Novice Advice

So how about all you veteran Rallyists and even you crusty old dudes give 3 pieces of advice to the few aspiring rally drivers around here.

How about 1 for car prep, what you should or should not have done for your first Rally, what left you stuck on the side of a stage ect.

1 for personal prep

And one for general going to your first rally.

Look forward to some great advice.

First rally, totally should be a learning experience and fun, relish it as such. If you get caught up in beating someone..you lose.

Car prep, get done a week early, not the night before.


Personal prep, be prepared to do everything wrong. Don't get all defensive (or offensive) when you get caught screwing up.

People will disagree with me on some of these:

1) Buy your first rally car built but go through it front to back like the guy who sold it to you is trying to kill you.

2) Volunteer at events and run as many navigaional events as you can.

3) Plan on finishing and not caring where you place - someone has to come last, might as well be you.

---

First Rally: 2001
Driver (7), Co-Driver (44)
Drivers (16)
Clerk (10), Official (7), Volunteer (4)
Cars Built (1), Engines Built (0) Cages Built (0)
Last Updated, January 4, 2015

Quote
john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

Morison Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> People will disagree with me on some of these:
>
> 1) Buy your first rally car built but go through
> it front to back like the guy who sold it to you
> is trying to kill you.
>
> 2) Volunteer at events and run as many navigaional
> events as you can.
>
> 3) Plan on finishing and not caring where you
> place - someone has to come last, might as well be
> you.

Too later , he already built his car.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

1) For car prep make sure you have the car buttoned up weeks before the event so you can drive it work and learn what are the normal sounds and feeling coming from the car. This will help when after the first stage and the car starts making noises you can better determine if it is an issue.

2) Set your expectations correctly. You are likely not the next coming of Colin McCrae so there is no need to drive like him. One great piece of advice that I got from Anders when I was first starting was to count a "crash" as any driving mistake that would have wrecked the car if a rock had been on the side of the road. And have your co-driver count the number of crashes that you have per stage.

3) For the rally Remember to eat and drink. Especially if you are having mechanical issues with the car. The extra stress of the a poor running car can quickly sap your energy levels and lead to bigger errors no need to be hungry and dehydrated at the same time.

Car prep: Said before, finish your prep before the rally. I've done stuff thinking, "I'll just finish it before tech" and it turns into a mess because of something silly like you forgot the tool for it, brought the wrong part, or rusted crap won't come off. It's nice to just relax before the rally.

I'll answer the should and should do for first rally together. For should do, run a rallycross or track day. You'll find some kinks on the car. I broke my exhaust on a rallycross and found where my tires where rubbing on my fender and mudflaps. I also found that my driving position wasn't really the best. If I did all that, I would have probably found it out in shakedown, but then I would have been scrambling at the event. For should not do, don't worry about where you place. Just finish. You can still get into trouble taking it easy.

What left me stuck on the side of a stage. I carry a 17mm and 18mm deep well socket in the car for changing lug nuts (17mm) and for putting up the jack (18mm). Those were the only 17 and 18mm deep wells I had too. So when I had to check and fill my trans oil, I needed the 18mm for the socket adapter I had. You can guess where this is going, but I left the 17 and 18 in the service, got a flat on stage, and couldn't change my flat. Idiot mistake, but now I got a simple spare tool kit dedicated for the car.

Advice for car prep: read the rule book

Advice for personal gear: read the rule book

General advice: read the rule book

There are many competitors who don't. It has cost some of them many positions, places, and wins. And when I say "rule book" I don't mean "your favorite chapter", I mean the whole thing!

Also, most people turn to "car rules" and study those. That's fun. However, realize this: once the car passes tech, all those rules are, for most purposes, gone. So, most drivers start their first rally in a legal car and have NEVER read ANY of the rules about how an event runs. When I say it that way, it just sounds crazy.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

Take you expected budget and have at least 30-50% extra.
All your service crew should be people you like that have good attitudes. I've seen entire teams start to hate the weekend because one person is being a dick or is in a bad mood. Gets even worse if this person is a codriver.
Make a movement plan. Nothing crazy, just where everyone needs to be and at what time. Times that are important, like open and close of registration, tech, and parc exposes. You don't have to be the first one there either. Depends upon how much time they give you.
Do not miss the novice meeting.

---

Grant Hughes

1. Focus on basic maintenence. Hot rod parts will do you no good if you car doesn't run.

2. Take care of yourself. Get plenty of sleep before the rally. You will perform better and have more fun.

3. Ask for help. I see so many people trying to build a car and go racing all alone. Join a club, get involved, learn from others.

---

Robert.

"You are way too normal to be on Rally Anarchy." Eddie Fiorelli.

Cut/paste, save as! To the above, all I can add would be "don't pass anyone on transits, even if you think you're gonna be late"

---

Jay Woodward
Snohomish, WA
'90 Mazdog Frankenprotege
Chronologically, 46...

If you feel lost on transit, follow the person in front of you.
If you catch someone on transit, don't rely on where they are going.

---

Grant Hughes

Can the transits be tricky?

I have already put 4-5 thousand miles on the car, done a few drift days, a 220 mile TSD with 150 mile round trip there and back. Had a few failures, like an alternator bracket, and an air filter failure, and recently a small coolant leak that could have been catastrophic. There will be changes to the car before Doo Wops, but I am planning for 2 weeks of shakedown/commuting to work ect.

I know I want to take it easy, really don't want to do anything stupid on the first rally, but you never know...

Transits are easy provided your codriver knows how the odo works and the calibration is set right.
Cool calibration trick:
Set the odo correction at 100. Clear at a mile marker. Drive to the next one. Freeze the distance. That is your correction factor or at least really close to it.
So, with the correction at 100, the distance that it says you have traveled, when you know that you have traveled one mile, is your correction factor.
Then you can use the routebook's odo check to verify that you are on. Transits are not something to worry about honestly. It's basically a TSD and anyone can do a TSD.

---

Grant Hughes

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Take you expected budget and have at least 30-50%
> extra.
> All your service crew should be people you like
> that have good attitudes. I've seen entire teams
> start to hate the weekend because one person is
> being a dick or is in a bad mood. Gets even worse
> if this person is a codriver.
> Make a movement plan. Nothing crazy, just where
> everyone needs to be and at what time. Times that
> are important, like open and close of
> registration, tech, and parc exposes. You don't
> have to be the first one there either. Depends
> upon how much time they give you.
> Do not miss the novice meeting.
>
> Grant Hughes
> www.nocoastmotorsports.net
> Denver, CO

Have to agree with this. Had some temper mental crew members that pissed me and the driver off and we couldn't stop talking about it even during recce. The day of the event I told him not to worry about it until after the event. First service we had issues and they were not ready/expecting damage and we were beyond pissed off. All that will reflect to your driving!

- Your goal is to finish and finish only even if it is last place!
-Make sure the car is prepped weeks in advance. There is always something you will need to do last minute. Worrying about something you know you should have fixed but didnt have the time to is one of the worst things. It will Slow you down!
-Make sure you adjust your harnesses (including codriver) prior to the event.
-Movement plan is a good idea as well but dont go crazy with it.
-Transit are not that complicated as long as the codriver pays attention. If you are following someone and they decided not to take a turn and you know that's the turn do not follow them. I've seen experienced teams missing turns and in some cases they might be heading back to service for a problem. If you are running a terrortrip don't rely on it!
-Do not forget to bring plenty of water with you along with snacks and warm gear. If competition is delayed you may be stuck at a stage start for hours.

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rally gods would turn in their graves if they ever knew Lada's were now part of EU rallying!!!

Drive To Finish
Lots of sleep
Prepare car in advance have some crew you are comfortable with makes you unwind better

Have fun this is supposed to be fun,