No More Pro-Rally!!

[aeronca65t]

The SCCA is ending sanctioned perfomance rallying. I just saw this on the Improved Touring board.
I ran Pro-Rally on the 80s. It was too tough for me but there are a lot of dedicated folks that love this sport.
Looks like the insurance costs and legal issues have killed it. Oh great! Gee...lets all live in rubber-rooms and play video games!

TOPEKA, Kan. (Oct. 5, 2004) – Sports Car Club of America’s Board of Directors voted Monday to discontinue the sanction of its current stage-based rally format, including the ProRally and ClubRally Championships, beginning January 1, 2005 due to increasing risk exposure.
“This was a difficult and unfortunate decision to make,” SCCA Board of Directors Chairman Gary Pitts said. “However, from an insurance standpoint, the stage rally format has gotten to the point where it puts the entire Club, its activities and entities under an undue risk.”
Unaffected by the decision are SCCA’s RallyCross and RoadRally programs.

More Info:

https://www.scca.com/News/News.asp?Ref=178

 

[Bruce Bowker]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh great! Gee...lets all live in rubber-rooms and play video games!

[/ QUOTE ]

It sure looks like the US is getting to that point and we export it. Someone stop it!!!!

Bruce

 

[UltimateQuestion]

That's really too bad, Pro Rally was/is a great sport. Unfortunately in the past year or so there have been a couple of incidents resulting in deaths of competitors, workers (and possibly spectators, I can't remember)and I'm sure the insurance costs for the SCCA were raised so high they are prohibitive. On the bright side, maybe now we can get a FIA World Rallye Championship round here in the U.S. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[MattP]

Crap. I was hoping to give it a go in a couple of years.

 

[UltimateQuestion]

[ QUOTE ]
Crap. I was hoping to give it a go in a couple of years.

[/ QUOTE ]

You might still get your chance, only not in the SCCA. Rally America is taking over the sanctioning of ProRally. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[MattP]

Good. I will look into them. Thanks.

 

[sammyb]

Too bad! I actually covered the SCCA Pro Rally here in the Northwest a couple of years ago. I was hosted by Subaru, which had a team of seasoned FIA WRC guys -- including Mark Lovell, who was killed last year in a rally. The other driver was Ramana Lagemann, a 26 year old phenom.

I found the whole team absolutely fantastic! I was trying to stay out of the way at a pit stage, and Mark Lovell came up to me and said "so, you having fun? Any questions I can answer, or anything I can tell you?" We chatted...I also chatted at great length with Ramana, who is a Boston College grad (I'm from Boston U, so we're "rivals.") Great guys.

The Pro Rally was a great event, and got a heck of a turnout in both competitors and onlookers. Nothing like getting sprayed with rocks as cars fly by at 100MPH!

I heard Subaru was pulling out after this year (Lagemann was doing some WRC races, and Lovell was tragically killed.) Maybe that had something to do with SCCA pulling out, as well.