Yopofun wrote on 01/21/11 at 14:16:23:Justadrive wrote on 01/21/11 at 11:55:22:Compared to last year Ross, can we see the course looking more like a snowy road this year rather than a "track" with severe ruts? In other words will either the bucket or a plow be "flattening" the course out? Last year if we went out of the ruts at all we were stuck. If the course is flat we can use the road width properly.
Oh just get some AWD

Mind you, it would be nice not having to add an extra hour to the day while waiting to pull people out of the snowbanks
OK, So 2011 is over. Awards are finished and I have a few things to point out or rather suggest:
To the comment "Oh just get some AWD"............
- I NEVER got stuck - in fact on the first event of the year I think EVERY AWD car went off course
.
- I was the second fastest car that day!
- My little non-turbo 2wd car continued its success the rest of the year with 4 straight wins!
So, many have asked why did you sell your car?
It was
partly due to finances and I stress partly. But there were many more factors involved.
First off the drive to Bancroft. 4 hrs from where I live. That's a long haul to just RallyCross. If it was on a Saturday that would be better just in case of a severe issue one could overnight and get home the next day. I have never been to another RallyCross location but seriously there has to be another place somewhere in Ontario???
Secondly, The course is brutal to say the least. If you want to go hard to win then you MUST push your car to the max. The ruts, the stones etc are one that require rally suspension struts and tires. Yes people will argue that they run OE struts... sure pull them apart after 3 events and lets see how well those struts compress and rebound. guaranteed they are done.
My plans were to gradually build my car to Rally. I was in that process having HD Bilstein suspension, coilover springs, and was only running gravel tires.I also upgraded my brakes. My car was fast and in the hands of a Rally driver it would have seen times 3-6 seconds faster per stage.
But I was trying to build a serious FWD Naturally Aspirated car that I could Afford to build and run. If not Rally then RallyCross. RallyCross is not fun anymore. It's the same old thing over and over. Almost half the cars going out are destroyed. I personally have witnessed 2 rollovers and only with LUCK nobody was hurt!!! There have been more as well.
I can only strongly suggest to the MLRC president and RallyCross organizer that the course be moved elsewhere (and I mean at more than 1 location).
Many RallyCross events across North America are on fields. How simple. On a field there are so many more advantages than the course we run now.
1. The course would be flat making it easier on suspension, tires, rims, and little chance of rollover. One should be able to bring their new 2012 STi, EVO, Civic, or Sonic and be able to run for a day on all season tires and drive home and just worry about washing their car and nothing else!
2. The course can be different each time. Set it up with pilons of course. There would also be no obstacles like the trees rocks etc at the Bancroft Course. AND we can make it interesting..... Bancroft's course is well..... boring after 3 years of racing on it!
3. Having it a different locations west / central / east of GTA allows for more competitors to come.
4. There will be more drivers finishing and continuing racing by being able to bring a car to the next event.
5. Have a Class 5. This is meant for Rally Drivers for test'n'tune. Great way to let them test their cars and have more attendance as well.
Remember this is meant to be an
entry sport to Rallying. A place where people can take a street car and go have fun. If MLRC makes these changes and works hard to try to obtain new locations this sport will grow tremendously! Being that I am not competing at this point please do not think I am sitting here complaining. I am just pointing out facts from a competitors point of view. And since I have time on my hands now YES I will step up and assist in this endeavor!