Surprised not to see this anywhere else (RWV WRC?)

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Doivi Clarkinen

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john vanlandingham

I've only been to 3 5 WRCs: Olympus 1986---as entrant/driver, 1993 Monte Carlo and 1993 Swedish as speccie..

You forgot 1988 Olympus as service crew for Niall Leslie. Or maybe you're just blocking that memory out...

Yeah forgot '87 too.
That's how 'memorable" they were..
50-75 people at the "Ceremonial Finish". A "Trophy Girl" that was about 5' 11'' and weighed a solid 300+ lbs..
Fa fa fa FAWK!

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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Morison

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bknblk2
If the lowly mexicans can pull it off, what the hell people???

The Mexican event had MASSIVE government backing plus some really solid corporate support.
Generally speaking, the largest piece of the pie in revenues for WRC events will be regional and national tourism boards, not 'traditional' corporate sponsors.

The Mexican 1000 was cool. I think people simply caring about motorsports more (ie: it is a cultural thing) is what makes the difference. Hell, Indy couldn't even survive in Edmonton FFS.

I'm calling it now though, if it were to ever happen, it'd be a flop (from a "is it worth it" perspective). Not because I have an opinion on the rally itself (by all means, it sounds outstanding), but the logistics and everything else that'd go along with it being a WRC event. Hell, I'd go down to volunteer.

What's the downside? NASA RS runs rallies on a tight budget. Even if it "Fails" I'm positive that the Rally WV core people won't be fronting the money. So after hurricane WRC blows through, they will just go back to normal life. There's still rallys in the Northwest, until this year even rallies named Olympus....

If people want to put in the effort and spend OPM on bringing the world stars of rally to the good old USA, Why do we want to crap in their Cheerios??

We aren't crapping in anyones Cheerios. You are mis-reading the thread.

First is the fact that a statement saying an organizer is going to ask the FIA to observe an event is just worthless words. It has no value. No worship value. So what, who cares.

Second is that even spending the money to actually have an event observed is meaningless to that point. It is an ego trip for some people, nothing more. Doesn't mean they can't ask but also doesn't mean that people have any reason to bow down and kill a goat in their honor. Relate it to the guy putting diamond plate floor mats in his Sube 'build' thread. Meant something to him, not so much to people with actual rally cars.

Getting accepted (not observed) is a big deal, and only at that point does it become media worthy.

Now..what can go wrong? Who knows. I can relate some of the goings on out here after the FIA left. We lost the Washington State managed Captiol Forest roads, the best rally roads in the US. We lost the Weyerhauser roads, tens of thousands of acres. We lost Port Blakely roads. The FIA didn't like Toyota being a named sponsor. Toyota wasn't overly excited with their treatment. The SCCA didn't like anybody and wanted more money. Nagel was sued by SCCA and lost. All equipment was seized ,even banner tape and road arrows. The event was lost as well as lots of enthusiam. Our program is just now getting healthy again.

When the big dollar teams roll in we see a great local result economically but then people associate that with organizers making big money and all the associated costs go right up. Road use fees, repair fees, event costs etc. Once established the higher fees tend not to go back down afterwards for a regional event. There is then a backlash of sorts from volunteers and even competitors. Without the excitement and hoopla they tend to not show up for events. Downword spiral.

The talk of the FIA wanting a WRC event arises every couple years. I had people ask this year already if we were doing one again. Our cars in the US market aren't really suitable for rally. Sales aren't enhanced by rally. A guy buying a Powerstroke could give a rats ass that a hand built Fiesta can go fast on gravel. Ma and Pa Kettle can go to a NASCAR race or the local dirt track and have a great weekend, see their local or national heroes and be able to relate to the whole proceeding, not so with rally. I just watched a GRC event on the PC and there were literally no people in the grandstands.

Then there is the political behind the scenes stuff going on. I can't say much but trust me, dissent is plentiful at high levels.

Finally...fuck the FIA. That is a shit organization that can't even get their WRC events proper exposure these days. Crap like throwing Puegot out over a water pump, Ayrton Senna over being forced thru an escape road and piles of shit they have pulled on the motorsports world over the decades. Rules made up and changed on a whim. If they want an event in the US so godamned bad then they should already be over here observing every event and doing some serious ass kissing to get accepted here.

That's my take anyway. I'm a realist. If you buy into the theory that history repeats its self then the future of a WRC event in the US can easily be determined by looking a few years behind us.

Heh! Nice.

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

For what its worth....

Snowshoe to Pittsburgh under 4 hours

Snowshoe to DC under 4 hours

Snowshoe to Richmond VA under 3 hours

snowshoe to Baltimore under 4 hours

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Matt Smith

Racing in glorious black and red

My daily life is a Saab story (sold!)

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mothra
snowshoe to Baltimore under 4 hours

So we can get stabbed while attending a WRC event?

I keed I keed, only things I know about Baltimore are from The Wire

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bknblk2
NASA RS runs rallies on a tight budget.

Maybe, but the helicopter bill alone for a WRC event will likely be larger than the entire operating budget for just about any other single event run under NASA RS. (or RA)

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bknblk2
Even if it "Fails" I'm positive that the Rally WV core people won't be fronting the money.

A good bet, but the money needs to be found and a significant amount collected and spent in the three to four years leading up to a observation event, long before most of the marketing opportunities will provide the needed 'ROI.'

Much like Gene pointed out, the WRC attempts in Canada had a hugely negative impact on rally in those areas, with some roads only becoming accessible again over a decade later.

(Edited to soften the budget position after running a couple of numbers... each helicopter used will run ~$60,000 over the duration of the event, minimum, if it is in the air the whole time and there will be at least one in the air the whole time - if not two.)

---

First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

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john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2013 02:10PM by Morison.

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mothra
For what its worth....

Snowshoe to Pittsburgh under 4 hours

Snowshoe to DC under 4 hours

Snowshoe to Richmond VA under 3 hours

snowshoe to Baltimore under 4 hours

So, in other words, it's not close to anywhere.

Okaaaaaay, the other events that are closer to that SIZE of population are?

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

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Anders Green
Okaaaaaay, the other events that are closer to that SIZE of population are?

Whaddya mean "that SIZE"? What that?

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

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HiTempguy

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mothra
snowshoe to Baltimore under 4 hours

So we can get stabbed while attending a WRC event?

I keed I keed, only things I know about Baltimore are from The Wire

I only have 2 friends from Baltimore and one of them was stabbed in an outing to D.C. (not sure if that counts).

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Matt Smith

Racing in glorious black and red

My daily life is a Saab story (sold!)

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Anders Green
Okaaaaaay, the other events that are closer to that SIZE of population are?

So doing some quick math.

Baltimore: 620,000
Pittsburgh: 300,000
Washington DC 632,000
Richmond 200,000

Total 1,752,000

Which is really not that many people.

Lets look at the NASA calender.

Sandblast: Can get to 1.5 million if you count RTP, Charlotte, Columbia, SC, and the 5,000 people in Cheraw.

Empire State: ~2 hours from 8.2 Million people in New York

BRS: ~3 hours from 2.1 Million people in Toronto and ~ 4.5 hours from 8.2 Million people in New York.

Now these numbers are from Google and are just city proper numbers. So metro areas would swell these numbers greatly. So Snowshoe is kinda in the middle of no where.

I suspect the populations above are city populations, not metropolitan area populations as used below.
(Really, Toronto's population is not just the people in Toronto)

Tall Pines - within 4 hrs from 9.2 million, add a half hour and get up to 13 million.(without crossing the border)

<4 hrs to the furthest part of the 'golden horseshoe' (Toronto to Niagara) - 8 million
<3 hours to Ottawa - 1.2 million Metro
~4.5 hrs to Montreal - 3.8 million Metro

Perce Neige or Defi - within 3.5 hours of 5 million

Pacific Forest Rally - 6.6 million within 4 hours
3 hrs to 2.6 million in the BC Lower mainland.
4 hrs to another 4 million in metro Seattle

Nameless Rally - 8.9 million (Vancouver, Seattle and 2.3 million in Portland Metro)

Oregon Trail - 6.3 million. (Seattle and Portland Metro)


For fairness sake:
Baltimore: 2.7million
Pittsburgh: 2.4 million
DC: 5.7 million
Richmond VA: 1.3 million

for 12.1 million

But what does it matter anyway? 4 hours might as well be 4 days for people who aren't already interested in the sport.

And... to put that in perspective:

the whole of Norway and Sweden - 16 million
Corsica - 0.3 million
Cyprus - 0.84 million
Sardinia - 1.6 million

---

First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

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john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2013 03:40PM by Morison.

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Morison
But what does it matter anyway? 4 hours might as well be 4 days for people who aren't already interested in the sport.

and 4 days, thats within the travel range to pretty much EVERY populated area of the world... so.. aprox 6.5 billion...

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I be sorry as a muthafucka I did, still sorry I did n' hustled ta peep what tha fuck I holla'd a lil' bit better, or at least try to.