Landy Rally 2009

What are the costs, what are the dates, is it still 10 countries?

Need to confirm my provisional booking with the babysitter

i had better check with pinky before i book next years ticket

i know theres at least one of the rally monstars entering in the frontera

I'm sure I put a post on here with the dates on it last night !! It's disappeared.

Anyway dates are 12th to 18th September 2009

best get saving those pennies

Sorry, couple of hiccups with the forum Silvia, now resolved it appears!

Dates and countries still to be finalised Andybloke - watch this space.

One thing I will be looking into for LR`09 is a major review of the points-scoring system. Although nobody has complained to the contrary (it appears that in two years nobody but myself has picked up on it), I suddenly realised at prize-giving that the scoring system as it stands is flawed. Let me explain …

This year I noticed that teams like Scout About drove every track and off-road forest section, whereas others cut the course in a quest to gain extra points. It's clear that whilst Scout About may have had a more rewarding experience by driving more of the terrain, spied more wildlife, seen more stunning scenery, they were at a disadvantage overall as within a forest they can’t get shots alongside policemen, mail postcards, photograph stuff on the Bingo cards, etc. They should actually be rewarded for driving all the Road Book, not indirectly penalised - for in fact that is exactly what's happened. This anomaly will I assure you be addressed in next year’s challenge as teams who drive each specific off-road section will be amply rewarded for their efforts.

The only ones that will miss out on this new scoring system will be those who had mechanical problems along the way; that’s life I’m afraid. Indeed, this also works out well for if one enters a badly-prepared vehicle, it is only right and proper that teams who enter well-prepared vehicles should gain an advantage.

Yes, rewarding teams who tackle every off-road section will be implemented.

Tom - Does that mean that the Get Lost Crew would have got more points this year; as we drove extra off road mileage than we should have done! Ask Badger - he was with us around the French forest section inc a fab off road 'circuit' we completed (just to check out the scenery!). I know it brought a smile to his face; and to all the Get Lost Crew!

But I agree with you - more emphasis on 'off-road' points via, say, the noting of information displayed on control boards (eg two letters/numbers) as proof of passage would be great.

Keith

Possibly, but if that were the case points would also have to be deducted for the convoy's little detour towards Holland after Boozers. That hiccup anything to do with Team Taff by any chance?

And people who dont come out to play at places like Val d’Isére should definately lose points, coz it was such a cracking place they need their heads testing for not having a look.... Plenty of beavers in them there hills.....

evo4x4 wrote:

But I agree with you - more emphasis on 'off-road' points via, say, the noting of information displayed on control boards (eg two letters/numbers) as proof of passage would be great.

Keith

But that would mean someone actaully driving the route beforehand ;-)

Tom Mc wrote:

Possibly, but if that were the case points would also have to be deducted for the convoy's little detour towards Holland after Boozers. That hiccup anything to do with Team Taff by any chance?

Us? Never? - I was just following Ness lol

Ummm, I've said it before & I'll say it again ( ) we were just making sure that our cars were gonna be road worthy for the French Motorways and also we needed to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road !



You should ask how Team Stuck in the Mud about Paris - They seemed to like their little detour to there!!! hahaha

Quote :

evo4x4 wrote:

But I agree with you - more emphasis on 'off-road' points via, say, the noting of information displayed on control boards (eg two letters/numbers) as proof of passage would be great.

Keith


But that would mean someone actaully driving the route beforehand ;-)

Yes thats reet.
Which in my opinion should be the case as a duty of care.
This would ensure that the clues are set in plenty of time.
Also, it would alert one to road blockages (not traffic jams) and camp sites are ther and that they are ready and expecting us.
And of course, a last check of the Road Book accuracy.

bill

As it happens LR`07 went super smooth with every route intact and passable, plus all campsites ready and waiting. This year on the other hand we were presented with roadworks, blockages, a campsite that denied all knowledge of my emails (that despite me having a printout of said emails in my sweaty palm upon arrival) and a campsite in Italy that turned out to be closed for the season altogether - and yet they had confirmed acceptance of our convoy only three weeks previously! I quote ...

From Nuovo Campeggio Claviere 24th August 2008:

Goodmorning, having read your mail, i have the pleasure to communicate you that we are avaiable to accept you. Inside of the camping there are a pizzeria, restaurant, bar and a pub.

Thank you,

Rodolfo Grandini

Well gee ... thanks for nothing Rodolfo!!!

To prevent future 'on the day' problems (possible landslides, diversions and the like) and avoid mis-communication with campsites, a new strategy for LR`09 will involve not one but TWO Scout vehicles - the first being a 'pace car' that will make a daily beeline direct to the campsite to ensure all is ready and waiting for the evening, and a second 4x4 Scout vehicle which will leave at the crack of dawn to drive every autoroute, road and track in the Road Book before the participants arrive that day.

As I say, none of this was needed in 2007, but as 2008 proved, "if it can go wrong it will". These new measures will ensure far less headaches for 2009. We live and learn!

Quote :

You should ask how Team Stuck in the Mud about Paris - They seemed to like their little detour to there!!! hahaha

Forgot to mention, Team Stuck in the Mud were not only ones. I have to admit that whilst on the recconoitre in June this year Captain Chaos and myself found ourselves closing on Paris due to relying on our GPS system. Instead of programming Irun (Spain) via Le Mans, we simply typed in Irun. You guessed it, the inevitable happened as it led us headlong into the capital and its inevitable traffic congestion. Daft really as that would never have happened had we relied soley on good ol' fashioned mapping, but no, we thought technology would see us right ... doh!!!

Thats a good idea with the off road sections gaining points. One of Monstars aims of the rally was to complete all of the off road sections but due to break downs we had to miss out alot of the sections including the forest tracks which from memory we got nicely lost in last year but were great fun anyway!
the road book is never going to be perfect unless you drive it the day before as the french (and other countries) havent decided what to call their roads, and do change them often The only other problem we had with a blockage was there was a land slide and the road wasnt there... theres not alot that can be done to avoid it other than use the old maps and detour around it

Well said that man! The Road Book will get tighter with the new measures, but as you say there will always be hiccups along the way. Fortunately most entrants realise this and are adapatable enough to cope with last-minute changes. The others? Well, perhaps a sunbed by a Spanish pool is the way forward for them, it's certainly not the adventurous '4x4 way'!

yeah, sun beds are best for them. there wasnt a vehicle on the rally that wasnt capable of getting to all of the places listen in the road book, yeah some of them wouldnt have made it to the top of the ski slops but as badger proved you can get to the tipees on road tyres or a disco in 2WD but you might pull your axel off : :rabbit: cyclops: :bom:

Quote :

Yes thats reet.
Which in my opinion should be the case as a duty of care.
This would ensure that the clues are set in plenty of time.
Also, it would alert one to road blockages (not traffic jams) and camp sites are ther and that they are ready and expecting us.
And of course, a last check of the Road Book accuracy.

bill

would certainly make for a more proffessional style event but surly less fun
getting lost with the road book was part of the fun

You haven't told me about the campsite Tommy?!

Is that the one where you stayed on the p1ss while I put the tent up?!

(You remember, the quiet site where we were told to pitch in the dog exercising area!)
Oh the memories come flooding back

Hmmmmm, yes, I suppose you're referring to that nice 'quiet' campsite where we had the freight trains rumbling through at stupid o'clock in the morning! In the end I couldn't subject the participants to that horrible din so attempted to seek out a new site. Didn't go too well I'm afraid as the 1st site out of a possible 5 alternatives (at Claviere in the Italian Alps) turned out to be shut for the season, and this despite receiving a confirmation email from them just three weeks before the off!

Sunday, 24 August, 2008 6:05 PM Info Nuovo Campeggio Claviere <info@nuovocampeggioclaviere.it> wrote:

Goodmorning, having read your mail, i have the pleasure to communicate you that we are available to accept you. Inside of the camping there are a pizzeria, restaurant, bar and a pub.

Thank you.

Rodolfo Grandini

Soddin' marvellous, stupid ol' me took this as proof they would accept us ... WRONG! Two teams arrived to find it closed for the season so phoned me to break the news. Understandably they were annoyed and not impressed. Fortunately that evening I found another campsite for the remaining 25 teams (a good 'un at that plus it shaved 65 miles off their daily mileage to boot), but for the two teams stranded at Campeggio Claviere they spent the night on a patch of grass at a car wash. Lucky they were an adaptable duo and in the end viewed it as part of the adventure, but these things just shouldn't happen - but they do. I tell you, our dog exercising area was heaven by comparison, count yourself lucky Chaos!!!

BTW, aren't the Wolverines doing well?

Oh happy days. As if to raise two fingers to the looming recession, I've now had three completely new teams wanting to sign up for LR`09, and in another seperate phone call, three more from just one club.

Add these TV4x4's planned entry of 3 to 4 entries, Jon of VentureOverland (definitely one, possibly two), the Mansfield Mob (stalwarts of Landy Rally), my lad Deano with his good lady, and possibly his mate in a seperate vehicle, the makings are there for a bumper entry! A great start, and this is even before the exciting new itineary for LR`09 is announced. This will happen VERY soon BTW.

I mention all this as never before has there been so much interest before Chistmas, very little in fact, it's always in the New Year that folk seem to wake up. Could be interesting ... watch this space!

Hi Tom,
I can confirm that team SLROC will be entering next years rally albeit with a new co driver. I think there will be at least one other team from SLROC

Regards

Tony

Yipeeeeeee!!!!

Does that mean we won't get lost in the forest ... eh Jon?

Tom

Are the dates going to be those on the postcard I picked up at Cafe de Paris ?

BTW I've never been called a mob before !!

Actually, no they are not, but I don't want to announce them until they officially appear on the newly revamped Landy Rally website. That should be any day now. This way it will become instantly clear why I've made the changes.

Intriguing or wot?

oow a different website thingy... different scenery for us to look at on our way here