when did an "OLD " ford escort win the supercar class ?? and there is a 20+ year old Metro 6R4 in the championship that like me most rallycross fans love and miss, its a front runner and is great to see mixing it at the top sideways and sounding amazing.

You say that things have gone backwards ?? how ?? The dorans are running £150k ERC Spec Fiestas, Andy Scott and Kevin Proctor £150k+ ERC Focus's and near clubman like andy grant and Mad Mark running ERC spec slightly older focus and Citroen , All high spec Rallycross cars ?? so how is this going backwards ?? the economy is what went backwards and these guys are still spending out so that we can watch the best motorsport.......


As for a previous post regarding if Lawrence Gibson will be out this year with the Metro , it looks unlikely, Parts for the metro are getting very hard to find and engine blocks etc are non existent so if it did have a failure it would mean massive money or game over.
I for one would love to see Lawrence out this year be it in the metro or maybe something up to date ;-) lets keep fingerscrossed and see.

And lastly i think Amy Doran deserves some thanks for keeping the BRC going and improving things along the way . Nice one Amy and Thanks :-)

[Stephen H]

Andy Grant won the open, but it was a escort cosworth. I got hooked on rallycross watch greasily and painton battle it out, 4 car heats those days. The spectacle was there with just 4 cars. So 6 to 8 cars in a final shown on channel 4 is not a problem.

I am concerned the joker lap ruins the tv spectacle -splitting cars up at the start of a race, and without good camera angles and commentory, can make it difficult for the viewer to follow on screen.

Shame the season opener clashes with the trucks, pickups and legends at brands, which seems to pull a good crowd these days. But the last two Belgium events in the uk have been great, so hopefully lydden will still get a good crowd, especially if one erc competitor or two end up using it as a test session.

[Barrie]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Excuse my ignorance, but having watched the coverage on Channel 4 last year it looks like there are simply not enough cars in the top class to really grab the general publics attention. It seemed at times like there were only a couple of fiestas, a couple of focuses and a Citroen or two out there. And many of those were not even the current models. I was half expecting to see a 20yo Metro 6R4 to make an appearance. To the outsider it must look bad seeing an "old" Ford Escort winning the "Supercar" class.

Why does someone not revamp the regs of the top class cars in RallyX, like they are doing in BTCC to make the cars more affordable. The current breed of Super Car must be mega-bucks to build and maintain. Can they not make an "off the peg" chassis and motor a more affordable option, and bring in more current cars which the public will be able to identify with?

Just an outsiders point of view. I remember Rally Cross from the 80s, it was my favourite motorsport at the time, but things seem to have gone backwards since then.

European Rallycross is where its at at the moment, modern cars and classes and great racing, plus plenty of used cars up for sale and chances to loan cars from top teams.

[Coppertop]

It seems to me that everyone wants to come in at the top!!! Whatever happened to learning the race craft?

How about everyone remembering that there are cheaper classes, the BTRDA run a clubmans championship which has the stock hatch class in. People can start with a standard class and still learn, understand how to control a car on loose surface and what it is like to sit on the grid with 8-10 cars.

People revert back to the 80's, but I know the guys then ie Will Gollop, Rob Gibson etc were spending the equivilent amount of money as Pat, David and Andy are paying out now!!

The BTRDA are normally at the same meetings as the British Championship, if you get a 2nd hand clubmans Modified, you can get used to the car, then move up to British when finances allow.

But believe me, you can have equally as much fun in a clubmans car as you can in a Supercar, I've done it!!!

[adamszx636]

Originally Posted by Stephen H

Andy Grant won the open, but it was a escort cosworth. I got hooked on rallycross watch greasily and painton battle it out, 4 car heats those days. The spectacle was there with just 4 cars. So 6 to 8 cars in a final shown on channel 4 is not a problem.

I am concerned the joker lap ruins the tv spectacle -splitting cars up at the start of a race, and without good camera angles and commentory, can make it difficult for the viewer to follow on screen.

Shame the season opener clashes with the trucks, pickups and legends at brands, which seems to pull a good crowd these days. But the last two Belgium events in the uk have been great, so hopefully lydden will still get a good crowd, especially if one erc competitor or two end up using it as a test session.

You are right Stephen he did , but not in the British Championship !!!!!

As for the joker lap i agree it can split stuff up, It works on some euro tracks but can divide the pack up and if there are 3-4 cars it does take away the close exciting racing which is rallycross.

[steve_r]

[QUOTE=adamszx636;2814401You say that things have gone backwards ?? how ?? [/QUOTE]

I meant things have gone backwards in terms of national TV exposure, the crowds, the numebr of entrants in the top class, and what appear to the public to be very old cars in the top class.

[MESHGA]

Morning to all ten tenthers out there

Reading through the posts it seams theres a current of feeling that money is the only thing holding back about 90% of all the British possible entrants
am i wrong?
Our sport along with so many others have suffered over the years with the up and downs of the financial climate which has sometimes not "meshed" ! ie ! When the sport is going some where the money drys up to quick and we are back at square 1!
I agree btrda is a great way to start and if you win overall the cup's very big I know.
There is just 1 point which has to be made !
When money was good in the early part of the last decade which class thrived?
50 entries at a meeting plus reserves!
Afordable racing ,with so much competition it was hard to always make the A final.
Its really good what being tried to up the sport but without the "small guys and girls" it aint going to happen!!!
Just think what the BTCC would be like if they had bugger all on the race program other than 3 BTCC races!

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by adamszx636

As for a previous post regarding if Lawrence Gibson will be out this year with the Metro , it looks unlikely, Parts for the metro are getting very hard to find and engine blocks etc are non existent so if it did have a failure it would mean massive money or game over.
I for one would love to see Lawrence out this year be it in the metro or maybe something up to date ;-) lets keep fingerscrossed and see.

I thought that might be the case It was seeing the RS200 and 6R4 duke it out that brought me to rallycross in the first place, so it would be sad to see the last of these icons disappear from the grid.

Be interesting to see what cars make it to the grid in March - perhaps the Winter Masters will give some indication as to who we can expect to see competiting later in the year.

[USRallycross]

Amidst all the gloom in this thread, MN announced today that David Binks has landed a sponsorship deal with Best Buy the world's largest consumer electronics firm.

There is value in the BRC and the exposure it brings. Hopefully bringing a multi-national in like Best Buy will allow other drivers to use this to attract new sponsors to the sport.

Mark

[MESHGA]

Originally Posted by USRallycross

Amidst all the gloom in this thread, MN announced today that David Binks has landed a sponsorship deal with Best Buy the world's largest consumer electronics firm.

There is value in the BRC and the exposure it brings. Hopefully bringing a multi-national in like Best Buy will allow other drivers to use this to attract new sponsors to the sport.

Mark

Could you be a little bias re the sponsor Mark???
Still good
So David will be off to the US as well now then to race?
If so another name off to other shores.

[USRallycross]

Biased? Well maybe a little......

The US Rallycross calendar doesn't mesh with the British one and David's focus is most definitely at home. It costs an absolute crap load to bring everything over here for maybe one or two events. Hopefully he will take in one or two ERC rounds in addition to Lydden.

Regardless of my bias it is good to see a British driver and Championship regular get funding. Expect to some US style fun stuff at several British rounds as Best Buy is introduced to the British public.

Roll on Lydden.......(which I have to miss as I am commentating at the first two rounds of the US series which of course are on the same weekend)

Mark

[tbtstt]

I'm surprised that an American company has chosen to back one of the British drivers that hasn't appeared Stateside yet.

Still, I'm not going to complain, as the more bigger sponsors involved the better (in my inexpert opinion anyway) as they are sure to bring more exposure to the sport - and hopefully provide funding to other drivers as well.

[daz2202]

Any sponsorship, from any town , county or country would be welcome in my garage (hint hint)

[USRallycross]

Why David Binks?

I can give you a little insight into why Best Buy chose David. Firstly, he was the only driver who asked........Secondly, the only British driver to compete in the US was Liam who is committed to the ERC and not the BRC. Best Buy needs to build its brand in the UK because very few people know who they are. In the US they are very recognized brand.

David brought a 'clean canvas' and I think, given his personality, will be a tremendous ambassador for the brand. The car is launch at the NEC this week and already featured in MN.

I agree that hopefully big name sponsors can help other drivers bring in other big name sponsors. In the digital age there is so much that individuals can do to attract sponsors - especially retailers in this economy......

Mark

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by USRallycross

the only British driver to compete in the US was Liam who is committed to the ERC and not the BRC.

Good point; I said "british drivers in the US", but there has only been one so far! Figures that they would go for a purely BRX driver if the British market is the focus of the business.

Regardless of the motives though, its nice to see some positive news in this thread rather than negative.

[AndyS]

I'll try to get the thread back on track, as I've given up commenting on the state of British Rallycross, as you end up going round in circles and my initial question when the thread started was solely about the calander. Any news on the calendar yet from Autosport, the wait is getting slightly painful!

[AlamakiRX]

Originally Posted by AndyS

I'll try to get the thread back on track, as I've given up commenting on the state of British Rallycross, as you end up going round in circles and my initial question when the thread started was solely about the calander. Any news on the calendar yet from Autosport, the wait is getting slightly painful!

The Calender has already been released and already posted on here!

The only event to be confirmed is the final round and the GP

Hope that helps, look earlier in this thread!

[MESHGA]

Thats good news re Dates just hope they get good amount of entries.

Ok going back a bit off thread here but!
Good on David and new sponsor
Like the idea of putting a bit of USA over here
Like lots of girlies on the grid and pits!!
Davids number isnt 69 for nothing

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by AlamakiRX

The Calender has already been released and already posted on here!

The only event to be confirmed is the final round and the GP

Hope that helps, look earlier in this thread!

I saw the one earlier that had been cobbled together from other web sites, but nothing official and nothing about additional BTRDA dates yet.

[Darren Wilcox]

At last official dates for the Anglo, Scottish, Irish, Flemish 2011 Rallycross championship.

26/27 March Lydden Hill
7th May Blyton Night Race
12th June Mondello Park
10th July Belgium
28/29 Aug Lydden Hill
18th Sept Knockhill
16th Oct Mallory Park
6th Nov Croft

[chasing cars]

A return to Croft is excellent news!

[chunder]

It's the end of the year thoug and bear in mind there has been nothing from the circuit.

I hope it is on, but would be a little cautious just yet