How on earth did the super-sideways, gung-ho Colin McRae ever win the Safari Rally? He did it by winning slowly. Remember that?The absence of events like the Safari, Acropolis, Turkey and Cyprus means modern-day gravel rallies are all quite similar in terms of rock-size and roughness.
Last week’s Rally Argentina was an exception and there may be the odd Sardinian stage in the summer which might flex the dampers a little more. But gone are the days of driving over television-sized rocks.
Incidentally, a television set was the standard, rock-sizing tool used by drivers on rallies like the Safari. The current vogue for flat-screen tellys would doubtless force a rethink.
No rethink needed; the rocks rallied today are more appropriately sized by Apple’s range of slightly-proportioned loveliness.
The upshot of which is that drivers – and their cars – would no longer be equipped to drive a 100-mile stage through the Great Rift Valley. Generally speaking cars don’t break these days. Regulations stipulating event pairing for engines and transmissions ensures parts are pretty much bulletproof and rarely run to the absolute edge of their performance capability.
So, the drivers only know one speed: flat out. Suspension technology and, to a lesser extent the aerodynamics of a current World Rally Car, mean the cars carry more corner speed and stability than ever before. The drivers of today are increasingly strangers to the bottom half of the gearbox.
And that’s a bad thing.
The WRC isn’t the complete challenge it once was – how can it be with generic gravel rallies and a handful of asphalt events?
Rally Argentina highlighted the importance of a driver’s head as well as their weight of his right foot and that’s something we need to see more of. The ability to win slowly was undoubtedly one of McRae’s most surprising attributes. It was also a mark of true genius.
Pubvlished by Maxrally.com