The WRC is almost dead.

Posted by: Tony Lockhart on 15 October 2012

Ford have today announced their factory's withdrawal from the top level of rallying. That, combined with Loeb pretty much retiring after nine, yes, nine, consecutive championships and lots of trouble with various support systems this year must sure mean the end is nigh for my once loved branch motorsport.

Malcolm Wilson will continue to provide Fiestas for customers, but I really can't see why any manufacturer would want to be involved now.

Oh for a time machine taking me back to the glorious RAC Rally in the Group B days. Happy memories.

Tony
Posted on: 15 October 2012 by Clay Bingham

We used to get tapped delay broadcasts on cable and they were excellent. Great racing. Watched for several years, Burns, McRae, Gronholm(?), Loeb et al. and then they just sort of disappeared. What happened? Couldn't have been boredom because the racing was fun.

Posted on: 15 October 2012 by Tony Lockhart

One possibilty is that the powers that be want all the glory for F1. What with the world's disposable income being a little short right now, there might only be room for one real world championship?

 

I know that in 1985 and 1986 the WRC was more popular than F1 in many countries. The cars were so, so special, and even my mum could name a handful of the top drivers. Now, even the guys at work that are in their 20s can't.

 

On top of that, I work with guys that drive road cars that are more powerful than a WRC car, so that magic has gone too. When the lucky 20-somethings were driving a 205 GTi with 130bhp, or a Cosworth with 200-350bhp, the works' cars were on 410-600bhp..... What's a WRC 1.6 Fiesta chucking out? I bet a £16k four year old BMW 135i with a remap makes it look lame!

 

The magic has gone, the names are leaving, and the telly dropped it years ago, bar Dave and then satellite. 

 

Tony

Posted on: 16 October 2012 by Clay Bingham

Thanks Tony

 

I asked a friend who used to follow it as did I and his take was as one of yours. When the horsepower/sophistication was reduced the challenge became less,and manufactuers and fans left. Something similar happened in the US. CART (now called Indycar) had an internal breakup. Nowadays the cars are much easier to drive, albeit sometimes more dangerous as a result and the quality of driving, sponsor support, and fan support has declined. World class series to not much. A real shame.

Posted on: 16 October 2012 by winkyincanada

Whilst I always enjoyed the spectacle, part of me was uneasy with the idea of these mechanised beasts screaming through the natural landscapes like forests. Just seemed incongruous and arrogant. Huge costs, huge logistical challenges and perhaps increasingly limited spectator appeal. End of an era.

 

I don't much mourn the passing of sports that exist primarily for spectators and associated commercial gains. Hopefully we move on, and perhaps even do something, rather than just watch something.

Posted on: 16 October 2012 by Tony Lockhart

I did a lot of walking through forests, drove the length and breadth of Britain, and met some really interesting people. For seven years, rallying and rallycross dominated my weekends. As a lad in the RAF, anything that kept me off excessive drinking was a good thing. 

 

Portugal 1986 killed rallying at a world level for a few years,but at a national level it was incredible fun and truly exhilarating. I count myself lucky to have seen Colin McRae in his early days, flat out everywhere all the time. Pond in the 6R4. Wilson on the RS200's first outing. The totally mind-warping speeds of the top cars on the Isle of Man's twisty lanes. 

 

Seeing those cars and drivers doing what they did best made me take a lifelong interest in being a better driver, a safer driver. I know I can never elevate my skills to their level, so I never try. 

 

I'd guess that rallying has done a lot less damage to the world than the military aircraft I've worked on since 1981!

 

Tony

Posted on: 16 October 2012 by winkyincanada

Yeah, in the scheme of things WRC isn't the biggest environmental vandal. Trivial impact, really. But I think many people see motor sport (and perhaps specially rallying) as symbolic of general environmental impacts.

 

Posted on: 16 October 2012 by Tony Lockhart

Might as well enjoy the planet. It's gonna die anyway!

 

But seriously, yeah you're probably right. So how does F1 get away with it?

 

Tony

Posted on: 16 October 2012 by winkyincanada
Originally Posted by Tony Lockhart:

Might as well enjoy the planet. It's gonna die anyway!

 

But seriously, yeah you're probably right. So how does F1 get away with it?

 

Tony

F1 inhabits that same stratified space where rich people eat endangered species, just because they can.

 

Only the rich (Ecclestone, owners and sponsors), talented (engineers and drivers) and smokin' hot (LH's bird and anything JB has laid his "hands" on in the last 10 years) need apply.

Posted on: 17 October 2012 by BigH47

The planet will be fine, it might not be able to support life for a while, but I don't think it will be going anywhere soon.

Posted on: 17 October 2012 by George Fredrik

What do the initial WRC stand for?

 

So far this is a bit of a puzzle to me.

 

ATB from George

Posted on: 17 October 2012 by Happy Listener

George,

 

WRC = World Rally Championship.

 

i.e. it started out as racing through forests and on dirt tracks and developed major media and sponsor interest e.g. Lombard RAC rally in Britain.

 

Alas, sponsor and it appears major manufacturer interest has waned, perhaps due to the fact that most cars involved were saloons or specially derived variants. With today's roads ever more filled by SUV's, people-carriers and alike, I think the association of say a mark one Ford Escort to the motoring populous of the 1970s has been lost. Kind of ironic, as the surface is what something like an SUV should be able to run on - but not that stupidly fast as a works prepared Scooby!

 

 

Posted on: 17 October 2012 by George Fredrik

Dear Happy Listener,

 

When I was quite young in the 1970s, I was once taken to see a stage of the RAC Lombard Rally in the Forest of Dean. It was dark, damp, noisy and as far as I could see dangerous. I stood several trees back from the gravel road and looked away the whole time. Fancy if one of those cars had lost grip and run into the audience!

 

Therefore it may be understandable that I never learned what WRC stood for.

 

ATB from George

Posted on: 19 October 2012 by Happy Listener

George -

 

I think per Tony's comments above, this is perhaps what happened in Portugal in 1986. I think there was an event when a number of spectators were involved.

 

The TV pictures of cars literally driving in to crowds on narrow steep-sided tracks is very unsettling - I sit there wondering 'when' not 'if'. Far worse than even a 'bull run'.