As per info request. My goal with buying my car was to try all different things with it, and last saturday I was able to knock rallycross off of my list. Run by northwest rallycross association
https://m.facebook.com/NWRallyAssociation/
So this is the first event they’ve ever held north of Seattle. And since there’s NOTHING like this anywhere I’ve found in BC I jumped on the opportunity. It runs very similar to autocross. Course set up in cones, they use digital timing. They run 2-3 people at a time spaced out around the course. If you’re not in a driving group, you’re working the course. Only issue I had is that they completely split the day between before and after lunch. So after like 11:30, my wife and I had nothing to do except stand in a dusty field until 5pm. We were so over it. (Edit: I drove in the morning so we worked the course in the afternoon, picking up cones etc). Other similar events mix the groups up so you work and drive before and after lunch. Gives you something to look forward to later in the day.
Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com
Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com
So seems like this group knows each other well, though 35% of the entrants were first timers. That means they’ll probably hold it more north again. Most people have pretty well prepped cars with actual rally tires and such. I didn’t have any time to prep beforehand as I’ve been out of town for two weeks prior and got home and slept for 4 hours before leaving to this event. Definitely needs to be at least oem height, and some sort of underbody protection is a must.
Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com
Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com
Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com
The course was held at Hannegan speedway, which is a motocross track. If you had a car properly set up I imagine it was amazing. But from my research... I wasn’t expecting such rough jumps and banked corners. Usually rallycross is a mix of tarmac, grass (which becomes mud) and loose gravel. This course quickly became heavily rutted, and on the back half which is hardpack dirt road, LOTS of huge, 8” round rocks were unearthed and scattered everywhere. Super dangerous for any car not set up for it.
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Will I try and attend another event? Absolutely! Will I try harder to actually prep my car so I have a chance at placing somewhere AND drive home? Absolutely! The focus RS is begging to drive hard in the dirt, but without some serious reliability upgrades it would be short lived.
As per video you can see how slow I had to go, and you can still hear how much my dashcam is going off.