World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (WRC) is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver’s world championship and manufacturer’s world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13 three-day events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is split into 15-25 special stages which are run against the clock on closed roads. The sport’s commercial rights are administered by International Sportsworld Communicators, who also produce the daily event highlights shown in 186 countries.
The WRC was formed from well-known and popular international rallies, most of which had previously been part of the European Rally Championship and/or the International Championship for Manufacturers, and the series was first contested in 1973. The World Rally Car is the current car specification in the series. It evolved from Group A cars which replaced the banned Group B supercars for example the Audi Quattro. World Rally Cars are built on production two-litre four-cylinder cars, but feature turbochargers, anti-lag systems, four-wheel-drive, sequential gearboxes (paddle shift), aerodynamic parts and other enhancements bringing the price of a WRC car to around US$1 million (€700,000)around £500000 .
The WRC features three support championships, the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC), the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC), and the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with different regulations. The production car, super 2000 and junior entrants race through the stages after the WRC drivers.
History
Early
Group 4 Lancia Stratos HF.
The World Rally Championship was formed from well-known international rallies, nine of which were previously part of the International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC), which was contested from 1970 to 1972. The 1973 World Rally Championship season was the inaugural season of the WRC and began with the 42ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo on January 19.
Alpine-Renault won the first manufacturer’s world championship with its Alpine A110, after which Lancia took the title three years in a row with the Ferrari V6-powered Lancia Stratos, the first car designed and manufactured specifically for rallying. The first drivers’ world championship was not awarded until 1979, although 1977 and 1978 seasons included an FIA Cup for Drivers, won by Italy’s Sandro Munari and Finland’s Markku Alén respectively. Sweden’s Björn Waldegård became the first official world champion, edging out Finland’s Hannu Mikkola by one point. Fiat took the manufacters’ title with the Fiat 131 Abarth in 1977, 1978 and 1980, Ford with its Escort RS1800 in 1979 and Talbot with its Sunbeam Lotus in 1981. Waldegård was followed by German Walter Röhrl and Finn Ari Vatanen as drivers’ world champions.
Group B era
Group B Audi Quattro S1.
The 1980s saw the rear-wheel-drive Group 2 and the more popular Group 4 cars be replaced by more powerful four-wheel-drive Group B cars. FISA legalized all-wheel-drive in 1979, but most manufacturers believed it was too complex to be successful. However, after Audi started entering Mikkola and the new four-wheel-drive Quattro in rallies for testing purposes with immediate success, other manufacturers started their all-wheel-drive projects. Group B regulations were introduced in the 1982 season, and with only a few restrictions allowed almost unlimited power. Audi took the constructors’ title in 1982 and 1984 and drivers’ title in 1983 (Mikkola) and 1984 (Stig Blomqvist). Audi’s French female driver Michèle Mouton came close to winning the title in 1982, but had to settle for second place after Opel rival Röhrl. 1985 title seemed set to go to Vatanen and his Peugeot 205 T16 but a bad accident at the Rally Argentina left him to watch compatriot and team-mate Timo Salonen take the title instead. Italian Attilio Bettega had even a more severe crash with his Lancia 037 at the Tour de Corse and died instantly.
Group B Peugeot 205 Turbo 16.
The 1986 season started with impressive performances by Finns Henri Toivonen and Alén in Lancia’s new turbo- and supercharged Delta S4, which could reportedly accelerate from 0-60 mph (96 km/h) in 2.3 seconds, on a gravel road.[2] However, the season soon took a dramatic turn. At the Rally Portugal, three spectators were killed and over 30 injured after Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200. At the Tour de Corse, championship favourite Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in a fireball accident after plunging down a cliff. Only hours after the crash, Jean-Marie Balestre and the FISA decided to freeze the development of the Group B cars and ban them from competing in 1987. More controversy followed when Peugeot’s Juha Kankkunen won the title after FIA annulled the results of the San Remo Rally, taking the title from fellow Finn Alén.
Group A era
Group A Toyota Celica GT-Four.
As the planned Group S was also cancelled, Group A regulations became the standard in the WRC until 1997. A separate Group A championship had been organized as part of the WRC already in 1986, with Sweden’s Kenneth Eriksson taking the title with a Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V.[3] Lancia was quickest in adapting to the new regulations and controlled the world rally scene with Lancia Delta Integrale, winning the constructors’ title six years in a row from 1987 to 1992. Kankkunen and Miki Biasion both took two drivers’ titles with the Integrale.
The 1990s then saw the Japanese manufacturers, Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi, become title favourites. Spain’s Carlos Sainz driving for Toyota Team Europe took the 1990 and 1992 titles with a Toyota Celica GT-Four. Kankkunen moved to Toyota for the 1993 season and won his record fourth title, with Toyota taking its first manufacturers’ crown. Frenchman Didier Auriol brought the team further success in 1994, and soon Subaru and Mitsubishi continued the success of the Japanese constructors. Subaru’s Scotsman Colin McRae won the drivers’ world championship in 1995 and Subaru took the manufacturers’ title three years in a row. Finland’s Tommi Mäkinen driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution won the drivers’ championship four times in a row, from 1996 to 1999. Mitsubishi also won the manufacturers’ title in 1998.
World Rally Car era
Peugeot 307 WRC and Ford Focus WRC on a road section during the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.
For the 1997 season, the World Rally Car regulations were introduced as an intended replacement for Group A (only successive works Mitsubishis still conforming to the latter formula; until they, too, homologated a Lancer Evolution WRC from the 2001 San Remo Rally). After the success of Mäkinen and the Japanese manufacturers, France’s Peugeot made a very successful return to the World Rally Championship. Finn Marcus Grönholm took the drivers’ title in his first full year in the series and Peugeot won the manufacturers’ crown. England’s Richard Burns won the 2001 title with a Subaru Impreza WRC, but Grönholm and Peugeot took back both titles in the 2002 season. 2003 saw Norway’s Petter Solberg become drivers’ champion for Subaru and Citroën continue the success of the French manufacturers. Citroën’s Sébastien Loeb went on to control the following seasons with his Citroën Xsara WRC. Citroën took the constructors’ title three times in a row and Loeb surpassed Mäkinen’s record of four drivers’ titles earning his fifth with the 2008 season win. After many titleless years at the top with their Ford Focus WRC, Ford took the 2006 and 2007 manufacturers’ titles with drivers Marcus Grönholm and Mikko Hirvonen.
Structure
Škoda preparing their cars a day before the shakedown.
Each season normally consists of 13 rallies driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Points from these events are calculated towards the drivers’ and manufacturers’ world championships. The driver’s championship and manufacturer’s championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. This means, for example, that Petter Solberg driving for Subaru can win the driver’s championship but Citroën can win the manufacturer’s championship, which is what happened in 2003, and again in 2006 and 2007 when Sébastien Loeb took his third and fourth WRC titles but Ford won the manufacturer’s championship. In the current points system, points are awarded at the end of each rally to the top ten WRC (overall), junior, production car and super 2000 drivers that qualify as follows: 1st: 25 points, 2nd: 18 points, 3rd: 15 points, 4th: 12 points, 5th: 10 points, 6th: 8 points, 7th: 6 points, 8th: 4 points, 9th: 2 points , 10th: 1 point. Despite how many drivers are in one team, constructors can only nominate two drivers to score points for the team as well as scoring for themselves. As only nominated drivers are counted while awarding points, even competitors placed further down than tenth overall (if preceded by privateer drivers) can score them.
A stadium-based super special stage in Argentina.
In the current era, each rally usually consists of 15-35 special stages of distances ranging from under 2 km (1.24 mi) (super specials) to over 50 kilometers (31 mi). These competitive stages driven on closed roads are linked by non-competitive road sections which are on open roads on which all road laws of that country must be adhered to. On average a day consists of a total of 400 kilometers (249 mi) of driving.[5] A WRC event begins with reconnaissance (recce) on Tuesday and Wednesday, allowing crews to drive through the stages and create or update their pacenotes. On Thursday, teams can run through the shakedown stage to practice and test their set-ups. The competition begins on Friday and ends on Sunday. Cars start the stages at one or two minute intervals. Each day, or leg, has a few designated service parks between the stages, where the teams can – within strict time limits – perform maintenance and repairs on their cars. The service park also allows spectators and the media to get close to the teams and their cars and drivers. Between the days, after a 45-minute end of day service, cars are locked away in the guarded parc fermé.
Cars
Andy Priaulx driving a Ford Focus WRC at the 2007 Race of Champions.
The production-based 2.0 L turbocharged four-wheel drive cars are built to World Rally Car regulations racing across tarmac, gravel and snow. The power output has been limited to around 300 bhp (225 kW). Current cars in the championship include the Citroën C4 and Ford Focus RS. Citroën, Peugeot, Škoda and Mitsubishi pulled out of the championship for 2006 and those cars, although in use by privateers, are not in further development. Citroën returned to WRC in 2007 using the C4. The Suzuki World Rally Team joined the 2008 championship for the first time with their SX4 but they have pulled out of the 2009 championship together with Subaru because of the economic downturn currently affecting the automotive industry.
The WRC was formerly held for Group A and Group B rallycars. However, due to the increasing power, lack of reliability and the fatal accidents on the 1986 season, Group B was permanently banned. Later, in 1997, the Group A cars evolved into the WRC car spec, to ease the development of new cars and bring new makes to the competition.
Cars in the Production car World Rally Championship are limited to production-based cars homologated under Group N rules. Cars in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship are homologated under Super 2000 rules. Most cars in the Junior World Rally Championship are homologated under Super 1600 rules, but Group N and selected Group A cars can also contest the series.
Teams and drivers
- See 2010 WRC season for a list of the teams and drivers.
Ford’s Marcus Grönholm at the Bunnings Jumps of the 2006 Rally Australia.
Marcus Grönholm at the 2001 Rally Finland.
20 different manufacturers have won a World Rally Championship event,and a further ten have finished on the podium.
Suzuki and Subaru pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2008 championship, both citing the economic downturn currently affecting the automotive industry for their withdrawal.
A typical WRC team will consist of about 40 people on the events, with a further 60-100 at the team base.
Manufacturers and manufacturer-backed teams usually have two or three drivers participating in each rally and eligible to score points. The total number of crews (driver and his co-driver) in the rallies varied from 47 (Monte Carlo and Mexico) to 108 (Great Britain) during the 2007 season.
Rallies
See 2010 WRC season for a list of rallies.
Coverage
TV
A cameraman at a hairpin turn at the 2007 Rallye Deutschland.
ISC TV produce daily updates of each event after the day’s stages have finished and the TV coverage has been processed. These daily highlight programs are around 30 minutes in duration and cover in depth the day’s stages, with in-car footage as well as driver interviews. Before the rally there is also a Rally Preview that normally incorporates special driver, technical and team features as well as providing an overview of the upcoming rally’s route. There is also a review program, which lasts approximately an hour, that summarises the rally and the big events that took place during the duration; the stages are not in such detail as the daily updates as it is a review program.
The service park area during the 2006 Rally Finland.
This is then shown in 186 different countries in multiple languages, each day of the event. The make up and format for the telecast can change from country to country depending on the local broadcaster but it all uses ISC TV feeds. ISC TV also provides coverage of all of the events in the Junior World Rally Championship and the Production World Rally Championship in a 26-minute highlights package.
Also produced after each event is the lifestyle entertainment programme called WRC All Access, focused on a behind the scenes experience of WRC life, both on and off the road. These programmes focus on all elements of each country visited including culture, food, people, attractions as well as the WRC event itself. Rally World, a weekly rally programme reviews events from all around the planet, including the WRC, the PWRC, the JWRC as well as Asia Pacific Rally Championship, the Australian Rally Championship and the Middle East Rally Championship among others.
In the United Kingdom, coverage of the three-day event is shown on Dave on Sundays after the event is completed. Dave also shows different programmes on rallying – for example about WRC cars or crashes – before showing coverage of the event.
During the 2007 season, the cumulative worldwide TV audience for ISC’s WRC programming was 816 million. The programming was available in over 180 countries, and was broadcast on over 250 different TV channels. The total number of dedicated broadcasts was 12,445, and the total number of hours of coverage was 5,457.[10]
Radio
Live radio coverage is provided in English by World Rally Radio via the Internet, featuring end of stage reports direct from the drivers and teams plus service park news. It also features contemporary music during breaks in rally coverage. This coverage can even simulcast on local radio or via a temporary licence, pending on the event and its organisers. They are also responsible for producing podcasts for each day of each event available for download.
Champions
Petter Solberg at the 2006 Cyprus Rally.
Sébastien Loeb during the Rally Catalunya 2008.
| Season | Championship for Drivers | Championship for Manufacturers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Car | Manufacturer | Car | ||
| 2009 |  Sébastien Loeb |
Citroën C4 WRC | Citroën |
Citroën C4 WRC | |
| 2008 | Sébastien Loeb |
Citroën C4 WRC | Citroën |
Citroën C4 WRC | |
| 2007 | Sébastien Loeb |
Citroën C4 WRC |  Ford |
Ford Focus WRC | |
| 2006 | Sébastien Loeb |
Citroën Xsara WRC | Ford |
Ford Focus WRC | |
| 2005 | Sébastien Loeb |
Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën |
Citroën Xsara WRC | |
| 2004 | Sébastien Loeb |
Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën |
Citroën Xsara WRC | |
| 2003 |  Petter Solberg |
Subaru Impreza WRC | Citroën |
Citroën Xsara WRC | |
| 2002 |  Marcus Grönholm |
Peugeot 206 WRC | Peugeot |
Peugeot 206 WRC | |
| 2001 |  Richard Burns |
Subaru Impreza WRC | Peugeot |
Peugeot 206 WRC | |
| 2000 | Marcus Grönholm |
Peugeot 206 WRC | Peugeot |
Peugeot 206 WRC | |
| 1999 | Tommi Mäkinen |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |  Toyota |
Toyota Corolla WRC | |
| 1998 | Tommi Mäkinen |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | Mitsubishi |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | |
| 1997 | Tommi Mäkinen |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | Subaru |
Subaru Impreza WRC | |
| 1996 | Tommi Mäkinen |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution | Subaru |
Subaru Impreza 555 | |
| 1995 | Colin McRae |
Subaru Impreza 555 | Subaru |
Subaru Impreza 555 | |
| 1994 | Didier Auriol |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | Toyota |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | |
| 1993 | Juha Kankkunen |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | Toyota |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | |
| 1992 |  Carlos Sainz |
Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD |  Lancia |
Lancia Delta HF Integrale | |
| 1991 | Juha Kankkunen |
Lancia Delta Integrale 16V | Lancia |
Lancia Delta Integrale 16V | |
| 1990 | Carlos Sainz |
Toyota Celica GT-Four | Lancia |
Lancia Delta Integrale 16V | |
| 1989 | Miki Biasion |
Lancia Delta Integrale | Lancia |
Lancia Delta Integrale | |
| 1988 | Miki Biasion |
Lancia Delta Integrale | Lancia |
Lancia Delta Integrale | |
| 1987 | Juha Kankkunen |
Lancia Delta HF 4WD | Lancia |
Lancia Delta HF 4WD | |
| 1986 | Juha Kankkunen |
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot |
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | |
| 1985 | Timo Salonen |
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | Peugeot |
Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 | |
| 1984 |  Stig Blomqvist |
Audi Quattro |  Audi |
Audi Quattro | |
| 1983 | Hannu Mikkola |
Audi Quattro | Lancia |
Lancia Rally 037 | |
| 1982 | Walter Röhrl |
Opel Ascona 400 | Audi |
Audi Quattro | |
| 1981 | Ari Vatanen |
Ford Escort RS1800 | Talbot |
Talbot Sunbeam Lotus | |
| 1980 | Walter Röhrl |
Fiat 131 Abarth | Fiat |
Fiat 131 Abarth | |
| 1979 | Björn Waldegård |
Ford Escort RS1800* | Ford |
Ford Escort RS1800 | |
| 1978 | Markku Alén*** |
Fiat 131 Abarth** | Fiat |
Fiat 131 Abarth | |
| 1977 | Sandro Munari*** |
Lancia Stratos HF | Fiat |
Fiat 131 Abarth | |
| 1976 | No drivers’ championship | Lancia |
Lancia Stratos HF | ||
| 1975 | No drivers’ championship | Lancia |
Lancia Stratos HF | ||
| 1974 | No drivers’ championship | Lancia |
Lancia Stratos HF | ||
| 1973 | No drivers’ championship | Alpine-Renault |
Alpine A110 | ||
| * – Björn Waldegård drove a Mercedes 450 SLC in two rallies in 1979 | |||||
| ** – Markku Alén drove a Lancia Stratos HF in two rallies in 1978 | |||||
| *** – In 1977 and 1978, the drivers championship was the FIA Cup for Rally Drivers | |||||
| No drivers title 1973-1976 | |||||
Other classes
A Super 1600 class Renault Clio.
Fiat Grande Punto Abarth S2000.
The World Rally Championship also features support championships called the Production car World Rally Championship (PWRC), the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC) and the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC). These championships are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC. In 2008, The PWRC includes eight and the JWRC seven events. In 2007, the junior championship had no events outside Europe so it was known simply as the Junior Rally Championship (JRC).
The Production car World Rally Championship (P-WRC)began in 2002, replacing the FIA Group N Cup which had been contested from 1987. Cars in the championship are production-based and homologated under Group N rules.
The Junior World Rally Championship (J-WRC) was started in 2001, and can be contested with Super 1600, Group N and selected Group A cars. Drivers in the championship have to be 28 years or younger. There is no age limit for co-drivers.
The Super 2000 World Rally Championship (S-WRC) was started in 2010. Within the Super 2000 category are competitions for drivers (known as the S-WRC) and another for teams (the World Rally Championship Cup). The cars in the championship are under the Super 2000 rules.
Video games
There have been many video games based on the World Rally Championship, and due to lack of licenses, many more based on only certain cars, drivers or events. Sega Rally was released in 1995, V-Rally and Top Gear Rally in 1997 and the first game in the very popular Colin McRae Rally series in 1998. Rally Trophy, released in 2001 for Microsoft Windows by Bugbear, concentrated on historic cars such as Alpine A110 and Lancia Stratos. RalliSport Challenge, released in 2002 for Windows and Xbox by Digital Illusions CE, featured classic Group B cars and hillclimb models along with modern WRC cars.
Fully FIA licensed WRC: World Rally Championship was released in 2001 for PlayStation 2 by Evolution Studios. The video game series had its fifth game, WRC: Rally Evolved, in 2005. Racing simulator Richard Burns Rally, released in 2004 for several platforms, has gathered recognition for its realism. Recent top-selling games include Colin McRae: Dirt and Sega Rally Revo. Gran Turismo 5 will include the WRC totally licensed. Black Bean Games announced work on a WRC licensed title, which is set for release during September 2010. They are also working with iOpener Media to allow players to race against real WRC drivers in real time.
WRC: FIA World Rally Championship Review
Sony’s World Rally Championship franchise has been a big hit in Europe for years now. In fact, many would tell you that it’s better than even Codemasters’ famed Colin McRae series. However, in North America, our exposure to World Rally Championship has been minimal, at best. We haven’t seen one of the games since 2002′s World Rally Championship for the PlayStation 2–at least until now. WRC: FIA World Rally Championship is a PlayStation Portable port of the latest PS2 game released in Europe, though since we American types don’t get the PS2 games over here, odds are you’re looking at WRC as the first rally racer to hit the PSP in North America. On that merit, WRC is a success. It’s got lots of tracks, several popular rally car types, and some really excellent visuals. Sadly, its multiplayer support is almost nonexistent, and a few gameplay quirks conspire to make the driving less fun than it could have been. Still, WRC is a good, solid first try at bringing the sport of rally racing to the PSP system, even if it doesn’t quite nail every component.
The rundown of included features in WRC lists six major rally car brands, including the Subaru Impreza WRC 2005, Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05, Citroen Xsara WRC, and Ford Focus RS WRC. There are also multiple unlockable upgraded versions of all six cars that can be earned over the course of the game’s career mode. Included in the career mode are 64 individual races spread across 16 country-specific rallies. You’ll tour Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Australia, Japan, Finland, and more. While that might sound like a huge amount of content, you won’t get access to a lot of these races until you unlock the higher difficulty settings. Playing the game on novice nets you only two races per country, so you effectively get only half the full career. But believe us when we say you’ll want to start out playing on novice.
This is because WRC is, at its easiest, challenging, and at its hardest, punishing. Part of this has to do with the times set for each rally goal. As any rally racing fan will tell you, all traditional rally races are timed, single-car runs, and the times set to win some of these courses borders on unreasonable. However, they wouldn’t seem so unreasonable if the game simply controlled better. If you plan on winning a race in WRC, use the D pad to steer your car. The analog sensitivity in the game is so overwrought that it borders on broken. If you turn a half-centimeter too far in any direction, your car will slide like an OutRun car dunked in Crisco. You might be able to get a handle on the analog control for general use, but the second any major hairpin turn comes along, you’re in trouble. The D pad control, thankfully, is mostly good. It’s a little undersensitive, if anything, but it does away with the majority of the slipping and sliding and lets you get a proper grip on most turns–provided you brake early enough. The brakes in the game never feel good enough to stop you if you’re anything less than perfectly diligent in figuring out the timing to take a turn properly. Overshoot a turn by any measurement, and you’ll find yourself in the dirt.
Idiotic difficulty and control wonkiness aside, WRC is a fun game to play. Once you get some practice with the driving controls, you’ll get used to some of the game’s foibles and simply enjoy the act of rally racing on your PSP. The tracks are nicely laid out with plenty of challenging obstacles to avoid, and the car physics–while a little on the arcade-inspired side–are pretty impressive for what’s been seen from driving games on the PSP thus far. Some people might take issue with the fact that the game includes no options for manual transmission or any kind of damage effects that hinder your ability to drive the car the more you wreck. But considering how hard the game already is, and that WRC doesn’t seem specifically aimed at being a seriously simulation-based racer, there’s more than enough challenge to wrestle with, without all those hardcore sim elements making things even more convoluted.
There’s also lots of content to race through. The career mode will take you a good long while to get through, but there are also plenty of individual rally and race modes to mess with if you’re looking for a quick race or two on the go. The game loads quickly between races, so you won’t find yourself waiting around endlessly for tracks to load. WRC also includes multiplayer functionality, but like in most rally games, it’s pretty worthless. The only head-to-head ad hoc mode is a simple time trial race where you race against a ghost car outline of your opponent’s car. The rest of the modes–which include full rallies and even a version of the career mode–are all turn-based on a single PSP. These modes aren’t broken or bad, but they don’t lend themselves to a particularly thrilling multiplayer experience. Then again, maybe it’s asking too much for a developer to come up with a great multiplayer variation of a traditionally single-car sport.
WRC’s best feature is its graphics. There are lots of pretty-looking PSP driving games out there that do flashier things than WRC, but this game nails a lot of the rally aesthetics exceedingly well. The race courses feature varied forms of terrain and weather effects, and no matter what you’re driving through, the frame rate keeps steady at around 30 frames per second at all times. The car models are detailed and include more than just your average range of damage modeling. Bumpers don’t just come off–they bend and twist depending on what you run into and where. Mud cakes over the attractive paint jobs of the cars over time, windshields crack, and dents will appear all over the place. The cars also have a natural movement that isn’t completely realistic but looks really nice as you’re driving along, taking big jumps and sliding around big turns. You might run into an occasional collision glitch with pieces of the scenery, but those problems aside, this is a wonderful-looking game.
The audio is considerably less impressive. The in-race sounds aren’t the problem–the racing sound effects are all very good, and the copilot dialogue, while a little robotic, is nicely informative. It’s the soundtrack that drags things down. The songs themselves are fine, including tracks by popular artists like Franz Ferdinand and The Walkmen. The trouble is that there are only six songs on the soundtrack, and they don’t even play at random. You have to go into the options menu any time you want new music to play and switch the songs manually. Otherwise, the same song will play endlessly during races. There’s no point in having a licensed soundtrack if it’s going to be so limited in scope and set up in such a moronic way. At least there’s an option to turn the music off.
WRC: FIA World Rally Championship is a thoroughly imperfect racer, but it’s a good first effort at bringing the WRC series to the PSP. The flaws in the controls are impossible to ignore, and the overwrought difficulty is going to turn a lot of casual players off (and hardcore players might be irritated at some of the game’s arcade-in-lieu-of-simulation inspirations). But with its superb visual presentation, wealth of courses, and genuinely fun (if flawed) driving, WRC: FIA World Rally Championship is a game that rally racing fans ought to take a look at.
Rally Driving
Ever wondered what it would be like to go rally driving? Fancy yourself as the next Colin Macrae? Lots of people fantasise about having ago but don’t know where to start and don’t realise they can just go and have ago for a great day out or you can very easily take it up as a hobby but you do need to get a rally driver licence.
There are many rally schools in the United Kingdom but only a few of them are acredited by The Motor Sports Association so before you book to go to any one of them make Sure that they are a member of the British Association Of Rally Schools. This will ensure that you are going somewhere that will give you a great day and superb training and that you will be doing authentic rally driving in the true sense of the word!
Silverstone Rally School is acredited by The Motorsports Association and was actually the first Rally School in the world. They offer a number of courses on there website from a half day to a full day and both of these courses will give you agreat insight into rally driving where you will be taught how to do handbrake turns and Scandanavian flicks and skid pan work. You will find the time there will fill you with adrenaline when you get the car going side ways and you will find that you will of had a great day out, but come away very informed about how to rally drive. For those who want to take it a little more seriously they offer one on one training in the form of a Rally Solo. This type of one one on training will really bring your skills on very quickly.
A top tip to make sure you have a great day out and some quality training is to spend more time looking for a quality school than being fixated about the type of rally car you will be driving. Because of the WRC many people get fixated about wanting to take their first taste of rally driving in a Subaru. Remember the rally drivers you see driving these cars on TV have had many years of training and a Subaru is a car that you would need to know advanced driving techniques to be able to get such a fierce car under control and sideways for rally driving. You would be far better to take your first taste in a rear wheel drive car like a Ford Escort MK2 where you will be able to pick up the techniques required far more easily and get the car sideways on your first visit rather than choosing a Subaru and coming away feeling disappointed. The Subaru is something you can aspire to as you develop your new found skills!!!
If you want to take up rally driving as a hobby you need to take the BARs test (British Association Of Rally Schools test). The first thing you need to do is get a Go Rally Pack from the www.msa.org. You then need to study the rally driving section and watch the dvd that comes with the pack. Once you have read this you can contact Silverstone Rally School or any of the other BARS schools to take your test. The test is a small driving test and a written test and all the information to answer the questions in the test are in your go rally pack.
Once you have past the test you can apply for your rally driver licence and once you have this and have bought a car you can start rally driving. You will need to join a local rally driving club and can find events to do on the internet.
Before you go out on your first rally though I would suggest that you invest in some one on one rally driver training which will stand you in very good stead to make you safe and do well in your future hobby.
or further information visit www.silverstonerally.co.uk
Junior Rally Driving
Are you looking for a unique gift for your grown up kid? Numerous gift ideas are available in the market that is fabulous and exquisite. But if your kid has a craze about sports cars then junior rally driving is perfect gift for him. This driving experience is full of fun and excitement that will last for ever.
Junior rally driving is a great opportunity for the kids to experience the driving of some sportive cars. All rally driving experience starts with an introduction about the car and the activity. A professional rally driver will provide information pertaining to what techniques are used in rally driving. Participants are also enriched with details why the methods are used and how they can perform them. Thus, the instructor gives the participants the basic knowledge of what to be done behind the wheels.
The experience of junior rally driving is lifetime. Participants get the opportunity to drive some classy and fast sports cars that can be spotted in magazines or in TV. Rally junior driving is a secured and safe driving experience for kids and all rally cars are built to competition specification and are maintained to the highest standard. Throughout this experience the instructors act as participant’s co-driver and guide around the stage, teaching driving technique such as handbrake turns, opposite lock power slides. Junior rally driving experience is made available for a specific session or time period. Many driving sessions are available on selected days (Saturday or Sunday).
The junior rally driving are available to children over 4ft 10 (148cm) and over 12 years of age. On the other hand, for passenger rides the minimum height of the participant should be 4ft5 (135cm). Prior to the junior courses (additional terms and conditions) all parents have to sign an indemnity form on behalf of the child. This rally driving for junior is also an ideal gift to amuse your kids on his birthdays or to inspire them.
Rally Driving Experiences
Drive a Rally Car plus a Ferrari (1022235)
Experience Listing
Normal Price: £189
Experience ID
Subaru Impreza WRX or a Mitsubishi EVO and a Ferrari Experience
Encounter the excitement of rally driving and the flair of Ferrari driving – a irresistible combination
This is two wonderful driving experiences in one package deal! Have fun with the style and flair of an all time classic supercar before undertaking powerslides, handbrake turns and figures of eight in a rally driving experience.
Agenda
At the finish of the day you will be provided with a certificate. This experience lasts up to two hours.
Philip Hancock, Staffordshire
I had a very excellent day, I wish it was for a longer time! The entire event was properly designed and we were well looked after by the staff. I would love to go again and I have already recommended this to a number of of my friends and family.
Les Webb, Cheshire
This was a great leaving gift, I had a brilliant day. There were no restrictions, and I just kept going faster! I would love the opportunity to do this again.
Ferrari 360 plus a Ford Focus Rally Car Expreience (AOARR)
Experience Listing
Normal Price:
£199
Experience Provider:
Experience ID
Drive 6 miles in a Ferrari 360, then 15 minutes in a Rally Ford Focus
A truly sensational formula – the hair-raising buzz of rally driving, twinned with the tasteful pizzazz of a Ferrari. Two awesome and totally different driving experiences in a single bundle. Next your instructor will drive you around the circuit in a sports saloon for five minutes of familiarisation laps to illustrate the racing lines. Then you’ll take the driving seat of the fantastic 183mph, 400 bhp, 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds Ferrari 360. Enjoy the moment as you go all-around Rockingham in one of Maranello’s breathtaking beauties. You’ll just about have time to get your breath back before pushing your driving skills to the limit in a rally prepared Ford Focus. Finish with question and answer session and a certificate presentation.
Fantastic memorable day
Group N Rally Car and 4 other Supercar Experience (1022395)
Experience Listing
Normal Price:
Location(s):
Experience Provider:
Buy a Gift
Experience ID
Drive a Group N rally car, Porsche 911 Turbo, Ferrari 430, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and the Lamborghini Gallardo.
The Ultimate Track Day combines the speed of classic supercars with the raw thrill of a rally drive
Enjoy the ferocious Ferrari 430 and Lamborghini Gallardo, prior to driving the Porsche 911 and an Aston Martin V8 Vanquish. The pace of the day will adjust completely as you feel the joy of rallying behind the wheel of a Group N Rally car. Whichever you favor, this exciting whole day experience shows both sides of performance motoring.
Justin Nightingale, Mansfield
Those cars just handle unbelievably and are so much quicker than you might think.
There were 11 of us in total for the entire day.
Drive a Rally Car (1028109)
Experience ID
1028109
This course will go ahead in any weather. At the Kenilworth location the experience takes place on a tarmac track.
Roy Mason,
Everything about this experience was really good. The cars, the instructors, the speed, everything was perfect. I would love the chance to do this again and I have already recommended it to lots of my friends.
Paul Murray,
The rally driving taster experience is a must try experience in my opinion.
Marie Tudor, UK
The best thing about this particular company was that you got to drive not just one car, but 3 cars in total: Peugeot 106 / BMW (3 series) / Subaru Impreza. They also like to get you in the cars pretty much straight away and learn everything while you’re driving them, rather than spending most of your time talking in a classroom. … I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and would absolutely love to do it again!!!! The instructors were very friendly and I would recommend them to other rally adrenalin junkies! My favourite car was the Subaru Impreza – just hearing the power in the engine was sooooo exciting!!
Notes
Your voucher is valid for 10 months.. At the Oxfordshire location a maximum of 2 spectators per driver are permitted; spectators must be aged 11 years or over and those aged 11-16 years must be accompanied by a spectating adult- (additional spectators maybe pre-booked subject to availability and a small charge).| You are advised to wear comfortable clothing and soft soled shoes. Maximum height is 6’4” (6’6” at the Oxfordshire location), minimum height is 5’0”. Due to the nature of this experience pets are not allowed. Should you arrive late and miss the safety briefing you may not be permitted to drive.
Drive a Rally Car (1028101)
Experience ID
108101
Enjoy an unforgettable thrill with this action-packed rally driving experience
As a guide your experience will include:
* An instructor driven course familiarisation lap to show you how it should be done.
* Taking to the wheel for hands on driving to put what you have learned into practice.
* A de-brief and certificate presentation.
* As a guide you can expect to spend around two hours at the venue.
Getting to fling a rally car around a rally course is nothing less than pure exhileration and would recommend that any rally fans try to experience this day. The pasenger ride at the end really gives you an idea of what the cars are capable of.
James Greene, Nottingham
I am a big rally fan and had often wondered what it would be like to get to drive around a rally course and this day certainly gave me that chance as I slid and wheel spun around the track. An excellent day with great staff.
What a hoot! Some of the best fun you can have on four wheels. Great instructors and well organised. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rally Driving Experience
Rally fans are often ridiculed as a bit sad, after all who in their right mind wants to get up at the crack of dawn and stand outside all day ankle deep in Welsh Snow in February to watch two blokes in a car scream inches past them in the pitch black at eighty miles an hour?
Well now there is a better ( and much warmer ) way of getting the full Rally Driving Experience without having your mates thinking you are a bit weird , be the Driver!. Until now the nearest you could get to actually doing the driving was a bit of Colin McRae of the Playstation or those neat Sega Rally games at the arcade , but all of that about to change with some UK Rally Clubs opening their doors to show you how.
They have great Qualified teachers who will show you all the correct ( and safest ) techniques in handling you very own Rally Car before taking you out on the dirt for a once in a lifetime driving experience to beat all. The whole day will fly by culminating it with your very own rally drive through the woods, skidding around corners and catching air leaping over the camel humps. Prices are less than you think and if you are looking for the perfect gift ideas for the rally enthusiast in your life then you wont go far wrong with this..
What’s Driving Gold and Gold Stocks (Part One)
What’s Driving Gold and Gold Stocks (Part One)
Justice Litle, Editorial Director, Taipan Publishing Group
Gold and gold stocks have been hit hard in recent days. In part one we examine the reasons as to why, and in part two cover why gold stocks could be one of the biggest trades of 2009.
Gold and gold stocks have been hammered as of late. The yellow metal took a header on Monday, with the futures closing right on the 200-day exponential moving average. If that support doesn’t hold today (Tuesday), gold may even be trading lower by the time you read this.
So what’s going on exactly?
There are a few factors at work at here. To skip ahead a bit, there is still strong reason to believe gold stocks could be one of the best trades of the year – but in the short run, the environment for gold looks challenging.
The IMF Bogey
One old bogey that has come out of the woodwork is the prospect of IMF gold sales. At the recent meeting of the G20 in London, there was general agreement that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) should sell just over 403 tons of gold to free up cash for loans to poor countries.
Yawn…. the “IMF to Sell Gold” headline makes for much better press than the actual details.
For one thing, 403 tons of gold is just not that much. We’re talking roughly $11 billion worth at today’s prices. That’s a drop in the bucket, especially compared to China’s roughly $2 trillion pile of reserves… less than one percent of which are held in gold.
(For more detail on the relatively tiny gold holdings of many of the world’s central banks, see the Feb. 24 Taipan Daily piece “Why the IMF and Fort Knox Won’t Put the Hurt on Gold.”)
For another thing, the prospect of IMF sales is not new. The IMF has actually been trying to sell gold for more than two years. Part of why it hasn’t been able to do so is because authorizing the sales requires an 85% majority vote from the IMF’s 185 member countries.
On top of that 85% hurdle, the United States basically holds veto power over any IMF gold sales measure (because America’s proportional voting rights are so large). In that regard, the U.S. government has informed the IMF that, by order of law, authorization from Congress is required for any gold sale to go ahead. (Can you imagine Turbo Timmy making that request, to this Congress, in this climate? Ron Paul would have a field day.)
So any approved IMF gold sale would be small, in quantities easily absorbed by countries like Russia or China (who have openly stated a distaste for their overlarge dollar holdings). Any sale would further require 85% approval, plus approval from the United States Congress… and last but not least such sales, if they happened, would probably be disbursed over many years. The remaining 3,200 tons of gold the IMF holds represent quota requirements from member countries and cannot legally be sold.
But, still, gold has been sinking like a stone. What else could be the problem?
Ready to Scrap
Another factor hurting gold in the short term is “gold scrap,” or scrap sales. Private holders of jewelry and trinkets, particularly in Turkey, the Middle East and Asia, have been stepping up and selling their scrap gold.
India, the “world’s largest gold buyer by a wide margin,” has even stopped importing “for the first time in 10 years,” the Financial Times reports. In February and March India saw zero gold imports, while January imports came in light. Vietnam and Thailand, normally reliable buyers of gold, have also been selling. Stepped-up scrap sales have even put Asia scrap sales at a discount to the standard London quote.
It’s important to point out that many of these scrap sales are driven by distress more than any sense of market timing. Unemployment woes and rising food costs have forced hard-up Asian families to dip into their emergency stashes. Traders have further noted that these scrap sales seem sensitive to price. As the gold price per ounce fell towards $900 and below, scrap sales volume saw a clear decline.
Mark-to-Whatever
Yet another factor weighing on gold has been the suspension of “mark-to-market” accounting rules.
Last week America’s FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) bowed to pressure from Wall Street and loosened up mark-to-market accounting rules, causing a huge sigh of relief from the banks. Here is how I explained it to Macro Trader members on Friday:
Part of the reason stocks rallied big on Thursday was a suspension of “mark-to-market” accounting rules.
In plain English, this means the banks will no longer have to use real-time pricing for the stinky stuff on their balance sheets. They’ll be able to “estimate” what the toxic assets should be worth instead.
This is sort of like a homeowner saying “well, my house might not be saleable in this tough real estate market, but in a better market I’m sure it would be worth, oh, $300,000… so that’s what I’ll say it’s worth for now…”
Some people think the suspension of mark-to-market rules for bank assets is a smart idea. Others think it’s a terrible idea. Either way, it’s pretty bullish for the financials, at least in the short term.
Stocks also rallied [recently] on news of a potential trillion dollar injection into the IMF (International Monetary Fund), and the general perception that the G20 meeting in London was a success.
The mark-to-market change is basically a cheap magic trick. The banks may benefit from the opportunity to abandon real-world accounting in favor of fantasy-world accounting, but toxic assets are still toxic assets. Smoke and mirrors won’t change that.
Hot Money Rotation
In sum, the current weakness in gold and gold stocks is all about short-term perceptions (with the exception of increased pressure from scrap sales, which remain sensitive to distress and price). The IMF news is more hype than substance, and the abandoning of mark-to-market accounting rules is more a tacit admission of how ugly the picture still looks for banks, rather than a concrete step towards fixing the problem.
Meanwhile, rally-happy traders saw the chance to buy up risky assets on the back of mark-to-market suspension and good G20 news. As a result of the major move we just saw – the biggest 4-week rally in the S&P since 1933 – areas of the market that had previously suffered from lack of liquidity, like high-yield debt, commercial real estate assets and so forth, caught a huge bid. There was a fast-and-furious hot money rotation out of “crisis insurance” type assets (like gold and gold stocks) and into “woohoo let’s party!” type assets (like bank stocks and high-yield debt).
That wraps up the near-term end of things as to why gold (and thus gold stocks) are out of favor right now.
Tomorrow I’ll share my reasoning as to why gold and gold stocks could still be setting up for one of the biggest trades of the year.
What?s Driving Gold and Gold Stocks (Part Two)
Justice Litle, Editorial Director, Taipan Publishing Group
In part two of “What’s Driving Gold and Gold Stocks,” Justice looks at the reasons why 2009 could still be a great year for the yellow metal (and the companies that mine it).
As we explored yesterday, the near-term outlook for gold and gold stocks has cooled off a bit. But I continue to believe that gold stocks could be setting up for one of the best trades of the year, once this short-term cycle plays itself out. Here are a few reasons as to why.
Bullish Gold Stocks Reason #1: Excess Volatility.
In normal market conditions, a sudden upswing in volatility can be a powerful sign… a “clue” of sorts that an important shift is taking place. If the big surge higher or lower comes with above-average volume to match, that’s an even more powerful indication that “something’s happening here.”
But with that said, it’s important not to look at charts in a vacuum. Rather, one should try and make sense of the logic behind these moves to determine what’s likely to happen next. What drove the buying? What drove the selling? Are those drivers lasting in nature, or subject to quick reinterpretation on the fly?
In terms of gold and gold stocks, the market has been in a near-constant tug of war with itself over some very big questions for months now. Will we have inflation? Will we avoid deflation? Did we just see the bottom? Was that just a sucker’s rally? And so on.
The level of uncertainty regarding these key questions – whether we will see inflation, whether the present recovery is for real, and so on – has played a big part in whipping gold and gold stocks this way and that. The crisis protection dynamic has further swung sharply in and out of favor along with investor moods.
And because those feelings of uncertainty have been so constant and intense, large volatile swings on the chart wind up carrying less weight. When Mr. Market turns into a neurotic, in other words, he just needs more elbow room. From that perspective, the bigger picture for gold stocks remains attractive in spite of the excess volatility… or at the very least, the “signal” should not be discounted too heavily by the extra “noise” we’re getting now.
Bullish Gold Stocks Reason #2: The “Wall of Money” Cometh.
As John Dizard in the Financial Times sharply puts it, “However bumbling the execution, the Treasury’s wall of money is hitting like a slow-motion tsunami.”
This is very true. Investors haven’t yet gotten their heads around the incredible measures taken so far to fight this global crisis. For example, the U.S. government and the Fed have already “spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion,” according to Bloomberg – roughly an entire year’s worth of U.S. economic output.
If that doesn’t raise your eyebrows, consider this: The U.S. government has already spent three times as much as what was spent fighting the first Great Depression (in proportion to then-versus-now GDP). And we may not even be through the worst of it!
Meanwhile the Fed’s balance sheet has topped $2 trillion with a clear trajectory towards $3 trillion… and the rest of the world is getting into the multitrillion-dollar stimulus game too. The G20 meetings in London led to commitments of $1.1 trillion. The European Central Bank is quietly loosening up accounting rules for Eastern Europe. Fiscal watchdogs in the U.K. have warned that Britain is on the verge of heading toward Banana Republic status thanks to its big spending. Countries wrestling with deflation, like Switzerland and Japan, are on the verge of nuking their currencies and kicking off another major round of “competitive devaluation,” also known as “Top This” or “I Can Print Faster Than You.”
All of this is wildly, radically, mind-blowingly unprecedented. The scale and scope of what we are seeing now has simply never been dreamed, let alone tried. Against this backdrop, gold is the only alternative currency not subject to the whims of a printing press… and gold stocks are leveraged to the price of gold.
Bullish Gold Stocks Reason #3: Many More Banks Could Fail.
Texas billionaire Andy Beal – described as a “56-year-old poker playing college dropout” by Forbes – is looking like the smartest banker in America thanks to his moves of the past few years.
The eponymously named Beal Bank, which Beal 100% owns himself, made virtually no deals between 2004 and 2007. Instead of working, Andy Beal spent much of that time going out on long lunches, playing backgammon and racing cars, all to resist the temptation of doing something dumb. At the height of silly season for the rest of the banking world, Beal’s friends were getting a constant earful from him about how the world was awash in “stupid loans.”
But now that most other banks have either blown themselves up, puked their guts out, or both, Beal Bank is stepping out big time, raiding the distressed loan market with a huge war chest of cash. The billionaire expects to make a killing, calling it the opportunity of his lifetime.
That doesn’t mean he thinks the bottom is in, though. Here is Beal’s prediction for his lemming-like competitors: “Banks are on a prayer mission that somehow prices will come back and they won’t have to face reality… Unemployment is going over 10%, commercial real estate hasn’t even begun collapsing and corporate credit defaults are just getting started.”
Beal further thinks as many as 4,000 more banks would fail if they were forced to provide a true accounting of their toxic-asset-ridden balance sheets. These banks have seen a short-term fix in the suspension of mark-to-market accounting rules (as noted yesterday), but that doesn’t improve their true health.
If we see another round of bank failures, investors will quickly revert to crisis mode and start loading up on gold stocks again. If the Treasury, Fed and FDIC try to prevent a new round of bank failures from happening, on the other hand, the only option they’ll really have is throwing yet more stimulus at the banks… shoveling hundreds of billions more into the gaping maw. The dawning of that reality could crush the rally in financials and, in turn, boost gold and gold stocks.
Bullish Gold Stocks Reason #4: Consumers Not Out of the Woods.
Another scary development is the upcoming wave of “mortgage resets” – the calendar-driven process by which a low monthly mortgage payment suddenly transforms into a high monthly mortgage payment.
As of now the pig is less than 40% of the way through the python, meaning more than 60% of U.S. homeowners signed up for a mortgage reset haven’t been hit with the higher payment schedule yet. Just stop and think about the implications of that for a second.
Worse still, if one matches up the timing of the reset schedule with the price arc of the housing bubble, one sees that the wave of resets about to hit corresponds to the highest prices paid (all those poor folks who top-ticked with their buys in late 2006). Those resets are going to big and nasty.
That means the coming hit to consumer wallets will be a doozy… which in turn argues for another inevitable massive round of consumer belt-tightening, with knock-on effects for the U.S. economy and a further big drop in the value of all kinds of consumer-related bank loans.
On its face, the news of yet more consumer contraction is deflationary, not inflationary. But you have to remember that as the situation grows more extreme, so will the extreme countermeasures instituted by the Treasury and the Fed.
When the fire department has to battle a raging house fire, in other words, they don’t worry about first determining the appropriate quantity of water to use. They just set out to drown the fire as quickly as possible with overwhelming liquidity. The government will inevitably do the same thing, and they will overdo it by a very large amount.
There is an element of political calculus in here too. The Obama administration inherited this crisis from the Bush administration. That means the problems of first quarter 2009 could logically be blamed on the “other” guys.
But if we see a return to darker days now, after the big market rally and after the new administration has had time to settle in, Team Obama (and Turbo Timmy at the Treasury especially) will take the blame full-force from the American public.
This reality will concentrate White House minds, and give them even more impetus to bring out the heavy-duty fiscal artillery in the event of a return to economic crisis mode.
What’s more, with the media finally buzzing about how grossly conflicted this White House is – the latest bit of news being top economic advisor Larry Summers’ multimillion-dollar payouts from the hedge fund industry and Wall Street – it is further likely that the next Hail Mary pass from the Obama camp could involve some form of check-writing directly to consumers. That would set us up for one heck of a light show.
Bullish Gold Stocks Reason #5: Cramer Called the Bottom.
The pièce de résistance: “Mad Money” madman Jim Cramer declared an end to the depression last week, telling his TV audience it was time to buy bank stocks with both hands once again. That call took some real chutzpah, especially coming from the guy who, just over a year ago, pounded the table while shouting at the top of his lungs, “Do not take your money out of Bear Stearns!!!”
With all due respect, Mr. Cramer, sir, I think I’ll pay more attention to Andy Beal.
I could give you more, but that feels like enough for now, so here’s the bottom line. As impressive as the recent stock market rally has been… and it’s been a doozy, giving the S&P its best four-week winning streak since 1933… odds are strong, nearly overwhelmingly so, that we are not out of the woods yet.
And even if we are out of the woods and off on a romp to reflationville, a certain piper still demands payment for the global ramming and jamming of multitrillion-dollar paper stimulus on a scale never before seen or comprehended in all of human history.
So that gives us two ways to win: If we go back into crisis mode as banks implode and consumers get hit with reset shock, gold stocks could run again just as they did in the 1930s.
If, on the other hand, we safely transition to a stimulus-driven “funny money” recovery in which paper assets get bid up to the moon, inflation will make its late-but-grand arrival and gold stocks will party.
These are the key reasons I still think gold stocks will eventually, if not sooner rather than later, set up for one of the biggest slam-dunk trades of 2009.
http://www.taipanpublishinggroup.com/taipan-daily-040809.html
Dakar Rally returns to South America
The Dakar Rally is returning to Argentina and Chile in 2011 for the third time.
It has been announced that after two highly successful editions in South America, the famous off-road Dakar Rally will return in January 2011. While the race will perhaps one day return to Africa, Argentina and Chile have put on a fantastic spectacle so far and I’m sure that this will continue.
The route for next year has not been fully confirmed, however it is expected to follow a similar route to that of 2010, with vehicles crossing some of the most spectacular and untouched scenery in South America. Setting off from Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, on 1st January, the participants will spend two days driving to the historic city of Cordoba, a town filled with stunning colonial architecture. Also find some fantastic working estancias to spend a few days horse riding.
From Cordoba they will take the next few days working their way into Chile. Stopping in La Rioja, well know for its small boutique wineries and is set near the UNESCO-listed Talampaya National Park with its spectacular landscapes and interesting cultural and archaeological features.
Driving on to Fiambala, the competitors pass through an area of stark white dunes before crossing the Andes to Copiapo in the Atacama Desert. This inhospitable desert, renowned as the driest on earth is the setting for the next six days of the Rally. They head north to the likes of Iquique and Antofagasta before turning back down to La Serena on the coast. Well known for some of the clearest skies in the southern hemisphere, visitors will find a number observatories as well as fertile valleys producing grapes for the production of Pisco.
On to Santiago, the temperate capital of Chile and back in to Argentina, stopping off at San Juan. The nearby Valley of the Moon is a sight not to be missed thanks to its rich paleontological features and rock formations. Working their way through over 2000 km of inhospitable lands those still left in the competition will arrive in Buenos Aires on 15th January.
Why not combine a trip to these fantastic countries, tracing some of the more accessible elements of the route yourself as part of a tailor made trip. As the Argentina, Chile and Brazil specialist here at Steppes Travel, I have visited the region many times so I am well placed to make some great suggestions based upon my own personal experience.
Soybean rally triggered lighten up, investors fear that there is space
Decline as the market worries about the economy lead to long liquidation continued to leave, resulting in CBOT soybean futures ended sharply lower market, which in May soybeans closed at 863.25 cents, down 22.75 cents. But once again out of the domestic market, contrarian Soybean market, including main contracts a909 opened early in 3396 points, not only down but not open 10 points higher. Higher intraday volatility then the way to end up in the day time high of 3,496 points to close up 110 points. From the session time-trend terms, positions and did not increase with prices, but so out of lighten up the disk, which then shows the disk today, mainly due to the rise in electronic trading in Asia, driven, trigger active level short position, then push prices higher should do. Shows that the current lows worry this short, so the market outlook is expected to rebound can be given some space to expand.
From now, the first rise in the market mainly from the contrarian technical strength, a week, the futures price plunged from around 3,600 points, fell to around 3,300 points in just a week’s time on the price plummeted, lead to serious oversold market technical indicators, technical amendments to its own power lines are out of the rally to promote. Second external disk Asian electronic disk market strength has also brought benefits to the domestic Soybean more support. Asian trade has been opened since the morning, then all the way up. Soybean closed at the domestic, Asian trade has risen more than 20 cents. Fell outside the set of prices to pre-order platform in a low rebound trend, too, the market outlook to investors out of the rally will be expected within the disk drive is the key to further gains.
As investors remain more concerned about the recent global economic downturn and the main soybean producing areas of Argentina brought rainfall to the negative pressure of soybean. Indeed, the market price is really about these two factors out of the next wave of market decline. But investors in the face of sharp market decline, the global economic downturn as well as in Argentina brought rain to the bearish market has led to market decline, a certain kinetic energy generated by the digestion. Good or bad news in the case of a slight improvement, will lead the rally. Therefore, the current rally is technically addition and correction requirements, is expected to face with the message also has a relationship. Argentine farmers market good news is asking the Government to reduce tariffs on grain exports, and for the fight against serious drought for more help, this will hold new protests. Argentina’s Minister of Production issued before the meeting, will visit this week (February 23-March 1) and farmers leaders in order to avoid farmers launch new strikes, investors should pay close attention to the dynamics of the incident. The event is expected in the current situation around in the near future will become a key factor in market.
Together, rebound has been reflected in the disk, investors should have rapid response, air alone stop in time, more than one quick follow-up, but for more than one follow-up only for short-term market. Because, after all domestic and international economic environment is still not good, the only targeted at short-term market rally, this rally should not have high hopes high.
Colin McRae World Champion RIP
