Most rally fans will be aware of the Czech rally website, eWRC-resullts.com, but not many know the story behind the phenomenal website which catalogues thousands of events around the globe.
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The website, widely regarded as the best place for rallying results, covers rallies from every corner of the globe, including stage results, championship standings and car histories.
We spoke to the man at the helm, Tomáš `Shacki` Wanka, about the website and their plans for the future.
RSM: What made you start the website?TW: I’ve been editor in chief of Czech rally website, eWRC, since 2005, after I found that there was no rally database for fans. The official results on the WRC website were also very poor, so I decided to start my own project.
A current list of championship standings is one of the website's features.What were the beginnings?
It was hard. I had an idea of what it should look like, but I had no experience with writing codes, so it took about a year to launch.
The first years were used especially for WRC events, then historic data and Czech national events. It soon became results from all over the world.
Until 2012, it was a one man show until I decided to open it for interested people. The last five years it has been a team effort.
How many people work on the website regularly?
Our team has about 40 members, but the core is about 10 people who spend too much time on the project!
Are people working full-time on the website?
So far, it’s a hobby for everybody, but I feel that the project needs people working on it full-time. There are still many items we want to add or improve.
How many events does the website cover?
It covers over 41,000 events. Alongside that, we have almost 150,000 drivers and over 200,000 co-drivers in our database.
There are also 330,000 photos and 16,000 videos.
What is your favourite thing that the website covers?
I can’t say it’s just one thing. I like that everything is connected and we cover events all over the world.
Of course, we are proud of our section for rally car history (WRC, R5, S2000, Group B, Super 1600), featuring starts, results, owners and chassis’.
Are the results easy to put online, or is it very time consuming?
I’m definitely trying to make it as simple as possible, but it’s still time consuming, especially old events with limited sources. It’s hard sometimes to identify the exact driver and co-driver. Sometimes it’s very slow, but also very exciting.
Where do you get sources for old rally results?
Events after 2000 are usually on some website. Older events exist only in printed versions, so the main sources are from drivers or co-drivers who were competing.
We encourage people to scan and send results to us.
Think of a rally driver and their profile is likely to be on eWRC-results.comDo you plan to add some more events from Australia and New Zealand in the future?
For sure! But as I said, it’s all about the resources. If I can get old event results, they will soon be in the database. If anyone is interested from your region, please get them to contact me!
I’m really interested in Australian and New Zealand results.
Where do you see eWRC-results going in the future?
Good question. We would like to continue our work and still add more and more data to our rally database. We are also working on some new sections, but it’s a secret for now!
My dream? A full-time job for some members and a status as an ‘official’ rally database.
For us, it’s a never-ending job, and rally is our life!
* You can view the eWRC website HERE.
- Luke Whitten
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A current list of championship standings is one of the website's features.What were the beginnings?
It was hard. I had an idea of what it should look like, but I had no experience with writing codes, so it took about a year to launch.
The first years were used especially for WRC events, then historic data and Czech national events. It soon became results from all over the world.
Until 2012, it was a one man show until I decided to open it for interested people. The last five years it has been a team effort.
How many people work on the website regularly?
Our team has about 40 members, but the core is about 10 people who spend too much time on the project!
Are people working full-time on the website?
So far, it’s a hobby for everybody, but I feel that the project needs people working on it full-time. There are still many items we want to add or improve.
How many events does the website cover?
It covers over 41,000 events. Alongside that, we have almost 150,000 drivers and over 200,000 co-drivers in our database.
There are also 330,000 photos and 16,000 videos.
What is your favourite thing that the website covers?
I can’t say it’s just one thing. I like that everything is connected and we cover events all over the world.
Of course, we are proud of our section for rally car history (WRC, R5, S2000, Group B, Super 1600), featuring starts, results, owners and chassis’.
Are the results easy to put online, or is it very time consuming?
I’m definitely trying to make it as simple as possible, but it’s still time consuming, especially old events with limited sources. It’s hard sometimes to identify the exact driver and co-driver. Sometimes it’s very slow, but also very exciting.
Where do you get sources for old rally results?
Events after 2000 are usually on some website. Older events exist only in printed versions, so the main sources are from drivers or co-drivers who were competing.
We encourage people to scan and send results to us.
Think of a rally driver and their profile is likely to be on eWRC-results.comDo you plan to add some more events from Australia and New Zealand in the future?
For sure! But as I said, it’s all about the resources. If I can get old event results, they will soon be in the database. If anyone is interested from your region, please get them to contact me!
I’m really interested in Australian and New Zealand results.
Where do you see eWRC-results going in the future?
Good question. We would like to continue our work and still add more and more data to our rally database. We are also working on some new sections, but it’s a secret for now!
My dream? A full-time job for some members and a status as an ‘official’ rally database.
For us, it’s a never-ending job, and rally is our life!
* You can view the eWRC website HERE.
- Luke Whitten
