This isn't quite autocross or road racing, but I think this forum is about the closest fit on TR, so...

FAST is spawning a Rally club!

You'll find it here: RallyFL.org

If you aren't sure what Road Rally or TSD Rally is, that website will explain it to you. (it might not be what you think!) Ask anyone who's done it, it's a lot of fun!

The club is starting out with a monthly Friday Night Rally series. These events will be short (2-3 hours) and begin and end close to the Tampa area and designed with the novice rallyist in mind. Only paved roads will be used, so it will be easy on your car.

First event is scheduled for Friday, September 21 at 8pm and Registration is Open!
Every Rally team requires a driver and a navigator, so find the other half of your team and get registered! Early pre-registration gets you an entry fee discount, but you can register on-site as late as 30 minutes before the event!

Bear in mind this is a completely new website and a completely new program, so if you see anything wrong with any of the info, let me know and I'll try to fix it!

PLEASE share this notice with every local car club you know of.

 

Loren,
I'm glad that you have some experience with Rallys.
I do too.

The best person to check out a route is not the person who wrote it, but someone who is attempting to make it work without having prior knowledge of how it's "supposed to work".

Generally, routes should be laid out so the average beginner will do well and return for another enjoyable experience. There are tie-breakers that will separate the experienced entrants.

If you need someone to pre-drive the route, using the actual instructions, I'm volunteering.-Bob

I'm not saying that your event will be, but.....
I have been on enough rallys that were mapped with unrealistic average speeds that required entrants to break the law in order to get even close to the average speed. Everyone knows that the posted speed cannot be maintained as an average speed.....for a lot of reasons. I don't know that I need to list
them here. When people feel forced to drive over their head to avoid time penalties, they don't come back.

I have been on enough rallys that were put on by rally masters who thought it would be fun to toss in non-standard and vague instructions with the goal to screw up the entrants so they could show how smart the RM was and how dumb the entrants were, as a possible ego thing. Novices driven away by this tactic will
not be back again.

I do wish you success and hope that you accept my sincere offer to help.-Bob

 

Hey, Bob!

I may take you up on that offer. I have a basic route done for this one, and I did pre-run it with another experienced rallist navigating (and me keeping my mouth shut driving). But, I need to make some adjustments to tie the route to the start and end points and insert checkpoints. Once that is all done and I have the final route, it would be good to have someone pre-run it.

I definitely get what you're saying about keeping the speeds in check. My average speeds are normally set 5-10 mph less than the speed limit. It's sort of an inverse relationship. If the speed limit is 45 or greater, I expect local traffic to likely be trying to exceed the speed limit, so I set the speed very near the speed limit so that my rallyists aren't rolling road blocks. If the speed limit is 35 or less, depending on how residential or congested the area is, I'll set the speed much lower. Sometimes 20 or even 15 so people don't have to "rush" through such areas.

No real tricks in these Friday night rallies. They are intended for Novices, and I want them to have fun while learning to Rally! My goal is for people to NOT get lost.

Email to follow.

 

Well this just tickled my fancy. I will definately be looking into and trying to get involved when I return to the U.S.

 

I'm loving this idea and am looking forward to participating, but WTF is it with "RallyFL.org"... it's seems more than a bit douchey to be stepping on RallyFlorida.org that way. Intentional or just ignorance?

 

Not stepping on them at all. As far as I can tell from their website, all they do is Rallycross. Their focus appears to be very different.

I wanted a short, simple and memorable domain name. Relevant to the sport, and localized, but not specifically to the Tampa area because I'd like to expand beyond there eventually... and not to any of the usual overdone "gulf coast" or "sun coast" or anything like that. "Rally" and "Florida" were the ideas I wanted to include, so I came up with RallyFL. Sorry if it's similar, but it is what it is.

Think you can make it up from Sarasota for a Friday night event?

EDIT: Just added a link to RallyFlorida.org on our about page. I *want* people to find them if that's what they're looking for!

 

Hey Loren, I want to apologize for being so brash in that post... I was not "well centered" last night and was feeling a bit surly and annoyed. It was an impolite way of asking for the very polite answer you gave. I'm personally very very interested in the events and being involved. I haven't been able to be as involved in the SCCA events in the last year because of the travel requirements and some car issues. I am working very hard to make sure I can go to the first one (it is in the middle of the Jewish high holidays).

 

It's all good, man.

So far, my first event is on the weekend of a Chump Car race, and in the middle of Jewish holidays... remind me to schedule one on the date of the Super Bowl, too.

 

To be clear (a lot of people have misconceptions), this is NOT WRC! It's not a race, and it's not even run on dirt. This is a contest of route following and speed management skill. The goal is to reach each checkpoint "on time" not late, AND not early.

UPDATE:

• We have our first two entries... the game is on!
• We have secured an end-point: Surf Shack
• Early Registration ends Monday (9/17), entry fee goes up to $35 then.

 

If I lived closer this would be fun.