Mendicino Rally 2013....what happened?

I've been amazed at the amount of variance between scrutineering at events.
You get some understandable levels of speeding through. DO we really expect Gene to spend as much time looking at a cage that Dave Clark built as he would one that was garage built? But I've always been amazed that their isn't a standard of practice for doing things like lifting each corner, checking for excessive wobble, etc.

First time with a two day event. Can't expect everything to go off without any problems.

NW stages are pretty smooth, but there's some rough stuff at Olympus and Oregon Trail isn't there?

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Grant Hughes

Logbook by Mail?!
http://homegrownrally.blogspot.com/2013/03/we-are-legal-sort-of.html

Rally America - OMFG - What are you doing?!

Kris,

This is the process that RA prescribed for my logbook as well. I sent a bunch of pictures by email of the cage, and that was enough for them.

It seemed suspect to me, and so I had Hoche look at the cage before doing any events to make sure that it was okay, he suggested some changes which I had done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2013 12:48PM by ofensus.

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ofensus
he suggested some changes which I had done.

*pfft - what a self-righteous...
I seem to remember that now - and probably thought that "having someone at some point look at it" was part of the process, but it's clear that there IS no process.
"Oh he HAS a logbook - so the cage is good" is clearly 100% a false assumption.

- Kris

"We have to go through tech inspection at the event, but all they look for is if we have the stuff on a list. They don't care how crappy the car looks."

Um, if the car looks crappy, most screwtineers will scrutineer a little more in depth. Reinforces my initial opinion of these goofs. What happened to pride in cars and preparation?

Jari says he is frankly amazed at what passes scrutiny at our events - if a car looks crappy chances are it will not see the light of day at Finnish event.

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"Talk about drugs. Driving a car like that, going that fast, it’s like all the drugs at once." - Tommy Byrne

"Now, Pinky, if by any chance you are captured during this mission, remember you are Gunther Heindriksen from Appenzell. You moved to Grindelwald to drive the cog train to Murren. Can you repeat that?" - The Brain

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wvonkessler
What happened to pride in cars and preparation?

Exactly! I read through a good chunk of their blog and MAN! What a bunch of ghetto ness! I totally understand being "crafty" while being on a budget, but holy crap! Looks more like a LeMons car than a prepped rally car... How some people can show off piles of shit and be proud is beyond me.....let alone expect it to finish.

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webkris
Logbook by Mail?!
http://homegrownrally.blogspot.com/2013/03/we-are-legal-sort-of.html

Rally America - OMFG - What are you doing?!

That is certainly surprising. I'll second the WTF.

It also gives me an idea for a new profitable venture. Get your cage pics right here -> hawtcage@gmail.com.

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heymagic
RA 5.2 E. All competitors must wear shoes and socks while on stage. The shoes must cover the entire foot...

Not a new rule and not RA only. Guess a case could be made for wearing those 'skeletonized' bike helmets on hot days also to match the sandals.

Funny thing. Back in 2006 or 2007 I was wandering around the PIR paddock in my race suit and sandals. A certain rules geek came to me and admonished me for wearing open toe shoes and I casually pointed out there was nothing in the rules, at the time, or the Supps that prevented me from doing so.

(If PIR had a policy, or even if it is common knowledge at circuits, it should be included in the event supps)

It was never my intent to be on stage without shoes and, genereally, I do wear FIA certified fire retardant driving shoes even as a co-driver. (Turbo on my side of the engine and a mere few rubber plugs keeping the flames away.)

The rule changed shortly thereafter.

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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

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john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

Jeremy Wimpey got a talking to about it at an event, believe it was during a twin powered effort with Josh driving. The rule showed up shortly thereafter.
Though Jeremy eats thorns for breakfast like oatmeal and surely wouldn't be crying about getting them in his feet.
Nate Conley had a guy codriving with him that was wearing ankle socks at a local hill climb. Next event, nomex socks were required and have been since.
I bet these guys like to drink Stella Artois or Framboisen. The latter always makes me laugh and think, "she's like the Pele of anal."

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Grant Hughes

Wow! First of all, rally is not all fun, all the time. Delays at rallies happen, uncomfortable weather happens, dust, long transits, turn arounds and bushes with thorns are all part of rally. Sometimes you even have to jack up your car to get through tech. Actually, I hope that happens all the time... But once you get through all that, you get to drive as fast as you want down some awesome dirt roads. That's what makes it all worth it.

Most importantly, the people that make the rally happen are all volunteers. They spend their own money to get to the event, pay for their own hotels and sacrifice their weekend just so you can go play in the woods. If you insult them and drive them away, rally is dead. And especially, do not attack the chief scrutineer for doing a thorough inspection of your car. That job is probably the most thankless with the greatest responsibility. He's there for your safety and Michel really goes out of his way to make sure people are safe.

Finally, anyone who says these roads were rough either needs a reality check or needs to check their suspension. My skidplate only has two new scratches on it - one where a large rock was pulled out into the road and another when I used a ditch to make the road a bit wider. These roads were not rough at all, but if your dampers are not up to the job you'll be bouncing around a lot.

Oh, and maybe I'm in the minority, but I prefer turn arounds to long transits. It gives us a chance to socialize with other teams and work on the car if necesary. In my case, I owe Sarkis huge thanks for hotwiring my car at the first turn around on Sunday solving my ignition switch issue. That probably would not have happened if we just transited back around.

I was exhausted by the end of it, but I had a really fun weekend.

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Eddie Fiorelli

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webkris
Logbook by Mail?!
http://homegrownrally.blogspot.com/2013/03/we-are-legal-sort-of.html

Rally America - OMFG - What are you doing?!

That is certainly surprising. I'll second the WTF.

It also gives me an idea for a new profitable venture. Get your cage pics right here -> hawtcage@gmail.com.

I'm sure you could use something like this for all your Golf, Civic, Eclipse, Fit, Fiesta, hatchback needs. Easy as plagiarizing a school book report...

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Eddie Fiorelli

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webkris
Logbook by Mail?!
http://homegrownrally.blogspot.com/2013/03/we-are-legal-sort-of.html

Rally America - OMFG - What are you doing?!

That is certainly surprising. I'll second the WTF.

It also gives me an idea for a new profitable venture. Get your cage pics right here -> hawtcage@gmail.com.

This amazes me too. Issuing a log book without physically inspecting the car??? Even more reason to check the welds at tech.

Well, considering the log book as a record of events and not as a record of legality, it makes sense.
You get your logbook for the car early. At your first event, a licensed scrutineer is supposed to inspect the car to the same rigors as used to be done to issue a log book.
The only flaw in the thought is that at the event the tech inspector was much busier so more likely won't be as thorough.

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Grant Hughes

Quote
NoCoast
Well, considering the log book as a record of events and not as a record of legality, it makes sense.
You get your logbook for the car early. At your first event, a licensed scrutineer is supposed to inspect the car to the same rigors as used to be done to issue a log book.
The only flaw in the thought is that at the event the tech inspector was much busier so more likely won't be as thorough.

Yeah - This is a flawed plan...

BEWARE: Eddie from hawtcage.com is a fraud! I sent him $50 and he sent me this:
http://www.st.bnzai.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/img_0266.jpg

^^ T45!!!!

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023