starting out

[crgmichael]

since ive gone off the single seater route i decided i might go into rallying instead but have no idea of the classes was thinking of something like a nova or a 106 but have no idea what class they fall under and the budgets(small budget class preferable)which would be better to buy a complete car finished or buy standerd and convert which 1 would work out cheaper has anyone any tips on getting started the right way cos when i was starting karting got into the sport the wrong way and blew a huge hole in my pocket thanking any replyers in advance

[silver bullet]

The most common (and cheapest) way to get into rallying is road rallying. You can do it in a standard road car. Most people I know started doing "12 cars" then moved on to road rallys and then on to stage rallys.
If you want to go straight onto the stages, that a bit more expensive. IMHO you would be better buying a ready prepared car. You would need to do a BARS test at a rally school before you can start.
Step one would be contact your local motor club and see whats available in your area.

[BertMk2]

Definitely cheaper to buy a ready prepared car (the Mk2 Escort I co-drive was built up from a standard road car - it would have been far cheaper to buy one). Having said that building the car up was something he wanted to do (the next car will be bought ready to go).

At the moment we're sticking to single venue events and aren't competing in a championship (we just pick and choose events as and when budget allows) - the class structure is normally something like:

Class A - Up to 1400
Class B - 1401-1600
Class C - 1601-2000
Class D - Over 2000
Class E - All 4WD

(Forced induction counts as a capacity increase of 70%)

If you're looking at doing a championship it might be worth getting hold of Pat Flynn - he's involved in one make rally championships for the 205 and BMW (both of which you can pick up quite cheaply).

Also as David says contact your local motor club and grab some of their rally drivers - they'll be able to go through the various options with you and you can probably get in on the 12 car actoin before progressing to the stages (although we just jumped straight into the deep end so that is an option )

[sihorton]

I agree with silver bullet, road rallying is still popular and a good way at getting into the rally driving scene it's also it's a good place to start getting that driver / co driver relationship going.

I know a lot of rallycross drivers started out in roadrallying and moved onto something more adventurous once they have got a taste for it, it's where i started too.

Good luck with what ever u choose.

Simon

[leonidas]

If you are interested in taking stage rally driving a bit more seriously you may want to consider the British Rally Championships Stars of the Future series - for younger or less experienced drivers in lower powered cars. Details here:

http://www.brcweb.co.uk/competitors/...seaction=Stars

You get to do 'proper' BRC stages and its promoted well through the BRC package. Its not desperately cheap but its reckoned to be good value for people who have ambitions to take their rallying a bit further...