Rallying Events

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What is Rallying?

This is the most popular form of motor sport in Britain, perhaps because it involves ordinary-looking cars. Rallying involves two people working together - a driver and a co-driver, or navigator - and the cars normally run at one-minute intervals, competing against the clock rather than directly against each other in a race.

While very specialised cars are required for top-level special stage rallying, unmodified, everyday cars can be used for simple road events, making this one of the cheapest forms of motor sport available.

Road Rallies, Twelve Car Navigational Rallies and Scatters

All manner of events are run under the umbrella title of 'Rallies', including economy runs and treasure hunts. However, the most popular are simply known as Road Rallies, Twelve Car Navigational Rallies, or Scatters. The essence of this type of event is to maintain a time schedule through a series of control points by following route instructions that often put a great emphasis upon navigation. These events take place on normal public roads, almost always at night. All competing cars must be properly taxed, tested and insured.

Road Rally:
Held on the public highway. A rally of about 50 cars competing on all class roads, starting on a Saturday night and finishing during the early hours of Sunday.

Historic Road Rally:
Held both on the public highway and on private land, these events comprise both tests of navigation with Regularity Section and driver and navigator co-ordination at speed, with Special Tests held on private land.

Twelve Car Navigation Rally:
Held on the public highway. A test of navigational skills to sort out a route with timed check-points along the way, lasting from two to four hours and limited to a maximum of 12 cars.

Scatters:
Held on the public highway. Solve navigational clues to find the route with check-points along the way, lasting approximately from two to four hours.

Table - Top Rally:
Basically a Road Rally without cars. These test your navigational skills to the utmost by plotting a route on a map. An excellent form of navigational training - usually held in a pub!

Special Stage Rallies:
These are far more expensive than road rallies, with more emphasis on car preparation, speed and driver ability, rather than navigational skills. The basis of such events - the special stage - is a stretch of road closed to all other traffic, which must be covered at a high average speed. In most of Great Britain (the exceptions being Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Mull, the Channel Islands and the roads used by the SEAT Jim Clark Memorial Rally), public roads are not available for this purpose, so special stage events use private land, frequently Forestry Commission roads or disused airfields. Linking the special stages are sections of public road, where the required average speed is low (usually 28mph or lower). Because of these sections, all competing cars must be properly taxed and insured, with a current MOT certificate.

Most of the world's most famous rallies are special stage events, for example the Wales Rally GB, Britain's round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Minimum Requirements For Stage Rallies

Additional safety equipment (for example a safety roll cage, fire extinguishers and fireproofing) and an MSA Log Book; two crew members with valid MSA National B Stage rally licences and club membership cards; crash helmets and flame-resistant overalls to specified standards. The driver must be at least 17 years old, hold a valid RTA Driving Licence and have passed a BARS (British Association of Rally Schools) test; the co-driver must be at least 16 years old. Junior drivers may start stage rallying earlier (at 15), but only on selected, single-venue, events. All of the rules and requirements are detailed in the annual 'Blue Book', available from the MSA.