All-Gravel Gauntlet – Fly By Rally Club Week 6 in RBR

Описание: Week 6’s Fly By Rally Club event trades mixed surfaces for a pure gravel challenge: three legs totalling just over 61 km, starting with Jirkovicky, Undva I, and Joux Verte II Gravel; continuing through Sarvana, Hassi, and Makkola; and closing with Cierru Los Pinos, La Rocca, and Sirkkamaki, all on Gravel Dry tires. Recce did its job this time, highlighting key danger zones and helping shape a realistic strategy. The plan was straightforward: stay tidy where the stages narrow, resist the urge to overdrive the fast, flowing sections, and let consistency do the work over nine tests.

The rally did not get off to a smooth start. A hardware sound issue on the opening stage caused some confusion and panic, costing time right out of the gate. Once the decision was made to swap over to a different headset, though, everything snapped into place. With proper audio restored, the rest of the first leg settled into a much better rhythm. By the end of Leg 2, the car was still clean and the pace was steady, with no damage on the board and the strategy largely paying off.

Leg 3 is where it all got complicated. On Stage 7, Cierru Los Pinos, one mistake cascaded into a laundry list of damage: radiator, gearbox, engine, front-left damper, windshield, and bodywork all took hits. Only two roadside services of five minutes each remained, which meant there was no chance to restore the car fully. The priority became survival rather than speed, and the only realistic repair in the available time was the damaged damper. That left the final two stages to be driven in a hobbled but still running car, nursing cooling, drivetrain, and visibility issues while trying not to undo all the good work from the earlier legs.

Even with the wounded car, the run to the finish held together. By the time the last time control was reached, the rally had turned into a story of managing adversity rather than chasing outright pace. With a couple of days left before the event closes, the standings tell a surprisingly positive story: provisionally 4th overall and 1st in Group 4. Whether that holds once the remaining drivers post their times is still an open question, but for now the result feels as sturdy as the car proved to be limping through those final two stages.

Check-out other RBR drives on the playlist,    • Richard Burns Rally / Rally Sim Fans  .