Rally Spectating
Most UK rallies take place on forest tracks in Wales and Scotland but many other areas, including Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire are equally popular. You can also watch closed-roads events in Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.
Many rallies, especially national championships rounds, provide dedicated spectator parking areas which lead, after a short walk, to a particularly exciting or challenging part of one of the special stages.
Once you are in position near the trackside – incidentally, please be prepared to move if one of the marshals asks you to, it’s for your own safety – nothing prepares you for the sheer excitement as cars ranging from ex-World Rally Championship Subarus and Mitsubishis down to home-prepared ‘clubman’ Peugeots and Vauxhalls roar by just feet away.
The biggest cheers are always reserved for the rear-wheel drive Ford Escorts. Even nearly 30 years after they first appeared, a powersliding Escort, fully sideways and spraying showers of dirt into the air is one of the most jaw-dropping sights you will ever see.
Ystrad Mynach Motor Club members are constantly attending some of the UK’s most popular rally events.
TOP UK RALLY SERIES
Dulux Trade MSA British Rally Championship.
The six-round BRC is the UK’s premier rally championship with top class events on asphalt and gravel. The action begins in the forests with events in Wales and Cumbria before switching to asphalt, visiting the Scottish Borders, Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, culminating in the forests of North Yorkshire. The field is split into four easy to follow categories.
Dunlop/Gambia MSA Historic Rally Championship
The MSA BHRC is one of the fastest growing championships in British rallying and has grown in both competitor support and spectator appeal. Cars from the early 1960s through to 1981 are eligible and entries are regularly in excess of 60 cars on each of the qualifying rounds. From early March to late October, the distinctive engine notes of Mini Coopers, Saab 96s, Escort BDAs and Porsche 911s can be heard in the British forests offering a glorious trip down memory lane for older fans and an insight into how rallying developed for younger enthusiasts.
Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship
Britain’s premier gravel rally championship with seven hotly contested rounds throughout the UK.
Richard Egger Insurance MSA Asphalt Rally Championship
Spectacular high-speed rallying on closed sections of Tarmac roads with six rounds serving up some superfast entertainment.
MSA English Rally Championship
Seven classic forest rallies feature on the 2009 calendar with events from Cumbria in the far north to Surrey in the deep south.
Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Rally Championship
Ulster provides some of the UK’s most challenging rally routes and most of them feature in this popular 10-round series.
Hankook MSA Scottish Rally Championship
Seven forest and one Tarmac event taking place across the length and breadth of Scotland. Spectators can get close to the action and see a wide variety of cars often at seemingly impossible angles as they battle against the clock and the elements to gain those vital few seconds over their rivals.
RallyingUK.com MSA Welsh Rally Championship
Seven round series with events located throughout the Principality. The action starts in the forests around Wyedean and concludes in renowned Clocaenog and Penmachno forests close to Snowdonia.
TOP UK RALLY
Wales Rally GB , Cardiff HQ, (Usually November)
The globe-trotting FIA World Rally Championship reaches its thrilling conclusion right here in wintry Britain. Reigning champ and last year’s winner Sebastien Loeb will be the man to beat on some of the most daunting and super-slippery forest tracks in South Wales. A great way to attend this event for free (or any rally) is to Marshal. For more information please get in touch with the club.