Club News

Sunday 20th September 2009
Paul Adams

It is with great sadness that the organisers have to report the sudden death of Paul Adams, Press & Promotions Officer for the event since its inception. Paul was a great supporter of the Roger Albert Clark Rally and one of the leading lights to bring back the spirit of the old RAC to rallying in the modern era. Paul worked tirelessly to help get the event off the ground in the early days and has been a constant help in moving the event forward.

Paul was at Rallyday at Castle Combe yesterday with members of the Roger Albert Clark Motor Club and had a great day working in the sport he loved and helping to nurture the event that he had striven to get up and running. During the day he talked to rally enthusiasts about the event and signed up new members on the Paul Adams (right) gives event news to the webmaster on the 2008 rally event stand that he was helping to man. Paul passed
away peacefully in his sleep last night.

Paul Adams will be sorely missed and the run up to the event will not be the same without his enthusiasm and constant good humour. The event will carry on in his absence and I'm sure he would not want us to be overly sentimental at his passing but please spare a thought for his family at this difficult time and if you have recently mailed or emailed Paul with regard to the event, please readdress your correspondence to the organisers at the addresses below.

Rally Manager

Roger Albert Clark Rally

3 Scotsmill Crescent

Blackburn

Aberdeen

AB21 0JG

Email: r.a.c.rally@btinternet.com

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Saturday 19th September 2009
Rallyday

Roger Albert Clark Rally meets Club members at Castle Combe Rallyday. Taking advantage of the special offer of reduced price entry, members of the Roger Albert Clark Motor Club met with officials and fellow enthusiasts at Castle Combe.

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Saturday 19th September 2009
Route Checking Weekend…

Colin and Nicola Heppenstall were out last weekend on their route checking mission which saw them drive over 800 miles in the weekend, leaving home in Aberdeen Saturday morning at nine in the morning and arriving back home at seven thirty in the evening on Sunday. However, the days proved very productive with them checking the route for Kielder on Saturday night, Scotland on Sunday.

These route checks always bring up things you missed first time around including wrong road signs, incorrect junction shapes and so on, so it’s always worth checking closely to make sure the route instructions are correct for the competitors. This is now the second time that Colin and Nicola have been out checking the route and they will follow the whole route of the event once more before the rally in order to complete a logging report. Route checking tends to be a relatively lonely activity with not many people around apart from the odd horse rider and cyclist encountered in Ae forest but that does enable a quick run through the stages, so much so that Colin often didn’t get to drive as Nicola enjoyed driving them so much!

However, if encounters with people are comparatively rare, it is not unusual to come across animals en-route and the team had a couple of run-ins with cows during the weekend. One very large brown cow was ‘guarding’ the gate at Whygate and the herd was mooving away from the farm over Spadeadam and held the team up slightly until all the animals decided to go to the same side of the road to allow clear passage. Not something we want on the event itself!

The run around the route has shown that the roads in Scotland are very, very smooth and. In fact most of these roads were graded after the Scottish Rally and have settled beautifully.

Kielder is typical Kielder hard but mostly smooth and fast but when the event runs through its unlikely there will be as much dust as there was last weekend. There are only timber works in one of the stages that will be used for the event and this work is nearly over so the roads should have recovered by November.

The team has also been working hard to ensure that spectators will have access to good viewing points throughout the route, but more of that soon.

In order to get as much time on the road as possible, Colin and Nicola largely managed on picnic food during the weekend but did manage time to have tea at Gosling Bridge where they can recommend the ‘2 for £10’ offer.

So, a good weekend’s work, with the only hold-up being on the M8 on Saturday due to a lorry fire. Luckily our team were travelling West as the traffic was badly held up behind the incident with tailbacks of ten to fifteen miles Eastbound as the emergency services were trying to direct traffic off the motorway…

Route Authorisation discussions have started this week with the many Police Force areas that the event crosses, including North Yorkshire, Northumbria, Durham, Cumbria, Cleveland, and Dumfries & Galloway. The route is also being submitted to the many Councils and different organisations that have to give permission for all the footpaths and bridleways that the event crosses. So much to do to ensure that the event runs smoothly and it's a visit to Rallyday next.

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Tuesday 4th August 2009
Club Members Offer For Rallyday 2009

Paul Adams has today confirmed that membership of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club has now exceeded 200! That is a fantastic milestone and to mark it the organisers have arranged for members to take advantage of reduced price entry to Rallyday 2009 to be held at Castle Combe Circuit on Saturday 19th September 2009. Club members will be able to buy tickets to this great event for £10 per adult until the end of August by appending 'RAC Motor Club Member' to their application and quoting their membership number.

This is an extension to the early booking offer previously available on the Rallyday website and offers exceptional value to members particularly since accompanied children go FREE! Tickets on the gate cost £15 per adult so it makes sense to book early.

Please visit the Rallyday website here or
if you would prefer to pay by cheque then download the booking form here.

For anyone not already familiar with the event, Rallyday is an annual show run by rally enthusiasts which gives visitors a chance to enjoy the spectacle of seeing a wide range of rally cars, and rally stars, in an open and spectator friendly environment. It comprises live action on the track with static displays in the paddock, and has something to offer everyone from the rally enthusiast to a family looking for an enjoyable day out.

On track action comes in the form of professional driving demonstrations, track sessions, rally car rides, circuit parades and a feature rally car stage. Off track there are a host of displays where visitors can have a close look at some of the world’s most iconic rally cars, which have made rallying history through the years. The paddock is packed full of static displays plus the main event stage where rallying celebrities are interviewed. There are also numerous trade exhibitors ranging from major car manufacturers, to individual specialists offering a diverse array of rally merchandise.

Rallyday Interactive is where visitors can go further than just spectate. Whether it be a rally simulator, radio controlled rally car races or a full-on white knuckle ride in a selection of rally cars, there are many activities for people to participate in.

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Monday 29th June 2009

The Club Goes From Strength to Strength

The initial response to the announcement of the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club Ltd. has been amazing with over 130 members signed up within the first two weeks! As Paul Lawrence recently wrote on Motorsport News, you can't buy much for a tenner these days and he pointed out that in sporting event terms £10 would buy about six laps of the British Grand Prix and maybe a quarter of a top football match. Instead, why not support the Roger Albert Clark Rally by joining the Roger Albert Clark Motor Club Ltd.? The joining fee works out at about £3.30 per day to add to the cost of being at the rally and its not a lot to pay in order to help the event not just to survive but also build for the future.

The economics of running the event we all love have been an uphill battle for the organising team with the money earned from entries being largely spent on venue fees and the revenue from spectators is shared with the Forestry Commission. To try and ease the financial pressure the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club Ltd. has been formed to support the rally.

Membership is open to all, spectators, competitors, service crews and even journalists - in fact Paul was one of the first members to sign up.

What do you get for £10? Well most importantly, you will help ensure that the event continues to run in the years ahead and early members will be eligible for discounts on event kit and access to privileged information on the event.

Membership applications are being handled by Paul Adams (see below) and he is currently away for two weeks well earned rest from the 27th June... so please bear with us if you have sent in an application it will be dealt with promptly on his return.

Remember, together we're making this event the best in the calendar.

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Announcement

Today sees the official launch of the new Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club Ltd. This new club gives you, the enthusiastic event supporter, the opportunity to be a part of this great event in a way not previously possible.

The Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club Ltd. is being set up to help promote the Rally itself in as many ways as we can think of. The intention is to make the Club predominantly an internet based club, with actual face to face meetings taking place at various locations around the country during the year.

Members will also receive information regarding the event ahead of the website, and the press, and we're looking at making a special “members only” area available as well.

It will also be used as a sort of “employment agency” whereby event volunteers can offer their services to the organisers, especially where specific personnel are needed.

We are planning a number of club activities such as Photo Competitions, Best Blog, Quiz’s etc. all with good prizes, but please note that whilst membership offers a number of benefits it will not entitle you to any discount on actual tickets for the event.

However there will be discounts available on certain items of clothing and stickers etc. which will be announced in due course.

What we are trying to do is give our many event supporters a chance to help contribute towards the huge annual running costs and to give all members a “feel good” factor in the process. Your membership will make a big difference this year and many years to come. …

Whether you are a competitor, a marshal or a spectator you now have the opportunity to join us and get:

First issue of information to club members before statements issued on the web or to the press
Motor club members area on event web site which will have additional event information
Personalised Motor Club ID Card
20% reduction on event merchandise on production of Motor Club ID Card

So, download the Roger Albert Clark Rally Motor Club Ltd. membership form now and join us in November as a member of the club or email for more information racmotorclub@aol.com

The membership form is available here for download in Adobe PDF format.

You will need the Adobe Acrobat reader to view and print these PDF documents
which can be downloaded for free here.

Note: Membership of the club does not allow for reduction in spectator charges for event.

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