World Rallycross Championship 2019

[SnoodyMcFlude]

If only there were specific rallycross tracks that didn't care....

[chunder]

Snoody there are plenty, and they were all part of the scene until this lot got involved, sadly IMG charge a huge hosting fee, which is why their calendar changes nearly every year, as tracks bid, existing tracks cant afford it, then the ones that bid lose money and don't bid again.

Just watched about 2 minutes of it and that is NOT a rallycross track.

it is hotlapping in powerful 4wd cars, it is basically time attack with dust.

If you support this in any way, click on websites, subscribe to channels on youtube or facebook, shame on you. Truly.

Attend events, fine, as the cash goes to the track, but anything else, really you are supporting the destroyers of rallycross, as this is not it.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

I was being sarcastic because tracks like Estering, Montalegre and Lydden have been replaced by crap like Silverstone and Abu Dhabi.

Back in 2014/2015 even the 'new' tracks were better than what we have now. Of the recent additions only Riga and maybe Kilarney have any real merit.

I'll continue to subscribe to the YouTube channel, I still like watching the racing

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Huge impact in the last race. I can only think that he thought it was last lap so was going for the line because it looked like the car was still full throttle.

If that's the case then it's something they need to consider, i.e is telling everyone to go straight on a good idea.

If it's not the case then Bakkerud needs to be done for the season, you can't have drivers acting like that. He's probably my favourite driver on the grid but if that accident was because he was trying to keep the place (and knew there was another lap) then it's one of the worst bits of driving I've seen in any motorsport.

[Hickey]

Agreed. And it's put Timmy out too. Real shame.

He is saying he thought it was the finish line. Agree that it's dangerous to put a finish line in that place. Could easily be after the left/right chicane.

[crossfades]

I just hope Hansen's car isn't FUBAR. Quite a blow if they only have two cars from Peugeot.

It's 40 degrees apparently, could surely mess with ones mind.

[MissClarrpz]

Originally Posted by SnoodyMcFlude

I was being sarcastic because tracks like Estering, Montalegre and Lydden have been replaced by crap like Silverstone and Abu Dhabi.

Back in 2014/2015 even the 'new' tracks were better than what we have now. Of the recent additions only Riga and maybe Kilarney have any real merit.

I'll continue to subscribe to the YouTube channel, I still like watching the racing

There have been 21 circuits in WRX history. 14 are brand new. That is a high turnover of circuits.

I will add that Riga, Kilarney, Hockenheim and Barcelona were all designed by the same company (Apex design, no I don't work for them) and I would say those and Trois-Rivières are my top 5 new tracks. No idea who designed any others (except Silverstone) but they are all bad.

Spa does look super cool though. I'm waiting to see the banking.

[chunder]

Bakkerud is only carrying on the tradition of Hunsbedt as being a rammer, he did it most of his career apart from the years in Schanches old Escort which was a superb car.

Andreas needs to stop believing his own and his rather OTT fans hype. If he doesn;t win it this year, well I would be callng it quits.

Isachsen, Hansen, Timur, Opland never needed to get involved in so much contact to win, oh, hang on there is a moral to the story!

[MissClarrpz]

I have followed WRX since 2014 but never thought of Bakkerud as a rough racer. He massively messed up counting to 4 and he should be penalised for it but I'm confused why everyone is against him. If anyone gives examples of him being rough I would change my opinion though so feel free to give some. I might have not been paying attention.

Also the end of the race runoff/whatever has had 3 separate incidences this weekend. Clearly it is not clear enough and they need to display a checkered flag or something before the final corner to tell people it is the finish.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Loads of people made the same mistake, looked to me that Baumanis and Szabo did it in the final.

They need to rethink the finish and those stupid kerbs but at least the first 3 corners gave some good racing. Liam was mighty through there in the final.

Agreed that the ones you say are Apex tracks are generally better, although I’m not keen on how tight Barcelona is at the bottom hairpin.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tbtstt]

Bakkerud isn't the worst offender, but he has tried some pretty heavy handed moves over the years. That said I thought he looked shaken when interviewed at the start of Q4 so I am inclined to believe it was a genuine mistake.

I have never really warmed to Timmy Hansen but, even though I am not a massive fan, that was a rubbish way for his weekend to end.

I thought I saw Baumanis and Szabo go astray during the final as well. Not sure if I agree with the penalty for Gronholm as it wasn't exactly massive contact. Still, great drive from Kevin and definitely a mix of names at the top of the timesheets.

Peugeot 208 looks quick and, for this weekend at least, trouble free.

[chunder]

Watched it last night and thought I would give it a chance. Some of the driving standards are fairly poor, some pretty low rent moves from low rent drivers.

But the track does not help, If I was Nitiss team I would be suing, as that kerb is fair enough for hotlapping but a total danger when grids of cars go through, what could he do there? So dangerous.

Merge was in such a dangerous place, so many guys hitting the wall, not sure I buy into Bakkerud saying he thought it was last lap, these guys have been racing for years, surely they know the laps left? But agreed, I thought his throttle jammed. Not a ram.

And Niclas was rightly docked, that was a bum move and he should ave been docked.

And much as hate to admit it, Gormo drive well for third.

[mivec]

On friday Bakkerud asked Hansen if he knows what a rear bumper costs at the press conference after a soft touch.
One day later he craches in the other Hansen car en bend it...

[mivec]

Originally Posted by MissClarrpz

There have been 21 circuits in WRX history. 14 are brand new. That is a high turnover of circuits.

I will add that Riga, Kilarney, Hockenheim and Barcelona were all designed by the same company (Apex design, no I don't work for them) and I would say those and Trois-Rivières are my top 5 new tracks. No idea who designed any others (except Silverstone) but they are all bad.

Spa does look super cool though. I'm waiting to see the banking.

For me Hockenheim is the one to come back.
Very good track, real dirt, you can see the entire track from every position, cheap in combination with DTM, good spectator comfort, central in Europe... no downsites for me.

Have seen some of the best racing in the modern rallycross there!

[Mogster]

It’s a real shame MSV couldn’t be persuaded to re-create the Rallycross GP circuit at Brands. It’s an excellent viewing circuit and the rallycross track was great, really part of rallycross history.

The main problem was noise restrictions iirc.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunder

And much as hate to admit it, Gormo drive well for third.

High praise indeed. I thought there was some smart driving from Liam, the move he pulled on Timerzyanov in the semi-final was great. Let's hope it lasts.

As I said in my previous post I have never really warmed to Timmy and, although it was a rubbish way for his weekend to end (and I wouldn't want to see him injured), it's hard to feel that sympathetic for him when he torpedoed that Megane at Estering last year.

The landing from the jump looked really hard on the cars. I know there was a clip of Bennett nosing in on the landing during the press day, so I guess they have made some changes, but it still looked pretty rough.

Interesting comment with regards to the track design, I didn't know there was more than one company involved. I would agree that some of the new circuits are much better than others.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Mogster

It’s a real shame MSV couldn’t be persuaded to re-create the Rallycross GP circuit at Brands. It’s an excellent viewing circuit and the rallycross track was great, really part of rallycross history.

The main problem was noise restrictions iirc.

I agree, that was a great place to go. Shame it's no longer there, it was one of the best, it was a great rival to Lydden

[chunder]

I doubt there are any noise restrictions at Brands, not that would affect rallycross much.

WRX or British cars are no noisier than most other racing cars and less so than historics that run at Brands countles times over the year.

It simply is the case that Palmer is not interested, never has been and would not want to do the construction work at Brands to have it there. He simply has not got the space.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by chunder

I doubt there are any noise restrictions at Brands, not that would affect rallycross much.

WRX or British cars are no noisier than most other racing cars and less so than historics that run at Brands countles times over the year.

Some venues have a limit on the number of events they can hold in a year though. So the actually noise of the car isn't a problem, just that they want to run other things. Similar to how Castle Combe don't generally run on Sundays because of the village.

However I agree that in the case of Brands it's probably a space/payoff kind of thing. Why spend thousands on a rallycross track when instead you can improve your corporate suites? Somewhere like Pembrey it makes sense to invest in the track, because you need to attract series there and there isn't a big corporate market in the area. But places like Oulton, Donington and Brands are all well located to take advantage of the corporate market.

Shame that MSV aren't interested though, Donington has great elevation change and space that could be used (although away from the paddock, so not ideal. Brands has great viewing (even if I'm not sure the old track layout would be good for the current cars).

Do they still have a rallycross track at Cadwell? I see that it's part of the rally circuit series.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by mivec

On friday Bakkerud asked Hansen if he knows what a rear bumper costs at the press conference after a soft touch.
One day later he craches in the other Hansen car en bend it...

According to Bakkerud it would cost up too 500,000 NRK, or around 45,000€, to fix the Audi. He also said that Hansen had more support behind him than Bakkerud had so he figuered it wasn't as harsh on Hansen as it was on him.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/holjes.enthusiast/permalink/2131648010428312/

[1975DCS]

Originally Posted by crossfades

According to Bakkerud it would cost up too 500,000 NRK, or around 45,000€, to fix the Audi. He also said that Hansen had more support behind him than Bakkerud had so he figuered it wasn't as harsh on Hansen as it was on him.



https://www.facebook.com/groups/holj...1648010428312/

Right...

[chunder]

The thing you have to understand about MSV and Palmer is that Jonathan doesn't like people going on his grass.

At a rally event at Donington this year I went to the cars were going the other way round the track, there were numerous chicanes so most cars never got higher than 4 th or 5th gear, so not much speed. No infield was used at all, as was used before as people would cut corners and go on grass. So it was pretty much all on the circuit and very low speed, pretty rubbish to be honest.

But at the Old Hairpin there was a small tyre wall in front of the grass and runoff area.

Why put a tyre wall in front of grass? To effectively penalise a car so much for touching grass that severe damage is done to it. And one poor lad in a very basic Mk2 made a tiny mistake and was faced with hundreds of pounds of repairs to his front end because this berk doesn't want people to go on the grass.

That is fairly desperate stuff.

So no, he will never cut into his precious grass at any of his tracks, any RX track would have to use existing areas. And he certainly isn't going to pay to put dirt in anywhere because he only invests in facilities, like loos, track extension, new bankings etc.

he also doesnt like paying hosting fees for events,

Oh and battering circuit access on the GP loop at Brands for "insurance reasons".

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by chunder

Why put a tyre wall in front of grass? To effectively penalise a car so much for touching grass that severe damage is done to it. And one poor lad in a very basic Mk2 made a tiny mistake and was faced with hundreds of pounds of repairs to his front end because this berk doesn't want people to go on the grass.

I think that's par for the course on those circuit events. I know a chap that co-drives on a lot of them and they had a roll at Knockhill after clipping a tyre that was on the apex of the chicane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JmIj4txgM0

I agree with him on the point about hosting fees though, it's one of the reasons that we see 'proper' tracks being elbowed aside by ones with huge injections of cash like Abu Dhabi. So instead of being in front of a packed house at Montalegre (sun, rain or snow) we have the drivers in front of a few hundred people perched miles away from the track.

[BertMk2]

It's not just circuits that are sensitive to damage - at Marham we were told "no cuts" on the corners, Longmoor they put tyres on the inside of corners that they particularly didn't want us to cut (although the sudden appearance of a tractor tyre on the inside of a corner half way through the day caused us a moment!). Longcross and Millbrook had tyres to stop us cutting corners - there's not many places that don't put things in the way to be honest.

If you don't put obstacles there people will take big cuts - mud and gravel get dragged out and then people start going off on that. If staying off the grass is a condition of use then take it or leave it - you know they're going to be there so there's no real issue.

Also regarding the chicanes on circuit events - we need them! Without them we're bouncing off the limiter in 6th - at Brands for example we're just hitting the limiter on the straights even with the chicanes. That's part of the reason running at Rallyday at Castle Combe is not much fun - we're on the limiter before we're even half way to Quarry and the rest of the lap's not much better!

We have wandered off topic somewhat here

Rallycross isn't going back to Brands in it's old form at any point soon - the run up through the access road into the pitlane wouldn't get through the "health and saftey" side of things now for a start. The version used most recently didn't really work as the straight was too long and the loose at Clearways was never really that good either. The best place for rallycross at Brands would probably be down where the first rally stage is - you could probably put something in there (a bit like Lydden ) - but then spectator access would be limited. Realistically not going to happen any point soon.

[chunder]

This tyre wall was on the outside of a bend, that was my point, it was not to prevent damage, it was to ensure that if someone made a mistake they would GET damage. So don't make a mistake, just very harsh.

Rallycross is never going to be at at an MSV venue in reality, it does not generate enough cash. A venue in the South would be a good idea,, as you could start to build a driver base as you did before. But it aint going to be Brands.