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International Rally of South Glamorgan this weekend, anyone else here out to watch?
I may ride up to the margam stage on sunday. Have done the last 2 years and as long as the lurgy is better and the 80mph winds haver settled i'll do it
If you're going to watch the superstar of (massively rehearsed) driving films that is Ken Block, [url= http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88089 ]best go early[/url]
Am I right in thinking it was thirty quid for a full days stages for tomorrow? Some bloke at work was telling me, that seems cheap to me?
Ken is a lot better on an airstrip, it has to be said.
wrightyson - Member
Am I right in thinking it was thirty quid for a full days stages for tomorrow? Some bloke at work was telling me, that seems cheap to me?
I think I saw a day pass for Margam at £20 per person, including a 'free' programme, normally priced at £9.
Seems expensive to me when not so long ago I just rode up into the forest behind Margam and watched it for free.
edit: I can't see where the route is around Margam - I'd assume that they don't just stay in the park itself?
Yep the tickets i thought were expensive but i paid £30 for my tickets, mainly as im taking my nephew we wanted passes to backstage area's. Going to be a great day, although getting up at 4am to get there won't be great!
It all used to be completely free. Stopped going when you had to start paying.
FunkyDunc, I thought the same.
The last time I actually rode up to watch in the forest behind Margam, we rode down into the park later on and watched the 'slower' drivers crossing the line. From memory, there were no restrictions as to where we could go, and that was one of the attractions. That would be the year when Sainz (iirc) broke down a few hundred metres from the finish and threw his helmet through his windscreen.
doctornickriviera - Member
I may ride up to the margam stage on sunday. Have done the last 2 years and as long as the lurgy is better and the 80mph winds haver settled i'll do it
Where you riding from, and to (as in which entrance to Margam) as I may well go for a spin myself, if the winds drop somewhat that is...
Hint for idlejon and any one else who wants to ride up to watch the margam stage
have a look at a 1:50000 OS map look for the name Mynydd Margam printed in the forestry north of margam park
Directly south of this you will see a crossroad in the marked forest tracks, this is part of the margam stage, the forest has been felled here and it gives you a good view of the cars and the nearby jump on the straight.
I have watched the stage here twice over the last 3 years and this years route has not changed.
The stage itself does not enter margam park - it's purely in the forestry.
[url= http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=281515&Y=188480&A=Y&Z=120 ]Mynydd margam[/url]
Ron From margam park head up the Cwm phillip fireroad ( see map linky) and head up to where it says enclosure in the forestry. The fireroad immediately above this marking is on the stage route and I have gained access to the stage twice FOC with no challenge from the marshalls!
Hoping to finish early enough to ride into Crychan 2. Usually a fun day (or afternoon in my case).
Pay to watch a rally in public forests? Not a chance. Rally GB? I think not. I remember when it was sponsored by Lombard/RAC and was a proper rally. It came up as far as Cumbria. Changed days.
Shame.
As it says in the title it's the WALESrally GB and the WAG pay alot to keep the event in Wales!!
and no i don't pay to watch it and it's alot easier to access than F1 , last year i was 6-10 feet from seb loeb as he started the Margam stage. You wouldnt get that with Lewis would you!?
The WRC now vies with F1 in terms of tedium for me. Moto GP is where the cool kids hang out.
"it came up as far as cumbria"
It actually used to go all over Scotland, England and Wales with proper night stages and long drives in the middle of the night between stages. Mind you this was about 20 years ago, but today wrc is a doddle compared to it
moto Gp is just encouraging donorcyclists!
The title is already sewn up and the top Brit driver is Matty Wilson. It's not a great draw is it?
It'll be very close to the Wobble. Don't want to drink too much real ale and wander onto a special stage on the singlespeed!
Jean Todt is wanting to get back some of the magic rallies used to have. Longer days, and stages spread over a larger area.
He's not a fan of central service areas, and wants to see remote service areas bought back rather than keep running the same stages backwards and forwards.
i agree with Merak if your watching on TV but i still love the craziness of legging it up a mountain (for free) and seeing the cars almost out of control fly by inches from your feet
doctornick, do they drop down the hairpins into the Cwm Philip entrance?
I've got a feeling that you are watching from a similar place to where I used to go.
And seeing as you've established that they go out of the park, I may head up there on Sunday.... Park in Afan and head over from that direction.
Aye, its completely mickey mouse these days.
Still, its been so long since I saw any stage rallying I'm considering jumping on the train and walking up into Resolven.
I think scoobynet has a google earth file of the stages.
My dad and I are going to pop up and watch the roger albert clarke (RAC) later this month:
[url] http://www.rogeralbertclarkrally.org/RAC_2010/2010_news.htm [/url]
Proper rally, proper machinery.
The WRC now vies with F1 in terms of tedium for me. Moto GP is where the cool kids hang out.
MotoGP is the European equivalent of nascar.
Idle jon, no they didnt drop down the cwm phillip hairpins into the park last year , and i'm pretty sure i read on the wrc website the margam stage was unchanged.
Last time I went to watch some stages, the marshalls were turning people back who were approaching the stages on public footpaths, quite why they thought they had the authority to do that I don't know.
As for british WRC world champs, if recent history is anything to go by, sadly it doesnt give you a long life expectancy.
RIP Burns and Mcrae, both sadly missed and both died in tragic non rallying accidents.
RIP Michael Park also. Graet co-driver who died on Margam Mountain 2005.
doctornickriviera - MemberAs for british WRC world champs, if recent history is anything to go by, sadly it doesnt give you a long life expectancy.
RIP Burns and Mcrae, both sadly missed and both died in tragic non rallying accidents.
I thought Richard Burns died as a result of a brain tumor, not an accident. Tragic anyways. Colin McRae incident even more so. Sad times.
Re; Roger Clarke rally, real deal 8)
yeah meant to type incidents not accidents.
IIRC Burns collapsed at the wheel in his porsche on the way to wales and ended up at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport. Astrocytoma I think.
Just goes to show that no matter how much money you have, not all cancers can be detected early. sad but true. Won't stop me trying mind.
I remember it always used to snow on RAC rally weekend. A potent harbinger of winter.
burnsy did black out driving to the rally, fortunately his passenger was i think Marco martin! who managed to steer them to the shoulder safely! marco's not competed since the loss of his co-driver in wales that year!
do agree though that its become more about the spectators than the drivers, the lombard was a day in england, a day in wales and a day in scotland, kielder forest normally decimating the fleet!! back in the days of the texaco sierra cossie's and the Subaru legacy's!! burnsy as an 18 year old rookie Ploughing into a small stream on the side of the course!! one of the megane's smacking into a tree not far into the stage, always remember one of the sierra's getting wedged on a small stone bridge and the marshals and spectators trying Desperately to free it before the next car appeared!
too many repeated stages now, it should be about the drivers again not the spectators!
still follow it though, an awful lot of talent to control those cars at the speeds they travel on the different surfaces!! Block, as mentioned, wizzard at massively rehearsed tarmac style stages, but on a real rally, even tarmac he's struggled! as has Kimi! but still good to watch!!
Well i went today! awesome day, really enjoyed the fun in the mud, even had a rally stage to get to and from the parking, which turned out to be a very muddy fireroad!
Its so bloody expensive to compete at the top now there's no wonder the FIA are trying to cap costs with centralised events, limited servicing etc. Gone are the days of race it Sunday buy it in the showroom Monday.
Any TV coverage apart from Dave channel?
Motorstv now
The reason why it's all in wales is because the welsh assembly govt heavily sponsor the event.
Went out and had a good couple of days, top S2000 cars better to watch than the WRC cars, but still not as good as Andy Burtons Peugeot Cosworth in the National event-WRC formula if ever there was one.
+1 for it being better in the old days - first car I saw on a stage was Ari Vatanen in the black MCD Escort RS in 1982. Only ever going to go down from there!