Professional Rallying, is, simply, the most exciting, demanding, and satisfying motorsport in the world. Millions of people line the roads in Europe and numerous other countries throughout the world to watch these cars compete. World Rally could be considered the "Winston Cup" racing for the rest of the world. Major carmakers and tire companies sponsor teams to run the World Rally Championships. Here in North America we call it ProRally for the national series and ClubRally for local, regional events. Events are carried out under the supervision of the Sports Car Club of America. ProRally is a flat-out race over closed rural roads such as forest and logging roads. Most of the roads are limited access, public roads that pose a challenge under competition. Some event organizers work with nearby towns to close city streets, in order to hold special in town stages, these stages give a opportunity for spectators to see the cars up close in a familiar environment.

Rallying is different from most organized motorsports in many ways. The cars are run one at a time, normally spaced out on the course. The event is run on roads that the competitors have not seen before, they are not allowed to drive the course before the race. The rally is run on normal unprepared roads.

The whole event can last from 6 to 36 hours long. Rally's are run in any weather. From hot dusty dry roads in the summer sun, to frozen snow and ice covered roads of winter in the middle of the night. Weather conditions will rarely ever stop a rally. A rally team consists of a driver, navigator and service crew. The Driver's job is to drive the car down the stage as fast as possible and most important, stay on the road. The Navigators job is to guide the driver along the rally course using route instructions handed out by the event organizers. The route instructions warn the driver of corners ahead and other hazards along the way. Click to see a image of the route book The Service Crew's job is to drive the service truck to service areas along the route. The service areas are where they meet the rally car between stages to repair any damage and prepare the car for the next few stages. Most of the cars are modified production automobiles. All rally cars are prepared and built to withstand the constant beating of the rough and unpredictable roads of which the course is run on.

Why is rallying appealing to spectators?

The cars are actually, real cars. They are street legal production based cars that look very similar to the cars we drive on the road every day. These cars are then run on real roads, mostly public roads, and are driven down them very, very fast. Most everyone would love to take a sports car down a twisty country Road, knowing there is nobody coming the other way. Rallying is a sport most everyone can relate to.