ORD hits the Wales Rally GB

Despite playing almost every rally game ever released over the years, I have to confess that I’ve never actually been to watch rallying live – my experience of rally cars was the circuit-based Rallycross alternative when the legendary Group B cars needed an outlet after being banned from the world stage.

However, that changed last weekend, thanks to Black Bean and Milestone, the people behind WRC 2. They kindly invited me along to Wales to watch Day 2 of the Wales Rally GB and obviously it was an invitation I couldn’t turn down. Sadly I’d hoped to meet up with the winner of our WRC 2 competition who had won tickets but unfortunately had to pull out at the last minute. Add in some technical and transportation issues during the weekend, and you’ll have to forgive the slightly ropey nature of the photographs I grabbed, but that didn’t change the experience of seeing the world’s best rally drivers hurtling through the woods and along the dirt tracks.

That was after the very strange site of rally cars travelling to stages on public roads, which would later spell disaster for world champion Sebastien Loeb when some Spanish spectators collided with him on single track road. I did mention to Black Bean that travelling between stages would be an interesting extra challenge for any future games!

We arrived at the Hafren stage without incident, and made it in time to see the national drivers competing in a range of modern and classic cars – the sight of vintage Escorts and other unusual cars was an unexpected bonus.

It was definitely a good stage to have picked as the weather stayed dry, so although clambering along the side of the track was a bit muddy, it wasn’t cold, and the enthusiasm of rally fans made for an upbeat mood. And despite the strange experience of seeing cars flash by and disapear for the rest of the day, from the higher vantage points you could see glimpses of them winding through the valley in the distance.

What amazed me most, having ridden on similar terrain in Wales on two wheels was that hardly any of the drivers at any level seemed to lift off for what seemed like quite big corners. Luckily if you wanted a bit more of a look at the cars, a handy hairpin provided the chance to admire a variety of techniques, including an unusual approach by Ken Block which involved having his boot fly open.

As if that wasn’t enough, we also eventually made it along to the service area at the end of the day, where we were able to witness teams working long into the night to fix and prepare cars for the next day.

This particularly lovely 1971 Alpine Renault A110, the former works car of Jean-Pierre Nicholas and Jean de Alexandris was also on display.

And obviously after witnessing the heroics of the drivers and co-drivers throughout the day, many fans were grabbing the chance to try their hand at driving on the WRC 2 setups available at the service area. Certainly the response was pretty favourable amongst the most hardcore of racing fans, and competition to record the fastest time was hotting up.

By the time we finally crashed into bed at the end of the day, it was safe to say that my conversion to rally fan was pretty much complete. It’s a very different experience to circuit-based racing, and it’s an interesting atmosphere as fans appear to be competing to find the best and most inaccessible vantage point from which to watch almost as much as the drivers are competing for the fastest time. Certainly if you’ve wondered what kind of nutters stand inches away from the cars trying to get the best photographs, you’ll be able to understand why when you’ve caught up in the event – luckily at Wales there were a lot of very friendly and helpful marshals and safety volunteers ensuring that we got as close as was relatively safe without causing any problems.

 

I did suggest that given the success of the GT Academy and iRacing champ Gregor Huttu when he tried a real car, maybe I should be a test subject to see if playing rally games helps you in actually driving a rally car. Not sure I convinced anyone enough yet, but I’m going to keep working on it – anyone fancy being my co-driver?

If not, I guess it’s back to WRC2 for the time being… In the meantime, thanks to Black Bean, Milestone, and their PR agency for a great trip.

Win a copy of WRC 2, merchandise and tickets to Wales Rally GB

WRC 2, the officially-licensed game of the World Rally Championship has just been released, and we’ve got one heck of a competition for you to celebrate the launch of the game.

The prize is so awesome we wish we could win it – one lucky winner gets 4 day passes to the Wales Rally GB for you and your family or friends, plus official WRC merchandise including a hoodie, t-shirt and cap, and a copy of WRC 2 in your choice of format – it’s available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC, so we should have you covered.

The Wales Rally GB takes place from November 10-13, first running in 1932, and previous winners include Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg, Richard Burns and Colin McRae. And it also features in the game, so you’ll be able to put what you watch into practice!

How to enter the WRC 2 competition:

We know you’re all passionate about online racing games, and you’re also pretty passionate about cars and motorbikes in the real world, so here’s how to enter. All you need to do is identify (or guess) the type of car you can hear revving up in the following audio clip:

ORDEngineNoiseCompetition by badgergravling

Think you know what it is? Have another listen, and then email dan.thornton@hotmodmedia.com with your name, age, postal address and contact number, plus the type of car. Include ‘WRC 2 Competition’ in the subject line of your email to make sure we see your entry. If you get really stuck, we may drop some hints in the comments on this article, on Twitter ( @ORDNews ) or on our Facebook page, so keep your eyes peeled.

 

About WRC 2:

WRC 2 features all the teams, circuits and manufacturers of the 2011 season, with a total of 13 official tracks and 5 Super Special Stages. Game modes include 4 offline options, including the ‘Road to WRC’ career mode, and a WRC Driving School. And there are also a number of online modes which let you race in real time against your friends or rivals, with other players appearing as ghost cars to let you see how you’re doing. And there are other 30 different cars available, including classic legends from the rallying scene as well as all the current top teams and cars.

 

WRC 2 Competitions Terms and Conditions:

• The competition closes at midnight GMT on November 1st, 2011.
• You should be over 18, and resident in the UK to enter.
• Employees, Contributors and Families of Hot Mod Media and OnlineRaceDriver.com can’t enter.
• Winners will be notified via telephone/email within one week of the closing date.
• No alternative prizes or cash will be offered.
• Personal details will be kept to allow us to provide your prize, and may be shared with third parties necessary to provide prizes on our behalf.
• We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time. Entry in the competition implies acceptance of these rules.

WRC2 Preview Trailer

SBK2011 Live Action Trailer

SBK 2011 gameplay video: Portimao in sunny weather

SBK 2011 Gameplay Footage: Assen in Wet Weather

WRC 2010 The Videogame: Onboard Swedish Stage

WRC 2010 official videogame – tight hairpin on Swedish stage

Offical World Rally Championship game arrives October 8

The release date for the first official FIA World Rally Championship game in five years has been announced as October 8th, 2010, when WRC hits the stores for Playstation 3, XBox 360 and PC.

The game has been developed by Milestone, and published by Black Bean Games – the same team behind the SBKX World Superbikes game.

It features all the cars, drivers and co-drivers from the current WRC season, along with the P-WRC, S-WRC and J-WRC support classes, plus 78 different rally stages and over 550km of roads from 13 countries.

You get a single-player career mode ‘Road to the WRC’ with 50 different trophies, plus ‘many online multiplayer game modes’.

In terms of graphics, there’s a full 3D in car view, plus car damage effects, and the tantalising opportunity for breakable objects on the trackside. Of course, this being rallying, you’ll have an in-game management system to repair the damage you may have encountered.

So if you fancy being Sebastien Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen or Daniel Sordo, here’s your chance.

As you’d expect, you can already place a pre-order from stores including Amazon: Pre-Order WRC – FIA World Rally Championship (2010)

And check out a 10-minute behind the scenes video of the making of WRC