RC2K Sunday Drive(r) series

Hi there! ...and welcome to my RC2K Sunday Drive(r) series!

What is it about?
It is about, basically, driving in chillax mode over 5 Sundays.

Why?
To show that it is possible to make awesome times without driving stressfully.

Why 5 Sundays? Why not 1 Sunday? Why not 55 Sundays?
As you know, the Championship consists of 6 rallies, right?

Yes... shouldn't it be 6 Sundays in that case?
Good point! But hey - Isle of Man, Manx Rally is just something different, something unique. So will be in this case.

Okay... but please, finally, explain the whole series properly!
Sure!
So - one Sunday = one stage. More precisely: one stage of each of 5 rallies.
To make it clear - Sunday #1 will bring you a Vauxhall stage run of my choice, Sunday #2 will bring you a Pirelli stage run of my choice and so forth, ending with a Stena Rally run of my choice.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The runs will be a part of the A8 Championship!
What does it mean? At some points the car will/should be used/weakened. You will have a chance to test yourself: Can you beat my times using a brand-new car?
You will, obviously, see what I cut... and what I did not cut.
Or - you will just sit back and enjoy the runs.

Your runs will be a part of the A8 Championship... proof?
You will see that, haha.

Which car will you use?
You will see that, haha.
XD
Ok, for real - Peugeot 206.

Yo, what about the Manx Rally?
OH! Right! Theoretically, but just theoretically, there will be a Sunday #6. But just theoretically. It will be... different.

I am kicking it off on Sunday, Feb 09 2020.
Cya there!

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Why are you doing this?
Well, most of you already know about me. No matter for how long I've been absent from the community - I will never forget those times from the past. I want to provide you with a content of our beloved game over weeks, to 'cut' some time in-between the events.
Also, let's be real, this game, pretty much, lacks new video contents, so I (will) give my best to change that!

Since we haven't met for a while now, to sum it up about me: I'm still a RC2K addict, but with one difference compared to the past - not tryharding'it anymore. Playing the game... sometimes less - sometimes more; but just for fun, as can be seen in this series.

Cheers!

We are kicking off with the 2nd stage of Vauxhall Rally of Wales: Penmachno South!
This is one interesting stage. It is one of those stages, if not the only one, which is held at daylight - but requires using lights. It takes drivers over a hilly terrain; roads being surrounded by thick forest, hence using the lights is highly recommended.
The stage requires your full attention during its whole length. One micromistake - and you will find your car rolled upside down. There is only one speed trap, which is very dangerous, as it finds you speeding downhill (03:00) into a slight long right corner, immediately followed by a 90° turn: if you miss the racing line or the braking point - well, good luck.
I prefer driving the 'slalom' style here: taking the turns easily, taking it easy with the throttle, and also releasing throttle sooner ahead of some corners and letting your car easily slide through the corners, but this technique requires some skill.
You don't really need a speed machine here; car with the excellent handling (read: Subaru Impreza WRC) is JUST MADE for this stage.
In this video I'm showing you everything I noted above. For the Championship mode (and assuming you use Lancer/Impreza/206) - any sub-07:30 time is awesome! The run you will see would take the 2nd place at the RCXX event. This isn't the stage which relies on pushing hard; the goal here is to minimize the amount of mistakes.

UH! The Pirelli Rally ending! The stage which is known for... car disassembles, LOL! Many have lost their wheels on this stage, but... it's not the stage's fault, hah. It is the driver's fault; more precisely - his/her bad service area management comes to life here.
This stage can be split into two parts: before-Kershope part and (post)-Kershope part.
The first part is quite slow. You can 'speed it up' by cutting (oh, this stage is one B-I-G of a cut-fest), but I just don't do that. Pirelli Rally is a differential-killer; if you want to quicken the failure of your differential, if you want to risk a tyre puncture - go ahead!
Pay BIG attention at the bridge just before setting on the Kershope ground (04:37) as the bridge is situated at the ending of a slight long left turn; most likely you will find yourself sliding into the bridge, and therefore, increase the chances of hitting the bridge and additionally wrecking the car. After that point the stage becomes pretty much fast&flowing; from here on you can easily catch up with the opposition (AI).
As you can see - my car was getting pretty damaged here, the performance enervation was inevitable. This run would take the 3rd place at the RCXX event. In my opinion - any sub-13 run here can be considered as a very good run!

After the long Pirelli Rally - you are getting an opportunity to sort out your car a bit, you have enough time to make the essential fixes before hitting the Scottish roads.
The first stage of RSAC Rally is Twiglees. Not really long, but still - tricky enough. Ditches are your biggest enemies here, I almost fell down into one, uh! After Penmachno South - another stage where you want to own the Impreza, another stage where the car handling is of a high importance. There are two deja-vu situations where you can cut, but if you decide to go for the cutting - watch out for the first cutting spot (03:51) - as there is a tree positioned right at the cutting spot racing line. I'm not risking anything here, but I perform somewhat of a cut at the 2nd spot (04:06), I'd rather call it an attempt of getting a better racing line.
This run would earn me the final podium spot at the RCXX event. Any sub-07:15 result in the Championship mode is good enough, I'd say.

This is one evil stage. It doesn't even take 2 minutes to complete - but this just isn't the stage where you can set your mind on the finish line before even starting it. (oh the irony - you can see the stage's ending spot from the start, LOL)
The famous jump, the slow hairpin... or basically any other turn on this stage - you can make your own selection of tricky spots here.
If this run was a part of the RCXX event - it would be the winning run! A sub-01:40 run will do here.

To tick it off right away - slick tyres. (SSs2)
The stage features a few interesting spots, where, guess what, you must be quite cautious. Watch out for the tree here (00:33), carefully approach this turn (00:39), watch out for the tree here (05:04), and take care at the final two chicanes. These spots are of a high priority of paying attention to, and other than that - the stage is pretty fast, but unfortunately held in darkness, so being familiar with this stage in advance is welcome. This stage just requires a good racing line for its whole length, but if you manage to set all the pieces into one - you will obliterate the AI here.
This run would earn the 1st place at the RCXX event, I surprised myself how good the run was. But this is what one run looks like when you are driving without pressure!
A sub-07:15 time here is more than enough here.