Give Circuit Rallies a Chance.
We’ve all seen rally cars flying through the forest. Gravel and dust in the air and dramatic backdrops of forests and hills. Its a romantic sight which conjures up images of Colin McRae and legendary cars such as the Audi Quattro.
But how many casual fans would give a thought to visit a rally on a tarmac track, away from the glamour and glitz?
If you’re not sure what I’m on about, circuit rallies are an alternative to conventional rallies you might have seen on TV because — well done — they take place on a circuit normally used for racing. The track is used in a variety of configurations to fit the entire event within one venue.
Watching vehicles negotiate a flat all-asphalt circuit or airfield behind a large catch-fence can by contrast can seem sterile by contrast. Writing as a spectator, however, I think there’s several factors which make watching circuit rallies a great experience it its own right.
You can see every stage.
Ever had to agonisingly pick and choose which stages you want to watch, trying to juggle the start times with how it will take you to get to that other forest in the middle of nowhere? At a circuit rally, you can likely watch every stage, because the action is confined to the venue. Yes, the scenery may not vary too much, but if you’re wanting to take a whole raft of photos, or just want to see the most action for your buck, you can’t go wrong.
The garages are on location.
Would you like to watch crews work on their cars during their stages? Do you want advice from the drivers on your own potential build? Or just a friendly chat with fellow fans? On many mixed surface forest or road rallies, this is impossible if you want to have time to see several stages, not to mention the service areas in many cases not being made publicly available. At a circuit rally visiting the service area — a ever evolving car conveyor belt as cars head out for stages, can be a change of pace from watching action on track.
The vantage points are totally different.
Have you ever watched a rally from a helicopter? Thought not. You can’t do that at a circuit either. But you can do the next best thing. Sit in a decent-sized grand-stand, or in the case of Snetterton, a massive hill in the middle of the circuit. Some grandstands at Brands Hatch offer views across the whole circuit, and you may be able to see most of a stage at once, giving your inner anorak the chance to compare car performance throughout.
You get to see the tarmac specials.
Some of the vehicles you see at circuit rallies do not, at first glance, appear to be rally cars. These are purpose-built beasts designed to gobble up the black stuff like it’s going out of fashion, and are great to watch. A Darrian T90 is a classic example, bedecked with wings to take advantage of the high speeds reached on circuits. I’ve yet to see one a gravel rally.
It keeps you busy when there’s nothing else on.
Winter time is a dark time to be a motorsport fan. Touring cars finished months ago, Abu Dhabi has been and gone and its at least another month until Monte Carlo. But circuit rallies run throughout the winter, with the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship in particular being a consistent features through the shortest days of the year, see this great website for a UK list. Some even run on Boxing and New Year’s day, giving you a perfect escape if you’ve had too much festive cheer. The likely terrible weather conditions also add a new element to the tarmac — large bodies of water. So instead of watching reviews of motorsport stuff you’ve already seen, go to your local circuit — there might be a rally on.
