Hello all,
I am newly signed in here but have been reading this excellent forum for a couple years on and off.  Thanks Alan O and by the way great run in last years TP.

Please help....I'm going to the Tall Pines as a spectator this year for the fourth time and I am dreding the fact that the spectators are only allowed to watch from two locations.  I find the wait between when I see the cars incredably BORING!

I'd like to see the organisers publish stage route and start times ( similair to the Perce-Neige  ) so we can hop in our cars and spectate throught the event.


Any suggestions on how to get my hands on a route map or keep me from sleeping on between stages.
Thanks
 

Thank you for the kind words.

We can't publish route maps for a bunch of reasons.  With regards to spectators, a number of the stages have very few parking options, and I have personally experienced a situation at Tall Pines where a bunch of spectators parked at a finish control and caused severe traffic jams for competitors.

In any case, the nature of the route is such that you would spend a lot of time driving around and seeing less action than if you had stayed at the main spectator areas.  You *might* be able to catch three daytime stages, but you would be scrambling around to arrive in time and your viewing choices would be less than ideal.  

The most action tends to happen at the Iron Bridge section and the Landon intersection anyways, especially if it's slippery.  And Castledine's Corner is simply a perfect spectating venue.  There is no better place to watch the night stages.

I have been to rallies where you could pick and choose your own viewing areas, and in order to get a good spot, you still have to arrive way in advance and stand around for an hour or more to see the cars.  "Hurry up and wait" is simply the nature of the beast when it comes to spectating at rallies, and if you stay in the Iron Bridge area, at least you'll have concessions, helicopters, and lots of new friends to keep you entertained.

I'm with Dave on thsi one.  If you want to see rally at all, there needs to be a rally, and that only happens because some people volunteer.  No volunteers, no rally. SAME IN EUROPE.  You make your own fun. I have more fun volunteering, hanging out with rally people, getting the cool stuff volunteers get, and getting close to the action.  MLRC/Tall Pines even cover some or all of my accomodation expenses and a meal or two depending on the arrangement. I'm not  sure what else one could ask for.  

If you've managed to be a spectator for three years, just maybe it's time you gave something back to the sport that has given you some enjoyment for those three years.  Did you get charged a fee for access to the rally? No. I'm not rally sure what the complaint is about. Something to think about.

Another thing about Europe, I was a spectator at WRC Cyprus.  Drive an hour to find the stage, walk in for 15-30 minutes, wait for an hour, watch cars for an hour, wait for three hours, watch for an hour, drive back for an hour. Not much difference if you ask me.  Most of watching rallies is NOT watching rallies.  It is simply the nature of stage rallies that cover big areas.  Try going to a single-raod regional rally, or two-road regional rally if you want more cars/level-of-effort.

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Spectators are not a necessity to the sport.  We would much rather see someone come out as a marshal than have them just spectate.  In other forms of motorsport the emphasis is putting on a good show for the fans but this is not the case in rallying.  I consider a spectator a potential club member and marshal.  If we didn't have any spectators it would hardly put a dent in the sport.  Granted spectators do help to promote the sport and generate business in the area but so do the marshals and competitors.  Don't get me wrong I love to see lots of spectators out there but the only way the sport is going to grow is if we get more people involved in rallying by joining clubs and volunteering at events.  As for the WRC, the WRC events are essentially just another rally facing the same challenges we face here only on a larger scale.