POLL: Unifiied rules - is it possible?

Poll

What are the chances of a unified set of rules for Rally in the US and Canada

Only registered users are allowed to vote for this poll.
8 votes were received.

easy peasy - why can't we just get a long (little doggie)	2		25%
bugger off - we needz our differences	1		13%
Unified - sounds comunist to me, pinko	2		25%
We should be about inovation, not homologation - besides, you can't spell homologation without 'homo'	3		37%

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OK, I see the Parc Ferme discussion that Anders is taking it upon himself to rewrite NRS rules. One of the best things that could happen with the sport, in my mind, would be a unified ruleset that would be used across CARS, NRS and RA.

One of the difficulties would be that CARS has a process for stakeholder feedback that sometimes makes a rule change politically difficult. (When the feedback from stakeholders is overwhelmingly against a rule you need a solid reason to move forward with it.)

Can anyone tell me why there is a divergence of rulesets? Is there a downside to unified sporting regulations? (bonus points for not leaning on 'grassroots' posturing... which is fundamentally pretentious.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2011 10:31AM by Morison.

No bacon?

what would really be the unity turbo awd licensing and some minor rule no one really
cared about anyway or they weren't that big of a deal to live with.

All I don't want to see is the switching platforms go away, And more bacon!

the rules are pretty close aside from classing differences (gives a marketing edge to one or the other??). We run NASA and RA events and have an FIA cage so the main difference is having to carry 20 BC's worth of extinguishers and a spill kit.

It'll never happen. People like Grant feel they are special and need special ways to deal with their differences :p

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OK, I see the Parc Ferme discussion that Anders is taking it upon himself to rewrite NRS rules.

HAhaha! Yes, Keith, the Directors of NRS write the rules for NRS again in 2011 for 2012! No one thought, that after eight years, this crazy, crazy trend would continue, and with such an amazing twist in the final few minutes!

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What are the chances of a unified set of rules for Rally in the US and Canada?

They are less than 0.51%. Or, approximately the same as the chance of a unified rule set between Canada and Mexico, or Canada and the UK, or Canada and the FIA. (For those wondering about the math, 0.51% is 1/196, the number of countries in the world.)

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Can anyone tell me why there is a divergence of rulesets?

1) Different organizations think different things are important.
2) Different organizations function in different legal and governmental environments.

The questions you ask have very simple answers.

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(bonus points for not leaning on 'grassroots' posturing... which is fundamentally pretentious.)

No bonus points for me. Grassroots rally kicks ass and is the philosophical and statistical heart of the sport and that's all I care about. Glam boys can have their glam. They have all the resources to take care of themselves regardless of what anyone else does. But you're 100% right: ordinary guys, working on their own cars in their own garages, racing because they love to race and not because they have a contract to be there, it's practically the definition of pretentious. Grassroots rally FTW. Long live those glorious, grassroots, pretentious bastards!

Now, grassroots rally drivers only make up 97ish% of the sport, so I don't want to be pretentious and make it seem like they're more important than they are.

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One of the best things that could happen with the sport, in my mind, would be a unified ruleset...

Meh, I don't know... I wouldn't rank it that high. NRS rules already allow RA and CARS vehicles outright, so if that only left some time penalty stuff, I don't see how that's going to open the flood gates. But you should mention it in the "Oooo! The next "this will save rally" is almost here!" thread and see if it gets any traction. But people have been loving consistency at least since 1841, regardless of necessity for such.

Cheers!
Anders

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Grassroots rally. It's what I think about.

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Anders Green

Now, grassroots rally drivers only make up 97ish% of the sport, so I don't want to be pretentious and make it seem like they're more important than they are.

Cheers!
Anders

That was close....another 2% and I was going to be worried about the implications of "Occupy LSPR" and "Occupy Snowdrift" on rally.

What makes one ruleset more 'grassroots' friendly than another?
Car Classes aside, rules are just about how the game is played aren't they?

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Morison



Can anyone tell me why there is a divergence of rulesets? Is there a downside to unified sporting regulations? (bonus points for not leaning on 'grassroots' posturing... which is fundamentally pretentious.)

Ego

Sean Gallagher

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2WD...Less Traction More Action!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2011 08:37PM by stgallagher.

I'd guess the first obstacle would be Canadia's sleeping with the FIA a little too much for our tastes.

Hell we can't even agree amoung events of the same body. There are regional differences and exceptions granted by both NRS and RA. PNW used the Little Emperors timing system for years. We usually require metal shovels for about 1/2 our events. We've ran NRS events using RA car classes and FIA timing.

The premise is the same even tho some of the rulez are different. I really appreciate that both RA and NRS allow organizers a great deal of freedom to tweak with stuff.

It's rally...we'll only really agree that we love to disagree, go fast on bad roads and march to our own tunes.

Why on God's sweet earth would anyone want that? I don't eat just one type of food, nor do I wear the same color of clothes everyday. Variety is the spice of life. Unless you get some kid wishing to rally his WRX right out of the box in an R-A event, it's pretty much a given you can go rallying wherever. And what about RallyMoto? The last powers that be at R-A wanted nothing to do with motorcycles. I can't speak for CARS on them, anyone? Just my $0.02.

Personally, I think it would be a great idea to unify Canadian and US rally rules- but it will never happen.

"“There is no greater stupidity or meanness than to take uniformity for an ideal," George Santayana

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
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"When birds burp, it must taste like bugs." - Bill Watterson

Re: rallymoto - CARS isn't in a position to sanction motorcycles so rallymoto is out.

I recently saw someone take a shitload of timing penalties because they defaulted to the wrong math. I see a range of different procedures at events that have virtually no justification than - 'that's the way we do it.'

A uniform set of operational rules would work to eliminate the BS and let the events be won more out on the stages and less in the rulebooks. Certainly there is room for local sensitivites/issues but can't we get the fundimentals lined up?


BTW... the whole quote:
"There is no greater stupidity or meanness than to take uniformity for an ideal, as if it were not a benefit and joy to a man, being what he is, to know that many are, have been, and will be better than he. Grant that no one is positively degraded by the great man’s greatness and it follows that everyone is exalted by it. Beauty, genius, holiness, even power and extraordinary wealth, radiate their virtue and make the world in which they exist a better and more joyful place to live in.” - George Santayana



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2011 03:24AM by Morison.

Oh, don't mind him, he hates change.

The timing issue is valid. Its confusing for everyone, especially novice competitors and workers. I think we've finally gotten rid of Foresprings sytem out here.

RallyMoto never really went over except at one event so isn't much of a concern, sadly.

Rules need to be flexable to allow what works for regional differences. Safety rules and car prep rules need to be pretty close among the 3.