This isn't a 'Let's go and pretend to be Colin Mcrae in the forests' story on a mini-scule budget, but more a way that anyone can take his or her car and have a bash at some grass roots motorsport...and have an awesome laugh doing so!
Road Rallying!!!!!!!
Road Rallying is divided into two main types - normal Road Rallying held on open roads at night and Historic Road Rallying which is held on open roads but during the day and usually at much much lower speeds and involves regularity sections where the crew has to maintain average speeds (more on that later).
To do a road rally you don't need to do that much to you car in all honesty. People do go mega overboard (me included) with 'prepping' a car, but to be honest if it's reliable and in good working order then other than a sump guard you could probably go out and have a nights fun. One thing to consider is that road rallies tend to be rough in places so any low cars will find they will be wandering why their exhaust has fallen off or why the brake or fuel pipes have a hole in them....if you don't run the lines inside....protect them!!!
More indepth car prep can come later in this thread as other people join in, i just wanted to give you a few tips on how to get into it from a fellow beginners point of view.
The most important part of rallying is the navigation. Not many drivers will agree....they think POWWWWEEEERRRR is the the most important thing.....but if you get lost or miss a control then you may loose the rally. Paddy Hopkirk wouldn't have won the Monte if it wasn't for Henry Lidden.
I've put together a few pic's of the navigator's tools of the trade that you or whoever reads the maps for you will need to read maps in the dead of night.
First up.....the Map light magnifier. This one is the awesome Don Barrow DB8 magnifier which we won on the Tour of Cheshire for winning our class (again thanks to good navigation) As the name suggests.....it lights up and magnifies the map making map reading at night easier. There other brands out there, but Don's product is the original and the best. I'm not just saying that because we won it and got it for free....we already have one of his magnifiers and used it to win a class 1st and 2nd.
The Maps....whatever rally you enter you'll need a map (sometimes more than one to make things more complicated). The organisers will tell you which map number to buy for that years event.....note number in top right corner
The Romer.....looks like just a bit of plastic but its soooo much more. Well designed it'll help you plot maps quickly.
Others....Clipboards, 2B pencils, rubbers, highlighter pens, pencil sharpener, pencil clips so you've always got a pencil to hand, and also club membership cards and if doing national events - a licence.
Other things to consider........you'll need a light inside the car so you can plot your route...like this one
And a clock set to 'Rally Time' so you know where to be when.....but timing will come with time (no pun intended) as we are still very much learning the ropes so timing is second to the navigation at the mo.
There are far more experienced rally peeps on here than me, so fingers crossed they can add to this thread also because if it wasn't for the advice they gave, we wouldn't have done so well so soon....so thankyou Peter and Si.
http://www.donbarrow.co.uk
http://www.thebasicroamer.co.uk
