The R5 Rally Car Class is a great move from the FIA. This class dominates the national championships and is a great stepping stone to the World Rally Championship. Some manufacturers are doing better, their cars are dominant, and buyers have the longest queues. For others, it is harder to succeed, lacking in speed and reliability. And a new player has recently entered this highly competitive pot of Škoda, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Citroen. Probably it is unlikely to reach heights like rivals because it is a private initiative, not a manufacturer’s project, but diversity is a welcome thing. And we’re talking about a British project where a Japanese engine sits in a chassis from Malaysia. Globalization, in other words.
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Vosges Rallye Festival ’19
Recently, we have a look at the Top Fry Rally, which is a race between historic cars and, quite often, historic drivers. This time the theme is very similar – the same historic cars with the same historical drivers as Stig Blomquist, Timo Salonen, or the father of legendary Colin Mcrea – Jimmy Mcrea. The difference is one but fundamental. At an event like the Vosges Rallye Festival in France or the Eifel Rallye Festival in Germany, there is no counting time for the stages, so there are no results after the rally.
Continue reading…Barum Czech Rally Zlin ’19
Barum Czech Rally Zlin is one of the most famous and iconic rallies in Central Europe. For thirty-five years, this event has been immovable in the European Rally Championship calendar. At the same time, it is the Czech Championship round. It is special for its roads, located in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic, in the outskirts of city Zlin. Those roads are very narrow, twisted in hills, forests, and villages with very variable quality of tarmac, which often gots dirty when drivers cut the corners. Every turn there requires maximum accuracy, and for the co-drivers, it is not easy to read the pace notes under these conditions. Alongside these extremely challenging roads, thousands of rally fans gather to watch the spectacle and cheer their favorites.
Continue reading…Samsonas Rally Rokiškis ’19
When autumn comes, it’s a lot of fun to remember things that happened in the summer. Samsonas Rally Rokiškis was a good affair in the northern part of Lithuania. Samsonas name and quality of the rally attract very interesting participants. Some are doing better, others – worse. And what happened in early August? Fastest Lithuanian driver Vaidotas Žala with his Škoda Fabia R5 left no chances for others in Rokiškis region roads. But with this article, we will not tell a great Lithuanian rally epic, but rather honor a rare guest on the stages, but a very active person in a rally world. And past years only Lithuanians have the opportunity to see the legend flying on their country’s roads. Since 2012, Toni Gardemeister has only one official competition a year. He visited Latvia, Estonia, even the Barbados Rally described earlier. Well, for the last two years the Finn has been playing Lithuanian gravel roads with the BMW M3.
Continue reading…Nicky Grist Stages ’19
In Britain and beyond, there are a number of rallies named in honor of some famous racer who has already died, for example – Jim Clark Memorial Rally. But it is possible to see the names of still alive racing masters in the event names. Malcolm Wilson and Nicky Grist stand out in the BTRDA championship, which is probably the second most important in the UK. The first one takes place in the spring, and the second one, Nicky Grist Stages – in the middle of July.
Continue reading…Rallye Terre du Haut-Var ’19
France and Sebastian Loeb again. Legendary French continues his extracurricular activities by taking part in non-WRC rallies. It may sound strange, but in Rallye Terre du Haut-Var, which is the third France gravel championship event, Loeb came only fifth. But as always, it’s really unwise to do early assessments and not look deeper.
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