V-Sport Caves Classic
Hampton and Jenolan Forests
Saturday, March 5 2016

I hadn't been near a rally for many years, so I thought I'd reintroduce myself to the sport with an event that just happened to be taking place quite close to my home in Oberon. The first few rallies I'll go to during the year will be mainly to familiarise myself with changes to the rules and regulations and the way the game is played these days.

The major changes are that timing is now done to the second, not the minute, and the stages are much shorter. Back in the day, target average speeds for stages could be as high as 80 km/h over distances often exceeding 60 kilometres. Timing to the second allows the use of much shorter stages and also much lower target average speeds. The fact that the targets are slower does not mean the cars are slower, just that timing can be done more accurately. Another significant change is introduction of car registration specifically for rally cars, allowing more freedom in modification while imposing quite reasonable restrictions on when and where the cars can be driven.

Unfortunately, my really nice camera developed an electronic fault which nobody seemed capable of fixing (it continually reported that the batteries were flat when they were brand new and fully charged) so until I can afford to buy another one I'm using a little compact Canon SX170 IS. 16 megapixels should be enough.