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And there was I enjoying the delights of Tesco. Grrrrr!
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And if you had been following earlier rounds in Europe you would have had to wait until the wee small hours - hardly peak viewing time! Except Katalunia, caught me on the hop there and missed the lot.
Whilst the coverage surpasses anything that was produced a few years ago it only concentrates on the very front runners. There are a lot more competitors out there who can be just as entertaining.
Fullchat
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and not only is the action more exciting, the scenery's terrific, too.. bit like the Tour de France or Espana, but a lot faster!
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Been there,seen it,got the t-shirt,although not on that level.
I used to do rallying as a co-driver years ago at club level,and the buzz of going past trees at 100+mph is better than sex.
And yes,the TV companies only show the front runners due to the various sponsors around,but without the guys at the back that get very little exposure,and who are the backbone of the rally,rallies at this level wouldn't exist.
I have also been an official on the RAC,as it used to be called,been there 5 hours before the first car,still there 3 hours after the last to clear up,all the things Joe public doesn't see,and had conversations with some very big names within the sport,Vatanen,Kankkunen,Mcraes senior and junior,Wilson,Airikkala etc etc.This was in the late 80's to mid 90's when I then gave it up to pursue other things.Not only that,I started to find it boring when cars started to get 'driver aids' taking the skill away,much the same as F1 does.And also due to sponsorship pressures,crews don't seem to have time now for the spectators who support them,and the money you need to compete at club level these days is silly,unless you can secure sponsorship yourself.But without some sort of media exposure,companies are reluctant to part with their dosh.It's now become a rich mans sport.
And finally,before I get off my soapbox,one thing that gripes me personally is the decision to hold it in Wales.Nothing against the Welsh,I have feiends there,it's an RAC decision,but it used to go to Yorkshire,(where I live) Lake District,Scotland,Sherwood forest,giving spectators around the country a chance to see it.Now they have to travel to do the same,(expensive if you live north of the border) All that way to pay £xx to get into a stage,(if you can due to traffic) to see a car for about 10 seconds.Forest stages in the past were,more or less free.Don't get me wrong,each to his/her own,but for me,no thanks.I'd rather stay at home.
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Got a thread running on another forum where its early days yet but the concensus seems to be that most people regret the emasculation of the old RAC into a short 3 day thrash round a few S Welsh forests. So i would appear that there is plenty of support for Quinny's sentiments above.
Just for the record 2003 18 stages ~ 235 miles.
The last time I competed on this event we had ~70 stages, 60 stage miles in the Kielder complex alone. 5 days ~ 2 nights out of bed. Even the "Mickey Mouse" Spectator Stage day had some forests on it.
Clearly there are some improvements, eg the INMARSAT kit so that immediately a problem occurs its location is known. Overall a big let down in my opinion.[1] Rallying agreed to go this way in the promise of higher profile to the sport, better exposure, TV coverage etc etc. I've not really seen much of that come to fruition.
On the other hand considering the costs of the sport I would guess that if the format returned to the old endurance events then there could be fewer manufacturer teams. PSA group manage to enter two complete outfits though!
The endurance aspect was a part of the event, and everyone drove to suit preservation of car and to keep on the island. Still most of the time on the ragged edge though and dare I say it just as exciting regardless of whether one was behind the wheel, maps, spanners, marshalling or spectating.
I don't want this to come across as sour grapes or accusing the current crop of being wussy, the skill level is very high. Just think this event and the other current versions of old-time events have turned into a shadow of themselves.
Ahh for the old Safari and all timed to the minute too! Always sorted the men from the boys!
[1]From the comment above that the WRC is better than F1 also goes to show how far F1 has sunk in recent years!
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Agreed, Bring back Killer Kielder! Gone are the days when you go to bed after scanning ceefax to see the latest, and getting up in the morning to rush to ceefax to see who had gone missing during the night!
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Dead right - spent many a happy night watching the RAC in the forests of North Yorks Moors in late '60s and watching the mechanics at work through the night at the Flask Inn car park. And then borrowing dad's car the next night to see if me and mates could beat the pros' times. Dad could never understand why his car came back cleaner than it went out. (Well, we had to clean all the muck off it didn't we?)
By the way, a Riley 4/68 does not go along forest tracks as fast as Paddy Hopkirk in a Mini! But a Renault Gordini used to go backwards into the forest as fast as Hopkirk went forwards!!)
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Ah yes.The North Yorkshire forests.Dalby,Cropton,Gale Rigg etc etc,and my all time favourite,Troutsdale.Marshalled on that a few times.
Memories............
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