HERO-type events
Discussion
Am interested to hear of people's experiecne of doing historic endurance rallying with HERO and the like (LE JOG, etc) in terms of what exactly is involved and choice of car.
I have been thinking along the lines of the following:
MGB (simple, good parts availability)
TR3 (simple, sturdy, tractor engine - no offence meant to owners but should be a good strong unit)
MG Magnette (more spacious, room for spares!)
Volvo Amazon (ditto but built like a tank)
Be grateful to people's views/experiences/suggestions
Thanks
I have been thinking along the lines of the following:
MGB (simple, good parts availability)
TR3 (simple, sturdy, tractor engine - no offence meant to owners but should be a good strong unit)
MG Magnette (more spacious, room for spares!)
Volvo Amazon (ditto but built like a tank)
Be grateful to people's views/experiences/suggestions
Thanks
Have a look at www.endurorally.com they have very well organized events all over the world.My mate is off on one in Jan, London to Cape Town!!! I was going to do one to India but it was cancelled due to the security in Pakistan,(still got the car a Peugeot 95% finished).They are great events BUT you have to be very rich and part mad??
Complicated subject this one.....
I assume what you are looking at doing is entering the Historic Road Rallying scene?.
Obviously you have seen the more widely publicised events run by Hero and the Classic Rally association, but have you considered some of the alternatives?.
Basically there are quite a few variations on the Historic rallying format each of these tend to suit different types of car and also it has to be said different budgets.
In terms of cost and commitment at the top of the pile are events like Rally of The Tests, Classic Marathon, Winter trial etc run by CRA, and various international clubs. These events are often biased towards the earlier cars (Catagory one pre 68) or earlier still. Alfa Giulletta's and Giullia Supers are perhaps the weapon of choice, but MGB, Volvo Amazon would also be good. Basically you need something which is strong, reliable, has some space for your navigator to work and is capable of covering the distances needed. The standards on these events are very high with some of the best crews in Europe entering. I'd probably put LeJog in here, but of late it's started to loose it's reputation a bit.
At a slightly less intense but probably not much cheaper level come stuff like HERO's Scottish Malts, the Three Castles and a few other 'rally tours' whilst still competitive there is strong social aspect to these using high class hotels and very scenic routes. Car choice is probably less important to the result than on most of the other types of events.
Another format is the HRCR Clubmans championship, (do a google search) this is a series of 10 or a dozen single day events which combine road regularities and tests. Again this is highly competitive and the standards are very high, entry fee's are a lot more modest though £100 - £120 including your meal, the events can only be won by a car older than 1974 IE cat 1, or cat 2. Given that the navigation and regularity section form about 75% of the result the car just needs to reliable, give reasonable space for your navigator and be reasonably nimble on the tests.
Depending on your geographic location the NESCRO series (Google is your friend again!) offer another cheap but highly competitive alternative. Based mainly in the North of England most NESCRO rounds are heavily based on the tests and some of these are fast and rough, they also get involved in the Night Road Rallying scene with Historic Cars running alongside the moderns. A fast and strong car is a plus here, if you want to do night events you would need to investigate the MSA's ruling on 6 Pot engines, twin carbs and twin cams, it's complicated. Best all round car though is a MK1 Escort, or a fast Mini.
One thing to bear in mind though, unless you really are looking for wins, car choice is much less important than getting a good navigator and working well as a team. As long as the Car is reliable and is inside the rule book, (check this carefully and seek advise before you do something like rip the interior out or drop a V8 under the bonnet) then you should be able to enjoy yourself and get a lot of satisfaction.
I assume what you are looking at doing is entering the Historic Road Rallying scene?.
Obviously you have seen the more widely publicised events run by Hero and the Classic Rally association, but have you considered some of the alternatives?.
Basically there are quite a few variations on the Historic rallying format each of these tend to suit different types of car and also it has to be said different budgets.
In terms of cost and commitment at the top of the pile are events like Rally of The Tests, Classic Marathon, Winter trial etc run by CRA, and various international clubs. These events are often biased towards the earlier cars (Catagory one pre 68) or earlier still. Alfa Giulletta's and Giullia Supers are perhaps the weapon of choice, but MGB, Volvo Amazon would also be good. Basically you need something which is strong, reliable, has some space for your navigator to work and is capable of covering the distances needed. The standards on these events are very high with some of the best crews in Europe entering. I'd probably put LeJog in here, but of late it's started to loose it's reputation a bit.
At a slightly less intense but probably not much cheaper level come stuff like HERO's Scottish Malts, the Three Castles and a few other 'rally tours' whilst still competitive there is strong social aspect to these using high class hotels and very scenic routes. Car choice is probably less important to the result than on most of the other types of events.
Another format is the HRCR Clubmans championship, (do a google search) this is a series of 10 or a dozen single day events which combine road regularities and tests. Again this is highly competitive and the standards are very high, entry fee's are a lot more modest though £100 - £120 including your meal, the events can only be won by a car older than 1974 IE cat 1, or cat 2. Given that the navigation and regularity section form about 75% of the result the car just needs to reliable, give reasonable space for your navigator and be reasonably nimble on the tests.
Depending on your geographic location the NESCRO series (Google is your friend again!) offer another cheap but highly competitive alternative. Based mainly in the North of England most NESCRO rounds are heavily based on the tests and some of these are fast and rough, they also get involved in the Night Road Rallying scene with Historic Cars running alongside the moderns. A fast and strong car is a plus here, if you want to do night events you would need to investigate the MSA's ruling on 6 Pot engines, twin carbs and twin cams, it's complicated. Best all round car though is a MK1 Escort, or a fast Mini.
One thing to bear in mind though, unless you really are looking for wins, car choice is much less important than getting a good navigator and working well as a team. As long as the Car is reliable and is inside the rule book, (check this carefully and seek advise before you do something like rip the interior out or drop a V8 under the bonnet) then you should be able to enjoy yourself and get a lot of satisfaction.
Thanks, some useful info there. Was looking at starting at with stuff like Le Jog and Scottish Malts, etc and taking it from there but looking at the website even on those the car is put through its paces. Am leaning towards a Magnette at the moment (partly because could also go to pre-66 car park at the Revival, which is an annual pilgrimage.
Am based in Dubai but decided life is too short to leave this sort of thing until I move back to the UK (and job-wise not much going in my field back home at the moment) so would be storing a car in the UK. I know that this does not really make sense financially and haven't got a massive budget for it but would try to do one to two a year for starters and maybe some of the longer/overseas ones later.
Have a couple of others interested in joining me; not sure what their navigational skills are like, but sounds like would be fun anyway.
Am based in Dubai but decided life is too short to leave this sort of thing until I move back to the UK (and job-wise not much going in my field back home at the moment) so would be storing a car in the UK. I know that this does not really make sense financially and haven't got a massive budget for it but would try to do one to two a year for starters and maybe some of the longer/overseas ones later.
Have a couple of others interested in joining me; not sure what their navigational skills are like, but sounds like would be fun anyway.
Might be worth your while trying it out in one of HERO's 'hire' cars. They have built themselves a little fleet of rally cars which they hire out for events.
Realisticaly though, I would try a single day event like say a clubmans HRCR round first to keep the costs down. You do need to think carefully about a navigator though, whilst there is nothing magical about it, if who ever is guiding you about hasn't got a clue you will struggle.
Have a good look through the technical areas on the HRCR site for the type of navigation instructions and see what you think.
http://www.hrcr.co.uk/Clubmans_Rally_Championship/
Realisticaly though, I would try a single day event like say a clubmans HRCR round first to keep the costs down. You do need to think carefully about a navigator though, whilst there is nothing magical about it, if who ever is guiding you about hasn't got a clue you will struggle.
Have a good look through the technical areas on the HRCR site for the type of navigation instructions and see what you think.
http://www.hrcr.co.uk/Clubmans_Rally_Championship/
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