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Whilst Croydon &
District Motor Club is primarily a rally club other
events are organised which are classified as ‘off
road'. To give you more of an insight into the
different forms of motorsport organised by Croydon &
District Motor Club and governed by the Royal
Automobile Club Motor Sports Association Limited
(Motor Sports Association) a brief resume follows.
Most car rallies follow the same format. Competitors
are required to follow the correct route and visit a
control, or controls, at a set time. Rallies either
take place on the public road, known as road
rallies, or on private land where they are generally
known as Special Stage Rallies.
Road Rallies
Road rallying used to form the basis of most motor
clubs activities but with the increasing popularity
of Special Stage rallies since the 1970's the number
of road rallies has diminished particularly in the
South East. However in other parts of the country,
notably Wales, road rallies are still organised with
full entries of 90 cars.
Road rallies are run to a set route with set timing.
The navigation is handed out on route cards, either
at the start or at intermediate controls, and the
route is followed using Ordinance Survey maps.
Navigation is usually varied and utilises such forms
as map references, spot heights, grid lines, tulip
diagrams for junctions and various combinations and
derivatives of these. The Competitors are timed at
various points along the route to ensure that they
keep to the time schedule. Often secret checks,
either manned or un-manned, are positioned on the
road to ensure compliance of the route. Timing at
controls is to BBC time but the timing between
controls should not exceed 30mph.
Croydon & District organise 12 car rallies during
the winter months. Events using the public highway
need not be authorised if 12 or less cars take part.
These types of events which takes place on a Friday
evening are very popular and special classes are
incorporated for beginners and novices.
The club also run Navigational Scatters – another
form of 12 car event. These have no set route as
such but competitors are required to answer clues at
various pre determined points, but have to arrive at
the finish at a set time.
Treasure Hunts are also organised by the club. These
are family orientated events which take place on a
Sunday where competitors are given a set route where
they are required to answer certain clues, both
written and photographic, and report back to the
finish by a set time.
In May this year the club will be running the ‘Three
Counties Tour' a special rally for historic cars
taking place on public roads with an interesting
route containing passage controls and overall
timing.
Special Stage Rallies
This type of rally follows a set route and time
schedule on the public road but utilises special
stages on private land where cars are timed to the
second, or tenth of a second, on both surfaced and
unsurfaced roads and tracks. Typically Forestry
Commission land is used as well as disused
airfields, farm tracks and where there is a Road
Closure Order, closed public roads.
Croydon & District Motor Club jointly organise the
first round of the MSA Gravel Rally Championship,
Rallye Sunseeker, which is based in Bournemouth and
uses both Forestry Commission and private Estate
roads in and around Ringwood and Wareham as Special
Stages. The rally always takes place on the last
week-end in February each year and attracts
competitors from all over the British Isles and is
followed by many thousands of spectators.
The club organises two Production Car Trials each
year as well as a Grass Autotest. Both events are
run on private land and as they do not use the
public highway the minimum age for competitors is
14. Also cars taking part do not need to be road
registered.
Production Car Trials
These events contain a number of observed sections
which take place on smooth grass slopes, where
competitors have to traverse uphill sections defined
by markers without stopping. The maximum penalty is
12 marks and ‘cleaning' the section incurs no
penalty.
Grass Autotest
This event takes place on a grass surface and
requires competitors to perform a series of
different tests against the clock by following a set
route around and in ‘garages' and ‘gates' without
touching the markers. Both forward and reverse
motion is required and usually two attempts are
allowed at each test with the best time to count.
(Click images to view them full size)
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