Over the past couple of years, Speed has been increasing thier rally coverage. They start the year with daily updates of the Dakar Rally and then start into the WRC. Every so often, they will even give us an SCCA ProRally race. Then, NASCAR came to town. Now it seems all Speed cares about is covering races with 4 hours of driving in circles!

During the 2002 WRC season, Speed gave us Rally XS on Thursdays, daily coverage Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and Rally Xtra on Monday. That was 4 1/2 hours of coverage for each WRC event.

What do we get for the 2003 season? One 1 hour show a week after each rally started. What will happen in 2004? Maybe a 5 minute segment during a rain delay of a NASCAR event. (Gee Bubba, you mean racecars go left AND right?!?!)

Does anyone know where else to get daily WRC updates? Please tell me I am not the only one upset about this.

 

I hear your pain!! i too have become quite bored w/ round and round and round daytona 8000 lap races. that seems to be what the majority of people in this country want to watch. its the sport where they can "get the action" with out doing anything. they can sit there all day and get dizzy.
Speed dropping most of the coverage is even worse. its sad to say, but with out a good deal of tv coverage Rallying has an even lower chance of becoming somewhat popular in the us. it just boggle my mind that nascar is so popular when compared to WRC/ProRally. rally racing is one of the most exciting motorsports there is.
i would like to think that introduction of the EVO and STi will bring a little (fingers crossed) more attention to the sport due to their direct relation to the Pro cars. but who knows.
as far as coverage, i get most of mine from www.wrc.com. they have live radio on race weekends, lots of video clips (in and out of the car), pictures, and interviews w/ drivers and directors. also www.rallylive.com has up to date info.
now we just need to figure out how to get more people into the idea of going outside in the woods (shock!!) to watch a race. i think i will ask some of my nascar watching pals to come w/ me to the Maine Forest Rally this summer. just to see what they think.

-PJ

p.s. if we could only get ESPN to cover SCCA ProRally... how cool would that be!

 

Heck no!!!! You are definatley not the only one upset about it!
I can't believe how Speed is dissing WRC. I could even deal with cutting coverage back to a 2 hour recap, but the airing it a week after the rally is over just SUCKS!!!!
I live in Charlotte NC (heart of Nascar country), but can't stand it. I only watch it when I am in desperate need of some form of racing fix.
My co-worker, who's a Nascar fan, watched a bit of WRC and complained that there aren't more cars on the course at the same time. "Where's the rubbin'?" WTF? Guess he misses the point.
Much later though, he made a comment about how cool it would it would be if someone raced cars on the side of mountains. I politley told him that that's what WRC is all about. And reminded him how he dissed the sport.

At least rally and F1 drivers can drive in the rain!
Jeff C

 

Well it wasnt that bad. Just a few years ago it was on WEEKS after it happened. The 7 PM time slot is much better then last years 11 PM. Nicky's segment is very good. I even liked Ralph better then I have in the past.

 

That's what happens when NASCAR buys their own channel. When Speedvision became The Speed Channel, that was the beginning of the end.

I'm just hoping that people will be so sick of the NASCAR coverage (since it's on all the damn time) that they'll just stop watching it. I have to admit, I've been to a Coca-Cola 600 (in Charlotte) and it was a total blast to sit there, but I can only watch one race a year.

 

i have also been to a nascar race in new hampshire. and it was pretty cool. but my neck got tired from watching them go around minute. i would rather hike in the woods and hang out w/ friends while watching Ramana and Lovell drift through the corners. i would also rather get my weekly WRC updates than the minute by minute play of who qualified for 1st w/ 2nd only .12 seconds behind, and 3rd .13 back. just my opinion though! Speed Channell please wake up, and give us what we want!

-PJ

 

I'm going to hook up cable in my apartment next week I was going to pay the extra cash for didigtal cable so I could watch the WRC on Speed. However it doesn't sound like the coverage is very good. Last year I thought it sucked.

 

I liked the coverage last year. It was 3 hours shown on a short delay and they was rerun late afternoon's on weekdays. This years 2 hour show is good but it has a poor timeslot. I also liked the narration of Toby Moody much better then Ralph Sheheen. Speed coverage could be better but I am glad I am able to see it at all.

 

I agree the new Speed channel coverage SUCKS. I'm sick of seeng a bunch of rednecks dressed like circus clowns sitting around a table discussing the in's and out's of driving in circles. AAAAAAGHHH!!!!!!
Duhhh!!!!! Turn left!!!!!
I enjoyed last years WRC coverage and guess there wasn't enough of us to make it economic for the Speed channel to continue with it but at least we can see it which was not the case a few years ago.

 

sign the petition.

 

I tend to "tune out" Ralph Sheheen and have to rewind the tape to listen again. Not a good trait for a play by play man to have. Toby Moody's voice made world rally seem bigger then life somehow. It would be neat to have them both read the same paragraph and you could really tell.