A Blog About Road Rallying

Title: 2010 Graduation Rallye
Location: Moxie Java – Corner of Five Mile and Overland Roads (Boise ID)
Link out: Click here
Description: A simple TSD rally
Start Time: 09:00
Date: 2010-03-21

Title: 2010 Graduation Rallye
Location: Moxie Java – Corner of Five Mile and Overland Roads (Boise ID)
Link out: Click here
Description: A simple TSD rally
Start Time: 09:00
Date: 2010-03-21

Title: TSD Rally School
Location: BanBury Golf Course – 2626 S. Marypost Place, Eagle ID (in the club house)
Link out: Click here
Description: An easy. . . fun. . . way to learn everything necessary to participate in and enjoy a TSD car rallye.

Presented By:
Southwest Idaho Sports Car Club
& the T3 Rallye Masters

FYI:
A car rallye is not a race. It is more like a big board game conducted on public streets, at or below posted speeds, in any street legal vehicle, and under a precise set of rules. All drivers and vehicles must be licensed and insured.
Start Time: 09:30
Date: 2010-03-20

My rally bud, Joe Akerman and I got together this last Friday, the first Friday in March to run Santa Monica Sports Car Clubs First Friday Nighter Rally.

The Santa Monica Sports Car Club has continued the FFN for many years, and you are always guaranteed a great time!

Tonight was different in that my car was not ready to run Class A with a computer and Joe’s car had my old Alpha Elite in it and no reader board.  A few days earlier Joe had asked me to rig up a reader board on a Ram Mount so we could mount it to his windshield with a suction cup. Well by the time Friday night came about, a large stone had severely cracked the windshield in Joe’s WRX. So we opted for a clipboard instead. (The best decision of the whole rally)

What this did, was force Joe and I to communicate better. It allowed me to concentrate more on driving and being on time, and Joe more on the instructions and traps. I really think this system works better.  As long as I knew what the next instruction was, that is what I was concentrating on, and not a few steps ahead. Sometimes when you are thinking a few steps ahead in a TSD trap rally, you zone out on the current tasks/traps.  By doing this, we went through the entire rally and properly executed each instruction and did not fall for any of the traps.  This is always  a difficult task when Jeanne English is the rally master.

A quick note for Jeanne and the SMSCC gang. Great Rally!!  You guys put on a great event. The roads on this rally where in the mountains outside of Santa Clarita California. Great roads for some spirited driving!

After catching each of the traps, which not only tested confidence, but knowledge of the rules, Joe and I managed to score an eleven. Meaning we were eleven hundredths of a minute off for the entire 2+ hour rally. Not perfect, but good enough to pull a 1st place win in Class A. It had been a while since Joe and I had run together and won. It was a good feeling!

The other nice part about this rally, was the attendance! There were 20 cars/teams running this rally. I hope this is a sign that the economy is turning around and people are starting to get out and enjoy themselves more! It sure was nice to see new and familiar faces at this event.

So if you are in the Los Angeles area on the 1st Friday of the month, bring a friend, a car and a watch to the corner of Devonshire and Sepulveda in Mission Hills, where behind the BofA you will find die hard and newbie rally enthusiasts gathering to enjoy their Friday night without the TV, without the bars, but with good friends and awesome roads.

Don’t be shy either, if you have never done something like this before, they have a beginners meeting to tell you how to do it before the event starts.

Title: Santa Barbara Region Rally School
Location: Schneider Autohaus – 2703 De La Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Description: Join us for an introduction to rallying designed to prepare drivers and navigators for participation in Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) Road Rallies. This is the type of rally run throughout PCA Zone 8 and at Porsche Parades.
We’ll begin with a classroom session for an hour or so followed by a short practice rally. We will end up at Max’s Restaurant in Santa Barbara for lunch and a critique. Participants will need note-taking materials and a watch that can be synchronized with a master timepiece.
All participants must pre-register – contact Joe Schneider at autohaus@silcom.com Event cost only $5.00 per team.
Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2010-05-08
End Time: 14:30