- Maybe it's the lack of the chase.
This was an idea I've thought up in the last day or so, whether while falling asleep or consciously so - I'm not sure. But I do know that it makes a little sense. There's no chase for information, the race is right there in front of you, and for the most part, you can see when someone goes off and who wins. It's all right in front of you. In rally, finding the information and stories is an adventure in itself. You've got to talk to people, search out lost cars, speculate - it rarely happens right in front of you. Gotta admit that I love the chase.
- What's with the different atmosphere?
There has always been something about track racing that I haven't been able to put my finger on. That different atmosphere. The tense, testosterone filled bubble - that rallying seems to lack to a certain extent, despite similar levels of male participants. Geoff [Ridder] puts it down to the simple fact that they're all on the track at the same time [with track racing]. And it makes a lot of sense. On the track, there is that extra factor of having other cars around you, drivers often are in accidents that aren't their fault. Car damage, lost points, ruined weekends - that are nothing to do with driver, mechanical or weather faults, but simply because another car lost it and crashed into other cars. I've also gotta admit I'd be fairly hostile in that kind of atmosphere too. 
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8 comments:
The differences between Track and Rally racing are massive. It's the difference between apples and oranges really.
Some motor sports are always going to appeal to different audiences.
Views want action! And V8's can deliver that straight away, it contains more grunt and brute force racing which appeals to the masses.
With WRC it far more technical and things such as tire choice and suspension setup can win or loose a race. To be a WRC fan you have to have abit more knowledge of the sport than the average Joe or Jane.
I can see the appeal of both Disciplines but you just can't beat a V8 Supercar Crash In the flesh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw2c2NWxs1w
Yeah for sure, I totally get that.
I was going for the 'why it's different for me' aspect ;)
Track racing is, and has always been all about the spectacle.
Back in the day, rallying was all about the challenge - 1000+ km of special stage - a real test of man and machine (or woman, in the case of Michelle Mouton!)
WRC is heading the way of the spectacle too. It's all about keeping the sponsors happy. People at events = cash. This is why there are the super special stages such as our Mystery Creek one at [almost?] every event now.
Meh, I dunno. Rally is a family, race is a hostile, testosterone filled bubble where I get whislted at (while wearing full winter coat and tramping boots) - when there are scantily clad grid girls everywhere. Me? Pissed? Heck yes.
Haha.
Thanks Rhys!
... However, I cannot deny the pull of the Aussie V8sies!
And I mean 'pull' in the appeal way, not the other way.
Oh, I'm just going to shut up now...
Spectating at a rally involves so much more participation than a track event. More often than not, you end up reading tulips just to get you from stage to stage (sometimes in the dark or pouring rain).
Then there's the sheer awe of the driver's ability to weave between the trees at double the speed you thought possible, with just a mental map of the road to guide them.
But for me it's the whole package. There is nothing like the sensory experience of a rally. Standing in the middle of nowhere, knowing that somewhere out there two people are navigating a car at speed, the anticipation builds as you hear the faint murmur of an engine masked by the ambient noise of the wilderness and the crackle of footsteps in the forest. The faint rasp with pops and bangs becomes a blaring roar as the car comes into view, flashes past you and navigates a turn as though it has been around it a thousand times, then blasts off to complete another X kilometres leaving you with just the whiff of racing fuel in the hanging dust and a unique feeling that overwhelms your senses (a deep smile, inside and out). You sink back into the realisation that you're back in the middle of nowhere just in time for the cycle to start again.
That's what keeps me coming back. And it's an experience I'll never get at a track event.
I'm not in awe of racing drivers unless you put them on Mt Panorama or in an F1 car at Spa or Monaco.
I think if you imagine you're in the forest and 30 rally cars drive past at 1-10 second intervals for an hour, you get a stark picture of the differences. Some people don't get the idea of standing in the forest waiting for a car... others do... those strange people are rally fans.
Damn, when's the next rally in Victoria?
Haha, thanks Viv. Hadn't thought about the extra participation part of it for rally fans. And I know you didn't write the stunning sensory paragraph just for me! :D
circuit is really great
I'm actually being converted a wee bit at the moment, may have to change this post a little ;)
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