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RDRC - Rally World
- Thread starter Rick Bamford
- Start date
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nice one, I especially like the car slamming into those tires in the ridiculously tight Irish stage. Looks like me 
Nice cinematic part there at 0:38 . you could've killed them though
Hot News: Paddock madness
The first rally of the championship starts just in a few hours. There is a lot of drivers, who have signed up. Competition is big and work in the paddock is in full swing. Excited viewers are impatient. It is still 3 hours to go, premier of the RaceDepartment Rally Championship.
Track is almost full and who is not there already should find some spot as soon as possible. With number of 26 drivers, this is going to be very big event. And only we can provide hot news from the paddock.
With the opening round of the inaugural RaceDepartment Rally championship just around the corner, we take a look at the drivers, cars and stages making up this historic event.
Round 1 sees the championship start with the only Tarmac event of the season, The Rally of Lake Mountain. Based in the country town of Marys-ville the event races through the mountain passes behind this tiny hamlet on Saturday with six stages. The weather has been hot and dry but with the end of summer it has the chance of some very tricky conditions and the chance of rain will be quite high. On Sunday the four stages are a blast through Marys-ville township and the surrounding country side. On 3 separate occasions the event will visit the exciting RSI park complex for a spectator stage to thrill the crowed.
Grid is full of very known names. The most one is not nobody else then Warren Dawes, driving Peugeot 2003, is the main part of the popular Rally Club, which is improving (not just in number of sign ups) day by day. He is proud Australian, where is rally big part of motorsport. And there he fell into the enthusiasm to the fast wheels. He actually knows how this things work. And for sure, he certainly use it.
The most favored driver for win, Sebastian Levret will be driving his national car Citroen Xsara. He is known mainly from circuit racing, where he did a lot of wins and has a lot of success. By his own words, "I would like to keep the fun and the interest of a rally event". But I am sure, he will do more then that and with his experiences, we can expect hard fights.
One of the most initiator to this championship, Rick Bamford, in the Subaru Impreza 2005, has very interesting racing history. He obviously has speed in his blood, as his dad is prosperous driver from the Australian and State rallies. He has also a lot of experiences from the world of racing and his ambitions are big. He also did well in training drives.
Thats from now all, but dont worry. We will inform you about everything what happens in the paddock. More to come!
The first rally of the championship starts just in a few hours. There is a lot of drivers, who have signed up. Competition is big and work in the paddock is in full swing. Excited viewers are impatient. It is still 3 hours to go, premier of the RaceDepartment Rally Championship.
Track is almost full and who is not there already should find some spot as soon as possible. With number of 26 drivers, this is going to be very big event. And only we can provide hot news from the paddock.
With the opening round of the inaugural RaceDepartment Rally championship just around the corner, we take a look at the drivers, cars and stages making up this historic event.
Round 1 sees the championship start with the only Tarmac event of the season, The Rally of Lake Mountain. Based in the country town of Marys-ville the event races through the mountain passes behind this tiny hamlet on Saturday with six stages. The weather has been hot and dry but with the end of summer it has the chance of some very tricky conditions and the chance of rain will be quite high. On Sunday the four stages are a blast through Marys-ville township and the surrounding country side. On 3 separate occasions the event will visit the exciting RSI park complex for a spectator stage to thrill the crowed.
Grid is full of very known names. The most one is not nobody else then Warren Dawes, driving Peugeot 2003, is the main part of the popular Rally Club, which is improving (not just in number of sign ups) day by day. He is proud Australian, where is rally big part of motorsport. And there he fell into the enthusiasm to the fast wheels. He actually knows how this things work. And for sure, he certainly use it.
The most favored driver for win, Sebastian Levret will be driving his national car Citroen Xsara. He is known mainly from circuit racing, where he did a lot of wins and has a lot of success. By his own words, "I would like to keep the fun and the interest of a rally event". But I am sure, he will do more then that and with his experiences, we can expect hard fights.
One of the most initiator to this championship, Rick Bamford, in the Subaru Impreza 2005, has very interesting racing history. He obviously has speed in his blood, as his dad is prosperous driver from the Australian and State rallies. He has also a lot of experiences from the world of racing and his ambitions are big. He also did well in training drives.
Thats from now all, but dont worry. We will inform you about everything what happens in the paddock. More to come!
Hot News: Drivers Introduction
We stay in the A league and take a look to Tor Anders Berven, who managed to drive Citroen Xsara 2005. He is cars fanatic for his whole life. He lives in the country with snow surface, which will also test drivers in the next rallies. He thinks that this could be good preparation, but he also trust himself in tarmac or gravel surface. But he jumped from the 2wd cars into WRC and he needs to get used the car first.
Damien Jones, with Peugeot 206, is big Colin McRae fan. And there, when watching his career, he started to rallying. His team mechanics had some problems with the car suspensions, but we were informed that they have solved the problem quickly and they have completed successfully training at Příbram. He is newcomer to this sport, but he has a lot to show.
Jakub Sulej told us "The class choose me, not I had choosen." The final car is Ford Focus WRC from 2005. He is one of the Polish beast, with close contact to rally motorsport. This youngster is mysterious and nobody wants to estimate his results. Could be big competitor.
We still have some drivers to talk, but time is pushing hard. For next, we stay in A league until we jump into Premier. Stay with us, more informations to come!
We stay in the A league and take a look to Tor Anders Berven, who managed to drive Citroen Xsara 2005. He is cars fanatic for his whole life. He lives in the country with snow surface, which will also test drivers in the next rallies. He thinks that this could be good preparation, but he also trust himself in tarmac or gravel surface. But he jumped from the 2wd cars into WRC and he needs to get used the car first.
Damien Jones, with Peugeot 206, is big Colin McRae fan. And there, when watching his career, he started to rallying. His team mechanics had some problems with the car suspensions, but we were informed that they have solved the problem quickly and they have completed successfully training at Příbram. He is newcomer to this sport, but he has a lot to show.
Jakub Sulej told us "The class choose me, not I had choosen." The final car is Ford Focus WRC from 2005. He is one of the Polish beast, with close contact to rally motorsport. This youngster is mysterious and nobody wants to estimate his results. Could be big competitor.
We still have some drivers to talk, but time is pushing hard. For next, we stay in A league until we jump into Premier. Stay with us, more informations to come!
Hot News: Never ending preparation
We are back with fresh news! Track is now closed by inspector and from now, you should have your own spot somewhere, because stewards dont allow you to walk trough. In the other way, go into the closest pub and watch TV or listen to radio.
Next driver is Steve Bean, driving another Subaru Impreza WRC 2005. He has a lot of experiences and he told us that he was practicing a lot. Works on the car were long and he trusts the cars is prepared as well as possible. He wants to be the fastest, but will stay consistently for the first round, to see how the car goes and finish is the main priority. He entrusts us that he is nervous, but with his co-driver there is nothing to worry he said.
Another Subaru in the A league is in the hands of Dariusz Swiderski. He chose the car for its power and handling. He and his mechanics are still working on the car, so we have not got much informations from this driver. He trust himself in the championship for overall win.
Łukasz Demolin, another of very experienced driver, jumped into Hyundai Accent WRC3 as the only one. He told us "I wanted to start in an N4 class, with which I'm way more familiar than the WRC." In the end, he changed his mind to Hyundai. His main point is to improve himself and handle stress. "You can't jump higher than your butt" is his main motto.
Last driver, who is driving A league and gave us some time is Sami Pesari in Peuget 206 WRC. His inspiration was Kimi Raikonnen, after his won in F1 he started with racing. He had no doubt with choosing the car, as he thinks the Peugeot is the best one. He takes the championship very serious and training is on the to-do day list as number 1.
For next, we try to catch some Premier league drivers...
We are back with fresh news! Track is now closed by inspector and from now, you should have your own spot somewhere, because stewards dont allow you to walk trough. In the other way, go into the closest pub and watch TV or listen to radio.
Next driver is Steve Bean, driving another Subaru Impreza WRC 2005. He has a lot of experiences and he told us that he was practicing a lot. Works on the car were long and he trusts the cars is prepared as well as possible. He wants to be the fastest, but will stay consistently for the first round, to see how the car goes and finish is the main priority. He entrusts us that he is nervous, but with his co-driver there is nothing to worry he said.
Another Subaru in the A league is in the hands of Dariusz Swiderski. He chose the car for its power and handling. He and his mechanics are still working on the car, so we have not got much informations from this driver. He trust himself in the championship for overall win.
Łukasz Demolin, another of very experienced driver, jumped into Hyundai Accent WRC3 as the only one. He told us "I wanted to start in an N4 class, with which I'm way more familiar than the WRC." In the end, he changed his mind to Hyundai. His main point is to improve himself and handle stress. "You can't jump higher than your butt" is his main motto.
Last driver, who is driving A league and gave us some time is Sami Pesari in Peuget 206 WRC. His inspiration was Kimi Raikonnen, after his won in F1 he started with racing. He had no doubt with choosing the car, as he thinks the Peugeot is the best one. He takes the championship very serious and training is on the to-do day list as number 1.
For next, we try to catch some Premier league drivers...
Hot News: Ready to start
Cars are now almost on the start line of SS1. Last cars check, drivers are concentrated. Spectators waiting. Everything is ready to rock'n'roll!
We had last chance to speak to Premier league drivers. Actually, only we had.
Senad Subasic, right hand of Rick Bamford, has Subaru Impreza N11 car. He started watching rally years ago, and he knew this motorsport is the right one. And only one. He is big fan of Subaru, and Colin McRae's win in the 555 was the biggest experience he felt. He always wanted to met with Colin McRae itself, and he did. Then he found he wants to be like him. He started with rally and now, he has big ambition to win the Premier class.
John Low is another man with close contact to rally sport for many years. He started as part of service crew and driving was his target all the time. Unfortunately, he has medical issues. Fairly and stable Mitsubishi Evo 9 was right choice. He also has a lot of experiences from circuit racing. He is the biggest competitor as he is pushing by the hardest way. But in cost of crashes, which could destroy him. Lets see what this ambitious driver can do.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7 in hands of Ludovic Cogotti is very quick car, as we could saw in the training season. Ludovic is very stable driver with purpose of no mistakes. He started to rally many years ago, but he had break during the life for take a place in the circuit racing. He trained just to get use to the car.
Next competitor is Lee Palmer with his Subaru Impreza N14 Pro. He told us that he never felt more excited then now. He had a lot practice in the Rally Club events, which should be obviously good preparation. He prefers circuit racing though.
With Lee is driving Ondřej Kapal with the same car. This driver is very known for his stunts, the most when he tried to cut couple of trees by pushing the car. He always drove Škoda Fabia S2000 until today, when he unexpectedly jumped into the N4 class with Subaru. We tried to talk to him how does he feel in this car, but he seemed to be nervous and didnt give us any response.
We have also fresh news from another A league driver. We managed to catch at the last time Hampus Jansson driving Škoda Fabia WRC 05. He got familiar with the car very quickly and he felt into love with it. He didnt find out the same feelings with the other cars. He is very competitive, and will try to stay calm and concentrate.
From the paddock it is all we can provide. First stages start in a while. Have fun!
(I am sorry for the late, I forgot the rally starts 19 GMT, not 20...)
Cars are now almost on the start line of SS1. Last cars check, drivers are concentrated. Spectators waiting. Everything is ready to rock'n'roll!
We had last chance to speak to Premier league drivers. Actually, only we had.
Senad Subasic, right hand of Rick Bamford, has Subaru Impreza N11 car. He started watching rally years ago, and he knew this motorsport is the right one. And only one. He is big fan of Subaru, and Colin McRae's win in the 555 was the biggest experience he felt. He always wanted to met with Colin McRae itself, and he did. Then he found he wants to be like him. He started with rally and now, he has big ambition to win the Premier class.
John Low is another man with close contact to rally sport for many years. He started as part of service crew and driving was his target all the time. Unfortunately, he has medical issues. Fairly and stable Mitsubishi Evo 9 was right choice. He also has a lot of experiences from circuit racing. He is the biggest competitor as he is pushing by the hardest way. But in cost of crashes, which could destroy him. Lets see what this ambitious driver can do.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo7 in hands of Ludovic Cogotti is very quick car, as we could saw in the training season. Ludovic is very stable driver with purpose of no mistakes. He started to rally many years ago, but he had break during the life for take a place in the circuit racing. He trained just to get use to the car.
Next competitor is Lee Palmer with his Subaru Impreza N14 Pro. He told us that he never felt more excited then now. He had a lot practice in the Rally Club events, which should be obviously good preparation. He prefers circuit racing though.
With Lee is driving Ondřej Kapal with the same car. This driver is very known for his stunts, the most when he tried to cut couple of trees by pushing the car. He always drove Škoda Fabia S2000 until today, when he unexpectedly jumped into the N4 class with Subaru. We tried to talk to him how does he feel in this car, but he seemed to be nervous and didnt give us any response.
We have also fresh news from another A league driver. We managed to catch at the last time Hampus Jansson driving Škoda Fabia WRC 05. He got familiar with the car very quickly and he felt into love with it. He didnt find out the same feelings with the other cars. He is very competitive, and will try to stay calm and concentrate.
From the paddock it is all we can provide. First stages start in a while. Have fun!
(I am sorry for the late, I forgot the rally starts 19 GMT, not 20...)
Hot news: We have first winners. Who will be next?
Welcome back with RD Rally Championship press...
...after round one, where engineers and drivers were mostly optimizing their cars for the upcoming events, to be ready as much as possible. But we have seen a lot of battles, which ended in results just by seconds and even crashes. And we have 9 different stages winner. Isnt that good start?
Tricky wet tarmac ruined some chances for the win, especially because of slicks, which couldnt be changed before the enter to Service stage. So, it was hard test of driving skills. Somebody has passed and the rest regretted their heavy foot on throttle. But thats rally and we have to count with this.
League A winner, Jakub Sulej, has shown us his big talent and potential. His name wasnt really known before. His test events were average. But after first stage, nobody didnt critic him anymore. And now, magazines and news are full of this name. He was driving consistently fast, with just one hesitation on stage n°3, Joux Verte. His times could be ranked on level World Rally Championship drivers. He just was leading the car smoothly and Ford liked it. Thanks to that, he won 7 stages. He ended up just above Sebastian Levret, who was very favored, with gap over 18 seconds. They had very close battles. Jakub lost Super stage n°8 just by 0.05 second. This shocked all Seb's fans.
Ludovic Cogotti, winner in Premier league, showed us how to drive. He performed also 7 stages, where he had no competition. He managed to (as only one) start with intermediates. He didnt loose anything on dry surface and when it comes to wet, he was driving just like there was no rain. But he also had very critic moments. On stage n°3, Joux Verte, he badly recovered grip and a tree, which he couldnt avoid, became his new partner. With help from public, he was able to get back, but it cost him a lot of time. But it was end of crying, because the other stages were without any mistakes. He knew that he had to push, so he did. With very risky style, trough the best times, he managed to get his first position back. He made an absolutely famous night SS stage. Public was just stunned with open mouth. Robi Kulcsar with Glenn Morris were trying to get close to him, but with gap over 2 minutes it was just like sci-fi try.
The most problematic stage Joux Verte ruined a lot of drivers. But in the end, everyone finished. Except of Hampus Jansson, for who stage n°9, Příbram, was over. He badly braked into hairpin and after two wheels ride, he finally went out of the track, just into viewers place. It was very lucky that nobody was hurt. He then made a lot of spins and finished in a stream. Car then had to wait for heavy machines to get out of there. We have informations, that Hampus with his co-driver are OK, and will continue their rally.
Yesterday, testing for round 2 has started. Those, who hates tarmac, were very pleased with choice of the stages, because gravel surface is now going to be. We have a lot of newcomers to the league. The grid is now increased to 32 number of drivers.
Rick Bamford provided us some informations about the upcoming rally.
The second round of the RaceDepartment Rally Championship see the teams leave the chilly tarmac mountain roads and journey to the hot, dry and dusty forests around Benalla. After a long draught the stages are dry and very fast, with some very rough sections to catch the un-prepared. The first day sees the drivers loop through open foot hills on stages like Greenhills and the famous Mineshaft before climbing into the hills for Canyon, East-West and Prospect ridge where the roads can become testing.
An early start to Sunday will find the crews up and running before dawn for a reverse run through East-West and Prospect before the final return to the foot hills. The Event will finish with a spectator stage at the ACCT stage and prize ceremony.
We also have some changes. Red Chicken Racing of John Low changed car from Mitsubishi to Subaru. But it wasnt good move. When he went for his first test, he wanted to be as fast as the car allows. But the performance was so much different in compare of the previous car. He was like a blast, but gravel can be very treacherous. He couldnt manage long wide turn. He was just too fast to keep car on the track. That crash was terrible, we could saw two trees coming down. From the car, nothing left. Both riders were immediately transported to hospital, where they still are. Doctor says "They are under control and stabilized. But we cant tell you, if they will continue. They are badly injured."
Lets hope everything, what is gonna happen, will evade without any injures.
For now, we just can say good luck to all participant. We will be back soon.
Welcome back with RD Rally Championship press...
...after round one, where engineers and drivers were mostly optimizing their cars for the upcoming events, to be ready as much as possible. But we have seen a lot of battles, which ended in results just by seconds and even crashes. And we have 9 different stages winner. Isnt that good start?
Tricky wet tarmac ruined some chances for the win, especially because of slicks, which couldnt be changed before the enter to Service stage. So, it was hard test of driving skills. Somebody has passed and the rest regretted their heavy foot on throttle. But thats rally and we have to count with this.
League A winner, Jakub Sulej, has shown us his big talent and potential. His name wasnt really known before. His test events were average. But after first stage, nobody didnt critic him anymore. And now, magazines and news are full of this name. He was driving consistently fast, with just one hesitation on stage n°3, Joux Verte. His times could be ranked on level World Rally Championship drivers. He just was leading the car smoothly and Ford liked it. Thanks to that, he won 7 stages. He ended up just above Sebastian Levret, who was very favored, with gap over 18 seconds. They had very close battles. Jakub lost Super stage n°8 just by 0.05 second. This shocked all Seb's fans.
Ludovic Cogotti, winner in Premier league, showed us how to drive. He performed also 7 stages, where he had no competition. He managed to (as only one) start with intermediates. He didnt loose anything on dry surface and when it comes to wet, he was driving just like there was no rain. But he also had very critic moments. On stage n°3, Joux Verte, he badly recovered grip and a tree, which he couldnt avoid, became his new partner. With help from public, he was able to get back, but it cost him a lot of time. But it was end of crying, because the other stages were without any mistakes. He knew that he had to push, so he did. With very risky style, trough the best times, he managed to get his first position back. He made an absolutely famous night SS stage. Public was just stunned with open mouth. Robi Kulcsar with Glenn Morris were trying to get close to him, but with gap over 2 minutes it was just like sci-fi try.
The most problematic stage Joux Verte ruined a lot of drivers. But in the end, everyone finished. Except of Hampus Jansson, for who stage n°9, Příbram, was over. He badly braked into hairpin and after two wheels ride, he finally went out of the track, just into viewers place. It was very lucky that nobody was hurt. He then made a lot of spins and finished in a stream. Car then had to wait for heavy machines to get out of there. We have informations, that Hampus with his co-driver are OK, and will continue their rally.
Yesterday, testing for round 2 has started. Those, who hates tarmac, were very pleased with choice of the stages, because gravel surface is now going to be. We have a lot of newcomers to the league. The grid is now increased to 32 number of drivers.
Rick Bamford provided us some informations about the upcoming rally.
The second round of the RaceDepartment Rally Championship see the teams leave the chilly tarmac mountain roads and journey to the hot, dry and dusty forests around Benalla. After a long draught the stages are dry and very fast, with some very rough sections to catch the un-prepared. The first day sees the drivers loop through open foot hills on stages like Greenhills and the famous Mineshaft before climbing into the hills for Canyon, East-West and Prospect ridge where the roads can become testing.
An early start to Sunday will find the crews up and running before dawn for a reverse run through East-West and Prospect before the final return to the foot hills. The Event will finish with a spectator stage at the ACCT stage and prize ceremony.
We also have some changes. Red Chicken Racing of John Low changed car from Mitsubishi to Subaru. But it wasnt good move. When he went for his first test, he wanted to be as fast as the car allows. But the performance was so much different in compare of the previous car. He was like a blast, but gravel can be very treacherous. He couldnt manage long wide turn. He was just too fast to keep car on the track. That crash was terrible, we could saw two trees coming down. From the car, nothing left. Both riders were immediately transported to hospital, where they still are. Doctor says "They are under control and stabilized. But we cant tell you, if they will continue. They are badly injured."
Lets hope everything, what is gonna happen, will evade without any injures.
For now, we just can say good luck to all participant. We will be back soon.
Amazing stuff.. i will have to try my hand!
Action continues!
Welcome back with monthly press of RD Rally Championship!
Last event showed us, that racing has already started. We moved from tarmac to gravel which ended in very interesting part of the season. Different winners, cars failures, mistakes and very close battles.
Round 2 was controlled by Citroen manufacture with Tor Anders Berven's lead from Max Racing team, ahead of Sebastien Levren just by 10 seconds. Thanks to his great performance, he moved up to the third place in the overall standings and reduced Jakub Sulej's lead and Sebastien's second place. Even though Sebastien had 7 stage wins, he couldnt manage to catch Tor Anders. After stage n°6 was Sebastien leading with 16 seconds advance, but everything has broken after stage with number 7 - East-West and only thanks to public help he was able to continue. He lost 32 seconds there and lost his lead. He tried to do anything, but wasnt that cool as Tor Anders for next 3 stages. Upcoming wins didnt help much. He was very sad about with the results and told us "I was happy with my 2nd place in the first event, because I am not good on tarmac. But I was hopping for a better result in the second event to lead the championship. And I failed."
Third Dariusz Swiderski was behind them by more then 2 minutes. Jakub Sulej, previous round winner didnt repeat his performance and ended at, not very liked, fourth place with 35 seconds lost. At least one stage win he reached.
Even Premiere league provided us a lot of nerves and open finish. But Ludovic Cogotti was uncompromising and didnt let any thing to luck. He was very pleased with change to gravel, particularly to Australian environment. He took control under 10 stages out of 12 and managed to build minute and half advance ahead of next Aaron DeMarre, who surprised with his results (6th in the round 1). Without any bigger mistakes, only with some hesitations in first stage and in fourth Canyon, Ludovic secures his lead in Premiere league. Robb Kulcsar ended third, but his second place in the overall standings didnt change. Aaron jumped up to third and Glenn Morris went to fourth.
Interesting was Ondřej Kapal's fourth place in Premier, while Senad Subasic ended fifth. Ondřej told us, that his main objective of the league is to finally beat his main competitor Senad, who is aiming much higher, to Ludovic. After round 2 is there only 3 points difference between them.
Team standings lead is in hands of Project D driving Sebastien Levret and Ludovic Cogotti with 86 points. Second are Lee Palmer and Ondřej Kapal in DCS Motorsports with 79 points and top three closes MotorAG Motorsport, Robb Kulcsar and David Zafiu with 63 points.
Two drivers didnt finish the rally - Sami Pesari didnt manage to get trough stage n°3 and Steve Bean's Citroen C4 had some oppositions - and with defect in the USA and broken air suction it was over.
For the next rally, we will welcome treacherous Japan and fast Finland. Race director Rick Bamford provided us some informations again:
The opening day is looking like good weather on some of the fastest, flowing roads we have to offer. The big test will be stages 2 & 5, Perrogney. This is a stage new to the drivers and at over 14kms will sort out the men from the boys.
Overnight rain will turn the second days stages slippery and morning fog could cause an issue for those not familliar with the roads. The stages are quite different to day one with the tight and twisty Tanner and Pirka Menoko to make the drivers really work hard at the wheel.
Round 3 sees the weather starting to change again. We also see some of the longest stages in the championship that will test all of the drivers. Especially Noiker will be trying to wreck each driver out.
There are some changes for the next round also:
New driver, Gaëtan Legastelois, joined Eckhart von Glan in Team Blue Flag Racing.
Warren Dawes got new offer from Peugeot and switched car to 2005 Peugeot 307 WRC.
Thats all for now, we will as usual inform you about anything whats gonna happen.
Best wishes to all participants for the next round!
Welcome back with monthly press of RD Rally Championship!
Last event showed us, that racing has already started. We moved from tarmac to gravel which ended in very interesting part of the season. Different winners, cars failures, mistakes and very close battles.
Round 2 was controlled by Citroen manufacture with Tor Anders Berven's lead from Max Racing team, ahead of Sebastien Levren just by 10 seconds. Thanks to his great performance, he moved up to the third place in the overall standings and reduced Jakub Sulej's lead and Sebastien's second place. Even though Sebastien had 7 stage wins, he couldnt manage to catch Tor Anders. After stage n°6 was Sebastien leading with 16 seconds advance, but everything has broken after stage with number 7 - East-West and only thanks to public help he was able to continue. He lost 32 seconds there and lost his lead. He tried to do anything, but wasnt that cool as Tor Anders for next 3 stages. Upcoming wins didnt help much. He was very sad about with the results and told us "I was happy with my 2nd place in the first event, because I am not good on tarmac. But I was hopping for a better result in the second event to lead the championship. And I failed."
Third Dariusz Swiderski was behind them by more then 2 minutes. Jakub Sulej, previous round winner didnt repeat his performance and ended at, not very liked, fourth place with 35 seconds lost. At least one stage win he reached.
Even Premiere league provided us a lot of nerves and open finish. But Ludovic Cogotti was uncompromising and didnt let any thing to luck. He was very pleased with change to gravel, particularly to Australian environment. He took control under 10 stages out of 12 and managed to build minute and half advance ahead of next Aaron DeMarre, who surprised with his results (6th in the round 1). Without any bigger mistakes, only with some hesitations in first stage and in fourth Canyon, Ludovic secures his lead in Premiere league. Robb Kulcsar ended third, but his second place in the overall standings didnt change. Aaron jumped up to third and Glenn Morris went to fourth.
Interesting was Ondřej Kapal's fourth place in Premier, while Senad Subasic ended fifth. Ondřej told us, that his main objective of the league is to finally beat his main competitor Senad, who is aiming much higher, to Ludovic. After round 2 is there only 3 points difference between them.
Team standings lead is in hands of Project D driving Sebastien Levret and Ludovic Cogotti with 86 points. Second are Lee Palmer and Ondřej Kapal in DCS Motorsports with 79 points and top three closes MotorAG Motorsport, Robb Kulcsar and David Zafiu with 63 points.
Two drivers didnt finish the rally - Sami Pesari didnt manage to get trough stage n°3 and Steve Bean's Citroen C4 had some oppositions - and with defect in the USA and broken air suction it was over.
For the next rally, we will welcome treacherous Japan and fast Finland. Race director Rick Bamford provided us some informations again:
The opening day is looking like good weather on some of the fastest, flowing roads we have to offer. The big test will be stages 2 & 5, Perrogney. This is a stage new to the drivers and at over 14kms will sort out the men from the boys.
Overnight rain will turn the second days stages slippery and morning fog could cause an issue for those not familliar with the roads. The stages are quite different to day one with the tight and twisty Tanner and Pirka Menoko to make the drivers really work hard at the wheel.
Round 3 sees the weather starting to change again. We also see some of the longest stages in the championship that will test all of the drivers. Especially Noiker will be trying to wreck each driver out.
There are some changes for the next round also:
New driver, Gaëtan Legastelois, joined Eckhart von Glan in Team Blue Flag Racing.
Warren Dawes got new offer from Peugeot and switched car to 2005 Peugeot 307 WRC.
Thats all for now, we will as usual inform you about anything whats gonna happen.
Best wishes to all participants for the next round!
Excellent write-up!
Nice one Ondrej
Warren Dawes
Premium
Thanks again Ondrej, good stories as usual, and it adds a nice atmosphere to this Rally Championship.
Yep nice breaking news.
Robb Kulcsar and myself have decided to form a new team, since both our current team mates seem to be AWOL.
Due to a total lack of imagination, we shall henceforth be known as Subaru Europe.
Since both of us haven't driven in Round 3 yet, I hope it's okay if we start with this round.
Due to a total lack of imagination, we shall henceforth be known as Subaru Europe.
Since both of us haven't driven in Round 3 yet, I hope it's okay if we start with this round.
Great fun to read. Excellent work Ondrej!
Forming a firm Premier team, eh? Clever :]
And the "magazine" - great job and idea. I love this kind of approach to sim rallying; makes for a really fun atmosphere, immersing you thoroughly.
Round 3 left the fights for tittle open.
Welcome back with our press and as usual with the most recent news!
We have crossed the middle line of the championship and we finished the longest rally in the season. Fights about tittles arent still decided and a lot of drivers have the chance to be the champion. Even though Sebastien Levret leads the table with advance of almost 20 points, he hasnt guaranteed his place. Jakub Sulej with Tor Anders Berven in the second and third place are still in the game. Also the others have their chances too!
But in Premier league, cards are more uncertain about the winner. After round 3, difference in points between first and seventh place is only 20 points in compare of the A league. At the moment, Ludovic Cogotti is successfully holding his place ahead of Robb Kulcsar and Aaron DeMare.
Very tight battle is in the Team standings, where in the lead is Project D just ahead of DSC Motorsports with 21 points difference. If the championship will come this way, guys from DSC will have to push really a lot, but without any mistakes - because behind them, there are teams which still have good reasons for fight. And any lose can affect in interesting changes in the lead.
As mentioned, the last rally was the longest. And thanks to this, it ended in very good and interesting results. Sebastien Levret finally managed to be the fastest man driving those beasts. He again showed very clean and spectacular fast driving. Only disappointment was dusk in Sipirkakim, stage n°6. "Our headlights didnt let us see much more than just few meters. Last sector especially, where I missed ideal track and ended slightly in the edge. Thankfully, visitors were attentive and we had only 15 seconds lost." he said. And it was his skill which allowed him the jump in the overall standings. Because, as we should note, this rally some new comers came. One of them was Simone Demi, who didnt wait for anything and defeated all other title fighters. His performance allowed Sebastien to make current advance in the standings. Unlike Sebastien, Simone marked stage n°6 as his favorite and enjoyed it like in heaven. Also, he wants to push as hard as the car allows to take the next rallyes wins. All of them. Third, Eddie Mann, who was lost in the previous round, caught longer end of the rope very proudly and ended also above fighters for the tittle. His times were slower than Simone's a little bit, but he blamed his car for that. He wasnt happy with its performance, trough the middle of session he had some issues with turbocharger which affected car's power. Jakub Sulej broke suspension and half-axis trough the last stage and wasnt able to continue and helped the current results.
Premier league experienced similar situation as A league. Also there came new comers. And this time, it was Łukasz Demolin, who reigned the rally. Aggressive drive trough Tanner, stage n°11 with no mistake even made only two WRC drivers faster than him. But also Łukasz didnt avoid some troubles. Finland stages provided large mount of requirement for concentration and one mistake pushed the car out of the ideal track. It took some time to get the car back on wheels. Current Premier league leader, Ludovic Cogotti reserved second place. Big shock for all his fans, because he only got two fastest times. If we remember round one and two, where he was over control the whole session. But he doesnt throw away the fights and will practice even more for the next rounds with words "Lukasz is fast and I am pleased to see someone who can catch my first place like this.".
Then it is Aaron DeMare who is holding his stable third place overall. This rally it wasnt different. Only twenty seconds kept him out of the second place. For him stage which required a lot of commitment was Nokier, n°7. "How I was supposed to drive in the fog if I am not even able to drive trough when sunshine?" he laughed.
It was new comers, hard conditions, mechanics fails, treacherous terrain. Even like this we could call round 3. Next time, we taste the feel of snow surface - we will welcome Finland and Slovakia stages. As usual, Rick Bamford provided us rally introduction:
"The gravel and tarmac are behind us. For round four we travel north to some of the most exciting stages in the world. With a good cover of snow and great weather expected for the whole weekend, the drivers will have to be on top form for a good result. Over the two days of competition the RDRC crews will fight on classic stages like Sikakama, Mustasalka and Autioavaara. On Saturday, they will face a new challenge in the form of the daunting Mlynky. This stage is very fast, and VERY narrow, combine that with snow and ice and we will see a VERY difficult stage."
Changes from last round are in teams, where Senad Subasic and Robb merged their forces under Subaru Europe tag.
So, let our hands free for more great chant, because snow always means the best action. Good luck to all drivers and visitors, have fun!
(One technique note, we apologize for missing photos. It was our material collector assistance, who didnt manage to keep the photos stored. But we can sure you - how much you miss them now, they will be better next time! Goodbye.)
Welcome back with our press and as usual with the most recent news!
We have crossed the middle line of the championship and we finished the longest rally in the season. Fights about tittles arent still decided and a lot of drivers have the chance to be the champion. Even though Sebastien Levret leads the table with advance of almost 20 points, he hasnt guaranteed his place. Jakub Sulej with Tor Anders Berven in the second and third place are still in the game. Also the others have their chances too!
But in Premier league, cards are more uncertain about the winner. After round 3, difference in points between first and seventh place is only 20 points in compare of the A league. At the moment, Ludovic Cogotti is successfully holding his place ahead of Robb Kulcsar and Aaron DeMare.
Very tight battle is in the Team standings, where in the lead is Project D just ahead of DSC Motorsports with 21 points difference. If the championship will come this way, guys from DSC will have to push really a lot, but without any mistakes - because behind them, there are teams which still have good reasons for fight. And any lose can affect in interesting changes in the lead.
As mentioned, the last rally was the longest. And thanks to this, it ended in very good and interesting results. Sebastien Levret finally managed to be the fastest man driving those beasts. He again showed very clean and spectacular fast driving. Only disappointment was dusk in Sipirkakim, stage n°6. "Our headlights didnt let us see much more than just few meters. Last sector especially, where I missed ideal track and ended slightly in the edge. Thankfully, visitors were attentive and we had only 15 seconds lost." he said. And it was his skill which allowed him the jump in the overall standings. Because, as we should note, this rally some new comers came. One of them was Simone Demi, who didnt wait for anything and defeated all other title fighters. His performance allowed Sebastien to make current advance in the standings. Unlike Sebastien, Simone marked stage n°6 as his favorite and enjoyed it like in heaven. Also, he wants to push as hard as the car allows to take the next rallyes wins. All of them. Third, Eddie Mann, who was lost in the previous round, caught longer end of the rope very proudly and ended also above fighters for the tittle. His times were slower than Simone's a little bit, but he blamed his car for that. He wasnt happy with its performance, trough the middle of session he had some issues with turbocharger which affected car's power. Jakub Sulej broke suspension and half-axis trough the last stage and wasnt able to continue and helped the current results.
Premier league experienced similar situation as A league. Also there came new comers. And this time, it was Łukasz Demolin, who reigned the rally. Aggressive drive trough Tanner, stage n°11 with no mistake even made only two WRC drivers faster than him. But also Łukasz didnt avoid some troubles. Finland stages provided large mount of requirement for concentration and one mistake pushed the car out of the ideal track. It took some time to get the car back on wheels. Current Premier league leader, Ludovic Cogotti reserved second place. Big shock for all his fans, because he only got two fastest times. If we remember round one and two, where he was over control the whole session. But he doesnt throw away the fights and will practice even more for the next rounds with words "Lukasz is fast and I am pleased to see someone who can catch my first place like this.".
Then it is Aaron DeMare who is holding his stable third place overall. This rally it wasnt different. Only twenty seconds kept him out of the second place. For him stage which required a lot of commitment was Nokier, n°7. "How I was supposed to drive in the fog if I am not even able to drive trough when sunshine?" he laughed.
It was new comers, hard conditions, mechanics fails, treacherous terrain. Even like this we could call round 3. Next time, we taste the feel of snow surface - we will welcome Finland and Slovakia stages. As usual, Rick Bamford provided us rally introduction:
"The gravel and tarmac are behind us. For round four we travel north to some of the most exciting stages in the world. With a good cover of snow and great weather expected for the whole weekend, the drivers will have to be on top form for a good result. Over the two days of competition the RDRC crews will fight on classic stages like Sikakama, Mustasalka and Autioavaara. On Saturday, they will face a new challenge in the form of the daunting Mlynky. This stage is very fast, and VERY narrow, combine that with snow and ice and we will see a VERY difficult stage."
Changes from last round are in teams, where Senad Subasic and Robb merged their forces under Subaru Europe tag.
So, let our hands free for more great chant, because snow always means the best action. Good luck to all drivers and visitors, have fun!
(One technique note, we apologize for missing photos. It was our material collector assistance, who didnt manage to keep the photos stored. But we can sure you - how much you miss them now, they will be better next time! Goodbye.)
Nice Ondrej :thanks:
- Status
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