Successful Start for a New Rally Formula

16 February 2006

Competitors, rally organisers and preparation companies are all backing RallyStar, the new formula designed to attract talented new drivers to British special stage rallying.

Nearly 30 aspiring competitors have already pre-registered, using cars as varied as Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia and Peugeot 106.

Launched last month, RallyStar aims to drastically lower the three major costs of competing - cars, events and tyres - by running events open only to 1400cc cars, with very limited tuning and all using control tyres which do so little damage to gravel roads that the cost of those roads is greatly reduced.

A budget created by a major firm of rally car builders indicates that even a professionally-prepared car will cost less than £10,000. A home-built RallyStar car, based on a typical 1400cc hatchback bought at auction for £1,000, should be ready to win for under £5,000.

Several motor clubs from all over Great Britain have expressed interest in running RallyStar events. Proposed budgets suggest that a typical RallyStar rally, even with only 50 entries, will cost less than half as much to enter as a conventional forest rally (under £240 for 45 miles of special stages on forest roads, instead of £500).

Russell Brookes, ex-British Rally Champion and the man behind RallyStar, has now embarked on a campaign to recruit competitors from university motor clubs, which used to be a rich source of new blood in motor sport, but whose members now find motor sport too expensive. Brookes says: "We need to find the next generation of Colin McRaes. There is no shortage of youngsters who want to go rallying, but they simply cannot afford a sport where it costs half a million pounds to buy a winning car. RallyStar will provide a much-needed level playing field, where the fastest drivers, not the richest, win rallies."

RallyStar has already been endorsed by the Motor Sports Association (the UK governing body), the Forestry Commission (offering forest roads at bargain prices), Pi Research (technical advice and support) and Colway Motorsport Tyres (long-life, puncture-resistant control tyres at under £40 each).

Start-up funding will come from a company limited by guarantee. RallyStar has provisional commitments from the likes of David Richards (Prodrive and ISC Television), Malcolm Wilson (Ford WRC team) and John Andrews (best known as the man behind the Andrews Heat for Hire sponsorship of Russell Brookes for 17 years).

The first RallyStar events will run later this year, with a national championship planned for 2007. To keep down costs, the entire project will be administered through its own website at www.RallyStar.info.

Related Story 15.02.2006 - MSA British Rally Acdaemy Launched