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Rally 101
Before there were the X games, before there were extreme sports, there was rallying. The original extreme sport, rallying is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt, tarmac or snow-covered roads.
There are no ovals, pace cars or rain delays. Rally racing features real cars racing against the clock on closed-off sections of real roads that are usually unpaved and unforgiving. Events can last several days and cover hundreds of miles through rain and snow, day or night. This extreme test of skill, speed and endurance is what makes rally racing the world’s premiere and most exciting motor sport.
Drivers
Insiders and even casual fans consider rally drivers to be the best all-around drivers on the planet. They must master every road surface and every weather condition while possessing the endurance and stamina needed to make it through long hours and hundreds of miles. As the old saying goes, "Circuit racers see 10 turns 1000 times while rally drivers see 1000 turns 1 time!"
Co-Drivers
The key to rally drivers’ success are their co-drivers. Rally drivers cannot practice the course and must rely on their navigators (or co-driver) to survive. The co-driver uses a computerized odometer along with a supplied route book to communicate to the driver what lies ahead on the road. The route book describes in detail the road ahead and includes warnings for hazards such as cliffs, trees and junctions. Rally drivers determine what speed and angle to enter each turn or crest in the road by listening to their co-drivers' constant instructions.
Events
Gravel logging roads, mountain passes, well groomed forest roads - these are what make up the tracks for rally drivers. They are temporarily closed, actual public roads on which rally drivers can go flat out. A typical rally event will last two days and feature over 250 miles of roads split up into competitive stages and transit sections. The competitive stages, or “special stages” are where the action lies; these are timed sprints on roads that vary from 5 to 30 miles in length. The lowest cumulative time wins.
Cars
A rally car is the ultimate real world sports car: one that is capable of high speed and incredible handling on any road surface and in every weather condition. Fast yet strong, they must survive hundreds of miles and several days of torture. As an additional challenge, all rally cars must be street legal, since they must traverse public roads with traffic between the competitive timed sections.
