Wales Rally

spencer

spencer

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I'm taking my son & a few friends to the Welsh rally.
Its a first for me, & what I would like know is:-

1. Which day would be the best day to go. (Where we would get more chance of seeing the cars!)

2. Where would be the best place to stand??

3. And how early would we need to get there?

Any help/information would be gratefully received.(y)

Spence
 
ill be going on the saturday, but all days should give you a chance to see the cars atleast twice (unless you stand on the wrong track!) the stages are repeated so you can see the cars in the morning and the afternoon.


ill be heading to either epynt or halfway stages on the saturday.


there are two main specator area types, there are specially cordoned spectator areas which offer a reasonable view (but not the best for photography), they are safe areas where the car should really never be able to reach you should it leave the stage. they are also good for people with children. the other area is not really an area at all, its outside the cordonned area but as long as your in a safe place you wont be moved on (of your not you'll likely be moved on else the stage will be cancelled).


i aim to get their as early as possible as i walk a fair bit into the stage to find the best corner, i think i arrived at epynt last year at 5am (well before the carpark opened!) consequently i managed to get a good 2km into the stage and found a quietish corner.


remember its december in britain so its dark and cold and very very muddy, wrap up warm, sandwiches take a torch, hat and gloves and some good stout boots so you dont get wet feet!


oh and dont forget the camera and lots of memory cards, over 100 cars will go through the stage each running and you'll probably take a few shots of each car as it passes, you can easily burn off a thousand shots in a day!

hsolberg.jpg
 
whitewash great advice thanks. I'm going down for a couple of days too. Never been rallying before apart from GFOS Rally Stage. So how long a lens do you need? I've a 70-200 and a 120-300. I think the 120-300 maybe a bit cumbersome? So would the 70-200 with a 1.4 TC do, or should I take the big one?

Thanks
 
Generally in rallying I would just use the 70-200. I dont often really need the length of the 300. The 70-200 with a 1.4 for the occasion bit when you want more length should be fine.

I often find i can fill the frame with the 70-200.
 
I thanks for the advice on the lenses lads, I'll be going to watch either the Resolfen stage or Rheola stages on the Friday, not sure about the rest of the weekend.

Check out the link mullrallyesport posted as this will be giving you all the info that you need spencer
 
Hiya, :)

I've just joined, been lurking for a while, lol. Just thought I'd say that my family and I are off to this Rally, and generally choose a Friday as the best day for us.

We are going to the Resolven and Rheola stages, and no doubt it's going to be fun.

Hope you enjoy it Spence. :)
 
Check out Walesrallygb web site and look at the online planner. It will have the info you need. Friday or Saturday would be the best days to go and alot would depend on wether you want to see different stages or stay in the same place. For Friday Rheola and Walters arena would be a good place to go. You will see the cars for about a minute and there is a jump there. There will also be merchandise stands commentary and toilets. Very spectator friendly. For saturday Halfway is good There have been crashes there in the past and bit of a walk will lead you to "paras Leap" which as the name suggests is a jump. Whatever you choose wrap up well it gets mighty cold in the welsh mountains and enjoy. Lots of people sleep in their cars over night so be sure to arrive early.
 
spencer said:
Should I follow the rally for the whole day, or go to just a couple of stages?:thinking:
Click to expand...

its many years since I went "lombarding" (oooh heck, that dates me), I doubt my advise will be dated though:

don't be over ambitious, wales at rally time can be one big traffic jam

look at the schedule, allow plenty of time for getting in & out of stages, and plenty of time between them. Try to pick stages that get used more than once and stay put, even if there is a few hours between. Try to pick stages which are on loops of the competitors route with a short spectator mileage between them and many hours between competitors.

try to include a service area in your itinerary (can spectators still get into them?)

if you're going for a long march through forestry commission to find the best bits then :
take extra food, especially chocolate, and drinks
take a toilet roll (in a waterproof plastic bag) and hand cleanser!
take a foldup stool
take extra warm layers, don't forget waterproof gloves and waterproof leggings

keep behind the treeline, don't walk on the stage while its live, dont stand in escape routes (eg. the straight on into firebreak at a corner), dont stand on the outside or INSIDE of a corner after the apex

please please dont argue with the marshals :nono:
 
Wookie said:
its many years since I went "lombarding" (oooh heck, that dates me), I doubt my advise will be dated though:

don't be over ambitious, wales at rally time can be one big traffic jam

look at the schedule, allow plenty of time for getting in & out of stages, and plenty of time between them. Try to pick stages that get used more than once and stay put, even if there is a few hours between. Try to pick stages which are on loops of the competitors route with a short spectator mileage between them and many hours between competitors.

try to include a service area in your itinerary (can spectators still get into them?)

if you're going for a long march through forestry commission to find the best bits then :
take extra food, especially chocolate, and drinks
take a toilet roll (in a waterproof plastic bag) and hand cleanser!
take a foldup stool
take extra warm layers, don't forget waterproof gloves and waterproof leggings

keep behind the treeline, don't walk on the stage while its live, dont stand in escape routes (eg. the straight on into firebreak at a corner), dont stand on the outside or INSIDE of a corner after the apex

please please dont argue with the marshals :nono:
Click to expand...

Good advice there (y)(y)

If it was me I would go to one stage that is run twice as the charges for watching at Rally GB is just too high to be paying to go into different stages. £22 to see one stage tun twice is a rip off in my book, for the RAC I am getting 3 days of rallying which is about 10 stages for £35:D
 
oh yes, forgot to mention

do not be fooled by the speed of the official opening cars (safety car, course cars, medical car, clerk of the course, or whatever comes through before the competitors these days) they like to have a play and generally go quite quick BUT . . . the first competitor will arrive at one HELL of a pace.

Don't try crossing or walking the track once the official cars start coming through, that first competitor arrives SO FAST.
 
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