50 Years Sideways

When I get on the exercise bike I usually cue up a race/rally video on YouTube to pass the time. This one was awesome;

http://youtu.be/CjILuvJ6OQ4

We desperately need the style and panache of the 60's and 70's back in racing (but not the death and bloodshed).

Will have to check it out. Here's a magnet link for those who don't want to buffer a full movie on Youtube.

(copy and replace everything before "?xt" with "magnet:")

THANK YOU! A very enjoyable hour and a half spent remisniscing my youth as I grew up with a large part of that video. Not sure why, but my interest in rally ended at the same time as the Group B cars were banned.

Ironically, it seems like the common man has no place in this sport anymore. Why is that?

The common man still does. Heck, Ford will sell you a full kit to bring a Fiesta up to competitive FIA spec. For the price of a base model Corvette, you can buy a brand new Fiesta and the R2 kit and compete in the WRC Academy series.

I think there are far more regular dudes working within a budget this weekend at LSPR than those that are not.

That was an hour and a half well spent ! I can't imagine what the Group B cars were like. I saw the Group2/4 factory teams compete in a WRC event in Quebec and they were awesome to watch. More power and 4 wheel drive would take it up several notches above what I saw.

It's hard for me to imagine that it's been more than ten years since I stopped paying attention to rally. I don't even know what a modern rally car looks like. I was so hooked on it back then. I wish we could still get coverage on TV. All the names of current drivers mentioned from when this film was made brought back alot of memories. Burns and McrRea are gone Grunholm, Sainz, Solberg all of them where so familiar to me back then. I Don't even know if any of them are still driving.

I miss rally

Jeff wrote: We desperately need the style and panache of the 60's and 70's back in racing (but not the death and bloodshed).

I think I agree... I mean style and panache yes... bloodshed... maybe a little. This isn't a "rally" thing for me but a general trend in racing where things just can't be safe enough anymore. I know this sounds retarded but as an amateur race car driver now who grew up then - a little more risk would not be a bad thing. I'm not talking cars made of paper running rocket fuel dangerous - but paved runoff and soft walls are ruining the sport in the same way helmets ruined hockey. I feel some of you pulling away from me - but hear me out. If we can all take turn one at the Glen balls out and just drive across the acre of paved runoff that is there now - then the romance of being the guy who could do that when it was a dirt berm that would launch you into a coffin is lost. There is no fear anymore. We can all do it. If you get it wrong, so what? Brush yourself off and go again! No real motorsports hero ever got a reset button. It diminishes the whole thing to have it feel so safe, so... reasonable.

When I go to Mid-Ohio or Nelson Ledges or even Summit Point I feel like I'm risking something (because I am). When I drive NJMP I dive in like a damn demon on acid because I know when I go off I can gather it up or even tag it in and I am going to walk away. It is just not good for the sport to have people unafraid of failure. Fear is a great way to let the rest of us know what it took to be great when death was a real possibility in touring car racing.

Still lots of danger in rally. Trees and mountain valleys still make bad runoff areas. And yes, Solberg is still driving. If you're not paying attention to WRC, you are missing the best drivers on earth.

In any sort of racing, if you get it wrong, you will not win. It's okay to survive mistakes though.

That was a fun video and it was nice its a low enough resolution that it streamed on my Droid without interruption for the entire hour and a half, thus preventing me from getting anything done in the garage last night... I expected it to freeze up at some point.

My current situation prevents me from watching any motorsports on tv, but I still try to follow the WRC as much as other series.

In reply to Ian F:

I was watching it while working on the Zetec last night, then I followed it up with the History of the WRC afterward.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

I think I get what you are trying to say and I think I agree to a point. As Keith pointed out, it's a little different with rally. Trees bite cars hard. But I think a little more risk tolerance/acceptance wouldn't be a bad thing in racing in general.

When I started rock climbing, it was something that few people did and there was always a chance it would end badly (if you're smart, it was slim, but the possibility existed). Now people climb indoors with systems that are nearly foolproof. It's frankly quite boring. Having a little measured risk is a good thing.

I remember a great video of Blomqvist going flat out in a Saab 96 in one of the snow events of the time. He's wearing wingtips, a helmet, the standard car seat belt, and no cage. Maybe we shouldn't allow that anymore. Then again, maybe we should.

I think part of the issue that missed is the roads. Roads are just plain better than they were back in the day. Straighter, wider, safer. To race on them, you're going faster. Combine that with the capabilities of modern cars, even factory stock ones, especially AWD ones, and you've got a bad kinetic energy issue. If you had old, loose, twisty roads you'd slow people down. Now put the amateurs in cars that have terrible tires and about 75hp and we're back to speeds where people would survive accidents with not much more than a helmet and a seatbelt. Go watch a $500 rallycross car on nearly bald tires. Now take the rallycross course and make stages just like that, but 15 miles long. Now line up 50 cars and have a good safe time. I'm not sure anyone wants to do that though. Well, I do.

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

There will always be the Nordschleife and Bathurst

I think WRC has regs in place for the roads. Stages should have an average speed of about 120 kmh, and I suspect there's a top speed rule in there as well of 200 kmh or so. This means the rallies are taking place on smaller, twister roads. Some are gravel, some are snow, some are mixed. It would be cool to see the Safari come back though.

The organizers are trying to keep the speeds down somehow. I think the current WRC cars are faster than the Group B monsters thanks to better braking, cornering and suspension.

You want to run just about any kind of car on normal roads? Check out a Targa.

Keith Tanner wrote: The organizers are trying to keep the speeds down somehow. I think the current WRC cars are faster than the Group B monsters thanks to better braking, cornering and suspension.

They are, but which would you rather watch?

Drag racing has developed the same problem, top fuel doesn't even run a full 1/4 mile anymore.

That was a great video. Now I want build a rally fiat spider. Or 2 door merc.

GameboyRMH wrote: In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker: There will always be the Nordschleife and Bathurst

And Road America.....screw up there in a fast section and you can prolly pay the boatman before you hit the wall....

50yrs sideways is actually a very neat documentary.....I probably still have it saved on my laptop somewhere, as I still watch it from time to time. I still love seeing the old alpines in it.

Edit: theres also another documentary that covers only group b.......i cannot remember the name of it tho :(

Kenny_McCormic wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote: The organizers are trying to keep the speeds down somehow. I think the current WRC cars are faster than the Group B monsters thanks to better braking, cornering and suspension.

They are, but which would you rather watch? Drag racing has developed the same problem, top fuel doesn't even run a full 1/4 mile anymore.

I'm happy watching faster cars. I like the current WRC. I know it's an uncool attitude and everything was better in the good old days, but I'm perfectly happy to watch the new stuff. As I mentioned, I do miss the Safari.

Yamaha, you're probably thinking of "too fast to race".

In reply to Keith Tanner:

That sounds about right....