Chris, I largely agree. One cannot imagine people with video cameras casually walking around mechanics at service parks as I was able to do in 1984/5/6.

Yes the crowds at the "mickey-mouse" stages can be controlled, herded and charged for the experience, but it isn't even a vanilla flavoured experience compared to some of those ballsy gravel roads up north, in the King Country, the pumice forestry roads in the Rotorua Lakes district etc. As GD said the sound those Audis made still tingles the nerve end, and as Rod said, they still look so bloody fast.

Happy to share the old stuff that proves that the shock the Gp B cars gave us when we experienced them in the raw, wasn't misplaced. The only place I have found such a live "edge" these days is the speedway sprintcars with 800HP turning hard left under power. Surely there's a place for excessive in motorsport!