Who thinks rallying is becoming more popular? but the actual thing is going down hill reasons why:
1)Tv coverage C4 and all the others they just blabber on about the weather.
2)spectator spots I think we are just being squished into stupid places we should be able to go and spectate any part of the stage! like the good old days.
3)police (pigs) they are trying to get big dosh out of rally drivers and fans which is putting wrc off some countrys especially GB like that copper who wouldnt let gronholm go he could have gone behond or infront of him with his lights on!!!! What do you think? or am i talking a load of B****ks.

On point three - totally disagree. Gronholm's car was not road worthy simple as that. Regs state that cars must be road legal - that wasn't. It was positively dangerous. What if he'd lost control or the wheel had come off completley - even under police escort? There is no telling what would have happened.

You wouldn't be able to drive your normal car in that condition, so why should they be allowed to do so in a rally car. Police come in for a lot of critiscism (and rightly so), but I don't think it is their job to give rally drivers escorts for this kind of thing!

On points 1 and 2 - well times change and so do the events - not always for the better it has to be said. In time you might find things start to relax a little, but for the time being I think this is the way it is going to be.

Chris

I'm with Chris L on point 3 - no way could that car go on the road - there was no tyre left on the bottom of the wheel!

I took this picture on the stage where it happened:
http://www.imprezasport.net/pics/rally/gronholm.jpg
Look at the furrow being left by the wheel right around the corner. That was when there was still some tyre left.

If he'd driven the 30 or 40 miles back to service he'd have been scraping metal along our roads doing damage to the surface, thus costing us more money in the long run in road repairs.
Plus with the complaints about traffic from various people this year, a slow moving rally car with a police escort on the minor roads he'd have to use, would just have made things worse.

Plus as Chris says, the car has to be road legal to compete. With a wheel hanging off it's not roadworthy, so not road legal.
Exactly the same thing happened to Makinen (think it was Makinen!) on the Millbrook stage a few years back - he hit a concrete block and lost a wheel, and the plod quite rightly wouldn't let him drive back.

[Edited by :Mike: - 11/16/2003 1:07:02 AM]

About 15 years ago a 6R4 driver lost a wheel when he went off backwards on the flying finish of the last stage of the Granite City Rally based in Aberdeen. Anyway he had about 20 miles of road stage to go and he was doing it on 3 wheels. A police car spotted him and a chase ensued! Apparantly he was doing over 70mph.
He was banned good and proper.

Don't think we should be calling the plod 'pigs' on here - though I expect some of them are-doesn't do us any favours (do agree about speed camera cons tho) ;)

Check out my WDA/WRC posting for some hearbreaking reading of how things WERE:confused:

TV has no love of Motorsport, consequently joe public hasn't either.........football is easy to follow and formulaic - doesn't take Einstein to package and promote it...and it has a regular slot. f1/wrc/btcc etc has lost it's precarious finger hold......if i was an xfiles fan....then i'd say that there is a deliberate cold shouldering of motorsport:D

Ypu are right about gronholm he shouldnt have been allowed I have cjanged my mind with the damage to the tarmac and I apologise for calling the police pigs I was in a bad mood sorry.
70 mph on three wheels !!! that was a bit stupid was there suposed to be a 6r4 in this rally because i heard sum1 sayin?

no probs TT - we all like a good moan now and then:D

:-D I have looked at your web page an it is really good i totaly agree with you on the grand prix bit and it is true what you said about the rallying and what a shame its not like that now:(


[Edited by Tommy Turbo - 11/16/2003 10:25:31 AM]

Hi TT - I only found that site - but it seems to generally sum up the gradual demise of a great event.......I only used to do the easy speccy bits to be fair tho:)

So who thinks colin is coming back next year due to burnsies absent? or I have even heard something about alister returning to wrc what have you heard?