Why don't southerners like rally driving?

[andy97]

indiatango said:

P.S I've got a MK3 Golf gti in the garage with an almost-finished-rebuilding engine. I was going to use it as my everyday car (they're actually much nicer cars than a lot of people make out in my opinion, and cheap..) but now debating whether to look at prepping it and using as my first rally car... Would be interested in opinions!

Almost always far cheaper to buy a car that has already been prepared than to build yourself. It will take far more time and money to build than you think and there are lots of nuances to building a rally car that you just might not get.

What sort of budget are you looking at? If looking at tarmac/ circuit type rallies then an MX5 is a very good shout (and there’s a one make class within the circuit rally championship); other options include BMW Compacts, Toyota GT86, BMW minis or Peugeot 205/206, all of which seem to have one make rally classes depending on the region and championship.

Edited by andy97 on Friday 9th July 11:05

[Mr_Thyroid]

There's a rally school in Chichester:

Forsterracingschool.co.uk

Except they run dune buggy type things rather than cars.

[indiatango]

Mr_Thyroid said:

There's a rally school in Chichester:

Forsterracingschool.co.uk

Except they run dune buggy type things rather than cars.

Yeah I came across them a little while back but I'm kean that, if i get some tuition, it happens in a car that is within the ballpark of what I'd be likely to driving, and everyone I've spoken to has reccommended that it's much better to start learning in a lower powered car (something like a micra or a ford ka).

Further down the road when I do eventually choose a car I might ask them whether I could do some 1-1 tuition in my own car and see what they say.

[indiatango]

andy97 said:

Almost always far cheaper to buy a car that has already been prepared than to build yourself. It will take far more time and money to build than you think and there are lots of nuances to building a rally car that you just might not get.

What sort of budget are you looking at? If looking at tarmac/ circuit type rallies then an MX5 is a very good shout (and there’s a one make class within the circuit rally championship); other options include BMW Compacts, Toyota GT86, BMW minis or Peugeot 205/206, all of which seem to have one make rally classes depending on the region and championship.

Edited by andy97 on Friday 9th July 11:05

Yeah that's what I thought! Re. budget it's not entirely fixed but a quick look on ebay reveals that I could probably find a peugeot 205 (for example) that's ready to race within my price range.

I'm meeting someone from one of the local clubs next weekend to talk about up coming rallying etc with a view to volunteering at some upcoming events. For now I'm keeping an open mind about rally types etc until I've seen some more of them

[sanf]

indiatango said:

Yeah that's what I thought! Re. budget it's not entirely fixed but a quick look on ebay reveals that I could probably find a peugeot 205 (for example) that's ready to race within my price range.

I'm meeting someone from one of the local clubs next weekend to talk about up coming rallying etc with a view to volunteering at some upcoming events. For now I'm keeping an open mind about rally types etc until I've seen some more of them

Get in tow with a local club, most are normally looking for volunteers to get stuck in especially on the committee. From there you can normally find good contacts that will want to get involved in whatever projects you are doing. Buying a car is normally the best idea, unless you have access to knowledge, facilities, labour and plenty of time. I'm rebuilding my car at the moment, Covid has made it doubly challenging, however the rebuild is taking a long time despite much support from within the club.

Always be willing to travel, we're in Lincolnshire, 4 of us from the club went to Wales at the weekend to marshal on the Nicky Grist Stages - a good 4 hours drive from us, but was well worth it and a great couple of days. Hope you get yourself sorted and start to enjoy a really superb and addictive sport

[indiatango]

sanf said:

Hope you get yourself sorted and start to enjoy a really superb and addictive sport

Thanks! I'll be meeting someone from the local club to chat about volunteering next weekend so fingers crossed I'll be marshalling somewhere soon enough.
Re. the car I'll take yours and everyone elses advice and look to buy one once I've made up my mind what I'm after.

[aeropilot]

Back when I first started driving at 17, I joined my local motor club (Bucks/Berks borders) one month after passing my test.
Rallying was very big down here in the south, even forest events, with regular events in and around Eversley forest area, as well as a bit further down at Ringwood as well as single venue stuff on many of the old airfields dotted around the south east, plus some of the MOD land.

Sadly that was 40 years ago, and the sport in the south-east has been decimated through ever decreasing venue access as well as insurance issues and general NIMBYness problems.
That's just stage events and doesn't even touch on the total demise of road rallying in the south-east.

Even venues for grass autotest, autocross and PCT's etc are now almost non-existant.

Very sad, but just a sign of the times.

[grumpy52]

Back when I was more active in the sport the majority of the southern events were single venue affairs . We just don't have the forests like Wales, the north and Scotland . Those that we do have are used much more intensely by the general public. I have been in the forests around Chilham in the past , a round of the national championship based near Portsmouth . Lydden and Brands Hatch have been used for single venue events .
If you are prepared to travel Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire are a bit more active .