starting rallying?????
Discussion
iv been considering entering a race series for a while but am interested in knowing abit more about rallying and cost of entering a decent championship/series. it seems you might get a bit more value for money from what i see. am open to suggestions.
Main reason i am considering the rally side is I have access to lots of practice areas forest, dirt track and road in Ireland very rural areas my family own lots of land out there in the mountains.
I would want to compete however in the uk primarily, currently based in south east england.
What car would i be advised of buying so it would give me the best oppertunity largest section of events? currently have an m roadster so used to RWD
in terms of licences what do i require and how about the co driver? what do they need?
Main reason i am considering the rally side is I have access to lots of practice areas forest, dirt track and road in Ireland very rural areas my family own lots of land out there in the mountains.
I would want to compete however in the uk primarily, currently based in south east england.
What car would i be advised of buying so it would give me the best oppertunity largest section of events? currently have an m roadster so used to RWD
in terms of licences what do i require and how about the co driver? what do they need?
the msa website will have all the info you require regarding licenses etc but if you are based in ireland you may need to check that the msa is the appropriate governing body.
I cant help too much but from a friends experiences, a season in the 205 challenge will cost you the best part of £10k. the logistics effort required to go club rallying is incredible, support crew, support truck, spares.
having space to practice is the last thing that you need to be honest!
car wise, you can pick up things like 205s ready to rally for about £5k, personally i would stick with something simple and with good spares availability to begin with. there was a class for E30 318/320 BMWs starting up a year or two ago, dont know if that took off?
if you are after a rwd car because you have dreams of long drifts around a hairpin WRC style, a fwd car and a hydraulic handbrake are all you need!....
I cant help too much but from a friends experiences, a season in the 205 challenge will cost you the best part of £10k. the logistics effort required to go club rallying is incredible, support crew, support truck, spares.
having space to practice is the last thing that you need to be honest!
car wise, you can pick up things like 205s ready to rally for about £5k, personally i would stick with something simple and with good spares availability to begin with. there was a class for E30 318/320 BMWs starting up a year or two ago, dont know if that took off?
if you are after a rwd car because you have dreams of long drifts around a hairpin WRC style, a fwd car and a hydraulic handbrake are all you need!....
Iv been looking at the 205 and RWD challenge actually you mention it. seems like its reasonable enough. Didn't realise you would need a whole support team? and i cant see how this would be funded for 10k surely it would cost more with a mechanic on hand. i gathered you ran the rally if something busts or you have a major off well your out for that meet unless it something like tyres, suspension etc which is relatively simple and quick to repair.
I gather in a lot of championships there is often a championship mechanic who helps out and you pay him per hour etc. is this not the case in these rallies? I am not sure I would want to join a championship where there wouldn't be someone there to help out, or fellow competitors with more knowledge didnt lend a hand.
I will practice in Ireland (toe it over) leave it there for a few month then compete over here presumably.
I gather in a lot of championships there is often a championship mechanic who helps out and you pay him per hour etc. is this not the case in these rallies? I am not sure I would want to join a championship where there wouldn't be someone there to help out, or fellow competitors with more knowledge didnt lend a hand.
I will practice in Ireland (toe it over) leave it there for a few month then compete over here presumably.
Join your local motor club (where are you?) would be the first suggestion, you'll probably find someone who will navigate for you there. There are many regional championships which can be done. The 205 challenge is national, hence the cost.
Single venue are probably the easiest stage rallying to start with and with regard to practice it's worth doing a training day anyway. IIRC you'll need to do your BARS test to get your licence.
Single venue are probably the easiest stage rallying to start with and with regard to practice it's worth doing a training day anyway. IIRC you'll need to do your BARS test to get your licence.
Either London or Brighton depending on the day in question.. so south east
regional would be fine, I wouldn't have to join a championship, a car that could enter random rallys would be fine. I just thought there would be a better community in a championship with people helping each other out as they know each other.
regional would be fine, I wouldn't have to join a championship, a car that could enter random rallys would be fine. I just thought there would be a better community in a championship with people helping each other out as they know each other.
never heard of a championship mechanic but assume that there are 20 cars in the championship and after a stage, five or six need attention, who gets priority?, what happens if your car doesnt get fixed in time?...
you get friends and family to help, unpaid, they do it for the love of it, if you dont have these people to help you can expect to pay a lot more to have a team run the car for you.
£10K was a rough figure to cover entry fees, accomodation, petrol (rally car and support), consumbales (tyres, brake pads, new panels etc), contingency fund (engine rebuild, major parts purcahse) for 6-7 events per year.
you get friends and family to help, unpaid, they do it for the love of it, if you dont have these people to help you can expect to pay a lot more to have a team run the car for you.
£10K was a rough figure to cover entry fees, accomodation, petrol (rally car and support), consumbales (tyres, brake pads, new panels etc), contingency fund (engine rebuild, major parts purcahse) for 6-7 events per year.
Hi,
I would suggest going along to a local rally and see what's what. Speak to a few people etc.....there's a decent multi-venue forest rally in the South East coming up soon called the Tempest Stages on 6th November - its based near Aldershot.
http://www.tempestrally.com/
On a smaller scale, you could check out these Single-Venue Rallies....
25th Sept - http://www.woodbridgestages.co.uk/
28th December - Longmoor Loco http://www.scmc.co.uk/Past%20events/Loco_09/Loco_0...
5th February - http://www.southdownsstages.co.uk/ - I will be at this one if you want to chat.
More are on here:
http://www.mark2motorsport.com/acsmc/index.htm
Don't be scared by stories of huge costs for cars and support crews etc - here's my last 12 months which might give you some encouragement:
I bought a fully rally prepared Peugeot 205 GTi for £3300 - that included 6 boxes of spares, 2 spare doors, 10 wheels and 14 good tyres.
I've competed on 9 events and finished them all - 3 rallies, 2 sprints, 4 autotests.
For all apart from one rally I've driven the car to/from the event. The pre- and post-event mechanicing has been done by myself in my garage at the end of the garden and I am no great shakes with a spanner. I reckon I've spent a maximum of 10 hours working on the car for each event. The on-event support was provided by one mate using my Volvo estate car, but we could have managed without him.
My navigator and I have paid for:
Entry fees / insurance (£200-£300 per rally)
Fuel (never used more that 40 litres per rally)
Trailer rental (once, £60)
Accomodation (once)
4 wet tyres (approx £460)
a few bits and bobs to fix things that broke or we broke by hitting things (fuel pump, bodywork trim, many many tie-wraps).
You do need to get a licence from the MSA - Rally National B should be enough - depending on your motorsport history you might need to do a BARS course. You need a helmet, racesuit and gloves. And of course you need a navigator.
Rallying can be done on any budget you want - like you I wanted to do random rallies that looked interesting. I've managed that and not spent a fortune!
Good luck!
I would suggest going along to a local rally and see what's what. Speak to a few people etc.....there's a decent multi-venue forest rally in the South East coming up soon called the Tempest Stages on 6th November - its based near Aldershot.
http://www.tempestrally.com/
On a smaller scale, you could check out these Single-Venue Rallies....
25th Sept - http://www.woodbridgestages.co.uk/
28th December - Longmoor Loco http://www.scmc.co.uk/Past%20events/Loco_09/Loco_0...
5th February - http://www.southdownsstages.co.uk/ - I will be at this one if you want to chat.
More are on here:
http://www.mark2motorsport.com/acsmc/index.htm
Don't be scared by stories of huge costs for cars and support crews etc - here's my last 12 months which might give you some encouragement:
I bought a fully rally prepared Peugeot 205 GTi for £3300 - that included 6 boxes of spares, 2 spare doors, 10 wheels and 14 good tyres.
I've competed on 9 events and finished them all - 3 rallies, 2 sprints, 4 autotests.
For all apart from one rally I've driven the car to/from the event. The pre- and post-event mechanicing has been done by myself in my garage at the end of the garden and I am no great shakes with a spanner. I reckon I've spent a maximum of 10 hours working on the car for each event. The on-event support was provided by one mate using my Volvo estate car, but we could have managed without him.
My navigator and I have paid for:
Entry fees / insurance (£200-£300 per rally)
Fuel (never used more that 40 litres per rally)
Trailer rental (once, £60)
Accomodation (once)
4 wet tyres (approx £460)
a few bits and bobs to fix things that broke or we broke by hitting things (fuel pump, bodywork trim, many many tie-wraps).
You do need to get a licence from the MSA - Rally National B should be enough - depending on your motorsport history you might need to do a BARS course. You need a helmet, racesuit and gloves. And of course you need a navigator.
Rallying can be done on any budget you want - like you I wanted to do random rallies that looked interesting. I've managed that and not spent a fortune!
Good luck!
cheers guys for your info/advice.
I just need to decide on either a 205 or a 325 now. think it would be worth while to do some of a championship next year if possible so the 205/rwd challenge community looks pretty well organised and supported.
trying to organise viewing both/ go for a spin and decide from that, it seems the 205 is marginally cheaper and prob easier to resell. Just i think RWD woud be more fun, but who knows.
I just need to decide on either a 205 or a 325 now. think it would be worth while to do some of a championship next year if possible so the 205/rwd challenge community looks pretty well organised and supported.
trying to organise viewing both/ go for a spin and decide from that, it seems the 205 is marginally cheaper and prob easier to resell. Just i think RWD woud be more fun, but who knows.
Brands Hatch have just started doing the BARS course if you are in the SE - http://www.clubmsv.co.uk/car-home/bars-test.aspx
Rallying is a great way to enjoy motorsport. Having been around circuit racing and then moved to rallying, this is definately where my heart sits. Like all things in life the cost can vary massively depending on what you want to do. Go and watch a BTRDA event and you'll see everything from £200k Focus WRC's to £2k 205's. The advantage of rallying is that 2 of you are in the car - so costs can be split.
In terms of events, main differences are single venue & multi venue. Single venue are pretty much all national B, and 'tend' to me more tarmac based (old airfields for example)as they are in 1 place no Tax is needed on the car. Multi venue can be tarmac or forest - and you drive on the road between stages - so full road insurance and car tax is needed. Multi venue range from National B (40ish stage miles), National A (80ish stage miles) to International.
An idea of entry fees - Twyford Wood Stages (Grantham) it is an old airfield - Entry fee was £199 for 60 stage miles last year. BTRDA Forest event - entry Fee normally around £410 for 40 stage miles.
Running the cars - you don't need a huge team - however you will need generally 2 people - often mates to help out for the weekend - so it is a very social sport. On most multi venue events service will only be around 45 minutes - so if anything big breaks you can't can't change it in that time.
We tend to have 1 friend who is a full mechanic and 1 other helper (who loves motor racing and is pretty handy with spanners too!!). However I use my wifes MPV to tow the car and hire a trailer from a local supplier.
Forest rallying is very addictive and great fun, if your looking to budget, even on a modest car for BTRDA national B events set aside £1,000-£1,300 per round. We run a Grp N 'Classic' Impreza and that generally works out to around £1,200 a round - unless you have a big off!! Have a look at www.ndrrallying.co.uk, this is our site, and you can see the down side of having an off :-(
The main thing is get to events, and do lots of homework, rallying is generally very friendly so talk to people. There is a single venue event at Brands Hatch planned for January, so try and get along to that.
If you are looking to at the RWD challenge - give Langworth Motorsport a call - they hire out a BMW 325, so it could be a good way to introduce yourself to the sport without a huge outlay. Gwaine Clark is the chap to speak to, 01522 595174, they have done a lot of work on our car.
Good luck, hope you get sorted,
In terms of events, main differences are single venue & multi venue. Single venue are pretty much all national B, and 'tend' to me more tarmac based (old airfields for example)as they are in 1 place no Tax is needed on the car. Multi venue can be tarmac or forest - and you drive on the road between stages - so full road insurance and car tax is needed. Multi venue range from National B (40ish stage miles), National A (80ish stage miles) to International.
An idea of entry fees - Twyford Wood Stages (Grantham) it is an old airfield - Entry fee was £199 for 60 stage miles last year. BTRDA Forest event - entry Fee normally around £410 for 40 stage miles.
Running the cars - you don't need a huge team - however you will need generally 2 people - often mates to help out for the weekend - so it is a very social sport. On most multi venue events service will only be around 45 minutes - so if anything big breaks you can't can't change it in that time.
We tend to have 1 friend who is a full mechanic and 1 other helper (who loves motor racing and is pretty handy with spanners too!!). However I use my wifes MPV to tow the car and hire a trailer from a local supplier.
Forest rallying is very addictive and great fun, if your looking to budget, even on a modest car for BTRDA national B events set aside £1,000-£1,300 per round. We run a Grp N 'Classic' Impreza and that generally works out to around £1,200 a round - unless you have a big off!! Have a look at www.ndrrallying.co.uk, this is our site, and you can see the down side of having an off :-(
The main thing is get to events, and do lots of homework, rallying is generally very friendly so talk to people. There is a single venue event at Brands Hatch planned for January, so try and get along to that.
If you are looking to at the RWD challenge - give Langworth Motorsport a call - they hire out a BMW 325, so it could be a good way to introduce yourself to the sport without a huge outlay. Gwaine Clark is the chap to speak to, 01522 595174, they have done a lot of work on our car.
Good luck, hope you get sorted,
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