Weekend Racing on TV

[woodym3]

Sat 1 pm Rolex Grand Am from Homestead Speed TV]

Sun 2:30 pm ALMS from Laguna Seca Speed TV

Sun 8 pm World Rally Championship from Norway HD Theater

[Scany]

thanks Woody! I always forget to check for stuff and this is a great reminder. WRC from Norway. I didnt realize we got the WRC there already. Must be the Solberg brothers' work.

[woodym3]

The Ireland WRC earlier this week was the first I've seen since it left Speed TV. I hadn't been reading much about it either. It seems Subaru is no longer in the series and Petter Solberg is now driving a privateer Citroen, but he didn't run in Ireland. Anyone know what happened to Markus Groenholm, Markko Martin, and Francois Duval?

[Scany]

I don't know what you are asking, but I do know Loeb is testing with GP2 and supposedly doing an F1 race That will be interesting. Alternative entry into F1 one might say.

[ronh21]

Ireland WRC was my first exposure to rally coverage, and it was pretty disappointing. WAY too much talk, not enough action. They showed about 1:00 it seemed of each actual stage. What I'd like to see is a lot more from in car with clear audio from english speaking navigators That is fascinating. I don't care too much about the drama of a race with one dominant team and 4 others racing for second.

[Biggins]

Ireland WRC was my first exposure to rally coverage, and it was pretty disappointing. WAY too much talk, not enough action. They showed about 1:00 it seemed of each actual stage. What I'd like to see is a lot more from in car with clear audio from english speaking navigators That is fascinating. I don't care too much about the drama of a race with one dominant team and 4 others racing for second.

I LOVE WRC, but I do have to agree with Ron here. The racing coverage was sparse compared to the time spent on "analysis."

The Daytona Prototype battle at the last Grand-Am race should be great. The top three teams are separated by less than 10 points going into the last race of the year, plus there will be three Dinan BMW Rileys running at this event AND an M6 in the GT class. I'll be alternating between it and all the college footbal on TV.

[Scany]

I LOVE WRC, but I do have to agree with Ron here. The racing coverage was sparse compared to the time spent on "analysis."

The Daytona Prototype battle at the last Grand-Am race should be great. The top three teams are separated by less than 10 points going into the last race of the year, plus there will be three Dinan BMW Rileys running at this event AND an M6 in the GT class. I'll be alternating between it and all the college footbal on TV.

Grand-Am is very entertaining to watch, I agree. I've seen the M6 before, long time ago and I think last race, but it doesn't get much exposure and doesn't seem up to speed yet. Cool car though! The DP battle is great! How about Carl Edwards (?) crashing in Montreal on the warmup lap? DP too much for NASCAR drivers??

Needles to say my TiVo will be busy while I'm at VIR this weekend. If only they televised NASA races (which I won't be in [yet], but trying to watch live between HPDE and classes).

[Scotty]

The Ireland WRC earlier this week was the first I've seen since it left Speed TV. I hadn't been reading much about it either. It seems Subaru is no longer in the series and Petter Solberg is now driving a privateer Citroen, but he didn't run in Ireland. Anyone know what happened to Markus Groenholm, Markko Martin, and Francois Duval?

Thanks for the TV schedule, Woody. Love ALMS.

Did a little quick rally research:

Grönholm drove at Portugal this year. Martin was Subaru test driver in '08 and now runs a trucking company. Duval ran a Ford in '08 and crashed badly in Japan; his co-driver was hurt badly.

My all-time favorite shot of Markko Martin in Finland.



The 2009 season was pretty pathetic; only five championship teams all using Ford and Citroën cars. Privateer teams using other cars come and go. They didn't even run Monte Carlo.

Still, pro rally is so fun to watch. I haven't seen the HDT programs yet, but sustained air and in-car coverage are the best. Ever seen the Baja 1000 or Dakar shows? They follow one driver/rider for a long distance and it really gives you a sense of rhythm and timing. Great stuff.

[woodym3]

I love the signs on the side of the road indicating the distance of the "jump". Just like ski jumping.

Thanks for the research Scotty.

[Scany]

Just finished watching the GrandAm race on the TiVo. Didn't realize the hotshot Christiano Piquet from "Setup" was running the M6. Interesting...

[woodym3]

Just finished watching the GrandAm race on the TiVo. Didn't realize the hotshot Christiano Piquet from "Setup" was running the M6. Interesting...

I haven't watched the race yet, but was hoping that fraud had gone away. Mike Skeen would have been a better choice as a driver.