[Focus man. Focus.]

Here is the e-mail I recieved from the Rally organizer.

Quote:Hi Kevin,

Thank you for your interest in the Mini Rally events. Beginner-friendly May Mini Rally is a great introduction to the sport of navigational / road rallying. The Mini Rallys are designed for the total beginners and absolutely no previous experienced is required.

The objective of a road rally is to drive precisely based on the instructions provided. This includes route information, distances and turn directions, and average speed information. Each team is composed of one driver and one navigator and teams start the rally one minute apart. Checkpoints are located along the route but their locations are not known to the competitors. Early and late arrivals at these checkpoints result in penalty points for the teams and the team with the fewest points wins.

The objective is not outright speed and all rules of the road are followed. This is a totally legal event and anyone with a roadworthy, registered and insured vehicle and a valid driver’s licence can participate. No special car preparation is required and driver’s licenses are not required for navigators.

Here is a step-by-step listing of how a road rally occurs:
• At registration, a Car Number is assigned to all teams.
• Team start the event in order by car number and one minute apart.
• Each team receives the rally instructions a minute or two before their start time. This includes maps, special instructions and basic educational information.
• The team must then follow the instructions to drive the exact route of the rally.
• They must also maintain the required average speeds throughout the rally.
• Checkpoints are located along the route at unknown locations where each team must stop to receive a timing sticker. Early and late arrivals at these checkpoints result in penalties.
• The team with the fewest penalties at the end of the rally wins the event.
• Total distance travelled in a Mini Rally is about 100 km. typically, completing a Mini Rally requires just over 2 hours.
• The Start and Finish locations are the same so everyone returns to the same place to hang out and await the results.
• Prizes are provided to the Top-3 teams in 2 classes. Door prizes are also handed out by random drawings.

The rally route is carefully selected to provide an interesting driving experience to the teams. Roads are both paved and unpaved and almost all the twisty roads in the area are included. Even the unpaved roads are relatively smooth and, most of the time, even lowered cars manage just fine. Also, since there is no bumper to bumper driving, stone chips are not a common occurrence.

What you have seen on TV are performance rallys. The objective in those is to drive as fast as possible on stages (closed public roads) and the team with the shortest overall time wins. The May Mini Rally is not that.

You should totally come out to the May Mini Rally. If you can arrive early, I can get an experienced rallyist to sit down with you and provide a quick overview. On their first few events, most new teams just focus (no pun intended) on driving the route and not worry too much about the timing.

This year, Mini Rally’s will take place on May 11, June 8, July 13 and August 10 (all Mondays). I hope you and your club can make it to one soon.

I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have more questions. I can be reached after 5:00 PM at 416-917-8757.

Ken.

It really sounds like a well organized event and look to be a lot of fun. Lets get a group together and have a go at it.