FIA WRX 2017

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

tbtstt said:

Anyone watch the final round of the Championship? I thought the track was decent and there was some good racing. 

Semi final two was absolute chaos at the start, Block's Focus seemed to have shed most of it's front end by lap six! I thought the ruling against Block was a bit harsh though, would like to know more details about it (i.e. was it because of the weight of the car at the end of the race or prior to it lining up for the final). 

Great pace from Timmy Hansen, shame that Kristoffersson got a bit of breathing space at the start of the race, as Timmy looked faster in the latter part of the race.

I like the track, its really fast. The atmosphere seemed to be cool. I am pissed that Block got that penalty. I think its a load of bull. Semi-2 was an awesome race to watch. Block drove a really good race, hes got talent and style. It was a good send off for the Ford Focus RS RX. I'll miss Hoonigan and Block in the Championship. Overall 2017 was a good season (even though VW won a little too much). :)

[Janneman60 154]

gfRally said:n

tbtstt said:

Anyone watch the final round of the Championship? I thought the track was decent and there was some good racing. 

Semi final two was absolute chaos at the start, Block's Focus seemed to have shed most of it's front end by lap six! I thought the ruling against Block was a bit harsh though, would like to know more details about it (i.e. was it because of the weight of the car at the end of the race or prior to it lining up for the final). 

Great pace from Timmy Hansen, shame that Kristoffersson got a bit of breathing space at the start of the race, as Timmy looked faster in the latter part of the race.

It was for weight-in before the final when they disqualified him.  I think rules like that shouldn't be black and white, there was not a motive to cheat or somehow gain an edge over opponents.  It was just RX and the nature of the race, I think any weight advantage was lost to the aero disadvantage (I know aero isn't huge in RX but the skirting is there for a reason.  He was doing well and it was the final race Ford.  Oh well... 

I understand your opinion but disagree. It is the teams choice not to add a bit weight and they could know the car was under weight. Also it is a choice to prepare the car to its absolut minimum weight, it is rallycross so missing parts are normal.

[tbtstt 2,387]

gfRally said:

tbtstt said:

Anyone watch the final round of the Championship? I thought the track was decent and there was some good racing. 

Semi final two was absolute chaos at the start, Block's Focus seemed to have shed most of it's front end by lap six! I thought the ruling against Block was a bit harsh though, would like to know more details about it (i.e. was it because of the weight of the car at the end of the race or prior to it lining up for the final). 

Great pace from Timmy Hansen, shame that Kristoffersson got a bit of breathing space at the start of the race, as Timmy looked faster in the latter part of the race.

It was for weight-in before the final when they disqualified him.  I think rules like that shouldn't be black and white, there was not a motive to cheat or somehow gain an edge over opponents.  It was just RX and the nature of the race, I think any weight advantage was lost to the aero disadvantage (I know aero isn't huge in RX but the skirting is there for a reason.  He was doing well and it was the final race Ford.  Oh well... 

I couldn't quite figure it all out. I thought it was for the weigh in for the final, but if you look at the official results it shows that Block was disqualified at the semi-final stage. 

Rules are rules but, like you say, the car wasn't underweight because of foul play, it was because of contact. I saw a lot of activity behind the start line as the final was lining up and Bakkerud's car was there: I wonder if they tried to swap Block into the other Focus? Real shame to see his "full time" career in World RX end that way, especially after such a good performance over the weekend. I hope it's not the last time we see him in a rallycross car: or the last time we see a Focus RS RX on track!

[tbtstt 2,387]

Janneman60 said:

gfRally said:n

tbtstt said:

Anyone watch the final round of the Championship? I thought the track was decent and there was some good racing. 

Semi final two was absolute chaos at the start, Block's Focus seemed to have shed most of it's front end by lap six! I thought the ruling against Block was a bit harsh though, would like to know more details about it (i.e. was it because of the weight of the car at the end of the race or prior to it lining up for the final). 

Great pace from Timmy Hansen, shame that Kristoffersson got a bit of breathing space at the start of the race, as Timmy looked faster in the latter part of the race.

It was for weight-in before the final when they disqualified him.  I think rules like that shouldn't be black and white, there was not a motive to cheat or somehow gain an edge over opponents.  It was just RX and the nature of the race, I think any weight advantage was lost to the aero disadvantage (I know aero isn't huge in RX but the skirting is there for a reason.  He was doing well and it was the final race Ford.  Oh well... 

I understand your opinion but disagree. It is the teams choice not to add a bit weight and they could know the car was under weight. Also it is a choice to prepare the car to its absolut minimum weight, it is rallycross so missing parts are normal.

There is only a small window between the end of semi-final 2 and the cars arriving in pre-grid for the final. I'm not sure the team would have had time to consider incidental details like overall weight: the priority would have been to get everything straight, nail as many new bits to the car as quickly as possible and get the car to the pre-grid.

[sjoerdFTW 0]

tbtstt said:

Janneman60 said:

I disagree with that. A whole season wrx with 2 cars doesn't even cost as much as 1 rally. Money can not be the reason for a manufacturer. I believe the laxk of performance is a bigger reason. The past learns that the Wilson factory can't deliver a quick enough rallycross car and this year learns this is still the case.

The amount of money that Volkswagen Motorsport have supposedly spent on the World Rallycross this year is a lot more than one rally would cost. 

Not sure I would agree with "lack of performance". The Focus was very quick in 2016 and arguably the car to beat at the end of the season (look at how much ground Bakkerud gained in the latter rounds of 2016). There seemed to be little progress made in the off season though so, although the Focus was still near the front, it wasn't quite on the pace of the PSRXVW Polo or the EKS S1. 

It certainly wasn't struggling at the back though. It has actually performed much better than I expected, I really didn't think a long wheelbase would work that well. 

If anyone wants to know the budget it was around 30 milion euro's (maybe more) just on carparts and development of the car.
They pretty much took the budget of the rally to rallycross.

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

sjoerdFTW said:

tbtstt said:

Janneman60 said:

I disagree with that. A whole season wrx with 2 cars doesn't even cost as much as 1 rally. Money can not be the reason for a manufacturer. I believe the laxk of performance is a bigger reason. The past learns that the Wilson factory can't deliver a quick enough rallycross car and this year learns this is still the case.

The amount of money that Volkswagen Motorsport have supposedly spent on the World Rallycross this year is a lot more than one rally would cost. 

Not sure I would agree with "lack of performance". The Focus was very quick in 2016 and arguably the car to beat at the end of the season (look at how much ground Bakkerud gained in the latter rounds of 2016). There seemed to be little progress made in the off season though so, although the Focus was still near the front, it wasn't quite on the pace of the PSRXVW Polo or the EKS S1. 

It certainly wasn't struggling at the back though. It has actually performed much better than I expected, I really didn't think a long wheelbase would work that well. 

If anyone wants to know the budget it was around 30 milion euro's (maybe more) just on carparts and development of the car.
They pretty much took the budget of the rally to rallycross.

Wow that's a huge budget! The other teams need to do something about that.

[dwkGravey 0]

That was one of the best, if not the best, rounds of 2017. Really great racing from Q4 onwards, not to mention the view. Block's penalty was rubbish, punishing one of their stars for putting on a show. Hoonigan deserved better than that for their last event.

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

I can't wait for 2018. We can look forward to new tracks at Silverstone and COTA (which I'm super excited about). I hope the other manufactures can close down on VW. Also I hope Bakkuard finds a good team because he's one of my favorite drivers.

[tbtstt 2,387]

DiRTKiNG808 said:

I can't wait for 2018. We can look forward to new tracks at Silverstone and COTA (which I'm super excited about). I hope the other manufactures can close down on VW. Also I hope Bakkuard finds a good team because he's one of my favorite drivers.

I'm very much on the fence with regards to Silverstone at the moment. It's brilliant that we have a new rallycross circuit in the UK - and I fully intend to check out the British Championship round there early next year - but the way they are marketing (and pricing) the World round at Silverstone is alienating all the rallycross fans I know. 

All my rallycross trips are done with mates in order to keep the costs down but, thus far, no one is willing to spend the money on a trip to the World round at Silverstone. 

[Narzugon 0]

I'm in the U.S. and have been patiently waiting for Ford Performance to post the Cape Town race. I don't see it on their YouTube channel or Facebook page. At this point I feel that I'm overlooking it somehow. Does anyone have a link?

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

I don't see it either. I watched the race on another channel but they took the race down a couple weeks ago.

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

DiRTKiNG808 said:

I don't see it either. I watched the race on another channel but they took the race down a couple weeks ago.

I think we will be able to watch the races on the official channel again because Ford Performance pulled out.

[Narzugon 0]

I hadn't thought about that. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Narzugon 0]

YouTube reports the Cape Town video has been removed from FIA's YouTube channel. The other live shows at least show a thumbnail even though they are still restricted in the U.S..

[dwkGravey 0]

Narzugon said:

YouTube reports the Cape Town video has been removed from FIA's YouTube channel. The other live shows at least show a thumbnail even though they are still restricted in the U.S..

It's still up for me (here in Canada).

[tbtstt 2,387]

I published a blog on the departure of Hoonigan Racing Division from the World Rallycross Championship yesterday. It includes a few of my fave pictures of the Focus RS RX and I think there are a few of you on here who are fans of the car, so might be of interest! 

http://fueltopia.co.uk/farewell-hoonigan-racing-division/

[Narzugon 0]

Thanks TBTSTT, I'll check it out.

I posted on Ford Performance's Facebook WRX group and they provided a link to the Cape Town race. I have no idea why I could not find it. But if anyone else had issues, here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR3slsfFEVc&feature=youtu.be

[Narzugon 0]

Nice article TBTSTT but even more so, nice gallery! I checked out your "Favorite Shots" gallery. Nice work!

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

@tbtstt I am a huge fan of Hoonigan Racing Division. I will be sure to check it out. I will let you know what I think.

[tbtstt 2,387]

Narzugon said:

Nice article TBTSTT but even more so, nice gallery! I checked out your "Favorite Shots" gallery. Nice work!

Thanks @Narzugon, managed to get to some great events the last few years and I've been really pleased with some of the shots in my "Favourite Shots" gallery!

DiRTKiNG808 said:

@tbtstt I am a huge fan of Hoonigan Racing Division. I will be sure to check it out. I will let you know what I think.

Cheers @DiRTKiNG808!

[Madhun1967 51]

cant wait to see Prodrives Renault beast next year !

[Narzugon 0]

Wow, I watched the Live show from Cape Town last night. That was probably one of the most exciting races of the year.

So what kind of BS'ery was that disqualification on Block? I understand the rules on weight, but it was plain as day that there was nothing shady going on with his body panels being bashed off. Was there more to the call than that?

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

That was pretty much it. I was so pissed when that call came through. Block drove an amazing race. I will miss his team in the championship. I'm hopping that Bakkerud can get a winning car for 2018 because he has mega talent.

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

Interesting news on cost cutting in World RX. It should bring the team closer together for tighter racing. It will also stop VW from spending an entire country worth of money on their car :D. http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9794/2018-update-new-cost-cutting

[Janneman60 154]

It is a good first step to prevent costs raising to high. Enough good championships killed themselves by letting a few factory teams go their way.

Saying that I still can't understand that they did not look at the travelling costs, why are overseas rounds not back-to-back?