1st Round.

A new rule for Monte Carlo is the removal of the option to run a full on snow specialist tyre. Teams will be limited to a 1/4 studded tyre and any variation of shaved tarmac tyres. Hans device is now required. No rally radio as far as I can see.

New for the SWRT:

-Corona dropped as a sponsor
-Move from Alpinestars to Sparco for driving gear.
-Move from OZ Racing to BBS as supplier of racing wheels. (Tarmacs look similar to USDM STi V8 wheels)

They will use the ImprezaWRC2004 until Corona Rally Mexico. Stephane Sarrazin and Petter Solberg are nominated to drive this round. Chris Atkinson will recce the stages and then appear in Sweden.

http://www.acm.mc/rallye/acm_rallye.php
www.wrc.com (New site redesign)
www.rally-live.com
www.subaru-global.com

http://gaz20.spb.ru/img/saab/saab96_monte_carlo.jpg

My money is on Sebastian Loeb and Alex Bengue.

My money is on Sebastian Loeb...

I dunno. With Seb in a new Citroen I don't think he'll be as good..at least for this year.

Subaru,Peugeot and Mitsubishi will be wearing Pirelli's
Citreon,Ford and Skoda will be wearing Michelin's

Meh, Loeb is not to be triffled with and I think that if he had been given the green light by Citroen two seasons ago Petter might not have been the champion.

Just my two cents as unpopular as it might be.

Looks like Speed Channel moved the showing to 8pm PST, and its one hour.

11pm EST? 1 Hour??

:furious:

^ it blows^

At least it's on. I was worried we'd go back to delayed coverage days later.

Looks like Speed Channel moved the showing to 8pm PST, and its one hour.
1.5 hrs last year.
1 hr this year
2006? yea, we see where this is going...ugh

I'm happy to have anything....

-faast

I'm happy to have anything....

-faast

NICK!

Interesting re: HANS device. Required for both occupants?

I'm happy to have anything....

-faast

:banana:

1.5 hrs last year.
1 hr this year
2006? yea, we see where this is going...ugh

Dude look at what speed Did to WRC for us in the past.

Speed Vision was a 30 min show a few days later.

Then went to a 1 hour show a few days later

(In comes SpeedTV after the first round of the Rally)
Then went to a 1 hour show the weekend of. (from what I heard it was solid ratings)

Then went to a 4.5 hour show, with 1 hour on every day of the rally then a 1 hour recap (Rally Xtra). and a 30 min Rally XS show before the rally. (overkill, speedTV put lots of money and time into this season to see only flat ratings no increase over previous year)

Then this year they went to a 2 hour show wiht a 30 min Rally magazine, and a 1.5 hour recap the weekend of the race. (ratings failure)

Now last season they saw the lowest ratings for rally coverage of all time on the network. So it makes perfect sense that they go back to a format that got them high ratings ( the 1 hour the weekend of). After all thats been said from SpeedTV, I am amazed that they even carried WRC this year. I mean WRC didnt even get a "Year In Review" from the channel.... I mean ALMS, and Speed World Challenge got a Year in Review, but WRC didnt. And they re showed the season at 3:00am Est over a 3.5 week period not the WRC Rally-a-thon like last year. and the years before that.

Be very thankful for what you are going to get this year.

--Clegg
2004 WRC Season DVD's available - http://www.northerndrift.com

I'm showing 1.5 hours in my program guide for Sunday night.

Hmm when did that change??? must have been very recently because just a week ago I was looking at it and it showed to be an hour. Just looked at the speedtv site and it shows 1.5 hours now.

--Clegg
2004 WRC DVD's Get the 16 DVD set now! - http://www.northerndrift.com
2001,2002,2003 seasons also available!

Unfortunately, my POS timeWarner DVR is f'd up and won't let me record it. :mad:

Looks like you better get used to your hour coverage, because you might have to fork over $70-$100 a year to get photos and live radio from both www.wrc.com and www.rally-live.com . Sad that it turned this way, but I guess $100 aint bad for a years worth of coverage.

Petter didnt lose much time for going off with hot brakes.

$100 to listen to radio coverage, IMHO, is a rip. But, that's just me.

oh, and I'll be tuning out until Sunday, or whenever I get to watch this :)

I don't mind them cutting it back a 1/2 hour (less fluff)..it's the time change that bites..11 P.M. on a worknight :mad:

Hopefully Ill catch a re-run on a better day/time. :confused: :mad:



-Mark
MAPmotors.com

So who else is driving for Subaru other than Petter this rally? Anyoen?

^^^Stephane Sarrazin

Looks like some of the dogs of the WRC have made some major improvements! Gilles in the LancerWRC05 is a few ticks behind Petter and has a stage win. Toni Gardemiester is riding in third place in his new FocusWRC. Alex Bengue in the Skoda has set a fastest stage time. Manfred Stohl in a private Xsara is in 8th.

It appears that Duval (Citroen), Rovanpera (Mitsubishi), Sarrazin (Subaru) are off and retired. Schwartz wrecked out too.

Should be worth watching tomorrow!

The new Lancer WR05 seems quite fast, it won SS8. Heads up behind you Petter O_O

EDIT: OH SHAT! Looking a the split times for special stage 12, it looks like something happened to petter between split 2 and 3. This doesn't look good :(

Yup.......looks like Petter is off. Why does the Monte rally always suck so bad for Subaru? No points at all.

Petter and Marcus went off and lost a front wheel each one due to the snow thrown into the dry asphalth stage corner. The snow was thrown into the asphalt after ground crews checked the stage. Marcus was able to make it to service but Petter's out.

Petter and Marcus went off and lost a front wheel each one due to the snow thrown into the dry asphalth stage corner. The snow was thrown into the asphalt after ground crews checked the stage. Marcus was able to make it to service but Petter's out.

http://www.wrc.com/page/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~617451,00.html

So spectators threw the snow on the dry asphalt sections that that Marcus and Petter did not know was coming?

Yep.

Thier gravel crews reported it as dry tarmac, thus mis adjusted pace notes. Oila.

Not very sporting what ever way you look at it. This ranks up there with the dammed streams in Argentina and the spectators throwing rocks at Marcus a few years ago in Greece. Eurotrash.

im nto sure i like speeds new presentation of WRC. some chick tlaking is nice but it jsut doesnt feel right.

and all the driver and tire changes are unsettling, I liked it the last 2 years :( oh wella t least we still have coverage

I like the new commentator.

I like the British voices, makes it sound more authentic. Ralph Shaheen needs to go back to sprint cars....

-faast

the new coverage looks great, and the commentators sound great. :D

and the coverage of the night time portion was AWESOME :D:D:D

What exactly happend with the streamers in Argentina?

the new coverage looks great, and the commentators sound great. :D

and the coverage of the night time portion was AWESOME :D:D:D

Yeah, BIG THUMBS UP for new coverage; Shaheen sucks glad to see he is gone, I hope it is permanent.

We should all email Speed about it. :devil:

I didn't get why Solberg was told to stop; Gronholm made it to service on 3 wheels.

the new coverage looks great, and the commentators sound great. :D

and the coverage of the night time portion was AWESOME :D:D:D

+1. I like the girl over that loud guy that did it last year ;)

It looks like Marcus had no idea, but Phil warned petter of "extra slippy ice" just before he ran in and lost the wheel. Maybe Petter just need to be more attentive?

what ******* intentionally tries to harm competitors! seriously, why would someone throw snow onto the stage that's just stupid.

they say loeb THINKS someone threw snow on, hes probably just scapegoating.

if you saw someone throw snow in the track before your favorite driver woudlnt YOU call shenanigans...

subaru should put some frame sliders under all the wheel areas so petter can just limp back like gronholm does :P

You know I was thinking the same thing! - I was lusting for the 2001, 2002 years.

There are no old faces anymore, I miss Richard, Colin, Tommi, Carlos, etc... and I miss the original british commentator. The brit chick was a nice change from Ralphy boy. But I do agree it doesnt feel right, but I think it will come together, just as everyone said they couldnt handle an american on there in 2002.

Also did anyone notice that with the new blood, another trend is moving big time into WRC. Full face helmets. All the old dogs ran open face helmets, which I think helped to relate to the drivers a bit more. I mean you got to see their faces all the time. Now with really only Petter, and a couple others, its all full face.

Also this year just seems ill fated. I mean you know the PSA group is leaving, so it all feels so empty. I mean I found myself thinking "Hmm wonder who is going to buy up Loeb next year? Subaru, a Solberg/Loeb pairing?"

I want Tommi and Carlos back! :)

--Clegg
2004 WRC DVD's Get the 16 DVD set now! - http://www.northerndrift.com
2001,2002,2003 seasons also available!

Haha ... school boy error ...
Once again, Subaru at the bottom of manufacturer's after the 1st round, just like last year.
They should just not do the first 2 rallies and save some money.

thought the show was good. 90 min. was enough.

dont get me wrong i love rally but the 4 hrs a couple years ago was too much.

loved all the night time in car.

citroen is going to be hard to beat.

they say loeb THINKS someone threw snow on, hes probably just scapegoating.

if you saw someone throw snow in the track before your favorite driver woudlnt YOU call shenanigans...

subaru should put some frame sliders under all the wheel areas so petter can just limp back like gronholm does :P

From WRC.com

Former champions Marcus Gronholm and Petter Solberg have criticised fans for throwing snow onto the Col du Turini section of the final morning stage of this weekend's 2005 season-opening Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo after they crashed as a result. Gronholm was able to continue in fourth, but Solberg was forced out of the event.


The practice has become almost a tradition on one of the highest points of the event, but this year has had more effect as the rally has been run on predominantly dry roads. Although gravel crews are allowed to go through the stages and take notes of new hazards, the additional snow thrown onto braking areas after this process can often catch them out.


A wheel was ripped off both drivers' cars. Gronholm was able to stagger back to service and get his car repaired by the Peugeot mechanics to resume in the rally. Solberg's damage was more severe, however,*leaving the Norwegian and his Subaru team pointless after an unlucky rally.


"Once again it was that Col," said Gronholm. "Everybody knows the spectators throw snow on the road. I know they do that. But when I came and saw the snow it was already too late. Just before I went off I saw another wheel - not mine but Petter's. He'd already been off there. When my wheel came off I was sure it was over, but we drove 19km and the road section and got here. It's a big shame because second was looking good."


Solberg shared Gronholm's frustration. "It seems like this sort of luck is with me every time in Monte Carlo," he said. "I'm extremely disappointed. No mistakes all rally, we're catching up places, everything's perfect and then this. What's so frustrating is that I was so close to a good result and wasn't pushing the limit. You never try anything at that point. It's always slippery. I just made a mistake, braked too late and got caught out. It's as simple as that."

Footage of the co-driver pleading and saying "Francois...." to slow down and then smacking that telephone pole (yee-ouch....concrete!) was pretty sobering. My heart just sank when the reply was "no" to if he was okay. Lucky to have just a bruised leg!

k so they threw snow then.

What bad luck for Solberg. He was doing so well.
I can't believe how Toni Gardemeister did, I expect we'll see lots of good results from him in a respectable car and team.
Is it me, but were those the only night stages that we might see this year?
Should be another exciting year.

Big thumbs up to Speed for the new format. I'm glad to see Ralph is gone. Hopefully its for good.

thought the show was good. 90 min. was enough.

dont get me wrong i love rally but the 4 hrs a couple years ago was too much.

loved all the night time in car.

citroen is going to be hard to beat.

I actually think the show could be better if they cut out all the commercials and busted it down to an hour. For being an hour and half, there's not much actual rally coverage. It has a hard time holding my attention when there's five minutes of coverage and then five minutes of commercials and so on. I guess Speed has to pay for it somehow though.

-faast

Footage of the co-driver pleading and saying "Francois...." to slow down and then smacking that telephone pole (yee-ouch....concrete!) was pretty sobering. My heart just sank when the reply was "no" to if he was okay. Lucky to have just a bruised leg!

This was the footage that really stuck with me as well.

Phil warned petter of "extra slippy ice" just before he ran in and lost the wheel. Maybe Petter just need to be more attentive?

Phil said "double caution extra slippy ice."

Solberg was catching 2nd. Probably pushing too hard despite what he said. Oh well.

Loeb is a damn good driver.

Yeah, I agree- the helicopter footage they showed near the end certainly made it look like Petter just pushed too hard.
I've become conditioned now to pretty much expect Petter to crash, if it's a tarmac event and he's reeeeally hammering on it. It's a miracle he escaped that earlier crash.
Nice new tradition Subaru's got going on at the Monte.. :rolleyes:

I loved Lapworth's line (from the wrc website) about how the performance of the Impreza WRC was on par w/ their rivals. He thinks the car's faster, but I think it's just that both the Mitsus and Pugs are now running on the suck-on-tarmac Pirellis, LOL!

Oh well- great result for everyone involved OTHER than Subaru. :mad:

Russ R

The new female announcer sounds like the one from "5th Gear" or maybe its just that they both have Brit accents?? Anyone know?
The chick from "5th Gear" is a rally nut--they had a show where the hosts picked their favorite cars and all of hers were rally homologation specials! Audi, Escort, Fiat I think.

I think the other announcer is the same that used to do the WRC coverage back in 99-00 season.

The new female announcer sounds like the one from "5th Gear" or maybe its just that they both have Brit accents?? Anyone know?
The chick from "5th Gear" is a rally nut--they had a show where the hosts picked their favorite cars and all of hers were rally homologation specials! Audi, Escort, Fiat I think.

The girl on Fifth Gear is Vicky Butler-Henderson

http://www.five.tv/media/image/2280049.jpg

The girl doing the WRC is Penny Mallory (http://www.pennymallory.co.uk/) <- Link

http://www.pennymallory.co.uk/index_files/image5861.jpg

Also, Ms. Butler-Henderson will voice driver training segments of Gran Turismo 4, coming soon to a Playstation 2 near me.

Mopho- are you sure Penny is doing the commentary this year??
My wife thought it was "the gal from 'Top Gear'" as well...
(and, sadly, I couldn't tell...)


From Petter's post-race interview on rally-live.com;
"What's so frustrating is that I was so close to getting a good result and wasn't pushing over the limit. You'd never try anything at that point, it's always slippery, I just made a mistake, braked too late and got caught out - it's as simple as that.”

So while he may have blamed "the locals" for throwing snow earlier (for the record, I heard Loeb and Gronholm say that, but not Solberg..), but he's owing up to making the mistake now. Atta boy, Petter!!

Russ R

+1. I like the girl over that loud guy that did it last year ;)

It looks like Marcus had no idea, but Phil warned petter of "extra slippy ice" just before he ran in and lost the wheel. Maybe Petter just need to be more attentive?

remember that petter was having brake problems through out the earlier parts of the rally.

go Mitsubishi!!!

not a bad finish for panizi in his home event. :banana:

Mopho- are you sure Penny is doing the commentary this year??
My wife thought it was "the gal from 'Top Gear'" as well...
(and, sadly, I couldn't tell...)




Well, I know Vicki has a bit of a lisp and accentuates her words a lot, so I am fairly sure it is not her. Penny has done the WRC for the British channel 4 in years past (and shown up in a few of the Speed broadcasts) and it says she does it in her bio. I'll have to watch it again to be "sure"

When I was at the Catalunya rally last year, I had dinner with Nicky Grist and he was saying that Speed is losing money on WRC and the ratings have been bad, so there was a possibility that they would go back to week delay for the broadcast to save money on the satellite feed. So I imagine, sacking Ralphy was a cost cutting measure, since they could just use the British commentary instead of paying Ralph. But who knows, Ralph could have been sick or on vacation and this was only temporary, I guess we'll find out next time.

But who knows, Ralph could have been sick or on vacation and this was only temporary, I guess we'll find out next time.

Not to be rude or anything, but let hope that he will remain sick untill the end of the championship.

Not to be rude or anything, but let hope that he will remain sick untill the end of the championship.


Agreed :devil:

Personally, I think the shows were the best in 98-01 when they were half hour, they were works of art, it was like watching one of Pou's videos for half an hour

You know hes taking up racing right? Hes racing in some late model series now. Its actually funny to hear him race. Tony Stewart was his mentor on the headset and he totally ignored anything tony said. was pretty sad.

There were some pretty awesome shots of glowing brake discs from all teams this rally :lol: Even with Petter's new pads, they were probably toast when he hit that corner!

+1 for Loeb being amazing and ridiculously smooth and controlled :cool:

11pm EST? 1 Hour??

:furious:

My biggest complaint is the start time. Is 11PM and a repeat at 3AM EST the new times or was it only for this race? I have a morning class and it will be impossible to watch the entire thing now. Not to make this a NASCAR bashing post, but NASCAR isn't even in season and it gets primetime coverage and more coverage in gerneral.

Thank goodness for Tivo. But that does show how poor the WRC ratings must've been if an off-season NASCAR rerun still gets higher viewership.

and bobsledding no less.

i think Petter got too giddy on that turn. I observed his driving...there was ice way before the turn. I'm also glad Ralph is gone. I say, just leave it to the brits. It has a more "WRC feeling". I'd rather see UK's footage than Speed trying to do their own thing. I remember when I was in the UK...they had very good coverage... They even demonstrated how the e-brake isn't just for parking your car at the grocery. :)

i think Petter got too giddy on that turn. I observed his driving...there was ice way before the turn. I'm also glad Ralph is gone. I say, just leave it to the brits. It has a more "WRC feeling". I'd rather see UK's footage than Speed trying to do their own thing. I remember when I was in the UK...they had very good coverage... They even demonstrated how the e-brake isn't just for parking your car at the grocery. :)
agree even with the co-driver telling him where the ice was at. He just got way to ahead of himself

i think Petter got too giddy on that turn. I observed his driving...there was ice way before the turn. I'm also glad Ralph is gone. I say, just leave it to the brits. It has a more "WRC feeling". I'd rather see UK's footage than Speed trying to do their own thing. I remember when I was in the UK...they had very good coverage... They even demonstrated how the e-brake isn't just for parking your car at the grocery. :)

We have always been getting the UK footage, Speed just sticks Nicky's segments in and Ralph did a voice over. Perhaps they edit it a bit different but everyone gets the same initial footage

I'm sure it's just more cost cutting in their part, ditching the "custom" US commentary and sticking with whatever they get included in the UK rebroadcast deal.

Everyone blame the Pirellis, but remember when Tommi won Monte Carlo on his first drive for Subaru on Pirelli? He owned everyone that day :D

Everyone blame the Pirellis, but remember when Tommi won Monte Carlo on his first drive for Subaru on Pirelli? He owned everyone that day :D


Well tire technology changes from year to year, so perhaps back then Pirelli was leading the tire tech race. For the past few years it has been well documented that Pirellis are not as good as the michelins on dry tarmac but excel in the wet

Very true, regarding tires- although, up until the last two stages, the cars "in the points" were split 4 on Michelins, 4 on Pirellis. Interesting...
Hopefully (for SWRT fans at least!), this means Pirelli is getting better on tarmac...

Re-watched footage last night to offload from TiVo to DVD-R.. still couldn't tell who the female commentator was. They have *never* scrolled the credits at the end- mebbe Speed's embarrassed they're grabbing ITV's content?
Identifying Penny last year was easy- she was onscreen w/ Nicky! This year... the commentator is a disembodied voice... (as is the other main commentator, another Brit, not Nicky). Kinda silly, really.

Russ R

yeah and her voice was as lame as nicky's ...if it was any more unexcited/monotone
i would rather watch with "mute" on !!

Vicky's and Penny's voices are somewhat different, at least I can tell the difference, too bad I couldn't watch the coverage. I prefer Vicky's voice over Penny's. I got used to Ralph's voice so don't care if he's gone or not. I think the two hours (30 + 90) of coverage of last season were very good, but as with any media enterprise, you'll go where the money is...in this case NASCAR...Subaru is a big sponsor for the speed coverage of rally, I wish Mitsu and Ford do the same, especially Mitsu that is now back in full season.

Everyone blame the Pirellis, but remember when Tommi won Monte Carlo on his first drive for Subaru on Pirelli? He owned everyone that day :D

Tommy wouldn't have won that day if Loeb didn't receive a 2 minute penalty because of his crew. :p

But that's all water under the bridge. :)

The girl doing the WRC is Penny Mallory (http://www.pennymallory.co.uk/) <- Link

http://www.pennymallory.co.uk/index_files/image5861.jpg

I just asked Penny, she isnt doing anything on the WRC this year unfortunately.

We have always been getting the UK footage, Speed just sticks Nicky's segments in and Ralph did a voice over. Perhaps they edit it a bit different but everyone gets the same initial footage

Nope, you guys get significantly diferent footage that the UK, we have been getting 1 hour program highlights on the last day for the last 12 months.

I just asked Penny, she isnt doing anything on the WRC this year unfortunately.

Do you have any idea who it is John?

I am fairly sure it is not Vicky

no, is there a video i can download that will show me your coverage? The UK doesnt have a female anouncer at the moment.

Nope, you guys get significantly diferent footage that the UK, we have been getting 1 hour program highlights on the last day for the last 12 months.

That is what we get, but they squeeze an extra half hour out of it with the Nicky Grist segments.

Does the British shows not use the ISC WRC footage?

The show I saw in Catalunya that had the British commentary was the same as what I saw here just different voice. I actually saw the feed without any voice over at all and that was even better

I dont think we get rebadged UK segments with Nicky Grist thrown in. I watched both SPEED's 1.5 horu coverage and Eurosport's 3 day 0.5 hour coverage each..and they use almost the same stuff..Nicky's segments are only about 10 min total if you add it up all together. I get the Eurosport delayed so I watch Day 1 ESP, Day 2 ESP, Overall coverage from Speed, then Day 3 ESP :P

Some key differences were Nicky's explanation of the HANS especially with it on and in a rally car make the difficulties a lot clearer to understand. In the Eurosport coverage there was about three times as much Panizzi complaining about the HANS after stages :D

damnit...i cant beleive i missed it. i wass looking for the show to be on at 9 as usual.....i didnt realize it would be on so late. whens the next showing?

All the footage is generated via ISC/Inmarsat/Chrysalis cameramen, but the programming is significantly diferent depending on market. The Eurosport coverage is not the same as used on terestrial UK TV.

All the footage is generated via ISC/Inmarsat/Chrysalis cameramen, but the programming is significantly diferent depending on market. The Eurosport coverage is not the same as used on terestrial UK TV.

Hmm, well I thought I saw the show in Ireland too, all my trips blend together after a while :lol:.


I was sitting in the Ford tent in Catalunya watching the show and it was exactly the same footage and graphics etc as what we got here (though it did not have the voiceover at that point, I later saw it with a British commentator) perhaps it was the Eurosport.
I assumed it was the same as the UK, it just doesn't make good economical/common sense for different markets to re-edit the show on such a short time frame


I've seen the same footage in Japan too (of course with all the Kanji and hiragana, katagana in place)


I guess Nicky was not bluffing me, it is looking like Sweden will be on Speed with a one week delay

Is it just me, or do British-accented voices just seem more appropriate than Sheheen's hyperbolic blathering?

I wasn't surprised when Solberg crashed, actually. Throughout the entire rally up to the point he crashed, he looked like he was trying too hard. Wonder if co-drivers ever get tired of getting stuffed? I know that Grist, during his Speed coverage, makes the occasional comment about his days with McRae that intimates as such.

Kevin

Looks like not only is sweeden delayed a week, its also back to a 1 hour program. Guess they did a 1.5 hour Monte to cover the starting of the season.

On the better side though they are re broadcasting the Monte coverage on Friday and Sat before the Sweden broadcast. they didnt do any more than one re-broadcast last year.

Edit: they are showing the monte again on the 11th and 12th it looks like at 3:00am before sweden.

Looks like not only is sweeden delayed a week, its also back to a 1 hour program. Guess they did a 1.5 hour Monte to cover the starting of the season.

Don't forget though, that Speed was listing the Monte as only being an hour long (first showing) up until within a week before the event!
Let's hope they come to they come to their senses (again).

Russ R

I emailed SpeedTV and was replied with a confirmation that Sweden was 1 hour with a 1 week delay as the rest of the season is planned to be.

Anybody else notice Steve Turvey, Mark Lovell's SRTUSA co-driver for 2001-2003, now doing recce notes for Markko??
When they first interviewed him onscreen it took me a second.. "hmmm- I know that name... OH! Lovell!"
That was pretty cool. :D

Also kinda funny to see Peugeot using EVO's as their recce cars- whassa matter -no cool AWD turbo Pugs to use?? LOL!
(Although Evo is certainly a much better choice than the Volvos I saw Ford using for recce last year...)

Russ R

Dude, dont start knocking Volvo's I would have to say I would own a nice turbo AWD Volvo before an Evo anyday if I had the money.

I emailed SpeedTV and was replied with a confirmation that Sweden was 1 hour with a 1 week delay as the rest of the season is planned to be.

:( :( :(

Yeh we are rocketing back to 1999 and 2000 for the delays and shorter shows.

But eh, they just launched another NASCRAP thing! whoohooo let the monay roll!

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/nascar/auto/14904/

"Anticipated new show!" Uhh How come I cant tell teh difference in any show I see currently on SpeedTV? Its NascarX just put some cool hip word in palce of the X and you got a new show!

Sorry had to vent.

Yeah, that caged Volvo was badass.

Here is Mikko Hirvonen's recce car.

http://www.thawa.net/gallery/albums/WRCGermany/104_0468.jpg

I emailed SpeedTV and was replied with a confirmation that Sweden was 1 hour with a 1 week delay as the rest of the season is planned to be.

crap.

Someone encode the euro coverage and lets share it on bit torrent.

Dude, dont start knocking Volvo's I would have to say I would own a nice turbo AWD Volvo before an Evo anyday if I had the money.

My point was really that it's just incongruous (sp?) seeing these teams w/ almighty AWD turbo WRC cars using some other marque for recce- because they don't actually make any cool AWD turbo cars of their own!
i.e. 307 WRC and Focus WRC are badass cars- too bad neither company makes any for the road... :lol:
Long live the "rally specials"!!

Jeez, Speed said the rest of the season are one hour shows?! That totally blows, and not in a good way. :furious:
I can't believe they wrote you back- they never respond to my missives... even when I'm nice (it's SO difficult sometimes...) ;)

Russ R

They have replied to every email I send them. I just dont freak out but try to get some reasons for stuff from them. If anything the speed dude on the other side of the mailbox is nice enough to reply to me ;)