British Rallycross GP 2 Be or not 2 Be?

[schanche]

Just thought I would start this one up again now we have a new venue on the scene?

With December soon upon us and the Winter rallycross events starting up and December being that time of year when the British Rallycross Grand prix was a regular fixture on calendar and no news yet of a possible future stand alone event. And now with a successful live final round of the British Rallycross Championship at Mallory having been held if a little bumpy! but by all accounts a great event had by all. Could this be a possible venue for a future British Rallycross G.P? as much as I would love to see it back at Brands Hatch Dr J.P might have something to say about that although maybe a bit of bribery with a free drive in a Doran Fiesta at Brands might make him see sense lol! Lydden could possibly hold it but me thinks it could be too small, Croft is a good venue but with the other Prix being held might be a conflict? So could Mallory be an Ideal venue for the GP? With a round of the winter series being held there is this a tester to see how it holds up. Would like to hear what others think not having been there but on TV it looked a fast track in the GP style?.

[Barrie]

Think it will happen, but not just yet. Quite a bit of work will be needed first to make it a success. Think Lydden will be the track of chose. I d like to see the original 8 car mixed grids of Div 1/ Div 2/ Div 1A and Supernationals during qualifying, with the 10 car finals D, C, B and GP. That will mean 37 qualifiers in the finals.

[QuarterRik]

For me there will be only one Rallycross GP,and that´s the one at Brands Hatch.
It was allways a top event,with lots of European drivers.
Maybe they become to proffesional to drive this sort of events?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLc8UR2Aag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC4hUEWGPm4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Djdkh8S87A

Manny thanks to Mr Rallycrossuk for putting all these wonderfull memories on the Tube.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by QuarterRik

Manny thanks to Mr Rallycrossuk for putting all these wonderfull memories on the Tube.

No thanks to Mr Rallycrossuk; do you know how many hours I've lost watching his videos on You Tube?!

As much as I would love to see rallycross at Brands Hatch, that seems to be very unlikely to happen at present - hopefully LHMC will pull something out of the bag and prove me wrong though!

[rx-guru]

I’m 99% certain that a British RX GP would not work any longer as it did at Brands Hatch in the good ol’ days.

[silver bullet]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

I’m 99% certain that a British RX GP would not work any longer as it did at Brands Hatch in the good ol’ days.

Totally agree with the guru.
The Rallycross Grand Prix will never ever be the classic event that it once was. The prestige that this event had on the international calendar has gone. I fondly remember the great Grand Prix's of the past but that was a different time and a different era.

An event with the title of British Rallycross Grand Prix will probably happen but it will be a shadow of it's former self.
I personally think that events like the GP, and also the Internations Cup should be assigned to the history book's, rather than try to resurrect them and devalue their memory.

[Barrie]

Sure Pat will do his homework on this, have a chat to the big names see what they think. I do feel the sport needs a big end of year event, top teams seem to have 2 or 3 cars to pick from so the debate on teams re building cars over the winter is more irrelevant nowadays.

[leonidas]

Personally I love Mallory but I'm not sure another international event is viable in the current climate. You might just end up killing off the Superprix. IF (and its a big IF) the organisers could work together on one joint event then maybe you'd get the competitors to make it worthwhile.

Rather than base it at one track maybe it should go to a different track each year in rotation?

[schanche]

I guess trying to attract creditable Teams and Drivers from the European Championship at an and end of season bash as we can see from previous Superprix's is a tall order not through want of trying!.The ERC has become the biggest Grand prix! holding events throughout the year,would it be possible to attract top teams.Like barrie said many teams now run more than one car but ultimatly a prestige event like the Grand prix with a sufficient prize fund I think could entice competitors out for a pre season test for prospective drivers.Dont think if it did ever come back it would compete with previous events but with a certain person's likeable personality and the team currently promoting the BRC it may just happen if it doesnt then more ERC trips in order.

[Hickey]

People do the Rallycross Norden events and they're stand alone events. Why do so many of the top drivers do them? Very good prize money. As the old saying goes, "If you pay them, they will come".

Now just got to find the funds!

[leonidas]

There might be more media and commercial interest in trying to organise a 'world cup' styled invitational meeting. As rallycross doesn't have an official world champion (for obvious reasons) an unofficial world championship event might appeal more to people than reviving an old format like the GP. You could perhaps hold it every 2 years and maybe use national championships as qualifying rounds. Maybe try to get rallying stars with an interest in rallycross (like the Solbergs) along too?

It would take some sorting out but its the sort of thing needed to bring new life to the sport.

[chunder]

Oh dear

The top drivers ( and the events are hardly swollen with drivers in Div1) do Norden events coz they are all Swedihs and Norwegian! You dont see Pailler, Coox, Doran, Procter there do you!

I fear the only way this event could work is a decent venue primarily, probably Lydden coz of its proximity to Dover.

And then hefty finance to help drivers make the trip.

I dont know how Brands did it with teh GP but they always got good entries, was this with appearance money and travel incentives? Or was it jus that guys wanted to celebrate the year end and try and sell their cars!!

For me unless drivers from Sweden and Norway (and top drivers now a few people no one has heard of) can be encourged by prize noey or cheap ferries then it wont happen.

Tomesa re differnet now adn I can only say I am glad I was there in the good old days!!

[MESHGA]

Yes but time you got the "world cup" up and running the MSA title which was paid for will be up for renewal and could then go to a higher bidder to reap the rewards of the hard work from the last 3 years

[Hickey]

Originally Posted by chunder

Oh dear

The top drivers ( and the events are hardly swollen with drivers in Div1) do Norden events coz they are all Swedihs and Norwegian! You dont see Pailler, Coox, Doran, Procter there do you!

OK, I'll rise to the bait.

I realise that the competitors are all Scandanavian, but the point is that these events are stand alone events (like the GP and Superprix) and they attract all the top local competitors (most of whom already do the ERC and Swedish championships). The same cannot be said for the Superprix, where Evans, both Dorans, Hill, Godfrey, Bird, Ollie, Collins were missing. Before you even start trying to get the ERC guys over, you first need the very best of British there - and this is something the BRC British GP will have to achieve.

Plus, in terms of distance, some of the trips the Scandanavians have to make for those events is comparable, if not longer, than many of the French, Belgian and Dutch drivers, so with the right enticement, it is not unfeasble that we could get Coox, Pauwels, Kuypers, Paillier, Meslier et al over from those countries.

But you are spot on with a couple of things, it will need heavy funding re ferries and entry fees to entice them and this is especially the case with Scandanavians (even more so if it's held at Lydden).

I do think it could be a success, but will require massive campaigning and advertising and definitely some sort of live TV coverage a la the glory days.

[rx-guru]

Somewhere in the Norwegian news I understood that 'Rallycross Norden' will possibly not take place at Norwegian venues in 2010…

[chunder]

Agreed Hicky and unlike many on here you have done what a forum is for and debated the point, thanks.

I am not sure if Norden evenmts are standalone, I presume they must be as there are so few! But the support for Supernational is amazing from Norway and Sweden.

I think there are a lot of politics involved in the UK scene that rpevent competitors competing in the Superprix, its has been a blight on the sport's progress in teh UK for many years now and though both series are a success, I was rather embarassed the otehr day to voew the championship winners on rallycross.com

IN most countries there are siply 3 or 4 classes, in our series there are about 15!! Opening up rallycross to pretty much run what yer bring rules is a great idea for getting people involved but doesnt do much for integrity and uniformity with the established ERC model. I know this will annoy some but it is fact.

Have never understoddd the reluctance for the French to travel here, they seem as disinterested in our series as we are in theirs! IN fact we get far more interest from Belgium and Holland, maybe its due to history? We ahve never got on with the French really!!

[Hickey]

I definitely agree that it appears to be politics getting in the way re the Superprix and arguably the same will happen with a British GP. I know that as a spectator I have a naivity that comes from not having to finance things, adhere to various rules and regs, but both organisers must realise that continued rivalry between the two championships and a lack of collaboration will ultimately limit both championships to such an extent as to undo any progress that has been made in recent times.

I also agree re the number of classes which would also impact on a GP - you want to get as many people involved as possible but you dont want to confuse spectators and have diluted fields and about 15 titles at the end of the day (the superprix did well here, but then there were a very few cars capable of winning the 2wd category).

Anyway, this is all a bit ahead of time with the GP a while off yet. And maybe the control tyre relaxation will help competitors cross between championships more, and boost numbers for the GP. Next up is to stop this ridiculous North/South divide too. We are a tiny country compared to most of mainland Europe/Scandanavia and yet we have two championships primarily focussed in separate parts of the UK!

[dcdesign]

The reason why you wont find many french drivers in Britain, is because of their good-filled FRC schedule: the french championship has the most races of whole europe, i think... So they don't got the need to go abroad, except for a few ERC-trips... most frnechmen which do a full-ERC, even skip their national champ (Bossard, Pailler, ...)

[leonidas]

Originally Posted by Hickey

I definitely agree that it appears to be politics getting in the way re the Superprix and arguably the same will happen with a British GP. I know that as a spectator I have a naivity that comes from not having to finance things, adhere to various rules and regs, but both organisers must realise that continued rivalry between the two championships and a lack of collaboration will ultimately limit both championships to such an extent as to undo any progress that has been made in recent times.

Couldn't agree more. Hats off to the Dorans for revitalising Lydden and landing the ERC. Peter and the open team have done a great job with the Superprix and with new innovations (Revivals, RWD challenge, procar 4wd etc). Yes, some serious mistakes have been made but if people could work together we could have the best domestic championship in Europe... and maybe a GP or 'world cup' worthy of the name.

[Mal_Whitby]

As I remember the Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in the 1980's was a one-off meeting, not connected to any championship points, it was like a end of year blow out....

Or to puit it another way - as I remember the Rallycross Grand Prix in the 1980's was the best motorsport event of the year bar none. Me and my brother used to travel 600 miles and sleep in the car in the middle of winter just to see the best racing we've ever seen.... why oh why oh why did it die, or more to the point why can't it be resurected....?