Club Arnage

As a regular reader but never a contributor to this site I'm now turning to the fountain of knowledge out there to ask for help.  Me and the wife are planning to go to the Wales Rally this year but have no idea where to go.  Therefore can any one recommend a good plan of attack for the saturday?

Have you tried Wales!  ;D

Sorry couldn't resist.

I new you guys wouldn't let me down.

BTW how do I put a picture on my person profile?  Does it need to be uploaded to a website so that its got a URL?

Do you mean the Welsh Rally or the GB Rally of Wales?

If the latter, I definitely wouldn't bother. It's massively overpriced, chav-ridden, the traffic is beyond ghastly (reckon on queuing for about four hours to get into the stage) and the is action mediocre at best. You'll either get soaked or covered in dust yet be well back from the action. Anyway, the cars aren't all that if you ask me, not when youve seen Grp B in action. Compared to the wonderful old-time five day long RAC rally, it's a pathetic shadow of it's former self, like cutting Le mans down to a 1000km race on the Bugatti curcuit.

Aviod like the plague, but if you do go I'd be interested to see what you make of it.

(http://rallyfc.iespana.es/rallyfc/historia/metro/Metro6R4rac1986malcomwilson.jpg)

I do mean the GB Rally.  Just as I'm from the "land of my fathers" I like to think of it as our own.  Looks like I've got no choice but to go.  My wife used to go and watch the old RAC when she was a kid with her dad, in the days when it used to venture east of Offa's Dyke, and she's really keen to go again.  Its her fault I got into this whole motorsports lark, but can't complain.  I wouldn't have discovered Le Mans otherwise.

Tell your wife that Andy makes a good point - she will find it a shadow of its former self (Kielder anybody?) so hope she won't be disappointed (no, she will).  My dear old Dad used to take me to race meetings and marshalled on the RAC years ago.  He did unto me what her father did to her! Can't say I converted the old man though, he was a petrolhead when I met him.

Anyone care to make a positive contribution to this thread? Please??  ???

 :-* :-* :-*

Well I would take any and all chances to get to the GB Rally - any motorsport event in fact - and how refreshing that it is your wife who encourages  such a passion.

Yes it has changed heaps but it is still thrilling to actually be there getting soaked, covered in dust etc. than watching it on TV. Same as watching a match on TV or being in the terraces........I won't go on ;D

Is that positive enough for you Smokie or did you mean that you wanted some positive solutions :-*

Lisa

I think that I would go,positively. ;D

That's because you're Welsh, Mr Prewett  ::)         ;)

I am what I am.

Speaking of Wales I saw a movie the other night.This town somewhwere in Wales was trying to get on a map by making a local hill into a mountain by adding more dirt to the top.Fact or Fiction? ???

It is indeed a far cry from when as a lad you could just nip over a fence somewhere in UK (Sutton Park stage in Birmingham in the 70s for me watching Roger Clark etc).   And you have to pay now.  And you have to plan ahead to move between stages.  But - you can move between stages because of its centralised locations (which you couldn't do easily in the "good old days") and you can still get into the forests.     And most of the info you need is at:
http://www.walesrallygb.com/artman/publish/index.php

The sight, sound, speed, smell etc is awesome.  Pick your places carefully and you will not believe how fast, loud and brutal it is.   No contest . Go at least once.   Enjoy  - you just have to plan ahead and time things early enough.   Oh and make sure you have plenty of warm kit and waterproofs!

MG Mark

Seb Loeb.  Awesome.  That do?
Amazing 1, I believe "The man who went up a hill and came down a mountain" was, as they say, based on a true story.

Garth Hill, nr Cardiff.

http://www.britishrally.co.uk/

Try this for more info

Thanks.  Looks like opinions run high on that forum too as to whether its an overpriced waste of space or a world class event with world class drivers.  We're going to go anyway, I'm actually looking forward to it and just hope its the later.  Still its a day out watching motorsport if nothing else.

Smokie's right, we were being a bit negative but some of us always are (no names, no pack-drill)! - part of the fun.  I'm sure you'll have a great time unless you're unlucky enough to end up on a stage that gets cancelled because of the crowds!  Just get where you're going really early because you would not believe the numbers of people compared to the old days, as it's now so concentrated in one area.
In spite of the fact that like so many forms of motorsport, it's not the way it was in the "good old days" - for which rose-tinted spectacles are always provided - we're still planning a trip to the Col de Turini some time soon!

Personally we gave up on Wales Rally GB about 4 -5 years ago after it got way to expensive, too compact a route, which meant loads of traffic problems. (4 hours to go 30 miles to the next stage) We also got turned away from the service area which we were entitled to enter.

So now we tend to go to Rally Monte Carlo instead. If there are 4 to split costs with, it works out cheaper than doing Wales Rally GB, as it costs nothing to spectate out on the stages. The weather and scenery is better too, plus we get to sleep in hotel rather than our cars.

Well worth considering though is the Roger Albert Clark Rally in November. This is run in the spirit of the old RAC Rally, with stages in Yorkshire, Kielder, and Scotland. Runs over three days starting Saturday 18th November and is for 2 wheel drive stuff only. Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts, Lancia Stratos, Mini etc.

Pack some good walking boots, get a decent OS map, DONT buy a ticket, DONT park in the official car parks. Nopt only do you get to see world class motorsport, but you can do it for free in combination with a good ramble in the countryside. Google earth can help with the navigating onto the stages ;)

Rats!!  Already bought the tickets.  I didn't think they were too expensive (£22/per head) compared to other sporting tickets I've bought in the past.  But the £3 handling fee and the £4.95 for delivery is just rude.

I think the plan is to go to Halfway and watch the cars through there twice.  Not going to even think about getting into the service area at Swansea.

ah the good old days..  old timer i am starting to sound... we used to follow it around in the late 80's, being lowely students that we were,  were camping in our Mk2 Escort.  really great community spirit, a bit like le mans, but on a colder, smaller and more mobile based.  Being feet away from the 6r4, and the amazing Rs200 is one sound and view which still causes the hair on my neck to stand on edge.  5 quid a stage entrance, bargain by todays prices.

as above, i wouldn't bother - its overpriced and overpopulated.   Be aware, that its a rally, you will see the cars for a brief second, especially if you go for a walk through the woods. If you must,  i think the best option are the "spectator stages" where you see the cars for a longer period. 

The manx national and international are worth visiting too.

I nearly got flattened by a 'grale when I was leaning out of a gorse bush to take a photo.

Thing is, he interpreted the gorse bushes at the side of the road as fair game. The wing mirror clipped the camera strap, and the co driver had had garlic for dinner the previous evening. It was pretty close.

You live and learn.

Bloody good photo though.