This year FxPro Cyprus Rally is not the part of the World Rally Championship (WRC). Instead, it’s a stage of some Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC). Not only that, but also it’s the last stage of IRC, by which both the winning driver and the winning manufacturer have already been decided. Needless to say, there wasn’t much to see, so I decided to skip the even altogether this year. And I almost did.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS17SePRFoM]
Yesterday though I went to spend some time with son at Yermasogia dam, which became somewhat traditional for us, before going to Pehnidotopos kids entertainment center. While driving to the dam we were passed by a few rally cars, which gave me a suspicion that the rally stage was somewhere up the road. That was surprising, because I thought the event finished on Saturday.
It turned out the suspicion was right. There was some stage of the rally up the road and it had its finish line exactly on the dam itself. Left with no choice, Maxim and I went to watch. We were late, of course, but still managed to catch a few cars on the asphalt road.
Most Cyprus Rally stages are on gravel and I was wondering how much fun is it to watch the cars driving on asphalt. Surfaces with less traction – gravel, snow and ice – provide a full range of spectator entertainment. Asphalt, of course, is faster, but is it as much fun? The answer is no. While the cars still drift and skid, the pass you by much faster, and there is no aftermath, such as dust and flying stones. Boring. Even though the scenery is beautiful.
Having no camera with me, I shot a few short videos using my mobile phone. You can see them at my YouTube channel.
