WRC Modern Classics Season 2001. Finale!

And my 1st rally in my part time schedule ends in the middle of stage 3 with not just a simple puncture, but with my front right tyre completely removed from the rim, because I scratched a wall :grumpy:
 
Did Sweden early this time as might be busy later, managed to survive, though lost a decent amount of time with a puncture on stage 7

 
Round 1 of the 2001 season is complete, Monte Carlo was as ruthless as ever with a good handful of drivers failing to make the end of the rally, one particular downhill corner giving no end of headaches in this round. @Dreadmed safely negotiated their Mitsubishi through the entire rally and comfortably clear of the chasing pack, with a 32 second advantage over @RYAN and his Focus by the finish, with @Belgianwaffle claiming a solid but distant 3rd place for Subaru. @Speedster502 only just missed out on a podium as the highest place Peugeot and @Hasnain282 was 7th, the highest placed Seat.

RankDisplayNameVehicleTimeDifferenceToFirst
1DreadmedMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI0:50:580:00:00
2RDA-JETSFord Focus RS Rally 20010:51:300:00:32
3BelgianWaffle78SUBARU Impreza 20010:52:400:01:42
4Speedster502Peugeot 206 Rally0:52:430:01:45
5SpinerkopinSUBARU Impreza 20010:52:530:01:55
6Space_WadetPeugeot 206 Rally0:53:350:02:37
7Hasnain282SEAT Córdoba WRC0:54:430:03:45
8amagurichanSUBARU Impreza 20010:54:570:03:59
9BergGunnerSUBARU Impreza 20010:55:050:04:07
10Ujhuuu8iolkSEAT Córdoba WRC0:55:080:04:10
11widdlerSUBARU Impreza 20010:55:390:04:40
12thewrathofwhatSUBARU Impreza 20010:55:440:04:46
13FiveHoleColeSUBARU Impreza 20010:55:470:04:49
14Meadow142Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI0:56:410:05:43
15magpieracerSEAT Córdoba WRC0:57:080:06:10
16miljan426SUBARU Impreza 20010:57:270:06:29
17DaniB58SEAT Córdoba WRC0:57:340:06:35
18GOTMAXPOWERFord Focus RS Rally 20010:58:060:07:08
WRC R1.png

@Tool1312 tackles the ice at Monte Carlo.

Naturally, the championship standings follow the results.

RankDisplayNamePointsAccumulated
1Dreadmed40
2RDA-JETS34
3BelgianWaffle7831
4Speedster50229
5Spinerkopin28
6Space_Wadet26
7Hasnain28225
8amagurichan24
9BergGunner23
10Ujhuuu8iolk22
11widdler20
12thewrathofwhat19
13FiveHoleCole18
14Meadow14217
15magpieracer16
16miljan42615
17DaniB5814
18GOTMAXPOWER13
19Devilsoldier9612
20JabierFailure11
21DummyGames1410
22Cabelmania9
239d1c43eb87fa5a798
24D1sharmoneus7
25c07aea92ce6efb266
26skolll-T_T5
27Scaff4
28tomo8753
29ABarber952
30Disabled_Lefty1
31Gr0upB0
32darrenersmit820
33bigfatflip0
34mmf1_PS0
35nowthenfella0
36WRC Player0
37SteveIsAwake0
38Bretto730
39lebowski20
40DarkSmaile9770
20240312213001_1.jpg

Rally winner @Dreadmed tackles the Ancelle stage at dusk.

In the constructors standings, it's the classic Subaru V Mitsubishi at the top, with Subaru taking the early advantage by just a point. Ford and Peugeot not far behind and separated by just 2 points with Seat not far behind.

RankManufacturer Points
1Subaru27
2Mitsubishi26
3Ford18
4Peugeot 16
5Seat7


With Sweden next up and 13 rounds to go, it's all to play for.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The real Monte-Carlo event of 2001 was also a rally of attrition for many of the top drivers, with 7 of the eventual top 10 points finishers retiring from the rally, including reigning champion Marcus Gronholm, Colin McRae, Richard Burns, Gilles Panizzi and Didier Auriol. Tommi Makinen took the victory in his Mitsubishi, over a minute clear of Carlos Sainz in the Ford Focus (mimicking the top 2 in our results!). Francois Delecour took the final podium place for Ford. Other drivers falling through the rally allowed Armin Schwarz to take a brilliant 4th place for Skoda.
 
We stay with the winter rallies for round 2 as the 2001 campaign heads to Scandinavia for the 50th International Swedish Rally.
Itinerary
Day 1

Shakedown
Early Morning Service
SS1: Ekshärad - 3.4km

Breakfast Service
SS2: Åsnes - 21.5km
SS3: Vargasen - 8.2km
Afternoon Service
SS4: Hof-Finnskog - 21.5km
SS5: Ekshärad 2 - 3.4km

Day 2
Morning Service
SS6: Vargasen 2 - 8.2km
SS7: Lauksjøen - 11km
SS8: Älgsjön - 3.4km

Afternoon Service
SS9: Spikbrenna - 11.1km

Evening Service
SS10: Stora Jangen - 4.9km
SS11: Sunne - 4.9km

Total Distance: 101.5km

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Polite reminder to please choose from the 5 permitted cars, 2 competitors chose 2008 model WRC cars in Monte-Carlo.
 
Well I got a puncture in stage 2 and had to change it but I only took one spare. I went off again later and didn't realise I'd got another flat until it flew off the rim, it was fine. Unfortunately I quit before stage 3 to return later but as there's no service between 2 and 3 I guess I'll be doing the next 5 miles on three wheels
 
The poor Ford desperately needs some more representation, May I try and persuade @Cabelmania to think about joining myself and @GOTMAXPOWER and running a full season for the Blue Oval? :lol:🤞
I thought the Ford would be a popular car, in fact I was considering switching if half the entries were Focuses. I guess I'll stick!
 
I've made a decent start so far through the first 3 stages. I'm going to experiment with just completing 2-3 stages at a time rather than just completing the whole event in one go.

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I finished but I had my share of incidents. Multiple rolls in one of those morning stages, was so bright I could hardly see where i was going. But I had a blast.
 
I felt like I had a relatively decent start to the season in Monte, in contrast to that I'm having a disaster in Sweden. I usually really enjoy this rally but I can't get comfortable in the 206. Seems to be a coin flip on whether the car will feel great, or awful on a stage-by-stage basis.

I think though, that aside, my run is over now anyway. Had a heavy hit with a "log" on SS7, after a slightly hairy two-wheeled moment. Didn't think it was too bad at first, but as soon as I accelerated away it became obvious that my entire radiator, turbo and front tyre had been destroyed :lol:



As I've got a few more stages to complete before service, I think I'll be crawling for a bit...sigh :ouch:
 
Nice shots! I'll start my run this weekend, should be a fun one with some of those more sprint like stages in Sweden.
 
Here's my run through stage 2, I would've edited out the bit at the start with the controller disconnecting but there was audio desync every time I loaded it up in Davinci;



It's something I've been aware of on longer stages in the past but that was the first time the time/weather advancing mid-stage has really been noticeable. Going from a mildly overcast sunrise at the start to driving into the morning sun around the 8 minute mark and experiencing virtual snow blindness thereafter was quite... discombobulating.
 
I was certain going into this that I'd reenact my washing machine impression from season 1, it turned out to be the technical bits that may have done the damage this time (getting turned around at the same spot on both Vargasen stages and having a brain fade on S10). I'll have to wait and see if a certain Welshman can capitalise. 😬

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Finished the Swedish rally. I had a real bad start in Ss1... With multiple spins and rolls. I really don't know what got into me.... I was disappointed in myself to start the rally in this way. I pulled myself together and I climbed the rankings throughout the rally to a provisional 2nd place. And I have to await the results of the "certain Welshman" as Dreadmed puts it, to see if my second place holds out. 🤞
 
Poor run from me but at least I finished, just over 7 minutes behind the rally leader. Can't say I'm expecting much of a result from Portugal but I can hope.
 
Well, my run went a little bit like a rollercoaster!

Almost went to an end at Stage 1 with a barrel roll, I somehow managed to get into the provisional lead after Stage 3. Then I lost everything at stage 4, 300m before the end by getting stuck upside down resulting on a 30s penalty. I had to push pretty hard to compensate but in the end I got back to P1.

Now I just hope I won't lose it because of those 30s lost. I don't expect a similar pace at Portugal, or at any tarmac location.


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Finally finished my run in the battered Peugeot. As I suspected at the time the damage from my hit was fairly sizeable and I was never able to repair the car entirely, so finished the rally missing doors, bumpers and all sorts :ouch:

Hoping for a better run in Portugal, but it's a rally that generally hasn't been kind to me previously.
 
I too had a poorly battered 206… did well the entire rally, then succumbed to terminal steering damage on the second last stage.

To Portugal!
 

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Starting to regret my insistance on going with the ford. It has no stability or downforce whatsoever, Just floats aimlessly from side to side.
 
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