robi1000
21-03-2012, 22:50
I was always inspired by videos of Ragnotti driving a Clio 16V and Williams, so naturally I wanted to race with Clio too!
Now that I'm finally getting seriously into rallying on national level, Clio Williams is sadly no longer a competitive car in it's class, unless you spend silly amount of money on it, but then again if you spent that money on something else, you can get a far more capable car. That made me really sad, because I thought I will never have a chance to drive a Clio 16V/Williams on a proper rally! Fortunately, I got this chance last weekend!
Me and my co-driver were thinking about entering the rally with a proper race car, but since this first rally doesn't count in national championship, we abandoned the idea, because cost would be too high.
But a few days before the event, my co-driver calls me and tells me that we were offered to drive a "zero car" on the even and if I'm interested. We'd be driving his private car, Clio 1.8 16V. So here I was offered a chance to drive my "dream car" at race pace on a proper rally... Am I'm interested? Dooooh! :D
Car was completely stock with road tires on 6J x 15'' Sparco rims (Hankook Ventus S1 evo).
We were allowed to drive without helmets and rollcage and that was probably the scariest thing. Driving on the edge without proper safety equipment is just dumb, so that's probably my last time driving a zero car that's not equipped with a rollcage.
Anyway, we weren't officially timed, but in the end we would finish 24th overall (of 46), which isn't bad if you consider we were up against Citroen DS3 R3T, C2 R2, Pug 206 RC Gr.A, Panda Kit car, Evos and STIs... All of them on racing suspension and tarmac rally tires. We could probably manage a few positions higher, but that would mean that we would not spare the car and the risk of crashing would be much higher (but zero car is not allowed to crash under any circumstances). Anyway, at the end of the day, spectators were happy and we were happy. Sadly we only had one GoPro, so there's only one angle and you can only see really wide slides (none of them handbrake induced, just speed), but we'll try harder next time!
A few pics from the event:
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537782/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537782.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19523827/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19523827.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522289/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522289.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522285/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522285.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522284/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522284.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522295/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522295.jpg
DS3 R3T
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537776/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537776.jpg
Really fast Pug 206 RC Gr.A
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537777/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537777.jpg
Panda Kit car
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537779/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537779.jpg
STI
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537780/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537780.jpg
C2 R2
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537775/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537775.jpg
Renault 5 Alpine Gr.2
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537774/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537774.jpg
A few videos:
Me driving the SS3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZmNVMONmM&feature=player_embedded
Me driving the SS2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnk_2_wdXDk&feature=related
Nice HD video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fFjylm-GA&hd=1
Clio driveby with engine sound:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1HasSMrSivfMzE4SjNDZVdRdnlSbFBaQnY5c2JqZw/edit?pli=1
And the winner's drive in Pug 206 Gr.A:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXFLfMppNho&feature=related
Now that I'm finally getting seriously into rallying on national level, Clio Williams is sadly no longer a competitive car in it's class, unless you spend silly amount of money on it, but then again if you spent that money on something else, you can get a far more capable car. That made me really sad, because I thought I will never have a chance to drive a Clio 16V/Williams on a proper rally! Fortunately, I got this chance last weekend!
Me and my co-driver were thinking about entering the rally with a proper race car, but since this first rally doesn't count in national championship, we abandoned the idea, because cost would be too high.
But a few days before the event, my co-driver calls me and tells me that we were offered to drive a "zero car" on the even and if I'm interested. We'd be driving his private car, Clio 1.8 16V. So here I was offered a chance to drive my "dream car" at race pace on a proper rally... Am I'm interested? Dooooh! :D
Car was completely stock with road tires on 6J x 15'' Sparco rims (Hankook Ventus S1 evo).
We were allowed to drive without helmets and rollcage and that was probably the scariest thing. Driving on the edge without proper safety equipment is just dumb, so that's probably my last time driving a zero car that's not equipped with a rollcage.
Anyway, we weren't officially timed, but in the end we would finish 24th overall (of 46), which isn't bad if you consider we were up against Citroen DS3 R3T, C2 R2, Pug 206 RC Gr.A, Panda Kit car, Evos and STIs... All of them on racing suspension and tarmac rally tires. We could probably manage a few positions higher, but that would mean that we would not spare the car and the risk of crashing would be much higher (but zero car is not allowed to crash under any circumstances). Anyway, at the end of the day, spectators were happy and we were happy. Sadly we only had one GoPro, so there's only one angle and you can only see really wide slides (none of them handbrake induced, just speed), but we'll try harder next time!
A few pics from the event:
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537782/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537782.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19523827/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19523827.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522289/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522289.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522285/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522285.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522284/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522284.jpg
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19522295/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19522295.jpg
DS3 R3T
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537776/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537776.jpg
Really fast Pug 206 RC Gr.A
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537777/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537777.jpg
Panda Kit car
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537779/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537779.jpg
STI
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537780/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537780.jpg
C2 R2
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537775/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537775.jpg
Renault 5 Alpine Gr.2
http://s7.mojalbum.com/10833367_17540215_19537774/1-sprint-rally-cerknica/19537774.jpg
A few videos:
Me driving the SS3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZmNVMONmM&feature=player_embedded
Me driving the SS2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnk_2_wdXDk&feature=related
Nice HD video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fFjylm-GA&hd=1
Clio driveby with engine sound:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1HasSMrSivfMzE4SjNDZVdRdnlSbFBaQnY5c2JqZw/edit?pli=1
And the winner's drive in Pug 206 Gr.A:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXFLfMppNho&feature=related