[Anders Green]

I'm wondering why one would want to use a "gravel car" for recce rather than your rally car. Are you really worried that the car can't survive a 30 mph pass down the stage? Or is it from the other side, organizers don't want stickered cars on the roads at that time?

Anyone know the history behind this?

 

[Morgan]

RE:

Difficult to right notes in a car with competition suspension
Generally uncormfortable to spend that much time in them
No A/C, radio, etc.

 

[Andrew Comrie Picard]

RE:

Recce cars: My guess is that you don't want to risk the rally car. Either with just normal mechanical damage or with an accident especially with a non-competing vehicle. Cheap insurance to use a substantially identical car that you know you don't have to race with.

Often organizers don't like racy cars on open roads for recce. But the "no sticker" rule is I think to prevent the manufactorers from using the cars as rolling billboards.

The suspension is very similar to a rally car's - everything is very similar, although the recce cars have a few comforts.

Gravel cars (that is, the cars that teams use to send other good drivers out only a little while before the stage to check its condition) can't be the rally cars because the rally cars are in use at that time, on other stages.

ACP
Flirting with the laws of physics.

 

[Ray]

30 mph pass through?
Man, I take it you never been to a WRC event.
These guys drive just as fast as the teams drivers.
The gravel crew drives the stages so driver and co-driver can make changes to the notes and setup of the car.
Recce cars are a totally different car again.

Whiplash RallyeSport

 

[Adrian Wintle]

RE:

>I'm wondering why one would want to use a "gravel car" for
>recce rather than your rally car. Are you really worried
>that the car can't survive a 30 mph pass down the stage? Or
>is it from the other side, organizers don't want stickered
>cars on the roads at that time?
>
>Anyone know the history behind this?

You don't use the rally cars because they are hard to write notes in and are fickle and tempermental beasts that need constant attention. Just like a Formula 1 car, you don't want to use a WRC car more than you have to because they are designed for one purpose and it isn't recce. You need something more suited to doing recce, which currently means something equivalent to a GpN car with some creature comforts, but cages and rally suspension. The other advantage to this is that you then have these cars available during the rally for you gravel notes crews (hence the term gravel cars). Note that Henry Krolikowski's GpN Subaru started life as a Prodrive gravel car.

There was an article in RallyXS a few months ago about Ford and how they use specially prepared Freelanders as their recce/gravel cars on some events.

I assume this rule was to reduce the costs of transporting the extra cars and hiring the gravel notes teams. I expect the teams will want to transport their own street cars (properly set up for recce, of course) anyway, so there won't be any saving in those costs. Also, with the new rules, what team is going to risk the rally car by using it to do the second pass of recce just before you run the stages? If you have a problem, there won't be time to fix it.

Hmm... that brings up an interesting question about Parc Ferme, service, and using the rally car for recce in the morning of each day of competition... I wonder how they plan to resolve that...

Adrian

 

[warwick]

RE:

One VERY good reason top competition cars (WRC) aren't used for recce... WRC engines have to be rebuilt every 1000 kilometers, at an average expense of $40,000.

Ford used the Freelanders for Safari, and are now sitting quietly in the M-sport workshop in England with nowhere to go. (I asked politely if they wanted to sell me one, but no luck )

 

[Shenan]

RE:

That's right, they usually use AWD Volvos as their recce cars for other less rough events.