FIA World Rally Championship Racing

Red October1984 · 05-11-14, 11:04 PM

I just figured out a couple days ago that there is actually a channel on DirecTV that airs this!

I've been really wanting to get into watching this....so I was really excited to watch Rally Argentina today but I missed it and caught a rerun of the Rally they did in Mexico instead.

WHY IS THIS NOT MORE POPULAR IN THE US?!

Does anybody else follow this?

Schroeder · 05-12-14, 04:39 AM

Well, they do right turns pretty much as often as left turns which confuses the US audience....

But seriously it's difficult to do a live broadcast of it since a rally is usually all day long. If you want to broadcast a summary of it on the same day as the event it will have to be late at night (over here they broadcasted that stuff at 10 p.m. if you were lucky). Not exactly good to reach a wide audience.
Apart from that I have no clue why it isn't more popular here either. Actually for some years we did not even have a free tv channel broadcasting the WRC in Germany.

Jimbuna · 05-12-14, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Well, they do right turns pretty much as often as left turns which confuses the US audience....

LOL

Red October1984 · 05-12-14, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schroeder

Well, they do right turns pretty much as often as left turns which confuses the US audience....

I think NASCAR makes right turns for one race out of the season. I never really liked NASCAR....

Quote:

But seriously it's difficult to do a live broadcast of it since a rally is usually all day long. If you want to broadcast a summary of it on the same day as the event it will have to be late at night (over here they broadcasted that stuff at 10 p.m. if you were lucky). Not exactly good to reach a wide audience.
Apart from that I have no clue why it isn't more popular here either. Actually for some years we did not even have a free tv channel broadcasting the WRC in Germany.

Well, they showed a "live" broadcast...but it was only an hour long. I missed it but caught the rerun.

It looks like a Northern European type of thing....all the drivers are from somewhere in northern Europe. England, Finland, Belgium, etc.

I very much enjoyed watching it. Downloaded the Official App....It's so much better than that NASCAR crap.

TarJak · 05-12-14, 05:30 PM

It's even more fun to go to an event and see, feel, smell and hear the cars. And get covered in dust.

Red October1984 · 05-12-14, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TarJak

It's even more fun to go to an event and see, feel, smell and hear the cars. And get covered in dust.

Those little turbocharged 4-cylinder engines can really whine....heh.

Stealhead · 05-12-14, 11:12 PM

Finns are the masters of rally the majority of champs are Finns.Of course one the best drivers was from Scotland.Jeff Gordon has driven WRC more for exhibation.

WRC and rally in general is more of a niche sport.l kind of like it that once something goes mainstream it looses its appeal.Least common denominator and all that jazz.

Look up Group B if you want some real insane rally the class was too deadly and such cars where banned except in Finland where 10 olds drive them.

Red October1984 · 05-12-14, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealhead

WRC and rally in general is more of a niche sport.l kind of like it that once something goes mainstream it looses its appeal.Least common denominator and all that jazz.

Fair enough. I just think it's a better alternative to NASCAR...which is boring to watch. People say there's crashes and that's why they watch...

Nah. MAYBE one crash in a 200 Lap race...

In 20 minutes of rally racing, I couldn't keep up a count of how many pieces broke, cars wrecked, tires blown....etc.

Plus it's a combination of going fast, dangerous track conditions (gravel roads of course), drifting, and TURBO

Quote:

Look up Group B if you want some real insane rally the class was too deadly and such cars where banned except in Finland where 10 olds drive them.

Might just do that.

Stealhead · 05-12-14, 11:35 PM

Group B was the glory days the cars pushed the limits of enginering and where insanly powerful they made a WRC car look like childs play to give some persective. Some had nearly 600hp in a compact body

really more than many drivers could handle the line between winning and death was very thin.

If memory serves a crash that killed several spectators was the final straw.

Lionclaw · 05-13-14, 02:50 AM

Some Group B stuff. There's lots of it on YT.

TarJak · 05-13-14, 03:02 AM

European crowd behaviour didn't help matters either. There's footage of them crowding cars at speed and jumping out of the way just in time.scary stuff.

Lionclaw · 05-13-14, 03:25 AM

Indeed, there's a clip about that.

TarJak · 05-13-14, 06:04 AM

Yeah the stuff around 3:16 shows it very well from the drivers perspective.

This one is a great tribute to Group B:

Jimbuna · 05-13-14, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TarJak

It's even more fun to go to an event and see, feel, smell and hear the cars. And get covered in dust.

Sure is

TarJak · 05-13-14, 08:20 AM

Particularly when there;s a Group B Quatro in the mix:

05-11-14, 11:04 PM	#1
Red October1984 Airplane Nerd Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Texas Posts: 6,243 Downloads: 115 Uploads: 0	FIA World Rally Championship Racing I just figured out a couple days ago that there is actually a channel on DirecTV that airs this! I've been really wanting to get into watching this....so I was really excited to watch Rally Argentina today but I missed it and caught a rerun of the Rally they did in Mexico instead. WHY IS THIS NOT MORE POPULAR IN THE US?! Does anybody else follow this? __________________

05-12-14, 04:39 AM	#2
Schroeder Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Banana Republic of Germany Posts: 6,170 Downloads: 62 Uploads: 0	Well, they do right turns pretty much as often as left turns which confuses the US audience.... But seriously it's difficult to do a live broadcast of it since a rally is usually all day long. If you want to broadcast a summary of it on the same day as the event it will have to be late at night (over here they broadcasted that stuff at 10 p.m. if you were lucky). Not exactly good to reach a wide audience. Apart from that I have no clue why it isn't more popular here either. Actually for some years we did not even have a free tv channel broadcasting the WRC in Germany. __________________ Putting Germ back into Germany.

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05-12-14, 05:30 PM	#5
TarJak Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 17,052 Downloads: 150 Uploads: 8	It's even more fun to go to an event and see, feel, smell and hear the cars. And get covered in dust.

05-12-14, 11:12 PM	#7
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Finns are the masters of rally the majority of champs are Finns.Of course one the best drivers was from Scotland.Jeff Gordon has driven WRC more for exhibation. WRC and rally in general is more of a niche sport.l kind of like it that once something goes mainstream it looses its appeal.Least common denominator and all that jazz. Look up Group B if you want some real insane rally the class was too deadly and such cars where banned except in Finland where 10 olds drive them.

05-12-14, 11:35 PM	#9
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Group B was the glory days the cars pushed the limits of enginering and where insanly powerful they made a WRC car look like childs play to give some persective. Some had nearly 600hp in a compact body really more than many drivers could handle the line between winning and death was very thin. If memory serves a crash that killed several spectators was the final straw.

05-13-14, 02:50 AM	#10
Lionclaw Ace of the Deep Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 1,006 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Some Group B stuff. There's lots of it on YT.

05-13-14, 03:02 AM	#11
TarJak Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 17,052 Downloads: 150 Uploads: 8	European crowd behaviour didn't help matters either. There's footage of them crowding cars at speed and jumping out of the way just in time.scary stuff.

05-13-14, 03:25 AM	#12
Lionclaw Ace of the Deep Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 1,006 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Indeed, there's a clip about that.

05-13-14, 06:04 AM	#13
TarJak Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 17,052 Downloads: 150 Uploads: 8	Yeah the stuff around 3:16 shows it very well from the drivers perspective. This one is a great tribute to Group B:

05-13-14, 08:20 AM	#15
TarJak Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 17,052 Downloads: 150 Uploads: 8	Particularly when there;s a Group B Quatro in the mix: