WHAT HAPPENED TO RALLY?
My solution to bring back the sport...
Rally... one of the first types of Motorsport to be thought up by a couple of blokes in a shed with a long dirt track...
A sport that captured the hearts and minds for generations due to its biblical speeds and twisting turns... But what is it about WRC these days that makes it so... bland. There's no spirit no flavour... no soul...
Don't get me wrong. WRC drivers in modern cars are some of the most skilled on the planet to drive like they do... but there's just "Something" missing...
Gone are the times of Colin McRae and Richard Burns... two legends that captivated the very spirit that was rally. Instead now we are left with cars designed to be as aero-dynamic as they possibly can be with the most amount of downforce and grip.
My first opinion is the fact that modern day rally cars are built from the ground up as a race car with merely a road version looking outer shell. Everything underneath that outer-body is very rarely the same as the road cars.... I mean... was there even a sports version of the Citroen C4?
In my eyes, and you are more than welcome to explain why if you disagree, with the recent changes in requirements to participate in the FIA WRC, cars have lost their soul.
Liam FreemanAll these cars had something in common... You could actually own one yourself!
If you look back at all the iconic rally cars, whats the first thing that comes to mind? The fantastic Escort MK II... or how about the tail happy Lancia Stratos? Or even for that matter the utter group B rally beasts such as the Audi Quattro, RS200, Delta S4 and the Peugeot 205 T16...
When I was a young lad in the 90's and early 2000's my dream car was that 95'/2000 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, an icon in the rally world. It had personality, presence and most importantly of all it performed fantastically! But it doesn't matter if you preferred the Evo, the Focus, Subaru or the Peugeot... all these cars had something in common...
You could actually own one yourself.
And that for me is what captivated the sport! The fact that anyone could be the next Colin McRae! Anyone could throw their impreza around on a dirt track (or in most cases a Tesco's car park at 10:30pm) and the cars would perform!
You don't hear that 10 year old boy of the modern day saying "I can't wait to have one of those Citroen DS3's when I'm older" they just don't have character!
Liam FreemanThe passion for the sport among this generation has been lost...
The only acceptation to this in my opinion is possibly the VW Polo R which at least has a bit of presence about it... the passion for the sport among this generation has been lost... not because of the drivers, not because of the teams... but because of rules and regulations which have kicked out the magnificent teams like Subaru and Mitsubishi... I mean hell! Mitsubishi have even announced they are stopping production of the Evo series... that's an end to a generation in itself!
For me, admittedly, WRC took a hairpin turn after the sport switched from saloon's to hatchbacks! There was something about the saloon cars that was so much better. Seeing them slide round corners just had that little something which sparked the imagination of generations... I'm not sure about you... but the new cars don't "wow" me for some reason!
Not all hope is lost however! There is driver in particular I have my eye on for his "if in doubt - Flat out" style!
Introducing Frank Kelly and his 1978 Escort MK II!
If that already astonishing looking car doesn't impress you, his driving will... take a look at this!
Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYw1UzIoHHw
I honestly feel like he is a rising star within the rally world and hope that he goes car! Although I might mention... by rising star I'm not referring to the fact he's the next big WRC driver. Frank is around 50's years old now, but he definitely is a rising star in terms of the sport. He brings something new to the table...
So all in all? How to save Rally... Change and adapt those rules and regulations so that the veterans come back...
What are your thoughts? Did you agree on what I said? If not why? Let me know in the comments!
Have a fantastic day folks! #MakeRallyGreatAgain
Liam Freeman
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Comments (14)
I think there are 2 problems: 1. The same guy winning it 8 times in a row not once but twice (Loeb, Ogier), speaks volumes about the competition. 2. None of them are your nationality therefore nobody cares. That simple.
Maybe the drivers are not as outspoken as before due to PR chocke hold, Meeke is a good exeption though. But the cars are 10 times better to watch, they can jump twice as far easy. Just check out my video's on motorsportfilmer.net from Finland and Sweden, 1 mill views on a few of them tells that there is something good going on
Just a couple of points. You couldn't buy a Focus or 206. Yes the Focus RS looked like a Focus WRC but they were totally different underneath. But the sub-text to what you're saying is right, which is the homologation special is dead. I also added comment about that here: www.drivetribe.com/p/YHbcZR1sRAO_ex_Pr2ePMw/b8aBDCIKRO-rDkktVgDUcA
Secondly, the reason the cars nowadays are so far removed from the homologation specials you used to be able to buy is that in the mid-90s the WRC wanted to attract more manufacturers. Hence Seat Cordoba, Peugeot 206, Hyundai Coupe, Ford Focus etc etc. None of which you could by in flame-spitting 4WD spec.
The result was that since 1997, road cars and rally cars have diverged. Then the engineers have since started winning the argument, negotiating equal terms for their steeds by dint of the 1997-on WRC regs and eradicating inherent compromises they were burdened with from their production cars. So nowadays the WRC is timed to a 10th of a second because the cars are so close. That was near unthinkable 20 / 25 years ago.
Everyone's got used to it now. The rules, the ease with which they can create WRC cars that have no relation to the showroom versions, and also the small hatchbacks over the larger segment cars, saloons etc.
So the WRC has its manufacturers. The engineers have a good fair playing field.
And the casual, young audience isn't dreaming about buying homologation specials anymore, and are instead variously disengaged.
As well as the various other audience-distracting factors, computer games, more outlandish Speedhunters culture, drifting, Ken Block etc which gives car nuts plenty of other choice to consume slides and donuts and flame spitting.
Andy really does. I mean, does WRC actually have much promotion going on in regards to when it's broadcasted? I don't think I've known when it's on since the days of Ken Block being on the Ford team for a bit!
Andy Little kind of sums it up for me in his last words. Other forms of motorsport are using live streaming and social media, the WRC is not using the tools at its disposal widely. As I said in my rather lengthy piece recently, the spectacle is there, it just needs to be effectively promoted. Something which, as Andy says, the stakeholders see to have little interest in doing.
It's a sad state of affairs.