Wyedean Stages Rally 2021

[Anyopenroad]

Hello!

I'm keen to expand my spectating repertoire to Rallying and this caught my eye: https://www.wyedeanstages.co.uk/

My first and only priority is taking photographs. I'm happy being out at the crack of dawn, walking miles in all conditions and finding my way around country lanes, as long as I get those shots...

It seems from reading about previous years that there are multiple good spots, several car parks and good directions etc, as long as I do all my homework and planning beforehand. Is that about right? Any and all advice (an indeed other rally suggestions) very much appreciated!

[justracing]

Interesting, being in the south I've not managed to spectate a proper stage rally since the Tempest fizzled out some years ago. It does require a lot of running around both on foot and in the car together with a lot of planning ahead.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Hello!

I'm keen to expand my spectating repertoire to Rallying and this caught my eye: https://www.wyedeanstages.co.uk/

My first and only priority is taking photographs. I'm happy being out at the crack of dawn, walking miles in all conditions and finding my way around country lanes, as long as I get those shots...

It seems from reading about previous years that there are multiple good spots, several car parks and good directions etc, as long as I do all my homework and planning beforehand. Is that about right? Any and all advice (an indeed other rally suggestions) very much appreciated!

I spectated on The Wydean and took some photographs a few times in the early 1980's. It was a great event back then and lots of superb vantage points for taking pictures. Unfortunately I've not been since but suspect for one thing that some of the places where we used to stand would be totally out of bounds nowadays!

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Unfortunately I've not been since but suspect for one thing that some of the places where we used to stand would be totally out of bounds nowadays!

I suspect you are right since I found some spectator info from 2019 which says:

“In the interests of safety, route information will not be provided, we have organised 2 specific spectator locations for the event, and any other areas are determined as non spectator and should be avoided for your own safety”

I assume it’s not possible to completely prevent access to what is basically public woodland. However, I am aware that rallying is acutely threatened by safety concerns so I’d not want to cause a problem, especially as a first-timer.

[justracing]

I did the Tempest rally a couple of times as a spectator around the Aldershot area and much the same experience. If you're foolish enough you can go just about anywhere, my advice is to keep a stout tree between you and the action! The trick is being in the right place at the right time, if you watch a particular stage and wait for the whole entry to go through getting to the next vantage point in order to catch the leaders is difficult which is why I say a good deal of planning and a local OS map is essential.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Wyedean usually great, although in recent years they've had to virtually discourage people from turning up because the spectators were kind of out of control. Still fairly easy to follow though, generally a case of parking in a Forestry Commission car park and wandering in, just a case of being sensible.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by justracing

The trick is being in the right place at the right time, if you watch a particular stage and wait for the whole entry to go through getting to the next vantage point in order to catch the leaders is difficult which is why I say a good deal of planning and a local OS map is essential.

Originally Posted by SnoodyMcFlude

Wyedean usually great, although in recent years they've had to virtually discourage people from turning up because the spectators were kind of out of control. Still fairly easy to follow though, generally a case of parking in a Forestry Commission car park and wandering in, just a case of being sensible.

Thanks! That was kinda what I imagined. The 2019 instuctions I found very clearly direct you to two car parks (which are actually only a <10 min drive apart). My assumption was that I could go to both and walk, but that trying a minute-by-minute plan to see cars at point X and point Y exactly Z minutes apart was doomed to fail.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

that trying a minute-by-minute plan to see cars at point X and point Y exactly Z minutes apart was doomed to fail.

Yeah - that's unlikely to work. Basically if you're only interested in the top cars you need to pick a spot where you can get out of the stage whilst it's live (so no walking along the stage itself) and work out your routes between stages beforehand (but check for and road closures!). If you're planning on watching the whole field then try and find a good (and safe) vantage point and stay there. This will depend on wht type of shot you're after - straights and corners offer very different opportunities. Also it's worth checking the stage maps beforehand if you can - if the stages have splits in them then there will be parts of the stage that the cars cover twice - so you'd see the cars twice per run through the stage rather than once if you're on a single use part of the stage. Also some (possibly all) stages will be run twice - so you could stay inthe same stage (but move your location) to minimise how much driving around you're doing.

Then there's the obvious stuff - don't stand somewhere stupid (it's amazing the places some people choose to stand), listen to the marshals, wear appropriate footwear/clothing (again I've seen people wandering about in white trainers trying to keep them clean), take food and drink with you, take your rubbish home. Come back on here and post your favourite photos afterwards

[Anyopenroad]

Very useful and helpful, thank you

[SnoodyMcFlude]

You used to be able to get around quite well and see multiple stages, I've definitely done 4 in a day at the Wyedean in the past, possibly 5. That did mean missing the 1400 field in some cases. These days not so easy so I wouldn't risk it.

Unlikely to be any splits but you might have one or two spots where corners are close to one another and you can see the cars a couple of times in the same stage, but generally not particularly exciting spots. There probably will be two runs through most stages though.

Lots of videos on Youtube so might be worth having a watch and seeing what interests you then try to find if they're running the same config/direction this year...or just rock up and wander in (tends to be my approach these days). Stage maps I think they may still publish, if not it's usually easy enough to get some by asking in the right places on FB etc.

[Alex Langheck]

There's no guarantee that spectators will be allowed - even by October; though I hope I'm wrong. With the current Covid restrictions, it's easier for organisers at the moment to withdraw spectator access.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

With the current Covid restrictions, it's easier for organisers at the moment to withdraw spectator access.

There are no Covid restrictions. Ofc you are right to say the organisers might choose to impose some (it's their event, they can do as they wish) but that wouldn't be something they were required to do by law.

[Alex Langheck]

No, but who knows what will happen by October; spectators are viewed as a nuisance by some organisers, and COvid has been a handy excuse.

In Scotland there have been a few events and they've not allowed spectators, due to the separate restrictions they still have. Hasn't stopped members of the public visiting forests for leisure activities....but you can't go and watch an event there.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Difficulty for the Wyedean is that to close the stage from spectators means they also have to close whichever Forestry Commission car park is near by, which they probably won't due to the number of people doing non-rallying things.

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by SnoodyMcFlude

Difficulty for the Wyedean is that to close the stage from spectators means they also have to close whichever Forestry Commission car park is near by, which they probably won't due to the number of people doing non-rallying things.

Which was what happened at Sherwood Pines for the Dukeries......car park would be jam packed, and not all were spectators; families picnicing, mtb riding, etc
Eventually, the access for the rally was withdrawn......

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

Which was what happened at Sherwood Pines for the Dukeries......car park would be jam packed, and not all were spectators; families picnicing, mtb riding, etc
Eventually, the access for the rally was withdrawn......

Yes, that's the Wyedean got moved to later in the year and stopped being a round of whichever championship it was that brought in loads of big entries. Basically so many people were turning up that there were cars parked on verges all over the place and loads of spectators standing in questionable spots.

The last two I've been to there was easily enough space in the FC car parks

[Alex Langheck]

https://www.wyedeanstages.co.uk/

Cancelled.......with no thanks to both MSUK & Forestry England....

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

https://www.wyedeanstages.co.uk/

Cancelled.......with no thanks to both MSUK & Forestry England....

That's very poor from MSUK, a real kick in the teeth for the organisers. Given that events have been running again for a while now what is the point of the 'test events'?

[hoffman66]

I see little future for forest rallying in England, I think quite honestly it is better to just let it die, closed roads is the way forward for rallying in England, Scotland and parts of ireland are really the only areas left for forest events, there are too many people around most places in England to police it better. And being brutally honest, a lot of times events have themselves to blame, some of the pictures I have seen from events like Wyedean, Sunseeker were appalling, yes some people are idiots, but when you see a photo and a bib in the background, sorry, no excuse.

[Alex Langheck]

I think forest rallying has been on 'borrowed time' for a while - it seems almost every year another forest area withdraws access for motorsport. We saw Sherwood pines lost, Whinlatter only allows access to early morning on the Malcolm Wilson, when it used to spend the whole day there. It's not a sudden things, but the sport hasn't addressed the problem.

And whilst both Wyedean, Sunseeker were popular events, they did bring out the foolhardy individuals....the 2015 Wyedean was the event that brought about the move to later in the year - and a stark warning from the then MSA; we can all remember the photo of a 'spectator' lying in a ditch to photo a car.....

Closed roads should have been brought in years ago - however we finally have them, but I don't think we'll see the number of events people are hoping for....