AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Programming › World Rally Championship on Speed HD
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

World Rally Championship on Speed HD

post #1 of 98
10/3/09 at 8:38am
Thread Starter 
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/2009...#ixzz0St4PmpvM

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?des...nk=101&id=5515
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 98
10/3/09 at 9:46am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 98
10/3/09 at 10:47pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 98
10/4/09 at 6:13pm
WRC was what looked like 16:9 SD upscaled to HD. The marathon events were pretty good imo.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 98
11/2/09 at 11:11am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 98
11/2/09 at 9:15pm
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!
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 98
2/2/10 at 8:35pm
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...onship+is+GO!+
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 98
2/3/10 at 9:27am
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...
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 98
2/3/10 at 3:20pm
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
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 98
2/3/10 at 4:07pm
Looks like that is new on the DHD site since I looked a week ago - thanks!
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 98
2/8/10 at 12:23am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 98
2/8/10 at 11:24am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 98
2/26/10 at 2:19pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 98
5/6/10 at 11:48am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 98
7/26/10 at 9:40am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 98
7/26/10 at 10:58pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 98
7/27/10 at 5:00pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 98
7/28/10 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdtvfan2005 View Post

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!
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 98
7/28/10 at 11:40pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 98
7/29/10 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdtvfan2005 View Post

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 just last month...

and while HDT skipped a couple events, i still try to catch when they pop up...
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 98
7/29/10 at 1:00pm
HDTheater doesn't skip events, but they delay it for a very long time.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 98
10/10/10 at 2:10pm
There will be a WRC related announcement at Sportel 2010 in Monaco, and thats coming up shortly.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 98
11/13/10 at 11:54pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 98
11/13/10 at 11:56pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 98
11/14/10 at 4:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdtvfan2005 View Post

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.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 98
11/14/10 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ti-triodes View Post

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.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 98
11/14/10 at 5:46pm
VW might join in 2012, but it could be 2013 or even 2014. It all depends on when they will do it.
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 98
11/15/10 at 11:50am
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.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 98
11/16/10 at 4:22pm
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.
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 98
11/16/10 at 8:03pm
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.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: HDTV Programming

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Programming › World Rally Championship on Speed HD