World Rallycross Championship 2019

[mivec]

Originally Posted by Hickey

I think the track is good but the hairpin could have been 150m higher up Eau Rouge/Radillon to get a bit more speed and invite a lunge.

Exactly!

[tbtstt]

Well, credit where it is due, I think Spa is the best F1-based rallycross circuit (by some margin in my personal opinion).

Fast, proper dirt and wide enough for passing. Proof that you don't need a complicated layout for good racing.

Fantastic result for Timur and long overdue success for GRX. That's bought the Hansen lead down a bit as well, hopefully a sign we might get the close privateer fight we are all hoping for.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Yep I take it all back, that track has made for some fantastic racing. I agree that it would be good to have the hairpin a bit further up the hill, but that gravel section worked like rallycross dirt should (I.e none of this blue groove nonesense).


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[feewaybill]

What a quality circuit and what a fantastic weekends action. Those involved in building the track deserve huge credit, and all those involved with the Silverstone layout should take a very long look at themselves.

[chunder]

Let's be fair, the track is very basic, about 5 corners in reality.

But it proved one thing, IMG and the existing tracks have been getting it wrong all this time.

I doubt it is alwasy their fault, you can see at Silverstone they are hampered by space, but I think could have done a far better job.

But regardless of the location the Spa track was nothing more than a great spectacle.

they were helped by some good racing and a very popular winner, but I was watching thinking JK would be 2 seconds ahead of this lot!!

But for the first time in years I watched an event online right through.

If they can get it right here how can they get it so wrong elsewhere like Mettet, Barcelona, Hockeneim.

Rallycross should be about long sweeping off road, huge pitch changes, you know like you got at Lydden in the old days. the mai turn was basically like Chessons used to be before the Dorans ruined it.

[chasing cars]

Well it's been a while since I contributed here, but after watching spa I've kind of fallen back in love with rallycross and damn I wish I had gone, particularly after going to a rather disappointing Barcelona round.

At last a proper gravel section which surprise surprise meant we got actual overtaking on track and drivers making small errors. All the hype was about eau rouge but it should have been rallycross finally gets a proper circuit if a little short with real investment. Its a shame other circuits aren't forced to make the same investment but I guess all IMG are concerned with is getting the circuits to hold an event for their own marketing purposes, the actual circuit layout is of little concern to them. Though I wouldn't want all circuits to be the same, to go from that to Silverstone's pathetic tight layout, sorry Chunder but they have loads of space there particularly if they had chosen to use some of the full race track,is to say the least disappointing.

Finally well done to Timur, a real rallycrosser,who along with Bakkerud, Wiman and Baumanis all progressed through rallycross in super 1600 with set promotions.

[chunder]

You don't get it cars.

They were NEVER going to be allowed to use the full track, it was probably part of the deal that was signed, and really what part could they use?

Silverstone is a money making machine, it has to be to try and recoup all the hosting fee money F1, motoGP etc want for their meetings. You can often have 3 meetings going on at once there, certainly two at the same time, the RX track was put where it was to have the least impact on the business.

It is on the South circuit that is only used for school days and experience days, so it has no impact on race meetings, testing or the full circuit days and track days.

It's that simple really. Fair play to Spa, they allowed the use of the iconic area of the track, but in reality it only uses a few hundred metres and little gravel gets dragged on.

Yes Silverstone could have done it better, but this is what they have, it's crap, and most other circuits are, would love to know who really designed it at Spa, as it is so different to ALL the others.

[Hickey]

Even in the little area they have put the track there is still space to put a bigger circuit. At the very least it could go another 50 to 100m after the jump and could do about another 50m before that overly right hairpin. Could start further back too and rejoin further back to get a longer straight. 50 to 100m would make a big difference. Kink before the jump ruins all chance of side to side over the jump like Spa. It's too narrow and there's no excuse for that either. Silverstone is awful to the core. An absolute fail.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Hickey

Even in the little area they have put the track there is still space to put a bigger circuit. At the very least it could go another 50 to 100m after the jump and could do about another 50m before that overly right hairpin. Could start further back too and rejoin further back to get a longer straight. 50 to 100m would make a big difference. Kink before the jump ruins all chance of side to side over the jump like Spa. It's too narrow and there's no excuse for that either. Silverstone is awful to the core. An absolute fail.

As said I think there is enough room to improve Silverstone. Decrease the severity (or even remove) turn three, expand the track beyond the jump and widen where possible. Average speed would increase and you would have a few fast corners: at present everything on the Silverstone layout is slow.

[chunder]

My only crit of Spa is the joker merge as usual.

A lot of guys were perilously close and quite a few it each other, mainly coz of dust.

And the first corner was dicey with the wall.

I think as tb has said in the past Silverstone will probably be gone next year anyway, it is used so little and probably lost a ton of money last year, so good riddance hopefully!

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunder

I think as tb has said in the past Silverstone will probably be gone next year anyway, it is used so little and probably lost a ton of money last year, so good riddance hopefully!

Just to clarify on my post a while ago about this, I am not sure if it will be totally gone. The marshal I spoke to (at Silverstone) seemed to think this year was the last year that the British Championship would use the circuit, but it was my assumption that the World Championship would remain there...

...I have heard nothing else on the matter since and, given the source of the story, I do wonder if the story the marshal was passing on was paddock rumour rather than hard fact!

[chunder]

I was meagerly commenting on it as I feel it is probably true.

I doubt that BRX can afford to run there!

Speedmachine I would guess have signed a contact for 3 or 4 years, maybe 2.

We will see after this, but I don't expect it to last that long, it is perhaps the worst of all IMG designed tracks

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunder

it is perhaps the worst of all IMG designed tracks

Not even close for me: CotA is by far the dullest in my eyes!

[S griffin]

I think a few are just a bit plain. But that's the way they do it in WRX. It's more short circuit Rallycross, which I don't really have too much of a problem with, they do things a bit different

[chasing cars]

The point is Spa has shown what a good rallycross track needs, a proper gravel section. Even those blinded by pound signs at IMG must have seen how spectacular the cars looked and racing that wasn't decided by the first corner. This is the template for all potential future tracks and even current ones. If your not willing to invest in a proper surface then you shouldn't get a round. Unfortunately because it would appear IMG want gp tracks more than those circuits want rallycross it's not a bargaining tool they'll probably ever use.

Out of interest for next year, anybody who was there, what was the spectating like, could you see the whole circuit, was the dust on Sunday a problem and how was access to the paddock?
Also I noted 17500 spectators over the weekend which seemed small compared to other circuit claims (27000 reportedly at Mettet last year) though I feel probably a more realistic figure.

[chunder]

The crowd figures at Lydden were always heavily twisted too, it's a common thing to do. Mainly for PR.

I would guess 17500 looked right, weather was awful first day from pics.

27000 at Metet, lol must be a typo

[Hickey]

I've always assumed it's the total of both days. If so, 27k could be fair for Mettet. Looked more busy than Spa.

[chunder]

Agreed 27 for two days is more likely.

Not a patch on Sweden or France which are crazy.

If I were IMG I would be having two rounds at each country. Spain do it in MotoGP, mainly because the own the whole thing!

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Don’t Spain have 4 MotoGPs? Jerez, Aragon, Catalunya and Valencia? It’s mad.

I think most will give figures of the whole weekend, so a lot of people get counted twice. France always looks the most packed on TV, but I think a lot of that is just that the viewing area is obvious.


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[chunder]

Yes, Italy used to have 3 rounds of Superbike too because they owned the series.

Bit like Pamer running the majority of BSB events at MSV tracks!

if they ahve no plans for the future and expanding, if I were IMG I would be going back to Finland, maybe have another round in France.

But they are now a World series even though the series is not a world series, so they have to visit places out the way to qualify, it's a but silly.

[tbtstt]

No Gronholm again this weekend. I thought he might have been able to recover from missing one round, but missing two rounds surely means that his 2019 Championship title hopes are blown. Real shame for him.

Still no word on who is in the ES Motorsport Fabia this weekend. Duval back again perhaps?

[chunder]

Some truly bad stuff going on at Silverstone

All support cars have been dumped about a mile away in a paddock area, people spent all day picking up screws, wire and metal out of the ground/

No room apparently!! I mean WTF is going on with this event.

Needs to bomb so it never goes there again.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by chunder

Some truly bad stuff going on at Silverstone

All support cars have been dumped about a mile away in a paddock area, people spent all day picking up screws, wire and metal out of the ground/

No room apparently!! I mean WTF is going on with this event.

Needs to bomb so it never goes there again.

Silverstone has sunk even lower as being one of my least favourite rounds. Höljes had too pave ALL of the lower part of the paddock, got a 83 pages long report of what they had too improve and Silverstone doesn't even have enough room for two out of three classes, WHAT A JOKE.

[chunder]

You try and tell the morons that happily dole over 50 quid for it, had a few arguments with them on the page site, it's hilarious.

They keep comparing this to football, when will they ever learn.

Sadly, morons just hand over money without needing to know or care.

And this is why events like these are round and always will be

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Drove by Silverstone on the way to Santa Pod this evening (£100!!!). Remarked to my dad that it’s far easier to get to for us than Lydden was, but we actively avoid it despite both enjoying WRX.


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