RDRC S4 Round 1 - Rally of Norway (3rd March - 6th March 2012)

[Manuel De Samaniego]

This was very dissapointing, I was really looking forward to make a good start and I would have won it, but in the end a very small mistake cost me everything.......

I feel like Mika Hakkinen

Good luck to those who haven't run yet, watch out for the hidden rock next to the small house in Mustaselka ll.

 

[Rick Bamford]

I feel like Mika Hakkinen
.

I am sure you did better thn that. Hakkinen might be Finish, but F1 simply doesn't count as sport

 

[Manuel De Samaniego]

I am sure you did better thn that. Hakkinen might be Finish, but F1 simply doesn't count as sport

Sorry Rick, I don't understand what you mean. But yeah It was being a good Rally, I forgot to mention that I feel like Mika in Monza '99

 

[Andrew Koojo]

, watch out for the hidden rock next to the small house in Mustaselka ll.

i went looking for it on there. ooh how i wish i could get off the car and move it off the way.. im sure u will bounce back

 

[Manuel De Samaniego]

im sure u will bounce back

Thanks Andy thanks Rick

 

[Dariusz Swiderski]

GL everyone tonight

 

[David Jundt]

I think I'll pass for tonight and start in EU4. Would have liked to keep you company, but I installed everything from scratch and need to test if that won't cause a bluescreen like rF.

I want to test the theory that copied installs from my 32 bit laptop make my 64 bit desktop boil over now and I should make every rF install I have a clean install.

 

[Norman Bruce]

Did stage 1 in 5:58.xx then RS center stopped working

 

[Tomas Reinicke]

The FFB was totaly screwed so I retired after 150 m and I will run EU4 instead
A reboot solved the problem.

 

[Senad Subasic]

26 drivers in EU3, nice

Unlucky Norman and Tomas

 

[Joakim Skalstad]

Just a note while i am driving.. On ss5 i wrecked the car and was supposed to retire, i accidentally pressed restart but i retired immediately!! Sorry if this messed up something..

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

SS1: I dont know the Mustaselka well, so it was very tough with the fog. I made one mistake and damaged suspension and bodywork, so I was struggling with an inability to go straight for the next 2 stages, until service!
SS2: I did spectacular drive, flat out - at some points I was kissing the edge between crash and staying on the road. I missed the hairpin after a horizon, stalled engine and had to reverse. I lost some time there
SS3: Hit an invisible tree barrier outside the turn - I was able to start the engine again, but no power at all, it wasnt reacting on the throttle... Disappointment.
SS4: Locking brakes in the second split, going straight instead of turning - hitting a tree, engine dies. Realistic damage is really harsh!
SS5: Another flat out, almost crashed more than once! And again really spectacular stage
SS6: I dont know Peklo at all, never finished it before (in both courses). I couldnt trust the pace notes, so I made a lot of mistakes, reversed a lot of times, was very careful in corners. Really slow!
SS7: Another flat out stage, attacking 6th gear for most time. I am happy with this stage, comparing myself to WRC class
SS8: Amazing stage! I was drifting more than I wanted, so that made me lose some time (but I think it doesnt matter with 2 DNFs already! ), but still great time and at least something really special for Senad I am sure you can take some footage from this stage.
SS9: I was really pushing as hard as I could. There is big jump with upcoming tight right 4 (but I would rate it as 5 at least), I was too fast there and went into snow bank - lost grip and hit a tree. The same damage like I described in SS3, nothing I could continue the stage with. I was thinking if top 10 in my class, but now its gone too. Another disappointment after losing a chance to be in top 10 overall, now I barely can score.
SS10: In my opinion, this is the hardest stage in the whole RBR. I was doing more off road than proper rally Most time I spent by tracking the road, where the hell is it going?!
SS11: I was struggling a lot, I couldnt find the rythm anymore. But still improved the time for about 2 seconds compared to the first run
SS12: Only a slight mistake went into horror. Again, it started with locking brakes and missing the proper enter to a turn. I caught with my back a snow barrier and spun with the front into a tree, giving no second chances. This rally has turned out like a hell for me!
SS13: I am being angry and mad and upset, which affects my driving style in a negative way Mustaselka is very tricky in one point - sometimes you dont see whether you are on track or not. I was punished for excessive cutting with a tree hiding in a snow, another DNF.
SS14: With no chance of scoring anywhere, I decided to drive for cameras and spectators the last stage. A lot of bumps, jumps, going off. Might look good on TV though

EDIT: So thats it. Total disaster, including some really fast stages. I just confirmed myself that I have the skill to be competitive, but I absent clean driving. I have to improve that by next round

Good luck everyone who is just about to start the rally... really tricky one!

 

[Mark Birney]

Baptism of fire in Round 1. Was dancing around the top 3 with Fernando and Mr. "Love it or hate it" himself. I then went wide on the second run through Chirdonhead. Retired. Went steady for the rest of the rally, maybe got a fastest time or two. Only other problem was hit a camerman in Sikakama I think (the 6:11 one). Really frustrating that this spectator thing was every put in the game. It's an annoyance and nothing more. If a car is hurdling towards you at 100mph, you move. You don't stand in a corner waiting to be made into soup. Still, Better the one big mistake then lots of silly mistakes throughout.

If I could, I'd sack myself from the team, but the shareholders disagree with everything I say.

Good rally, congrats to everyone. Great turnout. Look forward to the gravel

 

[Oscar Hardwick]

(pulls mother of god face)

What a rally to start the season. The snow stages are always tough and today was no exception with 1 cfh and a couple of half spins to my name after 106km of driving.

That said it was really enjoyable from start to finish with good close racing on a stage by stage basis from everyone involved with the EU3 session. A dodgy start on the first 3 stages meant that I went hell for leather on the other 11 which left me in good stead and having made up most of the time lost. Fernando was blistering in the WRC class as per usual and a few usual and some less usual suspects were banging out the times in the lower classes.

Sikakama was my best stage by far with a pair of sub 5:40's for me through there and keeping it atop the S2000 cars both times through.

Thanks for organising admins and once again a great rally well done.

Oscar

 

[Ross McGregor]

I love the snow rallies, but i shot myself in the foot on ss4, repaired the car during ss5, then DNF'd ss6 with only 11% of the stage left to run! The rest of the rally went ok apart from about 3 rollovers and 2CFH's, and i even managed to slide the car on its side before flipping it onto its wheels again at high speed! (i think that was on ss10) So i'll have to upload the replay of that, should look very amusing. SS9 went quite well, but in ss12 i punctured the radiator so had to take it a bit easy through 13&14, but was surprisingly on the pace of the WRC cars on ss14.

Overall then, i'm cheesed off that i ballsed up ss4, especially as i was so careful in running through chridonhead and peklo first time round- i thought these would be the 'problem' stages for me. However though, i hope i've done a good enough job for my first ever proper rally and have at least set one or two competitive times. Cheers for organising guys, with so many sign-ups it must be a nightmare!

 

[TTupsi]

SS1: Fog made it very difficult and I just tried to bring the car home. Still managed to spin about 1,5km till finish.
SS2: Chirdonhead had fog too but it's so familiar stage the fog didn't matter much. Went pretty well although the last corner was everything but fast
SS3: I', happy everytime I finish Peklo. Finished but it really was slow. No big mistakes either.

SS4: Fog was gone so pace was a lot better. Still I wasn't able to challenge the top runners. At times this stage was flowing very nicely but too cautious overall...
SS5: This certainly wasn't fast I had many close calls throughout the stage but afterall managed to bring the car safely home. A lot of crash compilation material to be found
SS6: Easy to make a mistake here and I did a true noob mistake. Hit the tree in the inside of the first key right...

SS7: Nice and tidy stage. Tiny mistakes in the end that could've ended worse but nothing more. Nice stage
SS8: I don't like the stage at all. I was very slow and made a few mistakes here and there and thus my camber angles were screwed.
SS9: That was probsably the slowest I've ever driven through Mustaselkä II. I had a close call at 500 metres but I just missed the tree. At about 3 km I had REALLY close call as I hit a tree with A LOT of speed. Luckily I only lost Reid's door
SS10: I like Autiovaara a lot so I tried to attack here. Rolled the car at 2km, nearly killed a marshall there, nearly killed some spectators at 4km and nearly destroyed my car there too. Other than that this went well

SS11: Nice and tidy again. 3 seconds faster that last time around too.
SS12: My driving is getting better and better and finally I'm gaining confidence. Nevertheless I rolled my car after missing a note halfway through the stage.
SS13: It isn't fast but it's getting there. No big mistakes here, just way too cautious driving.
SS14: Put on the Maximum Attack! It's super-effective! A very good time for me here! Great way to end the rally


It's clear now that snow really isn't my element. Of course I expected more so I'm little disappointed.. Eagerly anticipating the tarmac events

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Okaaaai! Time for fire up the old classic Alpine!!!

SS1: Very fun, worked well, and got a good rythm!
SS2: Surprisingly good. Made no mistakes.
SS3: Well, the car has one BIG problem. On throttle = sidways, off throttle = no steering. So, I had to stop before every hairpin, and drive them in 10km/h I think this stage is a good stage for FWD!

Service 1: Very good so far! Keep beating WRC/S2000/Gr.N cars!

SS4: First big mistake. Had an almost-spin, so I stood on the brakes, and kept in the road, had to put it in reverse before I could continue.
SS5: Went well, nothing much to say really!
SS6: Almost 20 sec faster than the first run! Went very well. But still... those hairpins!!!

Service 2: 7th total in EU3 so far... With a darn Alpine! HAPPY!

SS7: Went well, but it was those hairpins again... I feel like an idiot trying to take those
SS8: After 7.5k I went flat out on 5th gear. Was drifiting, my phone rang, lost control and almost hit the stone on the inside! Woah!
SS9: Something broke. I have no idea what. It pulls like **** to left, but nothing is broken. At least not what I can see!
SS10: The first stage so far I'm not happy with. Made lots of tiny tiny errors.

Service 3: 8th total so far! Amazing still being that high up with this old RWD

SS11: First CFH... and a spin as well. Oh crikey.
SS12: I didn't feel that it went to good. However, 14 sec faster than last time around! Weey me!
SS13: This felt much more slippery than last time. 4 sec slower this time around!
SS14: Forgot to fix steering lock and brake pressure. So i was strange steering and full lockup of the tires when I thought of braking.

Finish: 11th overall in EU3. Should've been 10th if not for that CFH. I just hope that doesn't make the difference between overall points or not!
However, this being my home rally ( the real Rally Norway actually crossed the neighbors farm!) I'm pleased with something that looks like an overall win in the 2WD Cup!

Pinky Out!

 

[Roy Magnes]

SS1 - Sensible start, kept to the middle of the road comfortably.
SS2 - The rear end was a bit twichy here, turned the speed down a bit to be sure not to do anything stupid.
SS3 - Disastrous stage. 3 big offs, thankfully no damage to the car. Lost a lot of time here, but many guys retired this one.

SS4 - Felt like I was attacking a bit more now, but it was almost an identical time as on ss1.
SS5 - I do not feel all that confident on this stage on snow, better safe than sorry.
SS6 - Still driving like my grandma on this one, lost los of time here aswell.

Day 1 - Quite pleased with my first day of this season, but maybe not the times I wanted. Still in the rally witout retiremetns, though

SS7 - High speed spin. I was so sure that it was the last thing my Peugeot would do this event, but I just got stuck waaaay out in the snow.
SS8 - Rolled in the chicane-thing at the start, and struggeled big time with the car from there. The car steers the way it want to, will be interesting from here.
SS9 - A good time concodering the wobbly car I have. Really looking forward to the service now
SS10 - Pretty pleased with this one. a good time overall, and now it is service

SS11 - Repaired car, max attack. Satisfied with this one
SS12 - DId manage not to roll this time, and slowly found my groove. Another stage I am very satisfied with
SS13 - Another good run, should be a class victory in the EU3-session.
SS14 - NOOOOO! clipped the rocks at the start of the stage and rolled onto the roof... Call for help, and a good rally turned average minus

Really disappointed with my errors, I could propably have been fighting for the victory in the S2000 class this rally.
Blah...

Better luck next time, and thanks to Oscar for a fierce fight for seconds right to the end

 

[Joakim Skalstad]

wow... exhausted now

SS1-2-3 and 4 all went well, i was going on 75% since i want to finish my first RDRC rally
But on ss5 i was unlucky, hit a tree early on the stage and killed the engine..
ss6 to ss 14 was just like the first four

Overall i am pleased with my result.
Had an EPIC battle with Magnus Lindgren, if he even noticed

 

[Jeff Brown]

I ran yesterday in EU2 but just got around to writing this up now, will see how much I remember. I finished 2nd in EU2 to Jeff Feaker which was not to bad in a s2000 but then again a s2000 fiesta won this rally last year so I was kinda disappointed to miss the session leader by 3 mins.

SS1-3: Went ok, really struggled on the two foggy stages as I don't know either very well and only got about 3 practice runs through them. Made a bunch of dumb mistakes on peklo but nothing to bad. Lost a lot of time over this part with the fog and rough peklo run.

SS4-6: Went ok again. SS4 went better without the fog but I was still 10 seconds off my best practice. SS5 I felt like I could of gone way faster, but I also have crashed many times on this stage so I guess I was smart to keep it under control through here, was about 5 seconds slower than I wanted to be. Peklo was better than the first run and I felt like I went about as fast as I could, had quite a few run ins with those little poles along the road, but they didn't spin me around or break anything and actually saved me from a big off once.

SS7-10: I knew these stages far better than the first 3 and it showed these four were my strongest of the whole rally. Hit a rock pretty hard in SS10, got spun around and had to restart engine, but other than that managed to miss other Jeff's times by just a few seconds in some of these.

SS11-14: I still felt like I could go a bit faster and beat the WRC cars on at least a couple stages so I went all out. SS11 I still wasn't fast enough. In SS12 I was flying, but it was to fast. I went off, rolled and suffered suspension damage. Needless to say that ended any chance of setting stage winning times and I just did my best not to lose to much time in the last 2 stages.

Overall it wasn't to bad of a start, but if I had only had more time to practice I think I could do a lot better. It was my first time running snow stages outside of a few in club rallies and I have to say I really like them. I think Jeff Feaker might have won this one. He was really fast and didn't make any mistakes I noticed from his times.