WRC » Richards: Tyre rules to blame for GB mess

as someone who has been involved with rallying for many years either spectating or spannering i would not bother to get out of bed to go ahd pay a ransom to see nothihg.did that many years ago.dyfi too many spectators.took money but no refund on way out.dave richards is right in what he says but its too late.its not rallying anymore its just a rip off for spectators,competitors and commensense. bit like formula 1?

Totally agree with Colin Barnett's comments. It's a massive contradiction that bigger and bigger budgets are spent on promotion of Rally GB to get more people watching. Now the organisers have just managed to undo all the good, by cancelling these stages and ruling out the safest tyre options. The same thing happened in Japan.

It's simple, the FIA need a plan B for tyres. After all, they are the ones that messed with the dates for GB, then decided to put it back into December. And surprise surprise, it's icy and snowy in December!!!!

My advice is go and watch the Historic cars rallying instead - www.hrcr.co.uk - bigger range of cars sensible marshalling and the right tyre choice.
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Why can't we just have one slick, one dry gravel, one wet gravel and one ice tyre available per stage or section and let the teams choose like the rally games

i agree with david richards.Sadly in this day and age it seems that health and safety has won the day with stages being cancelled at short notice due to the conditions.Many of the top drivers have complained about the choice of tyres available not being suitable in extreme conditions.Not sure which year it was 1985 or 1986 but i seem to remember that there was a lot of snow on the scottish stages and the rally still carried on.I feel sorry for the thousands of spectators that got to the stages very early in the morning enduring freezing cold,wind and rain only to be told sorry but because it's a little icy we can't race, pathetic

totally agree with all these comments, wrc is not rallying anymore, just a money generated show, it is rediculous to cancel stages on the that was the RAC RALLY one of the most testing rallys for drivers and cars on the world championship because of the conditions, for me the only true rally championship for spectators these days is the irish rally championship, and i dont think its just beacause of the am0unt of escorts competing

tyre situation is similar to F1. it is up to the drivers to drive to the best of their abilities in whatever conditions exist. only a bad workman blames his tools. in years gone by, it was not very often that a driver even had a choice. dunlop sp44s were de rigeur!

As usual rich ard, you have missed the point. It is not the same as F1 at all. How many F1 races have you seen run in icy or snowy conditions on loose surfaces? The only commonality is that, yet again, the FIA appear to be completely useless. RallyGB should be at a sensible time of year and not allowing appropraite tyres is stupid beyond belief.

as usual.... ian, it is yourself who has missed the point. you obviously have not read the recent debates on slicks, tyre warmers, wet tyres, inters etc. the point is that drivers have to drive to the best of their ability, on the tyres provided, either by or in spite of rules. the ability of a driver to control a car displays his capabilities. in my rallying days, we all used sp44 weathermaster tyres, be it dry, muddy, icy etc. most drivers managed ok.

In the end it all boils down to - who masters the conditions best, racing or rallying. SP44 or nordic winter tyres is not the question. Maybe the safety people have too much of a say nowadays. Who can tell if the conditions are too dangerous - the FIA safety delegate? He is NOT a rally driver. His main job is to check the spectators and take action if they are in dangerous positions.
To slide off the road in icy conditions are no more dangerous than going off at full speed on a dry gravel road, you just ask Markko Martin.
In my opinion the crews running in front of the field should be the eyes of the organiser and give the advice needed, not the safety delegate like now.

rich ard - Fully agree with your comments. The drivers are paid a kings ransom these days and should be able to drive in all conditions, no matter what tyres they have. They need to drive according to the conditions. If it means that their stage times are two minutes slower so be it. They're meant to be the best. PROVE IT!!!!!