Can someone tell me a little bit more about it? Or give me some URL's?

I read an article about the Oregon Trail 2002 in a recent issue of SCC and I'm interested in getting into it.

Thanks!

Jason-

 

Here's the SCCA's link:

Rally

In the future if you are trying to find SCCA related things just do a search for 'SCCA'... that's the fastest way to find it.

 

Thanks Paul.

And I know the usefullness of the search button, and I tried looking for "rally" but nothing came up.

Jason-

 

I spent ten years or so co-driving for the guy that the yellow Golf in the article (Scott Fuller) beat at that event. In fact, we sold him and his buddy their first rally car fifteen years ago or so. What do you want to know? I can tell you that:

1. It's fun
2. It's expensive - more so than circuit racing, due to breakage and service requirements
3. Real drivers run 2wd cars
4. We never had a big crash the whole time I was doing it
5. My brother DID have a big one with the same driver (Todd Hartmann) and ended up dangling in his belts with the butt-end of the car perched on a tree trunk
6. The state of the sport in the US might be WAY shakier than the media coverage suggests

Kirk

 

PM'd you.

 

How so? I'm not arguing, just curious since it seems like it's finally taking a foothold.

 

What you see (factoryish teams, television package, lots of Subarus) is the result of a major repositioning of rallying at the national level. This, plus recent economic conditions that made a lot of people in this country feel rich, has upped the ante dramatically at the top end of the sport. This is NOT a bad thing, in and of itself and as I mentioned, on the surface, things look rosy.

It is my opinion that this is NOT a sustainable situation, for a number of reasons...

1. The influx of new drivers is currently a little top-heavy. The Higgins brothers and others have come from overseas and, not taking anything away from them, are big fish in a small pond. Understand that there are just not very many teams that are really capable of running at the pointy end of the field currently but if three teams (Prodrive, AVS and Hyundai) kill their programs, the quality of the entire field will be decimated. Frankly, a LOT of the current package is riding on Subaru's checkbook and they could call it quits at any point, just like they did in the '80s after supporting the series and Choinere's Legacy for a while.

2. Right below this top eschelon is a group of entrants with the money to buy AWD turbo cars but without the talent to really make them go fast. If they are typical of entry level "pro" racers, a lot of them won't still be doing this in three years, having shot up all of their bullets, scared themselves, or gone back to their wives.

3. Supporters of the old Divisional program are being beaten up by the rich guys with the Evos, SCCA rallying is making rules prohibiting old cars from running the Nationals, and the politics are factionalizing a group that has historically been very cohesive and suportive. Several events that were Nationals in the past have elected to return to their roots and run as divisionals, leaving some good events out of the showcase series. There is MAJOR discontent with the current SCCA ProRally staff, the perception being that they are kowtowing to Mitsubarundai and screwing the longtime supporters.

4. The real problem is that there is no viable development ladder for teams and drivers. If I were king, I would have tried to create a series that could walk before I tried to make it run - based on 2wd, NA cars that are available in this country. More manufacturers could have been competitive (and therefore potentially interested) the cars would be a lot more affordable and, if nobody had the supercars to compare them to AND if really talented people drove them, they would be plenty spectacular. The whole program would be more sustainable and would not be counting on the largess of one or two major sponsors.

My guess is that this bubble will burst just like the tech stock house of cards collapsed - I give it two years in its current form, at which point it will go back to something much more like it was four or five years ago.

Kirk

 

I crew for leslie suddard in SCCA pro rally, the only blue focus in the series, and all i can say is that rally is the most amazing time, very fun and it is very expensive....pro events registration can be as much as 1200-1500$ and club events as highas 800, and the thing about it is you rarely win money unless you are factory backed. the crowd is amazing and the people and competitors are all great people....i saw that yellow golf at maine we were parked right next to them for the oquassoc services then on the 4th service of the second day they didn't return ....bruce perry and adrian wintle slid in to them as they did not put their triangles up early enough in the course so that people could avoid them. Leslie lets us take her car out after events and it is a blast. nothing compares to DMS suspension..gotta love it. Next event is Ojibwe in minn. and it should be interesting but we wont be there she wants to go to defi and voyaguers in the canadian rally sreies in order to try to capture the northamerican championships. All i can say about the honda team is they are good guys although they cant keep the car toether to finish a race. At STPR we had a welder for them to use to weld a lower control arm together at stage two service and at maine they broke an axle in the supercharged GSR....we gave them a ride to Oquassoc. Drive shafts keep breaking and this is with the driveshaft.com axles...go figure. As for the series i think the chairman was talking about running pro rally as an elite group with about 20 cars in the whole series and the rest be reverted back to club rally. In pro rally there is a 12 year rule that no car in competition can be older than 12 years..in club you can rally a model t until the end of time. rally is fun go to an event and get hooked

 

What's the average price to get a team started?

Given the fact that the car will cost $15,000 and we'll have to ship it to the racing areas, no money for the crew will have to be paid (smart engineering friends will jump at the chance to go).

I mean tires, equipment, etc...

Thanks.

Jason-

 

Jason,

Consider searching for answers to your questions at www.SpecialStage.com. There you'll get feedback from a variety of experienced rally drivers, co-drivers and car builders.

I co-drove quite a bit in '93 and '94 in a Mazda 323 GTX. It was incredibly fun, but very expensive, even then. You just go through a bunch more parts, especially here in SoCal, since rallying is so punishing to equipment. But, you could run a cheap car with easy to find used parts and have a blast. You'd probably want to start in a 2WD car - maybe a Golf or Corolla.

If you really want to run AWD, you might also contact two or three of the top shops/teams running privateers in the series: TAD Motorsport (IL), AV Sport (AZ), and Vermont Sports Car (VT). They run Lancers and WRXs at or towards the front and could give you an idea of what it will cost to run a competitive AWD car.

Good luck!

 

Thanks Scott.

 

I am on the fringe of the ClubRally events in California.

I would suggest that you check out the California Rally Series website: http://www.californiarallyseries.com/ Read their section on Budget Racing - How to Rally Cheap.

You might also want to check out their Rally Schools. They have one coming up Sept 14-15. You could always email Mike & Paula Gibeault and ask them for information on rally stuff in your area. I've met them a few times, they are very encouraging to rookies. gibeault@earthlink.net

The SF Region of the SCCA has started doing a Rally Cross Series up at Thunderhill. They are hoping to have two more this year and the one in November will probably have a Rally School on the Saturday as well as the Rally Cross on the Sunday.
http://www.sfrscca.org/Calendar/Sche...oss072702a.htm I know that is not your area, but you could check with your local SCCA.

Another place to ask questions is the i-club: http://forums.i-club.com/forums/

It does not have to be too expensive and it is a lot of fun.

Enjoy!