Join the PistonHeads Sporting Tour - Update!
Booking is now open for our first one-day driving tour. Sign up today!
UPDATED 06/09/18: Booking for the inaugural PistonHeads Sporting Tour in Suffolk on October 13th is now officially open. It's already over 50 per cent full from our pre-sale, so secure your place today to avoid disappointment.
All profits from the event will be going to Mission Motorsport, so come and join us and help us make a significant contribution to such a worthy cause.
Once you've booked your spot, head over to the PistonHeads shop where you'll find a range of Sporting Tour t-shirts, hoodies and mugs.
And finally, you'll find our entries Wiki here, so take a look to see who's already taking part and add yourself to the list while you're at it. See you all next month!
ORIGINAL STORY:
We're excited to announce the launch of a brand-new event: the PistonHeads Sporting Tour.
The concept has been brought together with the help of GT Motorsports Club, the rally experts behind the Corbeau Seats Rally Tendring & Clacton; the first event in England to make use of the new closed public road rally legislation earlier this year. Our Sporting Tour, authorised and permitted by the MSA, is a type of rally commonly referred to as a 'touring assembly'.
On Saturday October 13th, you can join us for a packed one-day event in Suffolk, touring 120 miles of beautiful country roads with two timed tests at a private venue. Each competitor will have a start time, but as most of the event is taking place on public roads, there will be no other timing involved other than the tests. You'll make your way to check points, where marshals will stamp your book before setting off on the next stage of the rally.
You won't be able to use any mod-cons at this event, though. Your co-driver will instead need to summon their inner Nicky Grist, as you'll navigate the route with a Tulip Road Book. The book plots out the distances, directions and junctions you need to navigate throughout the route, making for a refreshing change from sat-navs, and is one of the main reasons that organising the event held such appeal.
Naturally, your team will need to be a minimum of two and the cost is £150 per car. As an MSA authorised event, you'll need to be a member of an MSA affiliated club, so joining the event's GT Motorsports Club will be included in your entry fee. Any vehicle is eligible for entry with 120 spaces available. All profits from the event will be going to Mission Motorsport, so get involved and help us support a very worthy cause.
Entries will open early in September and will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Register your interest here and be the first to hear when entries open. We'll start and finish at the Holiday Inn in Ipswich, and have negotiated preferential rates for anyone wanting to stay and join us for a victory beer after the tour has finished.
So whether this is your first motorsport outing or you're a seasoned competitor, we can't wait for you to join us in October to start our new adventure. For more information, visit the GT Motorsports Club website here
But how does the no sat-nav rule work?
Is it just that Sat-Nav is useless or do you have to use a car without it fitted?
Slurms – everyone taking part will get a Tulip Road Book, like the image below. The road sections will be broken up into stages, which you'll navigate like a proper rally team, hence the need for a co-driver (and no satnav).
Might look a bit complicated, but we'll have a guide on how to use it and it's seriously good fun. More so when you get lost and have to retrace your steps... Hope that helps!
Everyone who registers their interest will get a heads up on when booking is going live so I'd recommend registering here if you haven't already so you can be one of the first to secure your spot. Unless you're looking to join another team of course.
Any id as re. Insurance?
The timed tests on the private venue are very unlikely to be covered by your standard road insurance as these are on private land and would be deemed competitive. We're investigating event cover through a specialist broker, which is likely to be around £20 per driver third party only, with comprehensive cover under investigation.
Full details on any cover we can offer will be available in the regulations and on the entry form when booking goes live.
I can thoroughly recommend it as a fun weekend, and my only advice from having three different co-drivers sit beside me over the event is to let them know how you'd like directions communicated! I found that there were as many different approaches as there are navigators....
Oh, and the distance measurements usually involve the driver shouting out the odometer reading at the appropriate point, the navigator forgetting to note it down and the whole lot going out the window when you have to retrace your steps after a mistake.
Gassing Station | Events & Meetings | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff