19° RallyLegend 2021 - San Marino

[tbtstt]

I went to RallyLegend a few years ago and absolutely loved it, so I was rather keen to attend again. Finally got round to booking last year, but then that whole Covid thing came along and the plan went out the window.

Anyway, managed to roll the trip over to 2021 and so headed back to San Marino to watch, what is in my personal opinion, the best rally event I have ever been to. Was travelling with the missus so didn’t (couldn’t!) get to spend all weekend running round with a camera. Took a few snaps though…













Virtually all the Group B cars were present in good numbers (though surprisingly no 6R4's).







New...



...and old Skodas!















Craig Breen was competing in his recently purchased Escort WRC. This was the car of the event for me: I love 90’s rallying and forgot just how immense these cars sounded.







There were three current specification cars entered. Seeing these cars against the other eras makes you realise just how jaw-droppingly fast the current machinery is. Kristian Poulsen and Ole Frederiksen took the overall win in a Hyundai i20 WRC+.











Despite some rather damp weather it was a superb weekend. Covid made the travel a bit more complicated than before, but the hassle was more than worth it.

Few more pictures here:

Flickr - RallyLegend 2021 Album

For anyone who might be interested!

[Frenchie]

Cracking pictures, got me really enthusiastic to attend a similar event. Will probably be next year and in the UK.

[bigemp]

Awesome pics as always

[Steve_PPP]

Great stuff mate. And yes, the modern machines have come on massively in terms of performance, even when compared to cars of 10 years ago.

Lovely to see an ex-wrc hawk Impreza in pretty much its original livery.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Cracking pictures, got me really enthusiastic to attend a similar event. Will probably be next year and in the UK.

I think Rallyday would be the closest equivalent in the UK (or maybe Race Retro as that has a strong rally element).

Originally Posted by bigemp

Awesome pics as always

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Great stuff mate. And yes, the modern machines have come on massively in terms of performance, even when compared to cars of 10 years ago.

Absolutely. You could see the raw power of the Group B cars under heavy acceleration, but the current WRCars looked as quick off the mark in a straight line, plus they were carrying ridiculous amounts of corner speed. I genuinely believe we are currently in an era that will looked upon fondly in years to come.

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Lovely to see an ex-wrc hawk Impreza in pretty much its original livery.

There was also a pair of bugs WRCars entered as well...



...all in period liveries (along with a Legacy).

[Frenchie]

Will be a new experience for me next year so if anyone has recommendations on which event to attend,best place to view and where to stay it would be much appreciated.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Will be a new experience for me next year so if anyone has recommendations on which event to attend,best place to view and where to stay it would be much appreciated.

Within the UK Rallyday and Race Retro (and to a lesser extent Goodwood Festival of Speed) are broadly similar in that they feature a large gathering of rally cars old and new...

...however, as cool as these events are, they aren't really "proper" rallies as the cars only run round a circuit (Rallyday) or on a single stage (Race Retro & Goodwood: FoS). Much more accessible as a spectator, but without the variety (and challenge for the drivers) of multiple stages.

In terms of "proper" stage rally the British Rally Championship just announced their 2022 calendar (click here) but of course the entry for this will be predominantly modern cars, which might not be what you are interested in.

The best large scale retro and/or mixed rally events are found in Europe. Eifel Rally (Germany) and RallyLegend (San Marino) are the two best I would say. The World Rally Championship also has multiple rounds in Europe next year with one round TBC (unlikely to be the UK though).

Steve PPP will likely have some input on this, as he has done more UK events than me!

[Neil97rs]

Watched some of this on Youtube looks amazing and would love to go to something like this next year

[Lucky]

Fantastic pictures. Looks like a great event. So nice to be able to go to these events again. I managed both Goodwood events this year which were brilliant.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Neil97rs

Watched some of this on Youtube looks amazing and would love to go to something like this next year

There is some brilliant video from this years event, there are a couple of channels that regularly cover RallyLegend and some of the footage they capture is excellent.

Originally Posted by Lucky

Fantastic pictures. Looks like a great event. So nice to be able to go to these events again. I managed both Goodwood events this year which were brilliant.

It is a fantastic weekend, one of my all time favourite events. I managed to do the Revival this year (for the first time) I really enjoyed that as well.