SOWDiv Road Rally
Rally
Two people (a driver and a navigator) in ordinary cars make up a rally team. A RoadRally is traversed over public roads within the legal speed limit.
Regardless of how well you score, rallying is a lot of fun if you like to spend time in your car, see some scenery and spend time with congenial people. Rallies usually end at a location where munchies and beverages are available. You can join the rest of the crowd in discussing how the event went and how you did, while waiting for the final scores to be calculated and trophies to be awarded.
Touring Rally
A Touring rally is a time-speed-distance contest with straight-forward course following. There is never a deliberate attempt to lead the contestant off course, and typically redundant/confirming instructions are provided if there is an apparent opportunity to get lost. Since there is less challenge in staying on course, the competition usually either tests the driver with challenging roads, and/or tests the navigator with precise calculations. A typical National Tour rally with a minimum of 24 controls is won with an average of less than one point per control, and often with less than 10 points total (or a total error for the day of under 6 seconds!).
Course Rally
A Course rally is also a time-speed-distance event, but requires logic to determine where the course goes, as well as the skills to remain at the assigned average speed. These contests emphasize mental agility as much as on the road skills. The ability to think quickly is necessary, often described as “Chess on wheels.” If you are a “puzzle” person, then Course rallying is for you. Scores are generally higher as navigating the course correctly by solving the “traps” laid by the rallymaster plays a much bigger role in final scores than very accurate timekeeping.
GTA Rally
A GTA rally is not a time-speed-distance event, but following the course may be as challenging as a Course rally. Or it may be simple, but finding certain signs and landmarks may be the challenge. From knowing Santa’s reindeer on a Christmas rally to finding the oldest gravestone in an old cemetery at night on a Halloween rally, GTA rallies have a wide range of formats and challenges.
RallyCross
RallyCross is the most widespread and readily accessible form of extreme dirt motorsport in the Sports Car Club of America, and the perfect place to see if you have what it takes to powerslide your way to victory. Imagine a scaled down version of a rally stage laid out on a non-paved plot of land where the course is delineated by traffic cones instead of trees or rocks.
The entry fees and equipment requirements are considerably less than those necessary to enter any other forms of performance rally, so in most locations one need only arrive at event registration with a sound, hardtop vehicle and the entry fee. Many SOWDiv Regions have helmets to loan and will assist the first time competitor with entering the appropriate class, making their way through technical inspection and finding their way around the course. Best of all, it’s great fun!
RallyCross is the most cost effective way to gauge a driver’s interest and aptitude for “doing it in the dirt.” RallyCross classes are tailored for local entrants but usually categorize cars according to number of driven wheels, engine capability and the style of tires mounted. Unlike Solo, a similar competition staged on paved surfaces, where an entrant’s ranking is based on the single fastest run, RallyCross competitions are usually judged on the total of multiple runs.