| Archive for Stockton & District Motor Club The forum of Stockton & District Motor Club |
| club sec |
Fuzzy logicWhen is a stage rally not a stage rally? When it is a stage rally, apparently
At least this is what I think Dave's logic was trying to get across last night. Slipster, what was your first stage event? |
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| joe_the_waiter |
for the benefit of those not at the club last night (most readers i suspect), here is my point...
A rally held around an airfield type of event (single venue) is not my idea of a proper rally, however i accept it as a rally even though i have no desire to ever compete in a rally of this nature. Now... a new rally is being run at Teesside Autodrome which is 12 stages of 2 laps round the track. thats 12 stages all the same, all on the circuit and using 1000cc cars. that to me is not a rally, but shares more with a sprint event. I believe this is taking the bottom of the rallying ladder below where it should be and bears very little relation to a true rally. Even as a starting event, i believe its in the wrong guise. opinions please...... |
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| Gav Taylor |
not a rally in my book like, to be fair all it is is a glorified sprint round a small track.
Poor. |
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| club sec |
Oh yes, great comments from 2 members who have never competed in any type of motorsport event of any stature.
Stockton are running the Formula 1000 closing round on December 6th at Teesside, at least we know we need to look elsewhere for assistance. Formula 1000 has the potential to be one of the biggest leaps forward in national rallying for a decade thanks to the junior category which is able to bring drivers in to rallying 3 years earlier than previously possible. |
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| joe_the_waiter |
why should having competed before be a prerequisite for having an opinion? I have never directed a film, does that mean i dont have an opinion on which films are good and bad?
i have already said i wont be part of organising that event as i am already fully stretched with what i do regarding motorsport / club. i will probably help on the day, but that doesnt change my opinion of the stature and classification of the event in question |
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| bob_mck |
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=define%3A+rally&meta=
It looks to me like it has several meanings |
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| club sec |
Hi Bob, you are still alive then. | ||
| Road Rally Dave |
I can see JTW's point, but I don't think that Formula 1000 is meant to challenge the "traditional" stage event. If it is meant to be a cheap starter form of rallying then I am all for it. If people think that it is not challenging enough then they will enter some other form of motorsport / alternative event. The bottom line is that when you compete in any motorsport event which is against the clock and / or against other competitors, the driver (& navigator if rallying) are doing something which gets the adrenalin going and whilst it might not be as spectacular as say Gp4 Escorts sideways on the lock stops in a forest they are all still driving as hard as they can / dare. Some people think that Road Rallying is not really a patch on stage rallies - but try doing a full night event from one of the competitive regional association championships and see how hard you have to push on for 5 or 6 hours to just get into the top 10 at the finish ! My point is that it is horses for courses. If the format works then people will enter, be it in Nissan Micras in F1000 or ex WRC cars in SV airfield events. |
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| club sec |
All night RR's are tough, I don't think I could do one now without actually training for it. 
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| bob_mck |
aye, sorry i havent been to the meetings recently but ive been up at 5 for the past month on a wednesday so by the time it comes to setting off for stockton, im practically dead 
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| club sec |
You'll fit right in then. | ||
| slippy |
First Rally was the Xmas Stages which was a baptism of fire thanks to the weather
Have to agree that SV's are not 'proper' Rallies but for the clubmen/juniors etc they are an important part of the sport and I for one satill enjoy them 
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| Gav Taylor |
Whilst i understand the conceptual strategy of the events model ie to to draw in "youngsters" to the sport at an early age I believe it has its flaws: 1. whilst financial BOE's are lowered, the next step up the ladder to "full on forest gravel" events is a huge leap in terms of money. 2. The spectacle, or lack of. Seeing a gaggle of slow, raspy 1.0l novas and corsa's etc wont produce much of a media hype, grab many headlines or give the general public/ spectator something to get out of bed and watch the event. This in turn leads to little or no sponsorship opportunities for the drivers. i was speaking to mechanic from Pro Tec on saturday and he said they're only running the last of the Mitsi Evo challenge "free drive in a rally" then after that its a PAYG for its customers. If those type of sponsorship opportunities have been lost on the national level then I cant genuinely see any more arising to support graduates from the F1000 level. 3. Skill set. I cannot see how driving round a circuit 12 times on the same or similar course, on tarmac will produce the next colin mcrae or richard burns. Which gets us full circuit in thatthe concept is more of a sprint or even circuit race that an actual rally. How can you transpose tarmac circuit driving skills to a forest gravel event effectively? A good indication of this will be Slippys performance on sunday, though he has done tarmac rallys before, not just SV's. Just some points to consider. |
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| club sec |
Gav has missed all the articles in Motorsport News about the F1000 series.
Slipster didn't realise we lost our stage rally cherries on the same event. I ended up in the gravel too. You doing the ALM Teesside event? |
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| club sec |
Colin McRae's first rally car was a 1.3 Nova btw. | ||
| Gav Taylor |
thats 300cc more than F1000. 
so just how is a f1000 gonna be the phoenix of rallying then sec and will Teesside autodrome really be the nest of myrrh sticks for the sport to reinvent itself? |
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| slippy |
Indeed we did though I managed to avoided the gravel though not a hay bale 
Dont think I will be doing the ALM tbh |
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| club sec |
And still the naysayers have never done an event. 
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| slippy |
For hire one 1600 Challenge Spec 205, bright Orange one careful owner
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| Gav Taylor |
dont temp fate, should of said that on sunday night bro!! |
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| joe_the_waiter |
i dont see what relevance that has in this debate. my opinion is as an enthiusiastic, knowlegable and experienced spectator & fanatic. My opinions are as important as any competitor and or official. This is ultimately a debate about what the bottom level of rallying is. To me, juniors should perhaps be part of a 'normal' event but only doing two or three of the shorter stages instead of the full rally. run in front of the main field (which is now mainly the norm for smaller classes) where it also acts as a support act and seen by all the spectators where exposure is as important as experience. I suspect the event at Teesside will provide more racing racing experience than rally. The main part of a rally is traversing a route guided by maps / notes etc. The F1000 event will not have much need for a co-driver / navigator, a sprint driver manages to find the start and finish withought any problems, so the difference between the two types of event is exaggerated for the purpose of creating a new type of event. |
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| slippy |
Can one pontificate on the joys of sex if all one has done is watch copious amounts of pornography
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| club sec |
Who are you talking about? Yourself or JTW? And what about Gav? He only watches gay porn. | ||