Global Rallycross Championship 2012

[QuarterRik]

Originally Posted by USRallycross

teams like it because they get paid; and of course it is all part of a bigger show

This is what this is all about ultimately. MONEY !!!!!

Only regret that responsible people in europe have not put so much effort all those years to make rallycross such a spectator sport. On the contrary.

Actually, this is not a Global rallycross, but American rallycross promoted by European drivers.
A Global (World) Championship, would be a championship where riders from all over the world, should run races on all continents.

Something like the WRC,WTCC,LeMans series will not only competed in Asia as well!!

Nice for the teams that they finally make money, along with the entire entourage around rallycross.
Yet it is sad for the European rallycross loyal fans who will actually be left in the cold with the strange feeling that their pilots no longer want to drive before them.

Finally, I like to see the possitive side to it.
As it stands in Europe next year will be driven to a place behind the Hansen-Citroens.(maybe later they still follow)

Amateur teams can drive themselves more in the spotlight.
Perhaps a return to a bit more home-made material instead of super expensive factory equipment.
Hopefully, the level of drivers wil be close ,so we can at least have surprising exciting and spectacular races.

[chasing cars]

I also believe for the GRC to gain support in the UK then it needs to be on a tv channel that gets more than a handful of viewers. If some of the best British drivers are going to race in the US then at least let us have the chance to see them. Nearly all overseas sports that espn cover are sold to other tv companies over here for them to show.

Looking at the dates only Hungary clashes with a round of the GRC but unfortunately the 2 flagship events, Sweden and the Xgames are on the same weekend.

If no more european drivers defect then the impact will be minimal, infact none of the drivers that have gone have competed in the ERC for more than 2 or 3 years. Hopefully no more will go but if they do I hope the 1 or 2 people here who support and promote the American series remember that the majority here are at the very least sceptical of the whole thing and think twice before telling us how great it is that another driver has signed up.

[rx-guru]

Holy crap, so far the one and only ERC regular (for just a very few years) to be CONFIRMED not to race in the 2012 ERC is Frode Holte.
Michael Jernberg was tired of being a competitor anyway and was due to quit after his Škoda deal was done. However, he just did another year in the USA before retirement.
So what the heck is the HUGE problem for some of you seers? A deserted ERC?

[chunder]

Well so far Edd we have no Doran, not sure about Scott, Holte is not conformed nor are a few others.

Isachsen is looking at America, as are a few others, so yes, it seems some of us are worried the ERC is suddenly the poor relation over the jumpy, XCgames fan sport

[rallyloverke]

Originally Posted by chunder

Isachsen is looking at America, as are a few others, so yes, it seems some of us are worried the ERC is suddenly the poor relation over the jumpy, XCgames fan sport

About that "jumpy". That is one of the major things i don't like about the American way of Rallycross. Are we watching stunt-driving with a field of destroyed cars after some heats or Rallycross ... ?

And i hope, instead of working against each other, the organisers help each other and make rallycross even more popular. If it stays "little" and the money is gone, we have no more drivers.

But also : no need to panic so far i guess : the season has yet to start and i expect some nice fields in Europe too :-)

[tbtstt]

My concern is if this is a sign of things to come. As has been said, the lure of fresher and louder GRC is pulling the regulars away from the established ERC.

Rx-guru raises a valid point in that it is just a small number of drivers departing, but what if this exodus rates continues?...

To be honest OMSE are the team I'm holding my breath for. I thought Foust was one of the stars of the ERC in 2011 and I'd like to see him back for another crack at the title in 2012. With Binks onboard as well it would be great to see him in a full time ERC drive, especially as the other two British hopefuls have gone to the US.

As the first team to mount a dedicated effort in the US though, I have a horrible feeling that their (OMSE) priority will lie with the GRC as well...

...hopefully I'm wrong though!

[USRallycross]

I agree with Eddi - why all the panic? Sure there will end up being 4-5 regulars from the ERC in GRC. THis is hardly the end of the series or a return to weak fields. I think getting into - even an 8 car - A Final is still going to be really difficult and entries will be strong.

Rather than being bitter, we should hope and encourage European organizers, promoters, etc to do a better job. If they had taken different paths over the last few years (decades?) they woudln't have squandered the best form of motorsport on the planet. Hopefully this is a wake up call.

I will see what I can find out about international television coverage. With the international events in 2013 I would hope that ESPN makes some progress on this.

Best Buy will be doing some very cool live stuff and all will be revealed soon. If the snow holds off our launch will include a demo on the rooftop parking lot of our Corporate Campus streamed live around the world......

Mark

[rallyloverke]

Plz make "soon" this weekend, to plan our holidays :-)

[AndyS]

Originally Posted by USRallycross

I agree with Eddi - why all the panic? Sure there will end up being 4-5 regulars from the ERC in GRC. THis is hardly the end of the series or a return to weak fields. I think getting into - even an 8 car - A Final is still going to be really difficult and entries will be strong.

Rather than being bitter, we should hope and encourage European organizers, promoters, etc to do a better job. If they had taken different paths over the last few years (decades?) they woudln't have squandered the best form of motorsport on the planet. Hopefully this is a wake up call.

I will see what I can find out about international television coverage. With the international events in 2013 I would hope that ESPN makes some progress on this.

Mark, I don't think people are panicing or certainly being bitter. I'm not and I applaud what you're doing with the GRC. Its taking the sport to a wider audience and a new level and gives us another take on it. But we've seen it happen before when series fight one another and the damage it causes. Thats not happening at the moment and I remain optimistic it won't, but working together before it possible starts would be fantastic and refreshing. I agree with you the ERC needs a bit of wake up call as I personally feel it has hit a ceiling with its current offering and I look forward to news about TV coverage. Keep up the good work is all I can say.

[USRallycross]

Thank you!

My belief is that the GRC will lift the ERC. The American version will always be different and won't please the purists. GRC still has a lot to learn about organization from the ERC and maybe the ERC will pick some marketing and promotion ideas up from the GRC.

Certainly a big enough world for everyone. Of course, we will all stop talking once the racing starts and that happens within a week of eachother!

Mark

[rallyloverke]

Same here : i am not really in panic. I follow rallycross for more than 30 yrs now, end renewing can be interesting. And that's why i am keen to see the dates and venues : to plan our holiday and mix things with visiting an American rallycross-weekend :-)

I do hope Europe and America will work together to build up the level!

But no need of artificially made high bumps/jumps which results in a higer chance of destroying rallycross-cars! :-)

Andy Scott proves you don't need them to fly high :-)

[QuarterRik]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

So what the heck is the HUGE problem for some of you seers? A deserted ERC?

Yes and no, but admit that the names are linked to America, all candidates for a European A-final.
As I said, there will of course other drivers in the spotlight. Sub-top teams will now quickly get in an A-final.
I just hope great racing.

Originally Posted by USRallycross

I agree with Eddi - why all the panic? Sure there will end up being 4-5 regulars from the ERC in GRC. THis is hardly the end of the series or a return to weak fields. I think getting into - even an 8 car - A Final is still going to be really difficult and entries will be strong.

Rather than being bitter, we should hope and encourage European organizers, promoters, etc to do a better job. If they had taken different paths over the last few years (decades?) they woudln't have squandered the best form of motorsport on the planet. Hopefully this is a wake up call.

Mark

As I report above, I do not panic .I see things just as they are described.

I had really hoped that Global Championship, would actually be a World Championship. So that the Amerikan drivers did some european races as well.

I completely agree with you that, organizers, etc. their own sports media have almost achieved.
Everyone in the ERC has been busywith its own organization (understandably, it's not easy)or iown interest.

You can not even call it promotion.I really hope it is a wale up call.

The events are filmed well enough, but those images must still reach the public,not just the die hard fans.

When I speak only for Belgium alone, there is more intrested in WRC, WTCC and F1, while there are no Belgian at the top.
While people like Koen Pauwels and Mickaël Descheemaker delivered magnificent performances in 2011, they are hardly made the media.

Originally Posted by tbtstt

My concern is if this is a sign of things to come. As has been said, the lure of fresher and louder GRC is pulling the regulars away from the established ERC.

Rx-guru raises a valid point in that it is just a small number of drivers departing, but what if this exodus rates continues?...

To be honest OMSE are the team I'm holding my breath for. I thought Foust was one of the stars of the ERC in 2011 and I'd like to see him back for another crack at the title in 2012. With Binks onboard as well it would be great to see him in a full time ERC drive, especially as the other two British hopefuls have gone to the US.

As the first team to mount a dedicated effort in the US though, I have a horrible feeling that their (OMSE) priority will lie with the GRC as well...

...hopefully I'm wrong though!

Mainly this is my concern as well

[mountainstar]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

A question I have is how much interest is there in the US, and I mean from Joe public? Plenty of Americans post on ten tenths but there seems to be a distinct lack of interest in this thread or any rallycross thread except of course from the very English Mark Williams! No doubt the promoters and sponsors will hand out free tickets to get bums on seats but how many would call themselves fans or have heard of Holte or let alone Scott or Binks?

I may be wrong but I doubt this Global thing will take off like some hope for so I guess we will have to put up with it for maybe a year or two then hopefully those drivers will return to their roots.

Keep in mind, none of this is new at all. Back in the 1980's the Mickey Thompson Stadium truck series was a nearly exact format to this Rallycross championship. It had major manufacturer support, big sponsors and tv coverage and was successful for a while before fading out due to different issues.

Whether or not this GRC will succeed is hard to say. I think there is room in the marketplace for this, but it has to be promoted to get the attention it needs to survive and the show and organization has to be top notch as well. There were tons of grumbles in the background about various things about this championship in regards to money and organization last year, so when you go for the big leagues you've got to have all that ticking over, otherwise competitors get ticked, fans get ticked and it muddies the water.

The rally community in the USA is almost a niche within a niche. It's very small in relation even to other esoteric championships. Europe had a great tradition of racing on public roads going back 110 years, some of which evolved into what is now rally, but in the USA there was some of that, but a lot of popular racing in the USA was always on ovals and there isn't that much of a tradition of running on public roads.

So rally in the USA has always been a backwater, running far away from cities out in the woods near small towns. There is a fan base of rally but it's in isolated regions in the USA.

[The Eye]

Originally Posted by AlamakiRX

Anyone know if Scott will still do ERC in the Focus? I know Procter is doing a full ERC campaign.

Scott will do 8 ERC races in the Focus. Hungary and Sweden clash with GRC so he won’t do them.
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[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by USRallycross

Thank you!

My belief is that the GRC will lift the ERC. The American version will always be different and won't please the purists. GRC still has a lot to learn about organization from the ERC and maybe the ERC will pick some marketing and promotion ideas up from the GRC.

Certainly a big enough world for everyone. Of course, we will all stop talking once the racing starts and that happens within a week of eachother!

Mark

ERX has lots to gain. If GRX is succesfull, the ERX can say "watch rallycross like you see on TV, but on your backyard!" The typical European won't travel to the US, they will go to their local rallycross track.

What if their best leave for the US? They can say "watch here the stars of the future!" Plus, retired GRX drivers may return to race in Europe - "watch the legends!".