Recommend me a "rallye" to take part in?

[moribund]

Inspired by the Rallye des Jonquilles thread, I really quite fancy having a go at an event like that. In summary it's (as far as I can tell) a friendly meeting of like-minded enthusiasts, lots of nice cars to drool over and all capped off with a "spirited" run around some nice countryside with a competitive element without too much effort, cash or commitment required.

It can be done in a weekend and really appeals to me as someone who enjoys car culture and driving but is only ever going to be casual competitor (Autosolos are about my limit, turn up and go with no prep!).

The only problem is that it's really intended for classics, as is every other event of this type I've found, and my Elise is too new.

So could anyone recommend anything similar that might be fun which I would be eligible for?

As far as I can see the rules in the UK mean events fall into the following classes:

- Road Rallies and 12 car scatters where competition is all, navigation needs someone who takes it seriously and which include roads which I'd consider too rough for my p&j

- Tours which seem a little processional and anyway are generally for classics or single-marque/club events

- Treasure hunts which sidestep the "no competition on the road" rules but have ended up mainly being fancy-dress-for-charity type events like the Britball Run

Are there some events I've missed? Are there any UK one-day treasure hunts where the emphasis is more towards driving nice roads than dressing as Batman and solving daft riddles? Or any euro one-day events which set aside space for modern sportscars as well as classics?

I'm all ears!

[Madscanner]

Hiya

Having suffered from the same problem (lack of events similar to the Rallye des Jonquilles that will accept less common but "newer" classics), I will watch this thread with interest.

[moribund]

We could be waiting a while. I can see this area is a minefield, especially in the UK.

In the UK I think you are only allowed to time anything if the emphasis is on regularity and navigation. The only form of organised run with a competitive element that would suit a casual competitor or lone driver are treasure hunts, and no timing is allowed.

I know various motor clubs do small treasure hunts and some of the one-make clubs do them on their big meets, but that's not quite what I'm looking for.

The other issue is PR. I can certainly see why an event like LeJog can get away with honing all over the country as by simply putting everyone in a classic car (and using tiny roads) it somehow takes the sting out of it for the public.

As soon as you do something similar but the cars are hot hatches, Porsche Boxters, noisy Elises etc then suddenly the general public will get a monk on and the organiser could be on the receiving end of some serious trouble.

[Harsh]

Exactly right...

Sadly it's all about public perception of safety.
An event with classics has a perceived safety level because of the cars being slower,
Obviously that doesn't take the relative ability of older versus newer cars into account so whilst they are slower they are just as dangerous.

We've steered away from putting one together for just that reason, in order to make something more modern safe we would have a huge logistical load and a massive risk assessment to complete and a big insurance premium to cover it.

The cost of arranging all that - and to do it properly - would be way too high to be viable and of course you can't legislate for the things that will still go wrong that are out of an organisers hands. if you're going to do it, then it has to be done properly so....
You might as well enter yourself in a rally event that is MSA approved, they are safer and a lot of fun..
http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/contentviewarticle.a...

[moribund]

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate the link but that's not the sort of event I'm looking for personally - not enough of an "event" if you see what I mean, as well as being held over a small area and with too much focus on having a skilled nav.

If the UK is out, are there any other euro events that allow more modern cars?

Or, if someone were to organise a large-ish scale scatter in the UK, what liability is the organiser facing? If one of the "entrants" does something stupid, I wonder if the organiser has any liability?

Just been reading this: http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/msa_forms/comps...

"Navigational Scatter Events are a form of event that are considered automatically authorised
under Regulation 5(b) of the legislation, by virtue of the fact that they have no set route and
there is no competition on the Public Highway. It is important that they are run to the
following conditions;

• Places to be visited must be detailed to the competitors in the form of points on (say a

map reference) described in no fixed order (not the Standard Treasure Hunt format of
one point leading to the next).

• Competitors should be given a random choice of points to visit, and not be required to

visit more than 75% of them. The point should be safely located and competitors be
free to visit them in any order.

• Competitors should be required to leave the car to reach the points (using maps for

example). The car is only a form of transport to get close to the points.

• No form of timing should be employed on the Public Highway sections, although a

finish time may be specified providing it gives reasonably adequate time to visit the
required number of points.

These events are regularly run by local motor clubs, but may be of little interest to members
of the general public running an event.

The event could be thought of as orienteering without the strain."

If I can't find anything, maybe I should organise something

[threespires]

Classic Rally Tours run Regularity Rallies in France over a weekend [ Out Saturday / Return Monday ] and will accept moderns. I'm told that next year's regulations will include classes for more modern cars to enable new people to the sport to have a go & see if it's what they are looking for before they go to the expense of a buying a Classic only to find the sport isn't for them. There's a Training Day in Arras next Spring.
As it's a timed Regularity I think the events avoid the procession that a scenic tour can often end up becoming. Many of the HRCR's scenic tours end up as a long procession.
I'll not advertise here, but a simple Google will give you more info on Classic Rally Tours and the Gallery will give you a link to some photo's, including last week's Beaujolais Rally in the Le Touquet area. Cars entered ranged from 1920's Bentley's to a new MINI.

[moribund]

Thanks, they look interesting. The emphasis is more on fun, but they're still regularities though and still need a keen nav.

[benjj]

This might be up your street:

http://rallydriversclub.co.uk/

[moribund]

Cheers Ben, that does look fun. Have mailed them.

[SystemParanoia]

http://www.awmmc.org.uk/ <-- Association of West Mids Motor Clubs

http://www.emamc.org.uk/ <-- Association of East Mids Motor Clubs

http://www.wamc.org.uk/ <-- Association of Welsh Motor Clubs

http://acsmcsite.wordpress.com/ <-- Association of Southern Motor Clubs

http://www.ancc.co.uk/ <-- Association of Northern Motor Clubs

http://www.scottishcarclubs.com/ <-- Association of Scottish Motor Clubs


...right.. if you cant find what you're looking for amongst all of this lot.. then you dont deserve to own a computer

[moribund]

Lol, thanks. I'm a member of a motor club already thanks, but like I said above UK clubs don't (can't) do the sort of event I was originally looking for.

The bigger scatters/treasure hunts like the one Ben linked to look fun, more of an event as well as the sporting aspect.

[moribund]

To follow up on this I've just sent an entry off for the Knowldale Mini Miglia Road Run.

It's a "Touring Assembly" so there's no competition element on the public road but they've spiced it up by giving you a road book with "optional" navigation and there will be some tests on private ground under a separate permit.

Modern cars are allowed to enter. There is a good mix so far with tasty classics such as a Jaguar XK150 and Porsche 912 all the way through to less glamorous kit such as a Vauxhall Tigra.

I'll report back next month!

[tawt]

http://www.guildofmotorendurance.co.uk
...?

[tawt]

http://www.guildofmotorendurance.co.uk
...?

[jamienshelly]

How about this, looks to be a great event (I hope so as we are going).
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...

[rs4al]

jamienshelly said:

How about this, looks to be a great event (I hope so as we are going).
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...

I wonder if a mk1 MX5 would be allowed ?

[Craikeybaby]

I'm pretty sure the MX5 Owners Club go to that, not just mk1s either.

[greengreenwood7]

I saw that there's a Tulip style Roadbook Rallye in Kent in July - not a hoon but a gentle bit of fun navigating around the back roads.....looks sensible value to. Aimed at Cars over 20 years old 'but newer interesting cars at Organisers discretion'....
http://www.tonbridgelions.co.uk/classic-car-tout-o...