Looking to get involved in Class 5-1600 / 2-1600

[SoCalRally]

Hi there,

Have been racing in the [url="http://www.californiarallyseries.com"]California Rally Series[/url] for the past few years (mostly driving an Open Class Audi Quattro Turbo, but have also co-driven/navigated for a friend at several rallies).

Rally driving seems more intense (absolutely flat out over short stages) and is often faster (our stages are often smoother) than off road racing; but I find the endurance aspect (and hence challenge and opportunity for large amounts of seat time) of off road racing very appealing; and am therefore interested in possibly switching to off road racing.

I'm interested in a driver's class with lots of competition and camaraderie - so am interested in the Class 5-1600 and 2-seat Class 1/2-1600 classes.

If anyone is looking for a navigator / has space on chase crew / is looking for help in pits / whatever, feel free to get in contact with me at [email="[email protected]"][email protected][/email].

I'm based in San Diego and looking to get involved.

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[Ramsey_ElWardani]

[ QUOTE ]
Rally driving seems more intense (absolutely flat out over short stages) and is often faster (our stages are often smoother) than off road racing

[/ QUOTE ]

Having done both, I wouldn’t say neither is more intense than the other. They are just different. I’ll admit that when you are only racing over a 2 or 3 mile stage, it’s an all out sprint, driving 110%, and it’s quite a rush. On the other hand driving fast enough to stay on top of the bumps is just as exciting. The top speeds are about the same. Making it all the way to La Paz has its own rewards. This will be my sixth time, and soloing it in 2002 was the highlight of my career, more so than winning it twice before that. Being in San Diego, you are welcome to join us in some way. PM me if you are interested.

[SILAHUA]

hey there check your email
and welcome to the dezert family [img]http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[SoCalRally]

Hi again,

Ramsey - there is no question that rally and off road racing are very similar. There are also a few subtle differences. As far as comparing the two, a fairly close analogy I thought of was : it's kind of like comparing running 10km (rally driving) vs. running a marathon (off road racing). Neither is very short, and in both cases the competitors are competing at maximum effort, but paced for the appropriate distance. An even closer analogy for rally would be running 10 x 1km sprints (with 5 minutes rest between some of the sprints and 30 minutes rest between them for others).

In any case, I find them both very appealing, and since I find the endurance aspect of off road racing very challenging, I may very well try my hand at off road racing in the future as soon as I can afford it. I like the idea behind endurance racing i.e. start the clock, race 250/500/1000 miles, we'll stop the clock when you arrive at the finish. Lots of seat time and hardly any standing around (I sometimes get bored when driving at rallies on the transit sections and/or waiting for stage starts). In off road racing, even with driver changes, it must be difficult to maintain maximum concentration and focus for hours at a time. And at some of the longer off road races I would imagine pacing is especially important e.g. driving at 8/10th ot 9/10ths since it is next to impossible to maintain peak concentration for hours at a time; and I imagine pacing is also a major consideration at some of the rougher off road races, since although many of the cars, buggies and trucks are built to the highest standards, strategy comes into play i.e. it may very well be worthwhile giving up a few minutes here and there e.g. longer pit stops, safer passes, avoid getting punctures on rocky sections etc. to end up with a better overall finish.

Anyway, I'm definitely interested in off road racing. Luckily there is a very active scene here in SoCal and San Diego's proximity to the MX border should make it fairly easy to watch quite a few races (I watched the Baja 500 last year). And who knows - if I can scrape the money together at some stage, you may very well see me on an entry list some time.

Jesus - thanks for the email and the offer to chase with you guys on Sat. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I'll be able to make it this weekend, but would love to at some other race if the offer still stands and circumstances allow.

See you both in the dezert !!!!