WRC

And so begins my love affair with the World Rally Championship.

I've been playing Colin McRae DiRT on the Xbox 360 quite a lot recently, and absolutely love the 4WD races, with my weapon of choice being the fantastic Peugeot 307. I'm even pretty good at it, with my best time ranking 52nd out of 45556 people on Brindabella B, Australia. But I'm very average at CORR and other events.

So this morning I was chilling at a friend's place watching TV when I saw some highlights of previous WRC events (focusing mainly on the crashes), and it really is just as brilliant as I thought it would be.
The last time I saw any rally races on TV must've been at least eight years ago, and back then I was just hoping for a crash to keep me entertained. But now when I know all the cars, the differences between each nation's tracks and can see the pure skill involved in Rally racing I'm absolutely plastered to the screen. Watching the world's greatest drivers power slide through every corner on the thinnest gravel and dirt roads at top speeds is just an incredible spectacle to behold, and I personally find it infinitely more enjoyable to watch than the overrated F1 races, with their ridiculous cars producing so much down force and grip they end up so glued to the road they almost all but obliterate the chance of over steer.

So I've checked out the official website and have found that they're through ten of the sixteen nations included in the championship. I've unfortunately missed Italy and Germany, but still have Spain, Japan, Ireland and Wales to look forward to. With the next stage in New Zealand from the 31st of August to the 2nd of September , I know where I'll be next Friday.