INTRODUCTION TO ENDURANCE RALLYING

DETAILS OF OUR CLUB'S

2008 WELSH ENDURANCE ROAD RALLY

are available, click on 'Welsh Enduro 08' in the left pane.

The date is 9th & 10th August.

In July 2003 our Club organised the very first Endurance Rally, under the Technical Regulations proposed by the "inventor" of Endurance Rallying, Philip Young. Philip went on to run his own incredibly successful LOMBARD REVIVAL RALLY which attracted 140 entries in its first year.

For our first Endurance Rally there were no MSA Regulations to cover it, and we ran with a set of special "Waivers" issued by the MSA who were commendably keen to promote this new type of rallying.

Essentially, the idea was to run a road rally for unmodified cars, but with all the competitive elements on private land. These competitive sections, defined by the latest MSA Regulations as Special Tests, are commonly known by the term invented by Philip Young - "Selectifs".

Although often run on forest roads and driven flat out, Selectifs are NOT special stages. Because the cars must not average more that 40 mph from start to finish, and high speed is deplored on safety grounds, along the route are placed manoeuvres which the cars must negotiate. For example, if there is a road off to the right then a traffic cone is placed in the entrance and competitors must slow down and drive the "long" way around the cone, thereby breaking their speed. Chicanes of tape or straw bales are also often used to slow the cars down, while if there is a stretch of especially fast road with no room to insert a manoeuvre, the competitors might be required to stop and record the letters and numbers on a code board at the roadside. Manned Passage Controls, where the marshals stamp the competitor's Timecard, are another method of reducing the speed.

The cars must be standard production models, with unmodified engines and gearboxes, and the engine size is limited to a maximum of 1400 cc with no turbochargers. So, to achieve even a 40 mph average the cars are driven flat out - and it's great fun.

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