Rallying is a fantastic sport to be involved in. Sliding a car around at high speed with little room for error might sound mad, crazy, dangerous and perhaps stupid but there is an enormous emphasis placed on safety.
Our car has a roll protection structure that makes the car stiff, strong and able to withstand rollovers withhout crushing it's crew. In addition we use 5 point full harness seatbelts, much safer than the ones we have in road cars, we wear helmets and fireproof overalls, have fire extinguishers and the whole car must be mechanically safe and sound. If you took a road car to scrutineering, regardless of what it was it would take you at least 100 hours to prepare it for rallying. This is assuming you knew exactly what you were doing.
To compete in a rally you must have a rally licence from Motorsport NZ and to attain one of these you must show that you are proficient in your knowledge of emergency proceedures etc.
Lately our sport has been hit by a seris of serious injuries and deaths but this is unusual.
Motorsport competitiors are far safer than most people in road cars because of the extra protection we have, but when we drive either road or rally cars on the public roads our driving behaviour is quite courteous, we leave bigger gaps, drive to the left, keep our vision up and use the same techniques used on stage to negotiate accident situations should they occur. A study has shown that motorsport competitors are a safer crash risk than any other group catergorised on the roads
As well as being safe and fun, it is also quite expensive and if you don't spend the money you don't get the results.
Tyres, fuel, suspension components, development, repairs, accomodation and fees all make up a significant cost. On average a rally of 300km's would cost us between 1,500 - 3,000 ($NZ).
We are extrremely grateful to the following people and companies, it is through their support that we are able to compete.
Strong for Honda -
63 Angle St, Onehunga. Ph 09-634-2914
Rillee Signs -
135 Station Rd, Penrose. Ph 09-526-4854
Wally Elders Service Station,
271 Clyde st, Hamilton Ph 07- 856-5735
Power Weed Control
Hamilton Ph 07-843-2360