April 21, 2005

Rally: Who? : "a motorsport that pits seasoned professional drivers against garage mechanics, takes place in dirt, snow, gravel and mud and places an emphasis on driver skill over flat-out speed in ever-changing conditions," and "it’s the only form of motorsports where you see the cars going sideways all the time," and has a 50% attrition rate. Airing in eight consecutive weeks beginning in October 2005 on OLN

posted by garfield to auto racing at 11:03 AM - 16 comments

I love watching rally races. My two favorites are Targa Newfoundland and the Dakar Rally. Last year, the Speed Network showed the Targa Newfoundland and this year the Dakar Rally (highlights) was shown on OLN. Your first link features a story about a woman Iranian driver. Interesting reading as well.

posted by NoMich at 12:08 PM on April 21, 2005

interesting indeed. I caught part of the Targa Newfie broadcast this year. It looks like a ton of fun.

posted by garfield at 12:16 PM on April 21, 2005

I do love OLN, I do, I do. Home of the sports that "nobody" cares about (except for the many who do).

posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:11 PM on April 21, 2005

god damnit. i can only afford either cable, or the internet. i hate being poor. I do love rally, I got into it once F1 became the motorsports equivelent of Guiding Light. drama drama drama, and you always knew how it'd end.

posted by markovitch at 02:34 PM on April 21, 2005

Speed Channel was showing FIA rallies earlier this year (Mexico and Sweden, I think); have they moved to OLN exclusively?

posted by yerfatma at 04:06 PM on April 21, 2005

I think OLN is doing the 2005 Rally America Championship, not WRC.

posted by garfield at 04:12 PM on April 21, 2005

god damnit. i can only afford either cable, or the internet. i hate being poor. Repeat after me: bit torrent is your friend... bit torrent is your friend.

posted by dusted at 05:01 PM on April 21, 2005

Right on. This is the best flavour of car racing. And the only one I can stand to watch on TV.

posted by fabulon7 at 08:05 AM on April 22, 2005

And the only one I can stand to watch on TV. Sure beats wathcing left turns all day, doesn't it? Not that it doesn't take skill to race NASCAR (I sure wouldn't be able to hack it), it's just that I don't find that style of racing to be all that exciting to watch.

posted by NoMich at 08:53 AM on April 22, 2005

Conversely, I'm always confused at why people would risk life and limb to attend rally events for 5 seconds of action per racer.

posted by yerfatma at 10:21 AM on April 22, 2005

amen to that... Rally, Bicycle tours, and footraces (marathons, cross country and the like) seem kind of worthless as live events, for spectators at least.

posted by markovitch at 01:41 PM on April 22, 2005

Huh, speaking of rallies. This documentary is supposed to be pretty good. Maybe I'll go see it tomorrow afternoon.

posted by NoMich at 05:29 PM on April 23, 2005

Best racing on Earth is the Australian V8 Supercar. Rallying is pretty high up there. Aussie V8 I'd try if given a chance. You have to be a special kind of crazy to rally.

posted by Drood at 07:58 PM on April 23, 2005

yerfatma: There's always the chance to help the driver get their car out of the ditch. Drood: Oh yes, I can't wait to see the formular where they had to ban anyone who knows how to make cars. Aussie V8s, here I come.

posted by rodgerd at 07:41 PM on April 24, 2005

here's your chance.

posted by garfield at 09:08 AM on April 25, 2005

Thanks, but I'd rather use one of the real rally cars.

posted by rodgerd at 05:06 PM on April 29, 2005

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