RallyCat909
11th April 2008, 00:14
Surface type: Tarmac
Conditions: Switchbacks to 2nd gear turns, mostly flowing 4 and 5th gear sweepers.
Since you all know Im a rally fanatic, you're going to assume Im biased about this rally. Sure I am, its our home rally and Im proud to volunteer for it. So I wont go into a monologue about how awesome it is. I'll jsut let you read what one of the crews had to say about the rally:
We ran the first Rally Tennessee in September '05 and loved it. We were very hesitant at first because of our limited experience on tarmac surfaces and I guess you could say "fear" or "paranoia" of something going wrong during the anticipated higher speeds. How wrong we were! We set up the car for tarmac - you know...lowering of suspension, appropriate brake pads and tires, and by stage 1 it was business as usual. The roads were fantastic - twistier, slower and more challenging than expected. Real drivers' roads!
Upon our return from the event I wrote the following:
(sorry - couldn't link the thread.)
"The roads at Rally Tennessee are awesome!!! These are the kind of roads rallyists dream of. The kind that seem artificially perfect - like in a video game. Please don't even try to compare them to gravel stages. And I'm not trying to imply that they are better - just great roads! I can only compare them to the few tarmac stages I've competed on before in downtown Rumford, RNY, Charlevoix, Brockway Mountain (LSPR) - just to mention a few, and I think the roads in Tennessee are superior in most respects. They are fairly smooth and free of bumps and potholes. The surfaces had a layer of crushed gray stone over tar that provided superb grip. Only a few loose stones on the edges would sometimes become a concern as you tried to take the racing line through the turns. Drivers who habitually like to cut corners were pleased to find huge (3-8 feet) grassy, smooth run-offs on both sides of the road for almost the entire length of the stages. Sight lines were obviously superb. There were no culverts, ditches, hidden rocks or stumps lurking in the grass, or any trees anywhere near the perimeter of the hard road surface. The majority of the turns were 4s and 5s with correct cambers. In fact, I don't recall any one instruction being noted as Off-Camber. There were however, lots of elevation changes with crests on and between every turn it seemed. The racing was flat-out fast!
Overall, you get the illusion these roads were engineered on request by Sebastian Loeb or, should I say Roger Clark! The rally-gods would approve! As it turned out, the small field that entered did approve and swore they would return again next year. The organizers did a great job of selecting roads that are so challenging, so much fun, yet so safe. Yes, I said safe! I do realize that statement is relative.
This rally is a great addition to the series. It's so easy on the cars and will surely attract some cross-over entries in the future. Even the Irish would approve a tarmac rally like this! What am I saying?? The Irish won this rally! The word is out. These roads are great! Congratulations to John Shirley and Kendall Russell for the vision and the guts to put on this great new event."
My opinion of the roads and the rally have not changed. Can't wait to do it again.
http://www.rallytennessee.com/2007/media/JohnBarnes/Stage-Howenwold/images/07%20Rally%20TN%20233.jpg
http://www.rallytennessee.com/2007/media/JohnBarnes/Start/images/07%20Rally%20TN%20085.jpg
http://rallytennessee.com/images-roads/curvy-road.jpg
http://rallytennessee.com/images-roads/dropoff.jpg
Conditions: Switchbacks to 2nd gear turns, mostly flowing 4 and 5th gear sweepers.
Since you all know Im a rally fanatic, you're going to assume Im biased about this rally. Sure I am, its our home rally and Im proud to volunteer for it. So I wont go into a monologue about how awesome it is. I'll jsut let you read what one of the crews had to say about the rally:
We ran the first Rally Tennessee in September '05 and loved it. We were very hesitant at first because of our limited experience on tarmac surfaces and I guess you could say "fear" or "paranoia" of something going wrong during the anticipated higher speeds. How wrong we were! We set up the car for tarmac - you know...lowering of suspension, appropriate brake pads and tires, and by stage 1 it was business as usual. The roads were fantastic - twistier, slower and more challenging than expected. Real drivers' roads!
Upon our return from the event I wrote the following:
(sorry - couldn't link the thread.)
"The roads at Rally Tennessee are awesome!!! These are the kind of roads rallyists dream of. The kind that seem artificially perfect - like in a video game. Please don't even try to compare them to gravel stages. And I'm not trying to imply that they are better - just great roads! I can only compare them to the few tarmac stages I've competed on before in downtown Rumford, RNY, Charlevoix, Brockway Mountain (LSPR) - just to mention a few, and I think the roads in Tennessee are superior in most respects. They are fairly smooth and free of bumps and potholes. The surfaces had a layer of crushed gray stone over tar that provided superb grip. Only a few loose stones on the edges would sometimes become a concern as you tried to take the racing line through the turns. Drivers who habitually like to cut corners were pleased to find huge (3-8 feet) grassy, smooth run-offs on both sides of the road for almost the entire length of the stages. Sight lines were obviously superb. There were no culverts, ditches, hidden rocks or stumps lurking in the grass, or any trees anywhere near the perimeter of the hard road surface. The majority of the turns were 4s and 5s with correct cambers. In fact, I don't recall any one instruction being noted as Off-Camber. There were however, lots of elevation changes with crests on and between every turn it seemed. The racing was flat-out fast!
Overall, you get the illusion these roads were engineered on request by Sebastian Loeb or, should I say Roger Clark! The rally-gods would approve! As it turned out, the small field that entered did approve and swore they would return again next year. The organizers did a great job of selecting roads that are so challenging, so much fun, yet so safe. Yes, I said safe! I do realize that statement is relative.
This rally is a great addition to the series. It's so easy on the cars and will surely attract some cross-over entries in the future. Even the Irish would approve a tarmac rally like this! What am I saying?? The Irish won this rally! The word is out. These roads are great! Congratulations to John Shirley and Kendall Russell for the vision and the guts to put on this great new event."
My opinion of the roads and the rally have not changed. Can't wait to do it again.
http://www.rallytennessee.com/2007/media/JohnBarnes/Stage-Howenwold/images/07%20Rally%20TN%20233.jpg
http://www.rallytennessee.com/2007/media/JohnBarnes/Start/images/07%20Rally%20TN%20085.jpg
http://rallytennessee.com/images-roads/curvy-road.jpg
http://rallytennessee.com/images-roads/dropoff.jpg