Organizing a Car Rally

[Ioachim Viju]

Hello there,

I'm planning to organise a luxury car rally in Romania and I would like some hints from my fellow car rally enthusiasts.

I'm planning to have 40 give or take participants, 1300km race with 4 important checkpoints in important cities, parties and great artists.

It will include: 4*-5* Hotel accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner and night parties, photo sessions and much more.

And if you can give me some hints&tips I will appreaciate it.

Thanks in advance.

[Zeakiwi]

Hi

It depends on the type of people you are trying to attract - people for a one off event or people who can afford to do the event every year or every second year etc.
I assume you are planning on running non-caged road cars rather than roll caged official GT 3s etc.
1) Tell the authoritities about your event (most countries try to shut down open road events if the police etc have not been told about them) (Police , rescue/ fire, medical) Have their details and communicate with them. (rich people have rich relatives who like to know their car-craz yrelatives are treated well if they have an accident). Might need some Medivac on stand by etc even slow speed accidents can be bad. (Potentially you could have a couple of paramedics travelling with the event)
2) Select a name for your event that does not promote speed e.g XYZ Tour, XYZ car fun run etc
3) Have compulsory GPS tracking for the cars/ paramedics as part of the conditions of entry, so speeds can be monitored.
4) Have communications directly with cars - i.e nominated cell phone number to tell off unsafe speedsters.
5) Have a nominated charity for the event (you may or may not have competitors contribute directly) so the public does not think your competitors are uncaring etc.
6) Security guards at each stop to stop damage or theft of cars.
7) Visit race tracks or hill climbs - Have zig zag through cones, motorkhana, bracket times to to have relatively slow contests or short sprints/ dashes.
8) Safety check of cars prior to event start - put the cars on a hoist etc. Might want competitors in fireproof clothing even if not with helmets.
9)Does the tour visit historic places etc?
10) The luxury car events seem to not last too long - egos and attitudes sometimes are not compatible. Sometimes it is better to aim at car enthusiasts with just performance orientated cars - Evos, subarus, older BMWs, Nissan GTRs, who are looking to go somewhere different and enjoy meeting other car enthusiasts.
11) Also communicate with people on the route so you don't end up with cars stuck in mobs of sheep or the weekend when people ride horses on roads - try to minimise disturbance to other road users etc.
12)Alcohol/ (the drug quick test kits are getting better) test drivers before the start of each section to make sure they are legal.