RDRC S4 Round 8 - Rally México (8th – 11th September)

[Andrew Koojo]

What a rally. not bad at all. No CFH or anything. but i had a biig moment on the second run of diamond creek 2 my favorite stage. i was going to do a good one there. but then i had a big roll. and had to do the W with a bad Tire. i see some heavy battle going on between some A class guys awesome. Craig was flying. it went well. all other stages went well untill the second run of mineshaft. hit the side wall and broke my gearbox. but kept the foot down. and the last W with a broken Gearbox.. i hope for a Good result on this one. fingers xed.

Good luck to all

 

[Norman Bruce]

Started badly and got worse as I progressed. I had 4 retirements in the first half of the rally, mainly due to bumps throwing me in the direction of trees. On stage 10 I got gearbox damage and had to do the last 3km in 1st gear.
The rest of the stages were slow as it seemed it was the only way I would complete them.

 

[Alasdair Beck]

I think I win the luckiest bugger of the rally award! I had the mother of moments in this rally and somehow got away with it. More on that in a second....

First loop: Couldn't have gone any better for me tbh. I'm not a huge fan of these stages, I prefer twistier stages with a lower average speed. It still went really well. I seem to have got a handle on how to drive the evo on gravel.

Second loop: Even better. I was faster on the repeat runs of the stages ( a rarity for me ) and even set a new personal best on Diamond Creek 2 ( SS6 ) which never happens on championship rounds.

Third loop: Pretty good again. I seemed to fighting a bit of understeer on Prospect Ridge but I got through it all fine.

Fourth loop: Here's the moment. Let me set the scene -
Prospect Ridge for the second time. The fast downhill section towards the end. I pitched the car into a long right hander, probably 4th gear, when the right front wheel caught a rut or something which slewed the car sideways in to a tank slapper. I caught it twice before momentum took over and she speared in to the trees at the side of the road. Amazingly I ended up missing all the trees with the front end of the car and landed parked sideways across the road. Banged it into reverse, got straightened up and continued on my merry way without a hint of mechanical damage. How? I have no smegging idea. I thought that it would be a retirement the moment I lost it. I was convinced I'd blown the chance of the championship but the car was fine. Amazing. They sure build them evos strong.

The rest of the stages were tackled a gnats more conservatively but I finished every stage without any CFH's for the second rally in a row. Looking forward to the results, really interested to see how myself and the group n gang measure up.

 

[Craig Masters]

What an incredible rally that was. Andy I coudln't believe the times you were setting in that S2000 car. You got some balls! Dudo also glad to see you have had a trouble free run finally. This has been my toughest fight yet, the biggest the gap had been all rally between us was 3.6 seconds. But I made a school boy error right at the start of "Mineshaft II" (SS13). I was ready to push knowing you were quicker than me on this one, but got on the throttle too early on the exit of a 90 left near the start. 180'd my car, and due to the road being so tight I had to 3 point turn it. Dudo took little over 10 seconds out of me on that stage. I pushed as hard as I dare on the last stage, the very short "The W" stage. Took back 0.99 seconds from Dudo. But final gap 6.12 seconds in his favour. Other than that no mistakes really on my part. Congratulations on a great battle mate, really good fun. This will be my best result on the gravel surface, considering there were no DNF's. Lets hope I've learned some for the last 2 rallies.

Stages I was dreading, but turned out to be quite enjoyable. Appreciate the work guys. Good luck to everyone.

 

[Andrew Koojo]

What an incredible rally that was. Andy I coudln't believe the times you were setting in that S2000 car. You got some balls!

USA in RBR is like my home Town. i grew up driving on them... my first stages to go flat out from the beginning to the End. it was nice racing with you my Friend.

 

[Sion Williams]

Well what can I say that Ole hasn't already! It was a very good battle (although a little one sided! )

Well from my end it went as well as it could really! I was happy with all my times and for the first time in the RDRC no DNF's and only 1 CFH for going wide!

Down to the stages:
SS1 - I'm not a fan of USA stages, especially in the little Corsa so these stages were going to be a challenge! So first corner, got crossed up and went into the grass, lost some time and then lost a bit of confidence!

SS2 - Was very messy had the CFH, and damaged both rear wheels, this made the remainder of the stage interesting!

SS3 - Very hard with the damaged rear wheels car was all over the place but was lucky to lose only a few seconds to Ole.

Service 1 - Was going OK unhappy with the damage and CFH but aim is to finish with no DNF's! Time down on Ole 39.5 sec.

SS4 - Went better, as quick as I could get it with the Corsa but dropped more to Ole!

SS5 - Had loads of big moments! No idea how I got away with them but I did and managed to claw a big chunk back from Ole due to his problems!

SS6 - Pushed as much as I could again but still losing time to Ole. Was happy with the performance though considering the long straights where the Volvo would always be quicker with a good driver!

SS7 - Wasn't really happy with this one. Over rotated on the tight section and lost a second to Ole where I should really have gained a few so wasn't pleased.

Service 2 - Ole's lead was increased by a few seconds but still some hope!

SS8 - Never run this stage before so no idea what to expect. Was a fun little stage and only lost 0.58 this time!

SS9 - Was going really well until about 1.5 km to the end where I first clipped a tree on the downhill and spun me (thankfully no damage!). Then put her backwards on a medium right into the shrubs! Lost a bit of time again.

SS10 - Really went for it and had a few scary moments where I thought it was all over but got through and thought it was a time that would beat Ole!.. unfortunately not!

Service 3 - Ole's lead extended to 1:15 now due to problems, try and keep it like this now!

SS11 - On the second run it really wan't good! On the bump near the start car shot off and straight into the rock face! Managed to keep her going, not to much damage luckily! But was a little ropey after that. But fortunately for me Ole had a few spins meaning I gained!

SS12 - More spins getting a bit messy and a similar run for Ole so almost equal on times there!

SS13 - Pushed even harder and rewarded with being 5 seconds faster than the first run! But again Ole was quicker by 10sec.

SS14 - Though right, last small stage, almost a cert 100% finish for the first time, all out this time! And for once it paid off! 2sec. up on Ole with a time closer to my best so happy about that!

End of the Event - 1:14 behind Ole, considering I only started with this game in Feb and still haven't played on probably 25% of the stages I am well chuffed! Loved battling with Ole considering how different out cars are It was brilliant! But in all fairness he did show me how its done!

Looking forward to the results and see how we all stack up!

Good luck to the remaining driver and thanks to the brilliant organisers for putting it all on.

Sion

 

[Dubravko Sparovec]

Day two went good for me. I had a great time and didn't take any risks. I was slow on SS8 and almost hit a tree on SS10 at the start and after 6 km into the stage.

Had an epic fight with Craig Masters and after 60 kilometers of driving we were in the same second.
He pulled away on SS12 by 3 seconds. On the next stage the first time I was faster than Craig even with a big mistake at the start, so I knew I have to attack to get in front of him. I managed to do that even by 10 seconds so I didn't have to attack the last stage and safely crossed the finish line.

Thank you organizers for this fun rally and I liked the great weather we had.

 

[Manuel De Samaniego]

Good job guys, it's been great reading all The rally reports. Seems Like Many guys had some great battles, nice! and +1 for The Stages selection, you feel Like you re in my country, well done to The organizers! and thanks for the name correction

And Ole, México is not land of sombreros and sleeping, it's about people who love nice rally cars jumping high and going fast, they live with passion if last rally was the rally of the big cojones then this one is rally of the huevos grandes!

Cheers

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

And Ole, México is not land of sombreros and sleeping, it's about people who love nice rally cars jumping high and going fast, they live with passion if last rally was the rally of the big cojones then this one is rally of the huevos grandes!

Stereotypes are way more fun than the reality! Doesn't have to be the way it is, but, it's more fun

Oh, also very happy to have fixed my pedals! No more stuck brake for me!

 

[Dubravko Sparovec]

Dudo also glad to see you have had a trouble free run finally.

Yes thank you I really concentrated and I paid attention where trouble might occur so I can stop the car in time. I can't be happier with that! That was my primary goal before the start.

This has been my toughest fight yet, the biggest the gap had been all rally between us was 3.6 seconds. But I made a school boy error right at the start of "Mineshaft II" (SS13). I was ready to push knowing you were quicker than me on this one, but got on the throttle too early on the exit of a 90 left near the start. 180'd my car, and due to the road being so tight I had to 3 point turn it. Dudo took little over 10 seconds out of me on that stage. I pushed as hard as I dare on the last stage, the very short "The W" stage. Took back 0.99 seconds from Dudo. But final gap 6.12 seconds in his favour. Other than that no mistakes really on my part. Congratulations on a great battle mate, really good fun.

Thanks again Craig I really enjoyed every second of our great battle. I'm glad you were in the same session because otherwise we wouldn't even know how close it was and probably our times wouldn't be the same. I hope I'll race you again and good luck with the rest of the championship.

 

[Alasdair Beck]

Good job guys, it's been great reading all The rally reports. Seems Like Many guys had some great battles, nice! and +1 for The Stages selection, you feel Like you re in my country, well done to The organizers! and thanks for the name correction

And Ole, México is not land of sombreros and sleeping, it's about people who love nice rally cars jumping high and going fast, they live with passion if last rally was the rally of the big cojones then this one is rally of the huevos grandes!

Cheers

Hey some of those stages were big cojones stages only this time it was gravel. These stages definitely capture those values you talked about

 

[Manuel De Samaniego]

Hey some of those stages were big cojones stages only this time it was gravel. These stages definitely capture those values you talked about

Thanks, yes this was a great accurate rally I said huevos because in Spain I think they call them cojones but here we call them huevos (eggs)

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

I think those are the toughest stages of the rally. They're both so blind! Hualapai Nation does have that, ahem, (diggy-diggy?) dope jump.

Mineshaft is just brilliant. I just drive the car too much sideways for it to be safe and effective in Australia special stages.
While on Hualapai I kinda feel the co-driver is a bit, off sometimes.

Did you enjoy the live-updates though? Think you were the only one watching it

 

[Tom Peters]

Yes I did

 

[Alasdair Beck]

Thanks, yes this was a great accurate rally I said huevos because in Spain I think they call them cojones but here we call them huevos (eggs)

I see, I'm not particularly familiar with many languages. But your description is perfect for these stages, you definitely need some large huevos to be quick

 

[Gundars]

Dohhh.... missed OC4 session . I will add a EU4.

 

[Fernando Agapito]

Just finished my lonely drive on OC4 .

The Impreza WRC 08 can't match the power of the C4 WRC 08 but it's good on twisty stages, so my gameplan is to take the first half really easy and keep the car in good condition but lose a lot of time, then I'll attack on the 2nd half twisty stages. (I know it's kinda stupid gameplan but it would be the best way for my new car on this round)

So I took it very easy from SS1 to SS6 and there's no problem at all but times were slow. I did well and fast enough to catch up (I guess ) from SS7 to SS12 but on SS13 I really pushed too hard and hit the left rear wheel on the wall during a power slide. The car was still good to drive but the damage on the wheel caused another spin on the long left turn where I almost fell on the cliff, I really thought that was it but I gave it another push and managed to cross the finish line .

Well my goal for the remaining rounds is to always stay ahead of Magnar and keep the Championship lead, well this round... I probably did not .

Thanks to the organizers for this great event and good luck to the last session drivers.

 

[Silvio Cro]

Sorry Guys, i missed the EU3 but i will do today the EU4...

 

[David Jundt]

Let's see what I can do with the "Senad-Subasic-Strategy", also known as "S3".

Close to no practice before the rally

 

[Silvio Cro]

Guys something wrong happened when i´ve tried to enter in the rally the game stops and says that i´ve retired of the first stage... At the end of the rally i make the first one with a print screen of the error and the hour of entrance in the rally....