Nike had it right, according to rally newcomer Wesley Hill. Wesley competed in his first rally last fall, the Overmountain Rally in Eastern Tennessee. Before hitting his first stage, Wesley paced nervously back and forth. Now, he’s thankful he went for it.
“I’ve had an interest in motorsports for a long time,” says Wesley. “I grew up watching Formula 1 …
I know "just do it" sounds like such a cliche, but I've learned–at least from a few people who have "succeeded" in their fields–that getting started was the hardest part.
Once the momentum was there, it was easier to keep going.
If one wanted to "just do it" with a red Focus, the easy button might be in the link below. Not mine, no affiliation - the story just jogged my memory about seeing this car on Marketplace. Initially I wondered if it was the same car.
https://www.facebook.com/share/15WSDJjKfw/
Cool story and it inspires me to actually do something like "getting into the motorsports industry" which is something that I have always wanted to do. Maybe driving, but more like manufacturing and designing parts, etc. I hope he continues to drive and expand his presence in a very cool part of life like this.
All it takes is buckets of money, or a co-driver that has same. I live 2 hours from STPR and went annually for about a dozen years until the collapse of SCCA ProRally. I did a lot of homework on what it would take to do just that one event, and it was daunting for me, Joe Average Income. It's not impossible, but you really have to want it. Road racing was cheaper...and I gave that up after a few years of $1000 weekends.
In reply to ddavidv :
About 25 years ago, I was looking into it and, absent being able to borrow everything I'd need, it would have cost the equivalent of my annual income in order to make it out on stage one.
So I started doing track days instead 
A friend of mine keeps trying to convince me that we should go in together on a Spec Miata. And as much as I would very much like to just do it, I think the first "it" to do would be "rob a bank".
If and when I get to the point that I can justify spending a couple grand for a weekend of racing, the used rally car and a regional event is the way I'd go.
I love stage rally, but it's exhausting and expensive AB. Hillclimb is the happy medium. Actually...I'd love a dual event weekend with a Hillclimb on Saturday and rallysprint or even rallycross on Sunday.
I continue to think about the Spec Geo Metro rally class that never quite got going...
I watch the "Special Stage Rally Video" FB page, or YouTube channel on Saturdays. They broadcast live from various stage rallies in Britain. One of the popular starter classes is comprised of R50/53 MINIs with fairly straightforward prep, running on a short list of spec tires. Like any serious motorsport, it still takes money. I raced ITB in the early 2000s and figured I was using $1.25 of tire alone per lap. I built my SpecMiata in 2004 for less than $8000, but tires, fuel and entry fees add up. Last year I believe the entry fee at Waterford Hills was $375 for a weekend, for example.
Jesse Ransom said:I continue to think about the Spec Geo Metro rally class that never quite got going...
Sadly, the car is the cheapest part.
I'd want to rally something with a lot of spares available pretty much anywhere, so my mind had been going to something like a Cavalier, or nowadays a Cobalt. Simple design, beam axle, find parts anywhere, no hardship if you roll it and have to buy another shell to reroof the old one (cheaper than logbooking a new car)
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
It's absolutely true. I think part of me was hanging too much hope on the idea that with that little power we'd be less likely to consume or mangle anything... But presumably in rally (as in any motorsport) "no power" equates to "do not stray from the ragged edge of momentum maintenance," so... Probably as you suggest, no meaningful savings.
I have priced out rally a few times after rallycrossing for nearly a decade. The thing that keeps stopping me is the four days of transit to almost every rally. 100 acre woods is a week long event when you factor in drive times. Sandblast is the only realistic one day drive for me.
I could make the money work for two events a year if I did everything myself and kept the car in one piece. I just can't spend half of my yearly vacation away from the family.
SCCA briefly toyed with Rallytruck classes. I thought those made good economic sense.
No way I could run a 'series', and having such a task-specific vehicle languishing the rest of the year is why I sold my road race car. If I were to attempt a one-time rally effort, I'd do Targa Newfoundland. It's not on dirt, but I'm also much less likely to hit trees, so there's that. I also planned out what it would take to do Targa, and with travel time plus the event I'd need about 3 straight weeks off work. So right there I'm out. The expenses...yikes. But that would be a bucket list event. Retirement is only 5 years away...
I remember reading on a Subaru form about a guy who built his race car up over a couple of years. Doing most of the work himself. Many negotiators with his wife about money spent. Finally got it done. Borrowing a trailer he gets to his first event
First stage. He rolls it. Car ruined.
i still think about that a lot.
EricM said:I remember reading on a Subaru form about a guy who built his race car up over a couple of years. Doing most of the work himself. Many negotiators with his wife about money spent. Finally got it done. Borrowing a trailer he gets to his first event
First stage. He rolls it. Car ruined.
i still think about that a lot.
Ouch! To finish first, you must first finish is a wisdom I frequently remember.
EricM said:I remember reading on a Subaru form about a guy who built his race car up over a couple of years. Doing most of the work himself. Many negotiators with his wife about money spent. Finally got it done. Borrowing a trailer he gets to his first event
First stage. He rolls it. Car ruined.
i still think about that a lot.
At least he got the worst of it out of the way early?
Perhaps it's like a less extreme version of a submarine depth trial.
Everything kinda starts with just do it. Taking that jump to do something you're passionate about is the best advice anyone can get.
ddavidv said:All it takes is buckets of money, or a co-driver that has same. I live 2 hours from STPR and went annually for about a dozen years until the collapse of SCCA ProRally. I did a lot of homework on what it would take to do just that one event, and it was daunting for me, Joe Average Income. It's not impossible, but you really have to want it. Road racing was cheaper...and I gave that up after a few years of $1000 weekends.
I'll vouch for that, having competed in about a dozen rallies in the last 7-8 years (and crewed for many more). Even a very low-budget team (relative to other teams), expect $3k as more or less the price floor for a single stage rally, assuming it's not right where you live (e.g. you don't live in Bristol, or Wellsboro, or Sunday River, etc). Entry for almost all ARA rallies is well over $1k now, fuel costs, towing costs, lodging for usually 3-4 night for your team/crew (depending on how many people you pack into an airbnb sleeping on couches and floors). I think the least we've ever spent on one was an STPR where I was around $2500 all-told (and we stayed for free at a local friend's house).
None of that includes tires, recertification of fire systems, other consumables, regular replacement of a lot of parts due to rapid wear or damage (Can't even count how many rear shocks I've replaced over the years), equipment (remember, rally car has to have two of everthing, not one llike a track car), etc etc. Plus organization licenses, your rally car has to be street-legal and insured (unlike a track car), and other costs you don't always think about.
By comparison, when we were doing Champcar, I think each member of the team was maybe in for like $500-700 for a weekend. But in rally only two people are paying (and on many teams, teh driver pays most of the costs).
I'm now going on my 2nd year of not competing in stage rally - car is perfectly fine in the garage, codriver still local and willing. I just can't really afford it at this point. There are ways to do it even cheaper (we've discussed just fully "camping out" at events), but even then $2k+ would be the absolute basement if it was "fairly close to home."
Put aside how exhausting the weekends are, and it's usually a Wed-Sun thing, not a "two day" unless you live really close. The rally is two days. Add a travel day each way, and a day for tech/recce. So there's no "rally weekend" as much as a "rally week."
Yeah, it's great fun. But it's certainly not a "just get a cheap rally car and go have fun" thing, unless you're independently wealthy and don't have a 9-5 job lol.
Rallysprints have always been a good compromise, but they're getting fewer and farther between now that SCCA basically ditched the program and NASA doesn't really do them in many places.
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