Okay, for the last couple years I've been bothered by many people about exactly how to get some of this "Greatest racing on the planet" coverage. Sadly, there's not a TV Channel (or direct website) that I've found yet that offers up good World Rally Racing coverage. American's just are not interest in a motor sport that is unable to sell beer and hot-dogs to you while you sit on your ass less than 1/2 mile from where you parked.
As with every year (since 1973) the World Rally starts in Monte Carlo, in January. This gives usually a wide variety of conditions; most notably the higher elevation stages have ice / snow. Though - this year the conditions were much more kind to the competitors.
Personally I find this rally to be fun from a historical standpoint, though I'm just not a big fan of tarmac (pavement) rallies; I prefer gravel or snow. That being said, its still one of the most iconic places on the planet.
As for the picture above - that is about the perfect picture of what makes rally, rally. That is a live stage - meaning that Subaru is going as fast as he can, right through the towns. Its a concept that isn't easily understood here in the USA, as finding a town that would want to shutdown a couple of its roads straight through town for a race is extremely difficult, whereas the folks of Monaco relish their 4 days of World Rally.
So, onto how to watch your own rally footage. Before we start I do want to preface this with a little disclaimer. Even though we have no way to get this footage, and even though it was aired on broadcast TV (I believe; I could be wrong), this might not be 100% legal. If anyone has a better way of getting these broadcasts, I would be very willing to hear it.
On the practical side, its a TV show, and I've yet to see any lawsuits, anywhere in the world over TV shows (all the hype has been over music and movies).
Onto the show:
First things first. In all likelihood you're going to need a better media player. VLC Media Player is what I recommend. Its a great little player. Very quick, works well and best of all, it doesn't have an "auto-updater". In other words, it won't bother you unless you bother it first; unlike every other media player on your computer.
Now to download the actual show you need to have something that handles a Torrent link. Yes, I understand this is a complex sounding idea, though I have walked many people through this over instant messenger. Its not as complicated as it sounds:
I use UTorrent. Just install that software. It really is that simple. If you have questions about how UTorrent works, shoot me an email and I'll give you a run down on it.
And now its time for the show! After installing UTorrent, just click the link below and select "open" (or Run, if you're using Internet Explorer)
Day 1 & 2 - 270 MB (10 second video hitch @ 16:30)
Day 3 - 270 MB
Day 4 - 270 MB
(Thank you www.rallytorrents.com for the links)
I expect Day 4 to show-up sometime today (Tuesday)
Also, I found another TV Stations coverage, which I've yet to watch - nor have no clue if I'll be able to find them for round 2 (its kind of nice to get used to one type of coverage). But, if you're feeling super rally inspired (me) or you're bored with the writer's strike (me), have at it:
WRC Monte Carlo 2008 Days 1-4 - 870MB
These files are not small if you haven't noticed, so if you're not on a high speed connection, don't even think about it (or plan on leaving UTorrent open for days...which is an option).
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