RDRC S2 - Round 7 - Hokkaido Rally (30/31st May)

[Dariusz Swiderski]

I was very uneasy coming to this round having done practice run with fair amount of off's, especially on the reverse stages. So decided to take it really easy and just try to finish. Full success . Not a single crash, only 1 big spin on Noiker but didn't hit anything. Due to Simone's trouble at the last 4, i jumped him by 0.4 sec to take 2nd in EU3. So very happy with my run, should get fair amount of points from this

GL to those still to run :wink:

 

[Maxim Levesque]

Never try doing rally at 11pm O.O

P.S.: I quitted, darn too tired to concentrate.

 

[Chris Williamson]

Pleasantly surprised at how that went last night and again I look set for some more class points for me and the team.

My rally didn't get off to the best of starts as I clipped a tree early in stage 1, which must've lightly damaged the radiator as it was steaming, but thankfully continued to work up until the service park. That incident seemed to focus me and proved to be my only major drama of the night thankfully. With Norman and Nigel having some troubles I took the lead in class for a while, but Nigel set some blistering stage times and so I had to settle for 2nd in class for EU3.

My only real grumble with this rally is the Portugal stage - a horrible stage and like Norman said, it's totally unsuitable when you're running gravel tyres.

 

[Robb Kulcsar]

I'll swich again to OC4 TZ, cose I have free time now. Thanks.

 

[Senad Subasic]

Hoped to get some points, seeing all the horror stories in previous sessions, but I just killed the car on Noiker, so I guess that's that.

EDIT: Noiker part 2, wet tires, was going careful, managed to conquer the corner that made me retire in the first run, only to graze another tree 10m ahead. Oil warning, engine dead after half a minute, me annoyed, me retired. Good luck all who're still driving.

 

[Nigel Atkins]

really enjoyed this rally, spent most of my practice time editing the pace notes with Pete which really helped a lot.

Started realy well with a steady 1st stage, but a small of into the trees on stage 2 damadged my rad and had overheating engine which gave up 1.5K from the finish of stage 3 :frown:

As per usual for me once i got my early mistake out of the way i set about my recovery and was really pleased with my next 4 stages.

feeling a lot better after the last stages i felt confident to push hard, setting some nice times i was closing on Chris.

with less than 1 min to Chris i gave it my all on the final 4 stages and managed to steel the EU lead back from Chris by 21 seconds

althoug i`m not a fan of the Jap stages i think the RDRC staff picked the best out of the bunch. regarding the super speacial stage i actualy preferd driving it with gravel tyres on as i could slide the car easyer than with tarmac tyres.

huge thanks as always to the RDRC staff for putting ion a great event

 

[Robb Kulcsar]

Not only one stage without a small or a big mistake, but fortunately no retirement and no CHF. Run 2 and a half stages only in 1st gear. Never practiced before the rally, in fact didn't played one stage all week, this could easely be seen on my times of last 4 stages. Anyway, to hope at maybe one point will be to much, of course in Production Champ. ? )
Thanks to organizers and participants.

 

[Pete Mull]

Well, this was my first Championship round since I joined RD and I thoroughly enjoyed it - good mix of stages and weather conditions. I was pleased to get to the end without a retirement and seeing the times of you fast guys gives me something to aim for.

Thanks to the organizing team for running this event and to all those who gave their support by entering the competition.

Can't wait for the next one

Pete

 

[Alastair Walker]

Had a great rally up until SS12 where I just tapped a tree sliding wide on a 3 left very early on the stage and damaged the rad. Limped along almost to the finish but the engine gave up before crossing the line. Stuffed up the final two stages because of that retirement and ruined what would have been a great event. Really enjoyed the stages up until then and had a great night on Team Speak with Warren.

Looking forward to the next round, thanks to the admin team for setting it up and collating all the results, as always it is very much appreciated, and Congrats to Warren for taking out OC4 easily and for the great company.

Cheers Al

 

[Warren Dawes]

Glad to get through the OC Rally, it seemed like hard work tonight.

I got off to a strange and horrible start. SS01, I take off and at the first right hander, I turn the wheel and nothing responed :eek: , so I drove straight into the bush. Fortunately, I didn't hit anything hard, so I could reverse out and get going again.
Things settled down then, and I managed to get through most of the Stages without further damage.
I hit a tree in SS08, but I had almost stopped the car by then, so damage wasn't too bad.
It all fell apart (well almost) in SS12 (Noiker II). I had run a good Stage right up to the final downhill section to the end. With about 15 secs to go, flat chat in 6th gear, two marshalls were in the middle of the road, so I panicked and tried to miss them. However, I put two wheels on the grass and around she went, backwards at high speed into the bush, and ending up in the middle of a creek that I didn't even know was there. It took me about 20 secs to realise that I couldn't drive out of there, so then had a CFH. Luckily the car was driveable, but the steering was broken. :frown:
The steering problems made SS13 rather "interesting" but I could finish. The real worry was Portugal SS18, it was murder trying to get the Subaru around there with broken steering, and gravel tyres.

Only Al and I on TS tonight, pity really, but thanks to Al for the company. We had 7 drivers in the OC Session though, so thanks for the competition guys. Good to see Eddie back with us again.

Thanks to Rick and the RDRC Team for organising. :thanks:

 

[Tor Anders Berven]

I am sorry, my work situation this week is forcing me to forfeit this round. I am sorry. I was able to squeeze in RDGTC yesterday but now I have to much to do. I will return stronger.

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

4x Noiker... lol... this will be hard time

because a lot of you had a lot of problems I hope just finishing all stages will make me good paced...

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

gla

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

Noiker in bad conditions is just a purgatory... 40 sec slower than 1st run, but still the fastest S2000 from EU4 I am so far satisfied
bad thing is I never drove Noiker 2.... I dont know what to expect

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

oh no !!! I was too wide end ended behind turn at Spirkikama, I am sure I could go back but the game though I couldnt and made CFH for me!

 

[Sebastien Levret]

One small whine - being forced to run tarmac stages with gravel tires isn't challenging nor fun, it's just stupid. I hope there'll be an extra service or a gravel super special thrown in instead next season.

My only real grumble with this rally is the Portugal stage - a horrible stage and like Norman said, it's totally unsuitable when you're running gravel tyres.

Yes, this stage was undriveable. With gravel tyres, it was not fun but with the wet gravel tyres, it looks like on the ice with slick tyres.
I think this stage will be more interresting for the alpes round, and will increase the challenge and the fun.
Or maybe you can keep this stage for a gravel round, but please put a service park before and after this stage to change the tyres, like this:
Day 1 : SS18
(night service)
Day 2 : severals gravel stages
(night service)
Day 3 : severals gravel stages

This is what happened in 2010 for the Portugal rally.

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

maybe it is from car to car but I found it almost the same with Škoda S2000 EVO1 like on tarmac tyres... I had lower response in turn exit yes, but I accepted it and changed my style of driving - I was even more able to slide around the corners than with tarmac tyres (with no turbo it is hard to do so)... I made one mistake though, but nothing serious, max. 10 second lost

 

[Samuli Leinonen]

Ok driving with absolutely zero practice since my last rally over a month ago. Liked the Japanese stages a lot. Didn't like Portuguese stages at all. First time round hitted fence 3 times and had to reverse, lost maybe over a minute? Second time it was going better but hitted a fence, flipped to wrong side and it was game over.

Oh, and note to self. Next time close Zone Alarm. Caused 2 dnf's for me when jumping to desktop during stage. ;(

 

[Dariusz Swiderski]

Personally, i find the Portugal stage easier to drive on gravel tires then on tarmac. Yes, on wets was like driving on ice but on drys it was fun..ish. Nevertheless, it was a bit strange to find it in gravel event but it wasn't any problem for me

 

[John Cunningham]

Thanks, yet again, to all !!

Great fun!

cheers
jc