I note that the forthcoming rally has 230 miles of competitive driving over 17 stages and lasts for three days. In 1985 it had 570 miles and 63 stages over four days. Group B cars were running, it was a true test of the drivers and cars and was a superb event to follow. It seems to me the present WRC is pretty tame in comparison. Are there any forms of motosport that haven't become softer, slower, easier and more boring to watch?
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We used to get reports here from someone based in the Philipines. Ordinary everyday road conditions and driving standards were so dangerous it made the Welsh rally sound like a Sunday afternoon treasure hunt.
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Must be 10 years since I last spent several days "car camping" in the forests :O(
Its destroyed now, for tv purposes they say, very sad.
www.rogeralbertclarkrally.co.uk/
I've got this pencilled in for next year, the old format and a real spectacle ;O)
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When I saw the thread title and before I clicked on it I thought, "rallying went soft in 1985".
First they banned the Group B cars, then eventually the RAC rally stopped coming to my local stages, Clumber and Chatsworth, very disappointing. The last one I went to was 1996, then they halved the number of stages and ruined it.
That Roger Albert Clark rally looks interesting, I might go to that next year...
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Deja vu. Several Group B videos here:
need4speedx.free.fr/video_ford.php
Group B was a victim of its own success, surprising more spectators weren't killed.
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The Rally of Wales is just a shadow of the former RAC Rally of Great Britain which used to be regarded as the second hardest rally in the world, after the Safari.
What's gone? Group B cars, 36 hour legs, practise ban, stages in England and Scotland, etc
It really meant something to win the RAC both for crews and manufacurers. Is killer Keilder too tough for todays WRC entrants?
Every November/December I used to spend 5 days following the RAC but lost interest as it got softer. TV coverage makes it look like you're watching a PC game and is nothing like real spectating.
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I felt quite a bit of sympathy for the hoards of fans I passed yesterday during the Rheola stage I went to watch.
I'm local, so it was just a short trip up the road and a quick hike into the forest for me. After the first 15 or so cars pass through you see people drifting off. The prices for tickets are a complete rip-off, thats why I never had or never will pay. Many fans pay lots of money & make big sacrifices to follow their chosen sport, but its being killed by the money men. It sucks !
The stages are so short, fans have to get to the next one before this one is barely half done, to get their money's worth. Some of the most exciting driving I witnessed yesterday was by the also-rans/ tail enders. But they perform to empty forests these days. No TV cameras to be seen.
Bring back the GroupB cars and make it a free sport again.
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My sons trekked north from Somerset for the Roger Albert Clark rally and said it was worth every mile - 'just like the RAC in the old days'...
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