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Starting off

Submitted by Josh Mills on Sat, 16/04/2011 - 18:08
in

My name is Josh Mills and I am interested in starting rally driving. I currently year 11 in school and looked at multiple ways to start. I have found a location near me that has, introduction, stage 1 and stage 2 courses and am thinking to do them. The problem is, I don't know what to do from there, do i buy a cheap car and try and find local tournaments or is there something else I should do. any help would be appreciated.

‹ Keen To Start tarmat rally ›

Intro to Rally.

Submitted by flat04 on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 12:28.

Hi Josh,

Damian has summed it up pretty well. Southern Districts (SDCC) and Walkerville All Cars Club (WACC) hold regular 'intro suitable' events. SDCC at their Mt Compass property and WACC at our Truro property. Depending on where you live, one more be easier to get to than the other.

Both allow pretty much standard road cars to compete. WACC have the second round of their club series this weekend (07/05/2011, starts at 3:00pm). Drivers must be at least 15 years of age. You can run a standard car but must have fire extinguisher ($30 from Bunnings or similar). More information at www.wacc.asn.au

The easiest way to get into it is to go to either clubs General Meeting and chat to some people there to get a feel for the best way to start out. There is no single perfect answer but you'll soon work out which is most effective for your driving experience/budget.

Feel free to come out to Walky Park on Saturday and say hello. I'll be competing in our Black WRX. More than happy to spend the time with you to talk over your options and point you in the right direction.

Regards,

Andrew Gooley
Walkerville All Cars Club
[email protected]

[IMG]http://www.faberit.com.au/RXRally/Events/07/SAARC07/101_2644.JPG[/IMG]
[URL=http://www.faberit.com.au/rxrally]Faber I.T. Rally Team[/URL]

Down South.....

Submitted by Josh Mills on Thu, 05/05/2011 - 23:29.

Thanks Andrew but unfortunately I live down south so the Mt Compass club will be the go for me. I would love to have had a chat with you about what I could do and how to do it. Hopefully I will head up there sometime to watch an event and might be able to catch up then.

Thanks again for the help that you have given.

Josh

deep breath...

Submitted by damian.in.sa on Mon, 18/04/2011 - 17:27.

Hi Josh - I'm new at this too, only started last year. Ok, deep breath...

First thing I would say is finish school!! Don't let motorsport interfere with school.

But enough "adult" talk - so, go to a couple meetings with a CAMS affiliated car club here in SA (assuming you are in SA) and get a feel for what the club is like and what they do.

Southern Districts Car Club and Walkerville All Cars Club are 2 of the biggest and best in SA (Google em).
Both run events that a beginner with a stock car can enter.
There are plenty of other great car clubs in SA, but these 2 specialize in Rallying and have a lot of members each.
I started out with Classic Celica Club of SA (Cams affiliated) as I knew nothing when i started last year, and I love my Celica's.

Motorkhana's and Khanacrosses are the place to start when you are ready to start driving. They are (relatively) low speed events where you can show you have car control, and can get recognition as part of getting a Rally licence.
You can enter these events in a stock car with no modifications (other than a fire extinguisher for $30 from supercheap or repco or similar) with a $25 day licence from CAMS (simple form to fill out).

There's a Khanacross at Lanac park Sunday 1st May if you're bored and want to come and see what happens.
http://www.sdcc.asn.au/lanac.html
look for a black and silver Sigma (*) all stickered up (can't miss it) and come say hi - you'll find the vast majority of the Rallying / motorsport community are a friendly helpful bunch (as I have).

One of the best places to start is officialling. It's free, you get to learn a lot, you get to talk to drivers and navigators and see their cars close up, and you usually get the best view at events!

You may also wish to offer yourself as service crew for somebody. Another great (& free) way to get close to the action. Even if you have no mechanical experience and are just cleaning the car and checking oil and water, every little bit helps.

Navigating is the next step up, as you actually get to sit in the car! This is a very demanding job, some would say this is a harder job than driving... (waits for response from a Driver...)

Navigating and Driving is where the "big" costs come into it. All the protective gear can get pricey, plus there is the cost of car, entry fees, running costs, etc.

So use your youth and enthusiasm and get into it!

Watch as much ARC and WRC as you can. Pause, rewind and slo-mo are your friends.
Read the CAMS manual over and over. It might not make sense at first, but the more you read it the clearer it becomes.
http://www.cams.com.au/
http://www.camsmanual.com.au/
Google search "rally forums" and read everything you can- that first (or second) hit is a winner btw

Good luck!
Damian

[email protected] if you want more help off forum

* - why am I driving a Sigma if I love my Celica's? Because i'd rather smash a Sigma than a Celica!!

Thanks

Submitted by Josh Mills on Wed, 04/05/2011 - 23:47.

I' m at a loss of words of how much you have helped me at bringing this into prespective of what i have to do. I now know what needs to be done to achive my goal. If you hear anything about upcoming events wether it be rally or gymkhana it would be greatly appriciated to email me at [email protected]. or by posting on this forum. Once again thank you so very much.

a little more info...

Submitted by Velocity Racing on Mon, 16/05/2011 - 19:54.

Hi Josh,

I think the guys have given plenty of fantastic information, but as far as keeping you informed with upcoming events there was a couple of extra things I wanted to let you know:

- You may like to join the SA Rally E-Group, this is set up for rally enthusiasts to discuss their views on (primarily South Australian) rallying issues, and there is lots of information on upcoming events as well. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sarally/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups...

- Your local car club can also keep you informed of upcoming CAMS events, most have this information avaliable on their website. The Southern Districts Car Club (you mentioned you lived down south) has a 'Coming Events' page which lists everything for this year. http://www.sdcc.asn.au/

Hope this helps!

Kind Regards,

Sarah Parin
Team Manager & Co-Driver | Velocity Racing

www.velocityracing.net.au