2014 Rally Spain

ok lads, one week to go to my first wrc rally, apart from the iconic 'el molar' stage, anybody have any hints/advice/warnings/words of wisdom for me ? only getting there fri afternoon so will miss opening day or most of it.... hope to see meeke continuing his progress with another podium....looking forward to the sun night...

cheers

Will be in the white Porsche - may still have 16 on the door - apparently running 4th in the Slowly Sideways bunch so come on over and say hello.

Good luck on your travels Billy!
If you are arriving at that time it would be hard to get a Stage in!
The Hardcore fans will be setting up 'Base Camps' a day before!
The Main Service area in Salou should have Big Screens with Live feed from the Stages, so that may be an option! Plus its good to pick up at least one visit of the Service Area!

Agree the service area is big, easily accessible and FREE

El Molar hairpin would be good BUT its packed out from 24 hours before. So don't waste your time even going if you are trying to take photos. If you are just watching the atmosphere will be fun.

El Molar is on the El Priorat stage which is 40kms+ in length. There are loads of other areas on this stage to watch. Remember if you can get a coach into a corner that's 50 people per coach!! If they cant it will be a bit quieter!! So check the maps carefully. The programme will only give you info for 3 or 4 corners per stage. So if it looks busy it will be. Get to each corner at least an hour possibly 1.5 hours before the start of the stage.

Stages are run twice in the day. From experience its best to stay on the same stage but move to a different spot. If you choose to move to a different stage you will be parked miles away behind all the cars parked from the morning run and it will then be a very long walk in. Take your lunch in with you.

The stage on the sea front is a complete waste of time, it lacks any organisation or punch.

Try and get to the finish, you can get pretty close to the ramp but you might need a fold up stool to stand on to get a better view from the town side.

All the cars line up before the ramp with drivers milling about. Very good place by the railings coming out of the parc ferme/holding area for photos etc..

Dos Berrio Manuel...

Cheers
Chris

One year we braved the Hairpin and the crowds were unreal!

Guess what they cancelled the Stage due to the volume of spectators!

But do leave time for walking in, as some of the local Police may stop you 3-4 miles out of where you want to be!

Very very envious!

james.........will def keep a lookout for you m8.....best of luck!!

chris/colin....lads thanks for all those pieces of advice........flights werent working out to get me there on thur col so i'll only get the two full days,,,,really looking forward to the atmosphere in town each nght at parc ferme, and will def choose just the one stage each day and set up there from early on......sure its all good!!

paul, not to late to book a flight m8, you coming along? lol!

cheers lads...

Bring a bailbond!

lol rory, i'll be far too well-behaved to need one............

Billy, First and most important stop has to be the KITCAR43 shop in Barcelona.

james i like your style.....might need to take a detour that way....

bmd wrote:james i like your style.....might need to take a detour that way....

Don't . Waste of time. Just checked his website and the shop will be closed from 23 to 26 October as he will have a stand by the street stage in Barcelona on Thursday and in Salou for the remainder of the rally. Because its the 50th anniversary he is doing a special exhibition of the rally winners so he may be worth seeking out.

Bit quicker than my local garage. They've had the Subaru Lunacy in for a week for a central door locking issue......


With an opening day on gravel and the next two on asphalt, cars at RallyRACC Rally de España (23-26 October) will have to be rebuilt on Friday night. And to keep the pressure on, teams have just 75 minutes to get the job done.


M-Sport engineer Tim Jackson will be supervising the transformation of Ken Block’s Fiesta RS in Spain. He told wrc.com how his team would squeeze the work in:

0-15 minutes
“The car will have driven six stages on Friday, so when it comes in we’ll do the usual checks, look at the data and note any issues the driver has reported. Minor damage isn’t a problem because we will replace most of the parts anyway. We take off the gravel components as quickly as possible, including front and rear crossmembers, steering rack, gearbox, rear diff and all suspension and brakes. We can have eight people working at once because we are allowed to stagger service times. After 15 minutes everything is off and the car looks quite bare.”

15-30 minutes
“Now we are ready to fit the asphalt parts. The most important thing here is preparation; it’s essential to get a head start. All the components are already laid out, mostly as sub-assemblies that have been put together in our workshop in the UK. The rear crossmember is the brace for the suspension and is pre-fitted with the asphalt-spec diff, suspension links, uprights and even the dampers. We fit the whole unit in one piece and secure it with eight bolts. The front is similar but includes a steering rack and steering arms pre-adjusted to give the correct asphalt geometry.”

30-40 minutes
“Most of the rear of the car will be back on by now - certainly the crossmember and rear diff. While that’s going on, the guys at the front are doing engine checks and other routine servicing.”

40-50 minutes
“The gearbox is in now, and that contains the front diff. These and the rear diff are a different specification to the gravel units because of the car's speed, grip and wheelspin characteristics on asphalt roads.”

50-60 minutes
“The suspension and brakes will be fitted. The brake discs are bigger, up from 300mm to 355mm diameter all round, and fitted with water-cooled calipers. The whole system needs to be bled. Asphalt dampers are bolted on and it’s starting to look like a car again.”

60 minutes
“All the major work should be done. Now we work around the car to check geometry, ride height and camber settings. These are different because the car runs about 60mm lower in asphalt specification. Usually it’s just a case of fine-tuning, because we have already adjusted the components in a controlled environment at M-Sport. Then we weigh the car to check we are not under weight. In general, gravel components are stronger and heavier than the asphalt versions, and that goes for wheels and tyres too. We’ll add ballast if necessary.”

65 minutes
“If everything goes to plan the car should be on its wheels and ready to go at 65 minutes. That gives us 10 minutes of contingency time just in case...”

Good find..

As you say just as quick as my local garage.....not!!

Good insight into how it does all go together.

Chris

Id love if someone had a live web cam set up for the conversion to tarmac spec. Id definately tune in for that.

That's mind-numbing!

The amount of organisation to get the huge turn around in specification in such a short time period is amazing!

Woa betide any of the crew that get it wrong!!!!!

Thanks for posting, and have a great trip, Billy.

And James, you're out there living the dream again. Excellent! All the very best for a successful and competitive rally ahead.

All the very best guys, Steve

Jeez. Thats a brilliant insight to what goes on. You don't relise how much work is involved.

Meeke out with a double puncture on the same stage - ran out of tyres. Neuville pushing Ogier but held back by the amount of dust being kicked up by the frenchman. Latvala can't get the feel of the car and is 20 seconds off the pace and the championship is currently heading to Ogier. Hirvonen, Kubica and Evans have the Fiestas in 4th-6th. Can RK keep it safe - its a surface from tomorrow that should suit him. 25c and sunny - Billy should be topping up the tan and the sangria as I type.

Ogier out in front, Latvala up to 2nd end of day 1, but surely has lost the title as the next 2 days are on Ogiers specialist subject, tarmac.
Ostberg 0.1 secs ahead of 4th and the only man looking like he can stop a VW 1-2-3.

Evans off, Neuville pushed hard but dust storm behind Ogier held him up. Kubica spins but keeps it on the track, Evans spins 3 times and out.

Latvala has pressed hard but Ogier looks like he can step it up just enough to maintain a lead as required. Hirvonen in a solid 3rd. Kubica ripped a wheel off....

Ogier wins and is world champion.

reeft1 wrote:Ogier wins and is world champion.

... and well deserved!

I am going to change my name to Sebastian so I can drive faster too!

Cheers, Steve Sebastian

just back home from a great weekend,, apart of course from meekes dreadful event..lol!! great weather, hotel within 10 mins walk of parc ferme, class viewpoints found in mountains, had a chat with young vatanen, good pix which i will post when i upgrade pc....need to buy new one...all in all a class first wrc outside ireland for me...and all done independently which is a good learning curve too lol!! happy days!!
thanks again for all the comments and advice lads....

Glad you had a great time fella - good for you!

Pleased you had a great time Billy. Here's to the next one