Ubiquitous Saturday: Part 2 – Sanremo
The second part of the afternoon was Rally di Sanremo time. I didn’t have the opportunity to follow the special stages but i menaged to attend the award ceremony and take a walk among the trucks in the assistance area to see the cars closely. The Sanremo Rally is one of the most famous European courses and this year was part of the IRC – Intercontinental Rally Challenge, a realtively new trophy organized by Eurosports: its aim is to give visibility and chances to grow to new teams and drivers. It’s no wonder that the first two positions went to Neuville and Mikkelsen: 23 and 22 years. Third was Bouffier, 33 years. To give you an idea of how close the challenge has been, Neuville won the rally with only 1,5 seconds after 2 days and more than 200 km of special stages. The rules of IRC are based on super 2000 cars: in Sanremo there were more than 30 of them, a record for the championship. Super 2000 are very funny to see and to hear, thanks to their metallic, hi-revving, raging NA engines. Bodyworks are enlarged to contain all the upgraded mechanics and with tarmac set-up they seem ready to eat the road. Although these car are not allowed to use turbochargers like WRC they can be very fast and demanding. It’s a great training for young drivers who dream to become WRC Champions. And speaking of Wrc Fia have announced that next year the World Championship will come back to Italy so i look forward to be where it will be held!
La seconda parte del pomeriggio erala volta del Rally di Sanremo. Non ho avuto l’opportunità di seguire le prove speciali ma sono riuscito ad assistere alla cerimonia di premiazione ed a fare qualche girotra i camion nella zona assistenza per osservare le auto da vicino. Il Rally di Sanremo è uno dei percorsi più famosi d’Europae quest’anno è tappa dell’IRC – Intercontinental Rally Challenge – un trofeo relativamente nuovo organizzato da Eurosport: l’obiettivo del trofeo è quello di dare visibilità e opportunità di crescita a nuovi team e piloti. Non è un caso che le prime due posizioni siano andate a Neuville e Mikkelsen: 23 anni il primo, 22 il secondo. Terzo è giunto Bouffier, più maturo con i suoi 33 anni. Per darvi un’idea di quanto serrata sia stata la battaglia tra i primi due, considerate che il vantaggio di Neuville alla fine della manifestazione è stato di soli 1,5 secondi dopo 2 giorni e più di 200 km di prove speciali. Il regolamento dell’IRC è basato sulle Super 2000: a Sanremo se ne sono contate più di 30 iscritte, un record per il campionato. Le Super 2000 sono vetture davvero divertenti da vedere e sentire, grazie ai loro motori aspirati dal suono metallico e rabbioso in grado di girare in alto. Le carrozzerie sono allargate per contenere la meccanica implementata e con i set up da asfalto sembrano letteralmente divorare la strada. Pur non essendo concesso l’utilizzo di turbocompressori come per le WRC queste auto sono molto veloci e impegnative. Rappresentano un’ottima base di allenamento per i giovani piloti che sognano di diventare campioni del WRC. E già che parliamo di WRC è notizia recente che la Fia abbia deciso di riportare il Campionato del Mondo in Italia il prossimo anno, non vedo l’ora di essere dove si terrà!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
Rally della Lanterna – Riordino
Coming back from the special stages i have the occasion to follow some drivers till the service area where cars are parked and checked after the race. i didn’t get in tim to see the award ceremony but you’ve the photo of last year event so thought it was better to search other locations 🙂 ! It’s cool to see al the operation teams have to do after the race ends. All drivers have to wait until the last car enter the time check area, then every team can recover its ride and start working on it to get it ready for trasnsportation. WRC are equipped with fast-fixing body parts so it’s very easy to remove and stock them. All operations are executed in a very little time because every squad has to go back to his headquarter. One thing i love to sse in racecar are those little damages and dirty parts that let you understand they’ve been used to the max of their capacities. And beside that the re-organization area is the unique opportunity to see a loto of wrc beasts all packed together.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
Rally della Lanterna – Day 2 – Action!
Fighting against weather condition on saturday i decided to try to catch some action during speed trials. So i reached the areas where the courses were set and found myself some good positions to shoot. The curve you see in the upper image is a very popular point of the track because it’s simple to reach and offers enough space for a good crowd. Race cars have then to pass on the same road you have to do to get there so you’ve the opportunity to see them two times within few minutes and few meters. It’s always a strong feeling to be near to a WRC monster, even better considering that now that they’re no more allowed to race in many championships. There is a good cjoice of sounds and speed because after them there is a fleet of 2wd, 4wd, NA, Turbos from low-modified street oriented minicars to big powerful race machines. The impression of speed is even stronger beacuse you see these talented drivers struggling on common roads, with all dangers and obstacles you don’t have to afford on a proper racetrack: trees, holes, guard rails, walls, stones, jumps, blind turns and hundreds of unexpected factors. Ther is almost no time for reactions and it’s nice to see drivers action in order to keep their cars on the road bringing as much speed as they can. In my opinion it’s more difficult to capture images in rallies than classic strack races because there always is no space and no time. I’ll have to make a lot of experience in this field because i’m not satisfied at all. Anyway enjoy my attempts!
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
Spy game
While coming back home from Monza Sunday night i spotted two 207 Super2000 having a rest in a service area on the highway. They were probably heading to the Rally della Lanterna for the first shakedown and techincal controls. I’ll probably see these two cars again in a few hours. Stay tuned!
#1
#2
adayatdaraces.wordpress.com 