Run on tarmac, gravel, sand, snow, and ice, in all weather conditions, and around the globe, the World Rally Championship (WRC) has produced some of the most talented racing drivers in history. The current champion, Frenchman Sebastian Loeb, has not only won his sport’s supreme title a record six years running, but has also won the Race of Champions three times: 2003, 2005, and 2008. In fact, a quick Wikipedia search confirms that the Race of Champions has been dominated by rally drivers.
How competitive is the WRC? The 2009 driver’s championship went right down to the wire. In the final round, Rally Great Britain, Citroen’s Loeb secured the title by a single point over his Ford rival, Mikko Hirvonen of Finland. The factory Ford pilot most likely had the rally, if not the title, in hand until, during one stage on the last day of competition, an over aggressive jump wrinkled the front end of his WRC 2009 Ford Focus such that it blocked his view forward. Eventually, Hirvonen would need to stop the car so that his co-driver could tear off the hood with his hands. These seconds lost gave Loeb the rally win, the championship, and another record.
If a PC racing simulation enthusiast wants to drive rally, and he or she wants it to be as realistic as possible, there is but one choice, the 2004 Warthog / SCi release Richard Burns Rally(RBR). Critics agree that the driving physics model alone has placed RBR at or near the top of the heap among racing simulations, and that it is in the same league as venerable titles Grand Prix Legends and NASCAR 2003 Racing Season. Unfortunately, either due to the very tragic and untimely illness then death of the simulation’s name sake Richard Burns, or due to the trend toward more “accessible” console rally games, there has never been a follow-up to the original masterpiece that is RBR.
If a simulation’s age of six years is a lifetime in software dog years, virtual rally drivers fear not. As with any noteworthy title, the modding community has responded. Although perhaps not with the same fervor as for rFactor and the IL-2 Series, there are some outstanding add-ons, including those that facilitate multiplayer, new sounds, new cars, new car sets, and updated interiors. Furthermore, the latest release of Bob’s Track Builder Pro supports design for completely new rally tracks, or rally special stages, as they are called.
Since its debut, SimHQ has published multiple Richard Burns Rally articles, and named it 2004 Simulation of the Year. That is an honor that no other sim motorsports title has accomplished in the history of SimHQ. The last article SimHQ published on RBR was Jens "McGonigle" Lindblad‘s extensive look at some of the community based modifications available a year after RBR hit retailer’s shelves. This article, along with continual positive comments coming from the various racing simulation forums concerning RBR, was enough motivation for me to order the sim, and take a stab at driving a virtual rally car.
My initial thoughts were that although the title was indeed impressive, there was a massive learning curve, not only in driving a rally car effectively, but also in improving the simulation with some of the many available add-ons. Both were equally daunting. Fortunately, the challenges and rewards presented in Richard Burns Rally, along with some enhancements, were compelling enough to keep me coming back, especially during lulls in SimHQ Motorsports racing events. Speaking of those multiplayer meetings, your author is most definitely not one of those considered quick around a simulated race course. However, I found that skills learned in the dirt transferred very well to the road course, especially when driving touring cars or those that demanded a large amount of over-steer to go quickly. I could feel that my time in RBR was definitely having a positive effect. For instance, the rally derived “Scandinavian Flick” works quite well in getting something like the tail happy Porsche 997 to change directions quickly.
Furthermore, local SimHQ Motorsports Contributing Editor and driving hot-shoe "Chunx" continually reminded everyone in the Motorsports Forum just how good this sim really is. He used Richard Burns Rally as a very compelling tool to demonstrate the new gated shifter during a video review of the then-new Logitech G25.
The hook had been taken. All that was needed now was for it to be hard set by a skilled fisherman. Enter the Rallyesim modding team and their all encompassing contribution to Richard Burns Rally, RSRBR.
Next, we’ll take a detailed look at this mega-mod and all that it offers.
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Run on tarmac, gravel, sand, snow, and ice, in all weather conditions, and around the globe, the 
