RDRC S9 Round 5 - Rally Spain (29th March - 4th April 2021)

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

That felt so much faster than me, but still i was 2 sec faster

I guess it's because it's on Spanish. It just sounds more hectic and faster than Phil "Somewhat Chill" Mills

 

[Lynx2000]

Does anyone know whether there is a maximum stage time? Since my car is unable to do more then 60 kmh atm but I'm determined to finish

 

[Spinninggenius]

And done. Could not be happier with my run, my first ever provisional lead. I understand whats it all about now, trading splits/stages with someone. The competition aspect when you are actually fighting for something is exceptional.

Thanks once more to the organizers, what a thing

Some great times there! Particularly on stage 7, I think there's definitely been some disagreement on tyre strategy for stages 7-10. Sadly I wasted what was left of my medium's on SS10 but I'd still not have got near your total time, well done!

 

[Lynx2000]

Update: its over I can't get it uphill anymore keeps stalling and rolling back down

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Does anyone know whether there is a maximum stage time? Since my car is unable to do more then 60 kmh atm but I'm determined to finish

I know you've already retired But AFAIK there is no maximum time, there might be something happening at 30min as that is the default retirement time on RaceNet.

 

[Matthew Allington]

After my enormous accident in Poland, new logos have appeared on the car, rumoured to be covering some of the extra costs of the repairs

This rally reminds me why I both love and hate this game. The changing conditions on SS1-6 made things really interesting and quite visually spectacular Unfortunately, I wasn't driving very well - I got caught out by the right 5 cut on SS1, had a couple of big aquaplaning moments on SS3 and stupidly crashed after the finish of SS4 and racked up damage At least by the end of SS7's service I'd repaired all the internals, except for the wheel geometry, so I was feeling ready to fight in the 2nd half of the rally

But it all came undone in SS7. Firstly, what Phil said was a 6 left should not really have been a 6 and I picked up a puncture - no big deal, as I had a spare. Then Phil forgot to mention that a left hander about 1km down the road tightens and I had a big shunt. Not terminal damage by the game's standards, but I wasn't going to slog around 3 and a half stages with 2 tyres, so I called it quits

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

After my enormous accident in Poland, new logos have appeared on the car, rumoured to be covering some of the extra costs of the repairs

Pizza Hut is on my "Must try, just to have tried it" list Together with KFC and Taco Bell.

Yes I got a "junk/fast-food-list" that I want to try. It is me, is anyone surprised?

EDIT: I think you missed an opportunity to put a pizza slice inside that circle on the driver side of the car

 

[ltnordb]

Another slow and steady rally done for the white Stratos. A slight miscommunication with the crew meant we ended up on soft instead of wet tires for the first stages. Had to be very careful not to spin the twitchy Stratos in the wet, and it showed in the times. Got in the groove for most of the rest of the stages, but had a very lucky escape when we hit the guardrail at full chat in fifth just one hundred meters before the finish of the last power stage. Could have been the end of the rally right there, phew!

Looking forward to the next one!

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Spain seems to be awesome for screenshots :o Looks awesome!

But @ltnordb I'm ahead of you!

 

[ltnordb]

But @ltnordb I'm ahead of you!

Yes you are. Business as usual right?

 

[Paul McCluskey]

Yo, Bloomin sunlight was glaring on me tv and on stage 1 i got a puncture and umpteen resets, stage 2 was better but still silly mistakes as I could barely see then it clicked too put on my psvr headset in cinema mode and things improved greatly. I might of not been quick but only made a few mistakes from there on in, took a 25sec penalty at the next checkpoint and sailed through too the finish , must buy thicker curtains lol. cya's at the next round

 

[Roy Magnes]

I have done the final leg of the rally, and here are some more notes:

ss07 - Tried to push, but it felt like I did not hit it with the timing of it. The time looks okay.
ss08 - Very lucky on 2 occations to not leave the road and the rally completely. Aiming for the Skodabishi 12 seconds ahead of me.

ss09 - Making a mess of every stage now, it seems. Understeering and oversteering everywhere.
ss10 - Felt a bit better, I took it all a step down. Seems like that was the right approach with the worn tyres.

ss11 - Tried to push a bit on this one, the feeling is good before the power stage.
ss12 - Almost ended the rally in the final few corners. I needed that stage before the power stage to get the confidence for the final fast parts of this one. I don't think the time is too bad either, even though I gave away a few seconds on the end here.

Very pleased to get through the rally, finally a rally where I felt like I could push a bit instead of just surviving. At the moment the result looks very good, but there is still time for other fast drivers to finish ahead of me on the leaderboard.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Yes you are. Business as usual right?

You are getting closer and closer for each rally though!

 

[ltnordb]

You are getting closer and closer for each rally though!

#goals

I guess practice helps. Didn't have too many hours in DR2.0 before this championship, so thanks for pushing me into picking it up again

 

[Mario Peixoto]

Espanha feita! A quick travel from Portugal to Ribadelles, which is my least favourite rally, to be honest. It is fast and the last stage (downhill) is crazy fast, but other than that, I don't like it too much. However, the food is great, so there's that. Couple it with a few chouriças and vinho verde for pure joy.

Anyway, I buckled up for a long rally. First bunch of stages, first bunch of mistakes, as I went with the wrong tyre choice. Yep, wet tyres on dry asphalt aren't that good. In the second part I managed to choose the right tyres, however I also managed a few more mistakes. The Impreza started too look a bit "bad", but it kept going. The worst part was the 4 long stages, no doubt a test of concentration. Finally, the last bit went well with soft tyres. I especially liked the last stage! I tried my best there to be fast - SEND IT - and was supper happy when I crossed that finish line full speed and braked as hard as I could. Done!

I don't expect to score, too many mistakes along the way - as the picture below shows - but at least I got to the end. On to New Zealand and a brand new Impreza.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

thx all for your great reports and images, these threads are half the fun of doing this championship! Finished the rest in one go tonight: stage6 i still had to survive in a broken lancia but managed to get through actually quite quickly, overall i think i "only" lost 90 secs to my radiator crash this rally. could repair motor and radiator and then set out on the 4 long stages and really got into a super flow. kept chasing my teammate and each stage he took 10 secs out of my time, no matter what i did. had minor offs here and there but really kept it 98% clean, crazy struggling with those weird spain tarmac physics, it just feels like you're gliding on a piece of wood. where are my wheels connected to the tarmac? i will never know. anyway, could finally straighten out geometry in the final service and did my best stage in tournament so far in the short runup to the last one. the power stage was great as well, except for

just one hundred meters before the finish of the last power stage.

i seem to have made the exact same mistake as ltnordb, did a 180 degree spin, lost some secs but was able to resume at normal speed for the last couple of meters. currently p20, so this will probably be my best result so far, hoping for a top30 finish, you never know!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

 

[peg306]

A short summary from my side.
After the disatrous flying rally in Poland, we really needed to step up our game to try and hold on to a top ten in the overall standings. Tarmac is probably my strongest surface in this game, so here was our chance.

Not really much to report, we had a steady pace and kept away from big mistakes, only little hickups came on stages 8 and 9 where we slid off the road briefly. Came back strong again on SS10 with a (provisional) stage win.

Incredible fight with Peter Roche throughout the whole rally, it's been really fun following your times!! In the end you came out on top, but this is what it's all about so big congrats to you

Will be very pleased of i can stay within top five when everyone has done their run, but maybe that's aiming a bit high.

 

[Roland]

Finally, I found the time to do at least the very three stages of the rally. Leaving it all to the very last day would only add even more pressure to my already overloaded nerves..

... and Roland had the stage-time on the upper left there. So that screenshot wasn't included in the original "possible to use".

Thanks for pointing that out! Otherwise I would never even have guessed that there might actually be an option to turn that off. Found it now!

First off, I want to thank a Spanish expat friend of mine, for fixing me one of the sweetest deals ever in the history of Spain. His sweettalking skills must far exceed my driving skills, as he managed to get me an all-expenses-paid sponsorship deal with CHUPA CHUPS!!

So now this car is an actual moving piece of art, with this Salvador Dali artwork all over it.
I better be extra careful no to damage it

SS1: All went well, I made it through without damaging the paint.. just like in practice

Then came SS2. Taking extra care, this was going to be my second ever run on this stage without crashing..

or so I thought.. until the very very last meter...

My sincere apologies to all of the spectators injured by debris flying around... I really tried not to hit the sign, as they're concrete-filled here in Spain as well...

So this is how I started SS3..: (notice the outside-worn soft tire.. sure looks like the camber is off)

All in all it was a decent run

Until the very last corner... where I spun it into the trees.

By which time I was so disappointed with myself, I immediately retreated to my camper for a quick cry in fetus posture and left patching the damage to the mechanics..

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

@Roland I want to like your post due to the livery, but not due to the result!