Cars That Go Fast: Rally Yorkshire Is Blueprint For Future Of Top Level Forest Rallying

Rally Yorkshire Is Blueprint For Future Of Top Level Forest Rallying
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Elton on 31 August, 2010 11:17:00
 
The format of Rally Yorkshire, with international, national and regional
championships all coming together under a single umbrella event is a blue print
for the future of top level forest rallying in Britain, says event clerk of the
course Rod Parkin.
Parkin, who has more than 40 years experience in the organisation of the sport,
believes that major forest events will need to attract a wide range of
championships if they are to survive.
"We need to bring events together to make them viable and ensure the future of
forest rallying," said Parkin. "That's the only successful way of doing it and
making sure we've still got a sport in 10 years. We're all got to work together
and events can only continue by being part of several championships. However, I
do acknowledge that both the MSA British Historic Rally Championship and the
BTRDA Championship have successful formats and good support."
The Trackrod Rally, headed by the International Rally Yorkshire, the deciding
round of the Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship, will be based in the
resort town of Scarborough on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th September. In total,
the event will be a round of no less than 15 championships.
Parkin is eager for rallying to have a clear progression for competitors and
says that it is important to have an international status championship at the
top of the sport. "It is important for the UK to have a progression to
international level, and the work that the MSA is doing to mentor and support
future rally stars through the MSA Academy is to be applauded," he said.
But Parkin also acknowledges that other competitors have different needs. "We
need to put on events that people want to do, no matter what level of the sport
they are at. All the championships we host are valuable and it is important how
they come together as a whole. It certainly is a juggling act to fit in all the
championships and give them value for money. We've never had a major title
sponsor, though of course we are grateful for all the advertisers and
supporters. Thus we have to rely on entry fees and cut out cloth accordingly.
With the current spending cuts, it will be increasingly difficult to gain
significant sponsorship - but we live in hope!”
Running alongside the Dulux Trade BRC contenders on Rally Yorkshire will be
competitors in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, Citroën Racing
Trophy UK, Fiesta SportTrophy and Swift Sport Cup as well as the BRC Challenge
and Fiesta Sport Challenge.
As well as the final round of the Dulux Trade BRC, the rally will also form the
final rounds of the Dunlop/WONAGO.com MSA British Historic, MSA English and MSA
Gravel Rally Championships. The range of individual events will vary from
45-stage mile rallies for the historic and clubmans contenders, to over 90 miles
of action for the DTBRC competitors. The historic event will include rounds of
the Motoscope HRCR Northern Historic Rally Championship, HRCR Historic Stage
Rally Challenge, HRCR Mini Cup and the Association of North Western Car Clubs
Historic Stage Rally Championship. Regional championships covered by the
clubmans rally include those from the Northern, North-East Midlands and North
West associations.
Entries are now open and, for the first time, entries and payment may be made
online. For more details of the Trackrod Rally Yorkshire, please visit
www.rallyyorkshire.co.uk