Discussion
from memory you can buy a day pass for friday (£35) or a stage pass on saturday (£22). the difference being friday ticket gets you to entry to all stages whereas you have to buy tickets for indiviual stages on the saturday thus you buy a ticket for Epynt and spend all day there or buy a ticket for Halfway as well or buy a ticket for another stage. I think they are trying to get people to stay put on saturday to ease traffic and extract more money from you via burger cans and merchandise etc...
If you can do it, i would recommend going on friday, watching one stage, then getting to another for the second run. my plan is to go on friday, watch the first run through Resolfen then get to Walters Arena for the second run that day. the second run through Rheloa is at 1630 so should be dark enough to have a good ahtmosphere.
still begrudge paying £70 for two tickets as the rally ireland is free (and yes, they cant "police" the Rally Ireland stages like they can the South Wales rally but still!.....)
still, hope that a stage at dusk, at long last, will be worth the money! the tailenders through Rheola in the dark will be pretty good fun!
If you can do it, i would recommend going on friday, watching one stage, then getting to another for the second run. my plan is to go on friday, watch the first run through Resolfen then get to Walters Arena for the second run that day. the second run through Rheloa is at 1630 so should be dark enough to have a good ahtmosphere.
still begrudge paying £70 for two tickets as the rally ireland is free (and yes, they cant "police" the Rally Ireland stages like they can the South Wales rally but still!.....)
still, hope that a stage at dusk, at long last, will be worth the money! the tailenders through Rheola in the dark will be pretty good fun!
pablo said:
from memory you can buy a day pass for friday (£35) or a stage pass on saturday (£22). the difference being friday ticket gets you to entry to all stages whereas you have to buy tickets for indiviual stages on the saturday thus you buy a ticket for Epynt and spend all day there or buy a ticket for Halfway as well or buy a ticket for another stage. I think they are trying to get people to stay put on saturday to ease traffic and extract more money from you via burger cans and merchandise etc...
If you can do it, i would recommend going on friday, watching one stage, then getting to another for the second run. my plan is to go on friday, watch the first run through Resolfen then get to Walters Arena for the second run that day. the second run through Rheloa is at 1630 so should be dark enough to have a good ahtmosphere.
still begrudge paying £70 for two tickets as the rally ireland is free (and yes, they cant "police" the Rally Ireland stages like they can the South Wales rally but still!.....)
still, hope that a stage at dusk, at long last, will be worth the money! the tailenders through Rheola in the dark will be pretty good fun!
Thanks for that. It seems to be quite a bit of money, taking into account food, hotels etc. If you can do it, i would recommend going on friday, watching one stage, then getting to another for the second run. my plan is to go on friday, watch the first run through Resolfen then get to Walters Arena for the second run that day. the second run through Rheloa is at 1630 so should be dark enough to have a good ahtmosphere.
still begrudge paying £70 for two tickets as the rally ireland is free (and yes, they cant "police" the Rally Ireland stages like they can the South Wales rally but still!.....)
still, hope that a stage at dusk, at long last, will be worth the money! the tailenders through Rheola in the dark will be pretty good fun!
pablo said:
still begrudge paying £70 for two tickets as the rally ireland is free (and yes, they cant "police" the Rally Ireland stages like they can the South Wales rally but still!.....)
I was brought up in the lea of Grizedale Forest; come the RAC we would just walk from home up the public footpaths through the Forest to watch. There didn't seem to be much of a problem with "policing" as there were, guess what, Marshalls.Nowadays we have a tiny little sprint of a rally contained in a few places which can have entry fees charged.
How do we get this changed?!
Wildsea said:
Hi, i was thinking about going to the Welsh rally in November with my brother. I've never been to a rally before and was just needing advice, about what day to go, type of ticket etc.
Getting back on topic before this turns into the usual "I hate what the FIA did to rallying" thread... 
This year could be pretty spectacular - Gronholm is retiring and is really motivated, the championship is the closest it's been for a few years and there will also be the new Suzuki on the stages.
I wasn't going to bother this year as it's the same old stages from the last 4 years, but now it's Gronholms last rally I'm reconsidering!
You need to decide if you want to follow the whole rally or just get a flavour. If you are just getting a feel for it I'd maybe go to Halfway on Saturday for spectacular viewing, and then go to watch service in Swansea on Sunday to see the cars and drivers up close.
Halfway is very open ground so you see the cars for longer than at most of the stages. Also it's easy to walk far enough along the stage to get away from the spectator pens and get gravel thrown in your face, it that's what turns you on
The second running will be in the dark too, which could be spectacular.If you want to see more of it, get a 4-day pass for £90 and go anywhere.
Have you been to a rally before? if not, it's worth knowing -
- the rally takes place on moorland and in the woods
- you spectate from forest paths or grassland, not from grandstands
- "car parks" are actually the muddy verges of single track forest roads. They get rammed full and can be a real pain to get in and out of. Unless you're there overnight expect to walk for 10-15 minutes past other parked cars before you get to the stage.
- it'll probably be cold/muddy/wet
- you'll need to bring your own seat
- you'll be directed to safe places behind tape. You don't have to stay there, but be sensible and work with the marshalls not against them. 5 minutes walk can get you in really spectacular places literally a couple of feet from the cars/death
This is what makes rally fans keep coming back for more.- The top guys go through first and a lot of people then head off to the next stage. The lower order are much slower, but can still be fun to watch. Cars'll be going past every minute or two for a couple of hours.
Hope that helps!
Steve
pablo said:
still begrudge paying £70 for two tickets as the rally ireland is free
4 of us are going over to Rally Ireland for 5 days, inc flights, accom, and hire car for £200 each for more WRC cars, more competition and better views of the stages plus better facilities and hospitality as the Irish so know how to do. Rip Off Rally GB is a con and a joke with it's spectator pens and charging such extortionate amounts to get onto the stages.
frazer guest said:
I used to "do" the RAC every year without fail, and what an event that was. A real test of man and machine.
Nowadays it is just a little pissy rally held in Wales. Rally of GB my arse.
I last went the second year that event was held. Here are my thoughts.
Marshalls who give you the wrong directions to stages.
When you finally get to said stages, there is no signage to guide you from carpark to stage, (try finding your way around a forest in the dark).
Expensive.
Nazi-esque police / scramras, who seem hell bent on driving away tourist trade.
So, to sum up, my experiance is that it is expensive, poorly run, poorly organised, and all those involved try their best to make it as unpleasurable as possable. Added to this, it is nothing more than a clubman event when taking into account stage miles, (rally GB has less stage miles than the old rally of Wales).
Next time I go to see an international rally, it wont be in this country. My advice would be to save your money and watch it on TV.
Sorry to be so negative, but my experiance of the Rally GB left a bad taste in my mouth.
I agree with everything you've said apart from the need for signage to stages.Nowadays it is just a little pissy rally held in Wales. Rally of GB my arse.
I last went the second year that event was held. Here are my thoughts.
Marshalls who give you the wrong directions to stages.
When you finally get to said stages, there is no signage to guide you from carpark to stage, (try finding your way around a forest in the dark).
Expensive.
Nazi-esque police / scramras, who seem hell bent on driving away tourist trade.
So, to sum up, my experiance is that it is expensive, poorly run, poorly organised, and all those involved try their best to make it as unpleasurable as possable. Added to this, it is nothing more than a clubman event when taking into account stage miles, (rally GB has less stage miles than the old rally of Wales).
Next time I go to see an international rally, it wont be in this country. My advice would be to save your money and watch it on TV.
Sorry to be so negative, but my experiance of the Rally GB left a bad taste in my mouth.
If you've got an OS map then you don't need stage signage, in fact, I do my best not to follow it when it is there as you just end up in huge marshal-controlled speccy pens.
Buy an OS map, research the stages you want to go to and find the best bits and then away you go.
if you really want good access, sign on and be a marshal, you can even drive the stages then.
K50 DEL said:
I agree with everything you've said apart from the need for signage to stages.
If you've got an OS map then you don't need stage signage, in fact, I do my best not to follow it when it is there as you just end up in huge marshal-controlled speccy pens.
Buy an OS map, research the stages you want to go to and find the best bits and then away you go.
if you really want good access, sign on and be a marshal, you can even drive the stages then.
You're right, of course, and every "real" rally fan would be fine with this. But when large amounts of money are charged for access to the event, expectations are raised. Being charged the thick end of £100 for what we used to get for free feels like a rip-off, and so we start to complain about the lack of signs.If you've got an OS map then you don't need stage signage, in fact, I do my best not to follow it when it is there as you just end up in huge marshal-controlled speccy pens.
Buy an OS map, research the stages you want to go to and find the best bits and then away you go.
if you really want good access, sign on and be a marshal, you can even drive the stages then.
skwdenyer said:
K50 DEL said:
I agree with everything you've said apart from the need for signage to stages.
If you've got an OS map then you don't need stage signage, in fact, I do my best not to follow it when it is there as you just end up in huge marshal-controlled speccy pens.
Buy an OS map, research the stages you want to go to and find the best bits and then away you go.
if you really want good access, sign on and be a marshal, you can even drive the stages then.
You're right, of course, and every "real" rally fan would be fine with this. But when large amounts of money are charged for access to the event, expectations are raised. Being charged the thick end of £100 for what we used to get for free feels like a rip-off, and so we start to complain about the lack of signs.If you've got an OS map then you don't need stage signage, in fact, I do my best not to follow it when it is there as you just end up in huge marshal-controlled speccy pens.
Buy an OS map, research the stages you want to go to and find the best bits and then away you go.
if you really want good access, sign on and be a marshal, you can even drive the stages then.
I completely agree with you about the £100 rip-off, and judicious use of the OS map will find you many ways in where paying £100 is not required. (I've been on all 4 days for the last 4 years and have never paid)
The purpose of having the tickets and the marked car parks and the footpaths to stages etc is to broaden rallying's appeal, they'll never do that fully whilst it gets no TV coverage, so may as well leave the sport to those who don't need car parks and taped off pens to know where it's safe to stand and hence remove the charge.
Just getting nostalgic for a moment, I remember when it used to be £10 per car to get onto the proper stages. You could stand wherever you wanted to and we'd all help to push cars back onto the road when they had an off.
And there were Quattros and nearly 200 starters every year.
Great days. Weston Park on the Sunday, then out into Wales on Monday morning for Sweet Lamb and Hafren.
I know that's not the point of this thread, but it really was so much better in the old days...
And there were Quattros and nearly 200 starters every year.
Great days. Weston Park on the Sunday, then out into Wales on Monday morning for Sweet Lamb and Hafren.
I know that's not the point of this thread, but it really was so much better in the old days...
Ahonen said:
Just getting nostalgic for a moment, I remember when it used to be £10 per car to get onto the proper stages. You could stand wherever you wanted to and we'd all help to push cars back onto the road when they had an off.
Those days were not that long ago either. The best memories I have are of cars coming through the Forrest in the dark. There is nothing quite like it.
Sadly I have not been to see a rally for a long time, it is just not quite the same.
frazer guest said:
I remember them days. Still cant decide what made the best sound, a Quattro or a 6R4?6R4s sound great, of course, but a Quattro in full flight is like no other sound in motorsport. WRC cars sound so weedy in comparison.
frazer guest said:
I've just come. Think I need a cigarette now.
Ahonen said:
frazer guest said:
I remember them days. Still cant decide what made the best sound, a Quattro or a 6R4?6R4s sound great, of course, but a Quattro in full flight is like no other sound in motorsport. WRC cars sound so weedy in comparison.
However to add to that - for noise - Lancia Stratos or Lancia Beta or even TR8
Having marshalled the Wales Rally GB and it's like for the last (hides # of years for decency) number of years I would agree with some of the earlier posts:
1) Don't expect fantastic facillities all round the stage / sector - these are few and far between if existant at all. Halfway has a good line in food etc right in the middle of the stage.
2) Take warm, waterproof clothing. You'll be standing there for a good while all day and the weather can never be predicted. Personally i recommend North Face gear.
3) Do the marshalls a favour and respect the fact that if they are asking you to do something it is purely out of safety, not selfish wants. However if a marshall does something stupid (I know, who would have thought that would happen) like standing in front of a crowd and restricts the viewing, ask them to move. A good marshall should recognise the fact that you guys have paid to be there.
4) Cheer the cars on. It really does add to the occasion and the younger spectators love it.
1) Don't expect fantastic facillities all round the stage / sector - these are few and far between if existant at all. Halfway has a good line in food etc right in the middle of the stage.
2) Take warm, waterproof clothing. You'll be standing there for a good while all day and the weather can never be predicted. Personally i recommend North Face gear.
3) Do the marshalls a favour and respect the fact that if they are asking you to do something it is purely out of safety, not selfish wants. However if a marshall does something stupid (I know, who would have thought that would happen) like standing in front of a crowd and restricts the viewing, ask them to move. A good marshall should recognise the fact that you guys have paid to be there.
4) Cheer the cars on. It really does add to the occasion and the younger spectators love it.
Ahonen said:
Just getting nostalgic for a moment, I remember when it used to be £10 per car to get onto the proper stages. You could stand wherever you wanted to and we'd all help to push cars back onto the road when they had an off.
And there were Quattros and nearly 200 starters every year.
Great days. Weston Park on the Sunday, then out into Wales on Monday morning for Sweet Lamb and Hafren.
I know that's not the point of this thread, but it really was so much better in the old days...
I did the Lombard RAC Rally for years, especially when it started from Harrogate and ventured into the north yorkshire forests of Dalby etc. Sleeping in cars and trekking for miles to get a good spot. Never paid to get in either.And there were Quattros and nearly 200 starters every year.
Great days. Weston Park on the Sunday, then out into Wales on Monday morning for Sweet Lamb and Hafren.
I know that's not the point of this thread, but it really was so much better in the old days...
WRC = money men making the 'sport' for financial returns not for the fans.
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