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17 April 2001 - For immediate release
For more information, contact: John Dillon
Widget Rally Team
P. O. Box 1231
Thousand Oaks, CA 91358-0231
Phone: 805.906.7797
Widget web site: www.WidgetRacing.com
e-mail: John @ WidgetRacing.com

2001 CRS/SCCA Rally School

Ridgecrest, CA

The Heritage Inn in Ridgecrest, California once again hosted an SCCA Rally School, this time on March 24, 2001. Over 80 students from Arizona, Utah, Nevada and all parts of California successfully completed the full day program, thus earning them the right to obtain an SCCA ClubRally license for performance rally competition. The school, organized by Ray Hocker and Mike and Paula Gibeault, was instructed by these three and several other experienced rallyists including Doug and Sue Robinson, Lauchlin O'Sullivan, Chrissy Beavis, Doug Whited, Paul Timmerman, and ClubRally Steward John Dillon.

In rally parlance, the school had four "legs" or major segments. The first leg in the morning covered information that drivers and co-drivers both need to be sucessful and safe on the course. It included discussions on time card mechanics, route following, and safety rules. This leg concluded with a "foot rally," a practice rally where the students actually walked a course with start and finish time controls, flying finishes, and main time controls. "The time card sounds pretty confusing in the classroom but once you walk through the course you realize how easy it is to keep it all straight," reported Ken Tooker, who navigated at the Treeline Rally a couple of years ago.

After a short break, Leg 2 began with discussions on car preparation (hosted by Doug Robinson, a rally scrutineer) and advanced route following (by John Dillon). "I came to a rally school once before, as a driver," reported Rebecca Rocks. "Now I'm back to focus on the co-driving side of things. I wish I'd taken this course before navigating at the Doo Wops rally earlier this month!"

The third leg focused on practical experience behind the wheel and odometer. In the classroom, Mike Gibeault discussed the physics of cars racing in the dirt and how to convert science into quicker times. At this point the students split into two groups. In-car training focused on individual specialties. Drivers took over the Desert Empire Fairgrounds for a series of exercises in the dirt. First they covered basic driving techniques on skid pad and figure eight courses. They learned the value of the late apex on a blind turn, why sliding sideways can be a faster way through a corner, and why braking on dirt is better than you might expect. As students progressed they even learned advanced techniques like left foot braking and handbrake turns. Differences between front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, and all wheel drive were all discussed and demonstrated.

Meanwhile, the co-drivers took to the roads of Ridgecrest. The organizers laid out three routes on public roads (no speeding of course). Chrissy Beavis, Sue Robinson, and John Dillon each drove a car with a rally odometer ("odo") installed. The students took turns navigating the course with a route book while working the odo and calling instructions to the driver and counting down the corners. For example, "In 20, hairpin left, single caution; in 10 hairpin left, single caution; hairpin left now." Two of the courses were fairly slow, but the third put the students on a wide open stretch of highway with a 65 MPH speed limit. At higher speeds the instructions come up a lot quicker, but the students rose to the challenge.

The final Leg included plenty of pizza and salad as the students reviewed their school day in an open forum. The instructor corps fielded questions like "How do you left foot brake while downshifting and setting up for a tight turn?" "How much does it cost to rally a full season?" "Should I build my own car or buy a rally car already prepared?" and even "How did you get started?"

Afterwards Lauchlin O'Sullivan commented on the success of the school. "I'm here to give something back to the club. This was my first time instructing at a rally school and it was great to see so many enthusiastic new faces." One of the students, Branden Ushijima, wrote later: "I attended both the rally school and RallyCross and wanted to say thanks for your witty commentaries/presentations throughout the school day. It was loads of fun; I am now addicted.... "

Several students announced plans to compete at the Rim of the World rally in May. Judging from the enthusiastic response of the students, SoPac rallying continues to grow. Another school is tentatively planned for late fall. Visit www.CaliforniaRallySeries.com for updates and general news about the SoPac rally community. Visit www.WidgetRacing.com/clubrally/rcross01.htm to see pictures.

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(Page last updated: Thu, Oct 20 2005 )