I just found out (thanks to a Tivo Wishlist search) that HDTheater has several World Rally programs scheduled for Sunday Oct 4th, including the 2009 WRC season opener that was run in Ireland back in January '09. Further Googling reveals that the HD Theater network will be broadcasting the whole series over the next three months. I really miss watching WRC since Speedchannel stopped broadcasting it a few years ago so i'm excited that i'll be able to catch up with it over the next few months! And this time it will be in HD :)

Starting Sunday October 4th is a block of WRC programs:

12:00 pm PST - World Rally Madness: Greatest Stages, the most challenging events from the history of rallying, HD, N

1:00 pm PST - World Rally Madness: Daring Drives, Viewers ride along as the legends of the WRC are pushed to the limit and
beyond by some of the most spectacular and technical stages on the rally racing circuit

2:00 pm PST - World Rally Madness: Greatest Cars, the greatest rally cars of all time

3:00 pm PST - World Rally Madness: Top Ten Spectacular Crashes, the most exciting crashes in rallying history

4:00 pm PST - World Rally Championship, 2009 Season Preview

5:00 pm PST - World Rally Championship, 2009 Rally Ireland from Jan 30-Feb 1/09

Then the subsequent races will be aired over the next three months:

Oct. 4, Rally Ireland

Oct. 11, Rally Norway

Oct. 18, Rally Cyprus

Oct. 25, Rally Portugal

Nov. 1, Rally Argentina

Nov. 8, Rally Italy

Nov. 15, Rally Greece

Nov. 22, Rally Poland

Nov. 29, Rally Finland

Dec. 6, Rally Australia

Dec. 13, Rally Spain

Dec. 20, Rally Great Britain

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090921/WRC/909219987#ixzz0St4PmpvM

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?desc=High-definition%20WRC%20coverage%20coming%20to%20America&lnk=101&id=5515

Except that Sebastien Loeb keeps on winning. He's gotten to sucessful and nobody can beat him. I'm still rooting for Hirvonen and Latvala but they can't seem to challenge him. I'll watch but the WRC was so much better a few years ago.

http://www.joost.com/0197pq9/t/WRC-Channel

Classic WRC videos. I prefer older WRC over newer WRC. WRC today I think sucks. I'll watch it tomorrow. I think the crash video will contain a Tommi Makinen clip in some form or another.

WRC was what looked like 16:9 SD upscaled to HD. The marathon events were pretty good imo.

The macroblocking is what kills it. Maybe it's the motion or a crappy low bit rate feed. Could be EuroSport, HD Theatre, or my cableco.

I especially liked the flashback program to the 80s as I remember those cars so vividly, especially the Quattros. Many were the times my wife and I stood in cold, dark, wet forests in England following the Lombard RAC rally around in the eighties in my old Ford RS2000. Ah, those were the days!

HD isn't coming until 2011. They're still working on the camera technology but it's mostly done. By then you'll get to hear the new 1.6 Turbo WRcars in DD5.1 not the current cars. This will be the last season for the current WRCars.

Source: http://wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=6789&desc=The+2010+World+Rally+Championship+is+GO!+

Does anyone know when this year's races will start to be shown on HDTheater? Will it be like last year with all the events compressed into a couple months at the end of the year, or more close to real time? I don't see any WRC listings on HDTheater for next weekend after the first rally so that may be my answer...

Looks like there is a 2 week delay between the actual rally and the broadcast as far the first 2 rallies are concerned. At this point I can live with the delay. Plus it looks like 3 hours(with commercials) of programming per rally for 2010 with the last hour a review I would guess.

http://HD Theater 2010 WRC Schedule (http://dhd.discovery.com/tv/world-rally-championship/about.html)

Looks like that is new on the DHD site since I looked a week ago - thanks!

I've heard that 2010 will be the first season that the WRC will be in true HD including the onboards. Thats according to RallyBuzz.

Maybe the FIA/ISC/North one is contradicting themselves as they said it would go HD in 2011 but somehow they might have gotten the tech ready by Sweden.

Rally Sweden was definitely not HD. It did however, look like really good 16:9 SD upscaled to HD. I guess next year is when the WRC will go full HD. I wouldn't be surprised if they did have HD cameras but are currently using them in SD mode. Maybe they are using HD cameras as the 16:9 SD picture looked really sharp at times.

Haven't seen rally turkey yet. WRC is still on track for 2011 for native HD coverage. I'm sure once they'll go native HD, the coverage will be even more spectacular.

Apparently the WRC is stretched, at least the onboards are. Maybe the show is stretched as well. The good news is that small Motorsport cameras like the Go-Pro will be made available with an audio out, so that you can hear the pacenotes :). Thats their biggest hurdle right now is being able to plug in a camera to the intercom, to get the pacenotes. The WRC uses intercoms to communicate between the driver and the co-driver and this is what is holding them back. Go-Pro will be announcing this camera later this year and similar cameras will follow.

I think true HD coverage is coming next year as this form of racing really deserves HD.

The onboards on youtube are in OAR while the actual broadcast is either in 16:9 SD or in stretch-o-vision. More like stretch-o-vision which is bad since this series could really benefit in HD. All those exotic locales would really enhance the WRC, even though the racing isn't all that good. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing the FxPro girls in HD :). The WRC is filmed in SD on Sony XDCam cameras, with Sony XDCam compatible equipment. Perhaps, the ISC is indeed using HD cameras but the onboards are with SD cameras. Next year the current WRCars will be replaced with all new cars and maybe then you will be able to see HD. The ISC did promise that 2011 is when they might make the switch to native 16:9 HD in OAR that included the onboards.

I guess me and 2 other people are the only ones interested in this sport. I wished more people liked rally racing as it's the only sport that can be closely be related to actual driving.

I guess me and 2 other people are the only ones interested in this sport. I wished more people liked rally racing as it's the only sport that can be closely be related to actual driving.



Yeah, I actually drive through snow covered mountains in Sweden at 120 KPH! :D

Of course I didn't say that literally. At least we will be able to see it in HD next year. It's taking them a while to do so. I think it requires new intercoms and cameras. If Moto GP can be in HD, then the WRC can. I could see the WRC going HD before F1 as the ISC has promised that it would go HD next year.

I guess me and 2 other people are the only ones interested in this sport. I wished more people liked rally racing as it's the only sport that can be closely be related to actual driving.

in this forum, WRC and rallying in general might be a small crowd.

now, go to like a subaru impreza forum and you will see a bigger crowd.

personally, i volunteered to work the north nevada rally (http://www.northnevadarally.com) just last month...

and while HDT skipped a couple events, i still try to catch when they pop up...

HDTheater doesn't skip events, but they delay it for a very long time.

There will be a WRC related announcement at Sportel 2010 in Monaco, and thats coming up shortly.

Live Stages are coming to the WRC next year, or at least one live stage next year, and it may very well be in native HD. Doubt we will see it, but hopefully HDTheater can pass on the native HD picture, if the WRC moves to HD next year. PQ has really improved this season, when compared to last year. Maybe this is a sign to come. Next year will mean new rally cars and possibly new camera equipment that can finally do HD, including the onboard cameras.

One thing to point out is that this is the last season of the current WRCars. Next year will be smaller "Super 2000" based cars with a 1.6T instead of a 2.0T. These cars are much more simple and have a smaller turbo restrictor (33mm instead of 34mm). The boost is also limited so the cars have to rev at a higher RPM than the current cars. Thankfully they aren't going to high revving 2.0L NA engines that might sound terrible on a good surround sound system. The new cars are pretty good and yes there will be an anti lag system with all the bangs and pops that you come to expect from the WRC.

One thing to point out is that this is the last season of the current WRCars. Next year will be smaller "Super 2000" based cars with a 1.6T instead of a 2.0T. These cars are much more simple and have a smaller turbo restrictor (33mm instead of 34mm). The boost is also limited so the cars have to rev at a higher RPM than the current cars. Thankfully they aren't going to high revving 2.0L NA engines that might sound terrible on a good surround sound system. The new cars are pretty good and yes there will be an anti lag system with all the bangs and pops that you come to expect from the WRC.


What manufacturers are still supporting the WRC? It seems like this is the biggest problem they face. The last race I watched there were only 2 manufacturers still funding teams.

What manufacturers are still supporting the WRC? It seems like this is the biggest problem they face. The last race I watched there were only 2 manufacturers still funding teams.

Ford and Citroen are the only ones for now, but Mini will join next year for a partial season, but in 2012 they will do a full season. VW or Skoda might join, but there are rumors in Wolfsburg that indicate a Scirocco, Polo, or Golf WRC. Most likely a Scirocco WRC. The new cars are cheaper to make, but they will get to be more expensive as the time goes on.

VW might join in 2012, but it could be 2013 or even 2014. It all depends on when they will do it.

Toyota is now thinking about making a WRC comeback according to Redbull. They have a feasibility study that says whether or not they should join the WRC.

It's a necessity to have some new manufacturers enter the WRC. Quite frankly, I'm surprised Ford has lasted this long. They notorious for not sticking with anything long term.

Ford, Citroen, VW, and Mini would be 4 manufacturers. We could have seven if Toyota, Saab, and Suzuki join the WRC. Suzuki is supposedly developing a new car, but I don't think they will ever be successful in the WRC. VW might do better than them. Skoda could join the WRC in lieu of VW. Victor Muller has given the green light on a Saab WRCar based on an upcoming small hatchback. It will also use a 1.6T engine and chassis from BMW. The Mini and Saab would use similar components. Saab would have no problem finding someone in Sweden to do it for them, but Spyker could do it inhouse. Saab is a likely choice for the WRC.

At least the WRC is more likely to go native HD than F1.

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Here is a preview of the 2011 WRC with the Ford Fiesta in almost final trim.

Well the 2011 season is now upon us. The start of a new era of 1.6T WRCars. Only 2 manufacturers will be competing, but one more is going to do a partial season, and that manufacturer is Mini. VW is still thinking about the WRC and that could happen sometime in 2012.

Now we shall see if the WRC will go native HD instead of upscaled HD on HDT. HDTheater did air the 2011 season, but you had find it in your EPG's search function.

David Richards who is the head of Prodrive and Aston Martin, said that VW is going to be announcing a WRC program sometime this year. Earlier rumors are pointing out that VW could have their car ready sometime next year for a partial season, with VW doing the whole 2013 season. He did say that the WRC is probably not going to get no more than 4 manufacturers. Those manufacturers include VW, Ford, Citroen, and Mini.

I'm rooting for Mini to do well this year, as they seem to have a lot of potential since they signed Dani Sordo, and Kris Meeke. I'm sure Kris Meeke will do well even though he's not technically a British driver.

We'll see if Ford or another manufacturer can beat the Citroen domination, but remember, all good things must come to an end, and that includes both Citroen and Loeb's domination.

HDTheater is going to carry WRC for this year. Perhaps it will be shot in native HD. I saw a video of a DS3 WRC test and it was filmed in HD. Granted, it was Youtube HD, but it looked spectacular, and that even included the interior view. This means HD is now possible for the WRC, though they still need to get the cameras to work with the intercoms, so you can hear the pacenotes being called from the co-driver.

I love watching these races. I recorded all of the stuff from 2010, and just finished watching just recently. Loeb is seriously dominant.
Does anyone know if Ken Block will be participating again this year?

Block will definitely be driving a Fiesta WRC this year, and he will be doing 12 rallies this year. That means he is only missing all but one rally which would be Finland, since the X-Games collides with that date. Block will be competing in that event in lieu of Finland. I would rather see him drive Finland, but it's his decision.

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This thing is fast and looks great in HD. I would say that this years WRC is going to look pretty interesting.

HD coverage is looking a big possibility as Ken Block's car had a GoPro camera mounted on the roof. GoPro's have nice PQ but the AQ is horrible since their casing makes the sound worse, it doesn't help as it has a terrible microphone. I'll ask Simon Long the head of the WRC's promoter North One sport about it.

Rally Sweden is coming up and HD Theater will likely delay it by a couple of weeks, but who knows.

VW will likely announce their WRC program in the next few months. Toyota is also working on a WRC and LeMans program and could be back in 2013, though a 2012 debut in the WRC is possible.

http://dhd.discovery.com/tv/world-rally-championship/about.html

It looks like HD Theater is going to cover the WRC this year, and the coverage is even better than last year. New for 2011 is the Power Stage which is a stage that is covered live on European TV. Americans will have to watch a tape delayed broadcast, but it's better than nothing. About time HDTheater is covering the WRC.

Thanks for posting the link. Rally Sweden is always my favorite. Watching them tear through the snow is insane!

Still not in HD. The PowerStage for Mexico was obviously in SD. I'm not sure when or if they will go HD. If F1 can go HD, then so can WRC. There are HD cameras that would work well in the WRC.

VW is going to join the WRC in 2013 with a Polo R. So now there will be more manufacturers joining. Renault and Toyota are still thinking about the WRC, though the latter is probably still having to rebuild from the recent tsunami.

http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/web/news/index.php?&flash=ok&lg=e&st=592&
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Official video and Press release.

WRC.com says another manufacturer is thinking about joining the sport. It could very well be Toyota or Renault. Maybe even both, but that is just wishful thinking on my part.

WRC does need to get better camera equipment and start showing real HD coverage. Last I've heard, they are still using disc based cameras. I'm sure the WRC could find a camera system that can allow them to do HD and is SSD based.

Rumor has it that a Canadian WRC event is in the works, and I don't know when it will happen. It's interesting that Canada doesn't even cover WRC on TV and they are getting a WRC round. I guess Canada is less of a liability than sue happy America.

Looks like Velocity will continue to broadcast the WRC.

I think the reason why the WRC isn't in true HD, probably has to do with editing. A guy on the Big Brother thread said it quite well. Then again, you also have time constraints as well. If the Amazing Race can be shown in HD, then the WRC can. For the longest time the WRC was using disc based recording solutions. They did mention a migration over to a flash based system, but I think they should focus on getting native HD and find a way to do it, alongside the live powerstage. Hopefully North One Sport and the FiA finally move the WRC into the HD era like F1.

Gerard Quinn said that the WRC is looking into a US based round, but the locations are a top secret.

It's amazing that the WRC still continues to broadcast in SD, since there are plenty of HD POV cameras that could work for the onboards. Infact, most of them have an input for an intercom. I've seen some Czech Rally onboards on Youtube, and even they can do HD onboard footage with pacenotes. I wonder if there are issues with editing with HD, that could be their hurdle. I'm sure they could do it. WRC uses ENG cameras, but they also use Sony FX1000 cameras for service park footage. I think they might have moved on to HD cameras, but they aren't actually filming it in HD. I think they probably won't go native HD, until they can find an onboard camera that can do HD.

The intercom is probably one of the reasons WRC hasn't gone HD. I'm sure there are reasons for them not being in HD, but who knows for sure.

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This is the type of onboard the WRC should have for next year. I hope they go native HD for Velocity, but that probably won't happen, as they are too cheap to install proper HD cameras.

Rally France is being broadcasted live via IPTV. You'll need to enter in a survey, and they aren't blocking US IP address'.

https://wrcpaywall.appspot.com/static/player.html

If you're running Firefox or Chrome using AdBlock Plus, then you'll need to disable it. Any ad blocker will cause an error message. It's going to be on from 13:00 to 20:00 (8:00 PM) Strasbourg time on Friday, and 12:45 to 19:30 (7:30 PM) on Saturday. If you can try to stay up, then it might be a good idea to watch it live. There might be some technical issues, and it's the first time doing it, so try it.

No word on when or if the WRC will go native HD. WRC doesn't have the best upconverted SD PQ, so you'll have to suffer for a while. WRC uses ENG cameras, though they might be in HD. Last info on their cameras was from 2005, so they might have gone with XDCam HD units. I think it's the onboard cameras that are holding them back.

Enjoy the live coverage people.

Watching the WRC live and it's AWESOME! It will be on tomorrow, though it's on right now on the link I've provided above. This is the official site for Live coverage, so it's not some pirate site.

Live WRC will be on at 3:45 AM PST/6:45 EST till 10:30 AM PST/1:30 PM EST.

PQ for the live coverage was great. On HQ mode, it rivals the highlight broadcasts on HDTheater. This is on a 20.1" 16:10 monitor, so it might be worse on a larger display. I must be the only one to watch some of it live. The timezone difference terrible, but I did get to see some WRC live, and that was awesome! I hope they do more live broadcasts; however, they are considering a pay version of the coverage with premium content.

For a first time live broadcast, WRC did a good job. They could do a little less commentating, but not bad. No coverage for tomorrow :(. It's another way for those without Velocty/HDT to watch the WRC.

There are plans for pay content on the live TV feed. Maybe even make the live footage be a paid service.

Rally GB is on and it looks like a predictable fight. Velocity will air it in a couple of weeks, give or take.

Looks like Loeb is guaranteed his 8th WRC title, since Hirvonen won't be able to restart due to an accident.

Congrats to Loeb for winning his 8th WRC title in a row.

Well the WRC is having some issues with financing as the owner of North One Sport is being wanted by a few authorities in Europe. This means that the WRC needs a new investor. Eurosport and BSkyB are interested in the WRC. If BSkyB buys it then the WRC could be getting real HD coverage; however, this makes any US deal with the WRC rather uncertain. Maybe Speed might get WRC if BSkyB buys it. I'm sure the WRC could go to another network if either Eurosport or BSkyB buy it. It could very well mean the end of Velocity/HDT airing the WRC as we know it. I hope someone carries it, and I really do not want Speed to carry it, as they will mess up the coverage.

here's to a 2012 season televised here in the US.

here's to a 2012 season televised here in the US.

Agreed!

I also recommend the irally app if you have an iOS or android device. It has videos, podcasts, news and more. Best part, it's free.

I also recommend the irally app if you have an iOS or android device. It has videos, podcasts, news and more. Best part, it's free.


Thanks for this. Just received an iPad 2 for Xmas. This will be the first app I'll DL. :D

Next season will start earlier than normal due to the inclusion of the infamous Rally Monte Carlo :). It will be a 5 day rally during the week and will end on a Sunday.

http://planetemarcus.free.fr/montecarlo12.htm

Here is the stage map with Google Earth .kmz file. If you have google earth on your computer/tablet/smartphone you can use this to view the route.

A European TV coverage deal will be announce closer to the Monte. Not sure when the US will get it, but it will likely air after the rally has finished. Live Coverage is a possibility for Europeans and maybe Americans. After all, the live IP feed of Rally France that I posted, did not block the US at all.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96911

It is official, Eurosport is now the new promoter of the WRC. I have no idea who will have the US rights. Speed channel has a good relationship with NOS, but the people who run Speed channel might put it on Speed2 or give us a 1 hour highlights show at best.

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wrc/2012/Pages/wrc-nos-2012.aspx

More info on the Eurosport taking over the WRC. This could be a good thing as the Intercontinental Rally Challenge will merge with ERC and will use the latters name. This could make a nice feeder series into the WRC.

Well WRC is now in native HD if you live in Europe and have access to EuroSport HD; however, no US deal has been made since the EuroSport takeover.

There is a possibility of the WRC not airing on US TV. I think the Discovery deal was with the old promoter (North One Sport), and not the new promoter (Eurosport). I am sure Discovery will air the HD versions of the WRC since Rally Monte Carlo is in HD. Even the onboards and helicopter footage is in HD. WRC is a sport that deserves to be filmed in HD.

WRC is a sport that deserves to be filmed in HD.

and shown live in the US...

oh right... they dont go around in circles... nevermind...

sigh...

Not even the Europeans get live coverage, but highlights on the actual days of the event would be ideal. This promoter fiasco has likely affected any US carriage deal.

HD is Europe only for now.

US coverage for this season does not look like a possibility since talks between FiA and Eurosport have broken down. FiA is now looking into a few interested partners and the FiA will work with another provider to offer coverage of Rally Sweden.

http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wrc/2012/Pages/fia-wrc-2012.aspx

If US coverage does come, it will be delayed and not shown on the days of that event.

Talks with Eurosport broke off and the Rally Sweden organizers have had to scrape through a last minute TV deal, though this could be a good thing as the FiA is looking for a new WRC promoter. This could make US coverage more likely, but I doubt it.