Why so few paved road rally events?

[moto356]

Just curious it seems like europe and wrc rally events has many events that not only take place on dirt but also on paved roads. Any ideas on why the new york rally is one of only two in the US when we have possibly the most pavement in the world??

[u3b3rg33k]

I've been wondering the same thing.

[G4Disco]

Maybe because locals get pissy when roads are closed for a few hours. I think the NY rally had a few angry locals. I know I ran into someone from St Louis that was pissed that he couldn't use the 1st stage of 100 AW. We had just closed the road and the 000 car was on stage.

[acco205]

getting the permits and insurance to use some of those roads is usually a bit harder as well since many of the best roads for the event are either situated in residential areas, the main roads to get to residential areas or highways, all of which pose problems with traffic, potential property damage and a greater risk of people finding their way onto an active stage.


That said, I love the challenges tarmac rallies can present (tarmac is faster and can at times be less forgiving. not to mention the surface degradation is completely different) and I wish there were more (or any) near me.

[moto356]

i think it would be easier for guys to get into as you wouldnt need gravel rims tires and heavy duty susp. buuuuut you dont get the sideways action. however there are still some awesome rallies that dont have dirt

[u3b3rg33k]

If you're serious about it, you still need serious wheels, tires, suspension AND BRAKES!!! which you don't need so much of for gravel rallying, so it's not like it's cheaper.

It basically turns into a giant track day where you only get one really long lap. Not that that's a bad thing.

[Vaughn Performance]

I have been wishing forever that there we're more tarmac events in the states. It's like acco said, just waaaaay to much red tape, and the counties make it nearly impossible to get permits to do something like that.

I know of a few places that would have basically zero impact on main road traffic flow, and have essentially nothing on them that could be collateral damage. Yet still it is nearly impossible to get permission to hold events in that county. We once were super close to having a tarmac rally in the mountain roads around Azusa until some local lady made a stink about how it would promote street racing there? I'd say a closed, controlled, rally stage is going to be a hell of a lot safer then barelling down a open road and meeting oncoming traffic head on, which is what some folks do on those particular roads anyway. This point was argued as well, but to no avail.

There's some roads that would be absolutely perfect for hill climb events here in Southern California. Same issues apply though. Oh well........Guess will just have to move to Ireland or Spain to get our tarmac rally fix.

Edit: Just realized this was in the TSD section. We actually have quite a few tarmac TSD events here, and practically no gravel one's (that I know of at least). Here being SoCal. No stage rally though :(

-Anthony

[A1337STI]

There are a few fun Hill climb events in our area.. Hoopa, spectre 341

[Vaughn Performance]

Originally Posted by A1337STI

There are a few fun Hill climb events in our area.. Hoopa, spectre 341

Oh sweet! I had no idea they had an event in Nevada. I'll definitely go give that a try next year! Looks like this years got postponed until 2013 anyhow.

Cool, you ever take a run at in your car?

-Anthony

[ChrisClair]

theres a group that holds on road rally races/ auto crosses here in ithaca ny and Elmira ny, there nothing big but there fun, took my daily to it and had a blast

[A1337STI]

Originally Posted by Vaughn Performance

Oh sweet! I had no idea they had an event in Nevada. I'll definitely go give that a try next year! Looks like this years got postponed until 2013 anyhow.

Cool, you ever take a run at in your car?

-Anthony

Yes actually i hold the unofficial subaru record at that hill climb with a 3:43 , mostly due to the fact no one has entered it with a modified Subaru, stock STI FTW! lol.. i was trying Hard to crack a 3:41 (the highway number is 341) as is the entry fee.

the stakes are high though. many have died on that road, including a fatatity in 2010 (when i raced it) and dual fatatalties in 06 .

Though dont' worry, if you know how to drive with in your own limits its as safe as you need it to be.

its $341 to enter, only need long sleeved clothing, a helmet, a single 10:bc fire extinguisher, and the balls to enter. (would be a sweet DI event, IMO) In 2010 they required you to be "invited" to the event, but you can ask them to invite you, and a few drivers there had very little experience.

the driver who died had some experience, a roll cage, harness, can't recall if he was in a driving suit or not. he was in a 1,000 HP porche GT3.

anywho ... Its more of an organizer thing than anything else. all through out the country there are tasty paved roads in a county that would close them down for an event that might bring in some extra revenue ... assuming someone is willing to organize the event.

Yes its going to be easier to find a seldom used dirt road, then a seldom used paved road. but 341 for example is a fairly used road (truck route) and has houses on it.

[X Mon™]

Originally Posted by ChrisClair

theres a group that holds on road rally races/ auto crosses here in ithaca ny and Elmira ny, there nothing big but there fun, took my daily to it and had a blast

These are TSDs, not stage Rallies, for clarification's sake.

Alex, go vote in the poll on the NRS site. We're trying to get hill climb clubs to accept NASA licensing and log booked cars out here in the east.

[ZED E85]

It's not exactly a rally, more like a 90m mile single tarmac stage flat out, but I think this may be along the lines of what you're looking for:

Silver State Classic Challenge

[shoogshoog]

There is this road in Eastern Arizona, Highway 191, that is a god send. It would be absolutely perfect. There is absolutely nothing out there but forest. It's probably about 70 miles (guess: it's 50 as the crow flies) of the curviest most beautiful roads I have ever seen. Not to mention all of the endless gravel roads in the area, it's a rallyist's heaven. I don't even think it's patrolled by DPS or Police. In 90 miles I didn't see one cop. I'm pretty sure it's all BLM land. Now if only I had the time to try to organize something...

[Newk_Rally]

Originally Posted by Vaughn Performance

I have been wishing forever that there we're more tarmac events in the states. It's like acco said, just waaaaay to much red tape, and the counties make it nearly impossible to get permits to do something like that.

I know of a few places that would have basically zero impact on main road traffic flow, and have essentially nothing on them that could be collateral damage. Yet still it is nearly impossible to get permission to hold events in that county. We once were super close to having a tarmac rally in the mountain roads around Azusa until some local lady made a stink about how it would promote street racing there? I'd say a closed, controlled, rally stage is going to be a hell of a lot safer then barelling down a open road and meeting oncoming traffic head on, which is what some folks do on those particular roads anyway. This point was argued as well, but to no avail.

There's some roads that would be absolutely perfect for hill climb events here in Southern California. Same issues apply though. Oh well........Guess will just have to move to Ireland or Spain to get our tarmac rally fix.

Edit: Just realized this was in the TSD section. We actually have quite a few tarmac TSD events here, and practically no gravel one's (that I know of at least). Here being SoCal. No stage rally though :(

-Anthony

there's a good set of roads in griffith park that are permanently closed and all 3 meet up at one intersection in the middle of the mountains i know they use these roads for film shots (tokyo drift was filmed up there) i'm wondering if there would be a way to get something going on up there. i'm sure if done properly it would be a perfect place to have maybe an RA event being in the middle of LA it would bring plenty of crowd and plenty of teams. i'm working for parks and rec up there so i'm gonna try to talk to some people and see who i would need to contact and see how possible this really is.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=V...7&via=1,2&z=17
"A" would be the intersection i was talking about with "B" being one stage. from there north and south is mt. hollywood Dr. being the additional possible stages i figure you could run at least 6 if not more if you wanted to "connect" stages. anybody know who i could contact on the rally side to see if anyone's willing???