Why don't southerners like rally driving?

[indiatango]

So I got some great advice on hear last Summer about rallying and with Covid rules relaxing I was finally able to do my BARs and some initial tuition at silverstone a few weeks back (most fun I've ever had, despite being pretty mediochre).

Only problem now is that I've had to move to chichester for work and I can't find a whiff of any kind of rallying down here!

Do southerners just not like rallying? Would I be better of picking a different discipline? If anyone is around this area and has found a means of driving quickly along dirt roads (preferably legally) it would certainly be interesting to hear from you!

[indiatango]

Yeah I guess that makes sense. It's a real shame though - I'd thought there would at least be road rallies or maybe autocross about.

That said there's lots of beautiful woods around the south downs. I'm sure no one would object to having a rally stage in the middle of it... lol

[indiatango]

ARHarh said:

I am sure the Farnborough and district motor club do rally's or at least they used to https://fdmc.org.uk/ not too far from Chichester.

They look great, somehow hadn't come across that one before but they seem to have quite a lot on. All I need now is to rip the interior out of my car and put the engine back in!

[indiatango]

andy97 said:

Depends on what you mean by “South” I suppose.

A quick look at https://www.itsmymotorsport.co.uk/by-month.htm shows the following events in “southerly (ish)” areas:

Edited by andy97 on Monday 21st June 11:57

Thanks for that. Haha yea I'm right down on the coast near portsmouth so I guess I have a distorted view of what counts as the 'south' of England!

[indiatango]

thepawbroon said:

In your area, Southsea Motor Club are one of the main organisations - they run a lot of 12 car navigational rallies, and many of their members support and marshal the above events.

I would suggest that you have a think about marshalling, it's normally not too onerous a task and you will get to see how events work - it'll prepare you better for when you do compete.

Well is seems there is a little more down here than i thought at least.

Re. marshalling that's pretty much my plan. Hoping to volunteer at a few events and would eventually like to navigate for someone for a while before I get my own car.

[indiatango]

chrisr29 said:

It’s on the circuit though, not exactly forrest stages.

Was actually there today! There's a forest stage apart from the main circuit which was the main reason I went. Some really cool cars including varous escorts and a metro 6R4.

Goodwood was actually the only one I'd heard of when I posted. My initial post was a bit vague but I was really thinking of more amatuer stuff (unlikely i'll be rallying at goodwood anytime soon I suspect). Where I used to live there was a cluster of rally schools nearby so plenty of places to get tuition and practise but by the time everything reopened I was down here and had to drive a long way to do my bars.

Going to contact some of the clubs people have listed and see what happens.

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!

[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

[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.