Anders was interviewed. (What do you think?)

Anders has been a big help to us in making sure the questions we're asking people around the world have been something of substance. We're working towards global content and readership, while providing stories with real meat on their bones.

Give it a read if you haven't already and let us know what you think? Thanks!

http://rally.gearboxmagazine.com/2010/02/anders-green/

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Brian Driggs | KG7KCA | PHX, AZ | 89 Pajero
alterius non sit qui suus esse potest

Already responded to jason over on SS, but felt it was worth a repost - I think this is a great interview! Definitely worth a read.

Keep up the good work!

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KF7RWG
http://www.utahrallygroup.com

Thanks, Aaron! Really appreciate that!

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Brian Driggs | KG7KCA | PHX, AZ | 89 Pajero
alterius non sit qui suus esse potest

Good article. I really like the parts about retaining competitors and people over prepping cars that they are only going to use a couple of times.

Andrew_Frick Wrote:
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> Good article. I really like the parts about
> retaining competitors and people over prepping
> cars that they are only going to use a couple of
> times.


There's a lot of good points made in the article. My favorite is about attracting and retaining people to the sport. Building a car to survive armaggedon sounds noble, but does that speak to safety equipment requirements? Do people spend so much on the cage, seats, belts, helmets, suits, gloves, underpants and HANS that they then skimp on mechanical bits that make the car otherwise affordable to continue to campaign? It just had me wondering.

What if you could run an event with a bare bones safety build, but be slapped with a bogey time or something. "The top cars will finish this stage in X, but the best time you can get in a car prepped to the basic level is (X-40%)." There would be no incentive to push the car, thereby reducing the risk of a crash. The focus would be on driving skills, getting into the sport, becoming addicted, and then have incentive to step up the safety prep in order to push the car to higher speeds.

Just a random thought.

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Brian Driggs | KG7KCA | PHX, AZ | 89 Pajero
alterius non sit qui suus esse potest

DR1665 Wrote:
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>
> What if you could run an event with a bare bones
> safety build, but be slapped with a bogey time or
> something.

I sent an idea for a class like that to RA a year or two ago. "Brisk TSD" class I called it. I modeled it off of the GT classes at Targa Newfoundland based on the fact that those two classes have the most entrants. The reply back I got back was that it was a "recipe for disaster."

I sent it to NASA too but, like the other ideas I've sent to them, I never even got a reply.

Brian and Carl,

So you are arguing for a class that would be speed limited similar to how the 80 mph rule is implemented in RA? Where the cars in said limited class would have a average speed that if they exceeded it for the stage would be given the time they had for that stage?

What do you define as bare min for Saftey stuff? Does the car need a cage? Helmets?

Interesting idea just curious how you would define the class.

It is a recipe for disaster. I know I would instead try to earn the largest amount of penalty for being over the target time possible. Target times and closed roads have no place together.

You know, I don't think I've ever seen a lime green rally t-shirt before. Black is always a winner in my book though.

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Grant Hughes

Andrew_Frick Wrote:
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> Brian and Carl,
>
> So you are arguing for a class that would be
> speed limited similar to how the 80 mph rule is
> implemented in RA? Where the cars in said limited
> class would have a average speed that if they
> exceeded it for the stage would be given the time
> they had for that stage?
>
> What do you define as bare min for Saftey stuff?
> Does the car need a cage? Helmets?
>
> Interesting idea just curious how you would
> define the class.
>

Well, I wouldn't say arguing, so much as throwing the idea out there for discussion. Ultimately, unless someone wants to start their own sanctioning body, we're sort of left to the decisions of those we've got.

I like the "Brisk TSD" way of putting things. And yes, I think the idea being that there might be merit to having a class somewhere between (American) rallyx and full stage rally.

On the one hand, rallyx is marketed as being safe enough that street cars can run safely with OEM safety equipment and still be driven to work on Monday. Stage rally, on the other, requires the cars be prepped to withstand 80mph, sideways collisions with immovable objects or high speed rollovers.

Certainly, there needs to be a measure of safety precautions taken above that of rallyx, but I wonder if it might be worth considering relaxed rules for such a "Brisk TSD" class. Maybe require the main hoop, seats, belts, and suits in addition to the helmet and make grounds for going over the bogey time expulsion from the event to discourage shenanigans. Cars would still need to pass tech for stageworthiness.

I think it could be beneficial to have as many people as possible get out and enjoy the stage roads. Maybe the new class could require entrants to split their day - half driving stages, half working stages. Could be a nice perk organizers could offer - a chance to drive on real rally stages, during the event, at a brisk pace, safely, while the time spent working the rally would foster an appreciation for the effort that goes into running the event and a better understanding of the rules.

As it stands now, my would-be rally car build requires:
- $2500 roll cage
- $600 pair of seats
- $400 pair of belts
- $700 HANS (or likely rent one)

Figure in skid plates, lighting, rally computer, an intercom, tow hooks, mud flaps, and tires and it's easily more than $5000.

I'm not suggesting that rally should cost any less (as nice as that would be), but what if potential competitors could break that investment down as they progressively eased into the sport? Instead of a $2500 cage, a rules compliant main hoop, rear uprights and harness bar might cost less than $1000. Then, as these people get more interested in participating fully, they could get the front hoop and bracing added to the cage.

Like I said, just a random idea stemming from reading Anders interview. Hopefully, future interviews with people from around the world will inspire similar conversations about other topics.

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Brian Driggs | KG7KCA | PHX, AZ | 89 Pajero
alterius non sit qui suus esse potest

DR1665 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Andrew_Frick Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------

>
> I'm not suggesting that rally should cost any less
> (as nice as that would be), but what if potential
> competitors could break that investment down as
> they progressively eased into the sport? Instead
> of a $2500 cage, a rules compliant main hoop, rear
> uprights and harness bar might cost less than
> $1000. Then, as these people get more interested
> in participating fully, they could get the front
> hoop and bracing added to the cage.
> Brian DR1665 | Phoenix, AZ
> 92 GVR4 - daily | 91 GVR4 - endless rally project


Um, no. You want door bars too. You can still go into a tree sideways before or after you roll, as a beginner.

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Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

Andrew_Frick Wrote:
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> Good article. I really like the parts about
> retaining competitors and people over prepping
> cars that they are only going to use a couple of
> times.


the way I read this is that from reading build threads and watching people build cars is people are focused on "the build" rather than driver and vehicle development over time. I'd rather race someone (or do this myself) 4 or 5+ times starting with a basic car to a fully sorted one than wait to get everything just right only to take it out once and ball it up. not always easy but isn't it more fun and engaging to get out there and push the throttle down?

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-KTurner
Stomp down on the exhilarator and hold on to the wheel.

NoCoast Wrote:
> You know, I don't think I've ever seen a lime
> green rally t-shirt before. Black is always a
> winner in my book though.

This year's Sandblast Rally shirts are black with a distressed red/white logo on the front.

See? It's like I can read your mind.

Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

I have a Rally Sprint's tee shirt that's lime green.

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Welcome to the cult of JVL drink the koolaid or be banned.

One thing I'm not particularly fond of in all the interviews you guys have had so far are the "canned" questions. They seem rather impersonal and dead. Like you just email a set of questions to your subject and have them fill them out and send them back.

What I would like to see is more of a conversation between an interesting person and an informed interviewer. Call your subject up and talk to them and let your questions evolve with the answers you are given. Start with a basic set of questions and let it grow from there based on who you're interviewing. Record the phone call, transcribe it, post it.

I find you get a much more accurate impression of someone's character from how they sound (talking), rather than how they want to sound (typing).

More journalism and less fill in the blank.

Even better, get JV on the phone with them for the interview.

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Andrew Steere
Lyndeborough, NH
KB1PJY