WRC North Wales ?

Jase

Jase

Messages
1,545
Edit My Images
No
I planning to go to the WRC in North Wales in October.

I've never been to one of these and not sure where I should go etc.

So basically I'm looking for some advise on where to go, how it works, best times and places etc.

Also if anyone knows nice accommodation in the area that would also be useful :)
 
Last years event was wet. Very wet. Never known rain like it. We did Gartheiniog, it's an absolute fantastic stage, it has everything.

What i would suggest is get to the stage at least a couple of hours before, even 4 or 5. Seems extreme but we arrived at about 4am and the first car was due at 7.20am. We were already parked about a 20 minute walk away from the stage. My cousin arrived at 6am and had a hour and a half walk into the stage. They are crazy busy. Get there early and have a wander around the stage so you can recce it and see where you want to shoot the WRC from. When Ogier arrived first last year i was scrambling around for settings, it was pitch black, p***ing rain and i was stood there as if I'd never picked up a camera before. They arrive fast, really fast. Don't under estimate how quick the top boys are. Make sure you're well up the banking.

Take a change of clothes, lots of food and plenty of coffee.

I had planned to shoot all 3 days this year but tbh I'm just not geared up for it and i don't have the desire to shoot it this time around. Perhaps I'll get geared up better for it again next year.
 
I'm tempted to pop my head in this year as not been to a rally for years.
Definitely doing the Forest of Dean Rally in November this year too as its only up the road:)
 
This will be my 20th year of Rally GB. As minnnt said, get there as early as you can..preferably the night before if you can cope with sleeping in the car. In the good old days they used to run numerous stages each day so you could chase the front pack around but with the advent in recent years of running c3 stages twice a day you can't do that anymore. We normally pick one of the longer stages and avoid the ones that are mostly family orientated i.e. Sweet Lamb (still good though). One thing that has improved the rally recently is the introduction of the Nationals. This means that you can spend the whole day at one stage. This year we'll prob do Dyfnant and Dyfi and choose Sundays stage nearer the time.

Some tips from all those years....

Take warm clothes/layers - You get hot walking then cold watching.

Wear wellies or decent (waterproof) boots with thick socks and take gloves.

Take a tea/coffee kit (gas cooker) and food (if you don't want to pack £5 for a burger)

I normally use an 18-125 lens as you're always close to the action but you see lots of 70-200s

Don't be afraid to walk away from the penned off areas. The Marshalls do an outstanding job and deserve respect but if you want good photos you need to get away from the crowds.

Try and get to the stage well before the first car as you can walk up/down the stage itself to get to where you want to be. This is much easier than rambling through the mud and trees once the cars are running.

TAKE A TORCH. It gets very dark quickly and you often see spectators ambling about in the dark. This can be dangerous when negotiating slippy log stumps.

The top 10/15 drivers are a different class to the rest so be prepared for this when setting up.

Take a flash if you have one.

Oh...and take a brolly. It will rain at some stage of the day if not all day!

I hope some of the above will make your trip a bit easier/better.

Matt
 
Thanks guys for all the tips, I'll do some more research and will be back with more questions :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top