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The Azores ... beautiful stages

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I'm watching the beautiful Azores stages of the opening event for the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge , courtesy of wrcforeva who posts coverage from both WRC and IRC events on YouTube - which I am grateful for, given the lack of television coverage here in Oz.

The Azores IRC is a gravel event, on a volcanic island - so the dirt is dark and rich and the vegetation lush. There are some great stages where the road runs in a gully with tall grass banks rising up on either side, providing fantastic vantage points for spectators. It looks like a fast, technical event.



Oh, and in case you are wondering, no, they are not running a rally raid event ... EuroSport have employed a SimulCast technique which allows them to compare two different cars on the same section of road; a bit like the WRC's virtual spectator.
 

The value add of hard c-spine collars

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Monday, February 27, 2012

Courtesy of Cliff Reid's Resus.ME blog, here's an interesting article (Emerg Med J. 2012 Feb;29(2):104-7) that questions the added value of applying a hard c-spine collar to a trauma victim who is already secured on a spine board with head blocks and strapping. Balanced against the apparent lack of benefit is the potential for harm due to a greater limitation of mouth opening while a hard collar is in situ; though conventional practice...
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Crazy Monegasques

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Thursday, February 9, 2012

For me, the Catalunya Rally always had the most mental spectators. Lining the edges of the route 3 - 5 deep and scuttling out of the way only metres in front of an oncoming rally car and surging back in afterwards, it was only a matter of time before someone's luck ran out.

The Monte Carlo Rally is back on the WRC calendar, with a mammoth 5 day event (the influence of Jean Todt's preference for endurance events perhaps?). What a great...
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FIA requests formal tender for promotion of the WRC

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Thursday, February 9, 2012

Most people with an interest in motor sports, especially rally, will be aware that the WRC lost its promoter when North One Sport had its contract terminated by the FIA at the end of last year. This occurred after North One Sport's parent company,  Convers Sports Initiatives, went into receivership. (Slight problem with alleged fraud by two of its directors.) Eurosport is currently filling the breach, but this is a temporary arrangem...
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A history of race suits

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Tuesday, January 17, 2012

There's a summarised history of race suit development on the F1 GP website, that charts the transition from the cotton pants and shirt of the gentleman racer to the two-layer nomex with undergarments worn by today's speed demons. The article also names one Paul Trafford, a UK surgeon who has been involved in motorsports medicine for about 25 years and has worked alongside the likes of Sid Watkins and Terry Trammel. Traf has taken on th...
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FIA summarises WRC 2012 regulation updates

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The FIA have updated the WRC regulations for the 2012 season. They mainly affect the starting order in gravel events, including determining the starting order through use of a Qualifying Session. Other changes include the changing of the Super-Rally rules title to Rally 2, clarification of the numbers of engines and sets of tyres allowed per event and the status of priority 1, 2 and 3 drivers.

For more details, go here:
http://www.fia.c...
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Rally Australia CoC awarded FIA Senior Official of the Season

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Michelle Gatton, a former rally driver, has been officiating for Australian and Asia-Pacific rally events for more than 10 years. This year she was the Clerk of Course for the Rally Australia stage of the 2011 WRC season. For her efforts, she was recently awarded the FIA Outstanding Senior Official of the Season.

You can read more about Michelle and her award here:
http://www.cams.com.au/en/Media/News/2011/Australian_named_FIA_Outstandi...
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Dakar's fangs are still pointy

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Saturday, January 7, 2012

2012 is off to a motorsporting start with the Dakar Rally. The world's self-proclaimed most dangerous motorsport event takes its name from the original Paris (France) to Dakar (Senegal) route. The only other event that has such a publicly fearsome reputation is the Isle of Man TT, which annually kills riders and not infrequently spectators.

The Dakar was life-threatening enough negotiating rocks, trees, sand dunes, lions and the heat, ...
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Michelle Mouton gets Knighted

January 18, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Saturday, January 7, 2012

Former WRC driver, Michelle Mouton, received the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor from France's president Nicolas Sarkozy just prior to Christmas, for her services to motorsports. She was the last woman to compete in the WRC, having followed a very successful career.

Starting as a co-driver, she switched to the driver's seat of a Renault Alpine A110. She competed most famously behind the wheel of the awesome Audi Quattro and , having ...
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V8 Supercar: Car of the Future safety features

January 16, 2014
Posted by Matthew Mac Partlin on Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The V8 Supercars Cars of the Future were unveiled at the Telstra 500 in Olympic Park at the start of December. They include a number of weight-reducing, stability improving and cost saving developments that, so far, have been approved by the drivers that have had a go in them. Having had a chat with one of the engineers involved in their build, they still have a quick release steering wheel and quick release doors. They will also have...
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