Rally 8 Scheduled September 3-7, 2013

[Ed Sims]

The time to start making plans for Rally VIII is upon us finally. We are sorry for the delay. The difficulties in planning an event that maintains the caliber of the past Rallies in the People's Republic of California has been frustrating but we never gave up. Well, we had to give up on one part of the Rally but it will be made up for the fantastic other parts of the Rally.

The Rally will be in Northern California - specifically the Wine Country in Napa. Northern California is home of some of the most amazing roads & weather in North America. You will be able to enjoy the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra Mountains & everything between them. Plenty of fabulous driving, wine tasting, sight seeing & camaraderie will be in store for Rally VIII participants. There will be plenty of events just for the ladies (cooking classes, San Francisco shopping, etc) & even a post-Rally hard core driving event in the mountains on some challenging roads with breath taking scenery!

The dates will be Sept 3-6. The specific details & hotel info will be announced in the next few weeks.

Rally VIII Ed (formally Special Ed)

 

[bonehead]

Nice! I assume the part that won't be included is track time?

 

[RALPHIE]

Looks great, Dave :thumbsup

 

[roketman]

My wife and I are very excited! We plan on making it a 2 week vacation !Ed we are in your hands for Cal tour!

 

[cobra498]

I am disappointed that there will not be a track day, there are so many tracks out here that I was sure you would have one scheduled for the rally. I am probably in the minority but will not be attending because driving fast on public roads is not appealing to me.

 

[SteveA]

Thunderhill has harsh noise restrictions, most of the modded cars will get flagged and is completely booked except for a few days that didn't make sense for the rally. Laguna and Sanoma (Sears point) would have been a problem even with stock exhaust. Probably doesn't make sense to book a track that half of the cars would get black flagged on would be my guess. If anyone has a track hidden up their sleeve I know DBK would be open to adding an additional date to the beginning of the rally.
I for one am too old, soft and fleshy to go to jail so wont be doing any street racing. However having been to the Napa area many times I'm looking forward to driving my GT there on many of those fantastic roads, enjoying the reunion and seeing what else will be planned. I'm in! :thumbsup

 

[PL510*Jeff]

Great Choice for Rally 8....only165 days to go!

 

[Vince H]

Track day or not I missed last year and have regretted it since. Ready to go to this one.

Vince H

 

[Ed Sims]

There is no need to break the law on the road events. You can have fun just driving with all the other GTs & enjoying the scenery.

Rally VIII Ed

 

[roketman]

I love track events ! In fact that may even be an understatement!That being said I am looking forward to the rally for a nice scenic drive with the wife! Street racing is totally out of the picture in my world.I'm sure most people feel the same. I do see this as a wonderful opportunity for us to bring our wives and let them experience the wonderful friends that we have made at the rallies. I am hoping my wife will want to join me at future rallies!

 

[shelbyelite]

While I enjoy the Track, usually one day is enough for me, so to not have to deal with it this year will be a nice change. I always enjoy the road trips more. Gonna be a lot of fun

 

[beckertb]

While I enjoy the Track, usually one day is enough for me, so to not have to deal with it this year will be a nice change. I always enjoy the road trips more. Gonna be a lot of fun

I agree. I can track cars any time of the year. Getting together and cruising with dozens of other FGT's is a delight. See you guys in Cali!

ben

 

[KJRGT]

A big thanks to Ed and Dave.
What a superb location to have Ralley VIII at!
Since NASCAR and NHRA run events at Sonoma Raceway (ex Sears Point and Infineon), IF a group can rent the track for a "noisy/above allowed decibles" event day, I guess the cost is prohibitive for a small gathering?

 

[BlackICE]

A big thanks to Ed and Dave.
What a superb location to have Ralley VIII at!
Since NASCAR and NHRA run events at Sonoma Raceway (ex Sears Point and Infineon), IF a group can rent the track for a "noisy" event day, I guess the cost is prohibitive for a small gathering?

The noise limits are too low at Sears Point, most cars would fail unless you have mufflers.

 

[bonehead]

A big thanks to Ed and Dave.
What a superb location to have Ralley VIII at!
Since NASCAR and NHRA run events at Sonoma Raceway (ex Sears Point and Infineon), IF a group can rent the track for a "noisy" event day, I guess the cost is prohibitive for a small gathering?

I don't see how the cost could be the driving factor here. I'm sure much smaller groups have rented these tracks out for a private day. Not like the GT owner demographic is economically strapped.
I think I remember Dave alluding to the fact that renting out Laguna Seca wouldn't be much different cost-wise than Miller.

Regardless, as others have said, this would be about meeting other GT owners. I can run the track on my own another time.

 

[Xcentric]

I'm picking up a new Trailex trailer in a few days. I'm sure I can find a track or two on the drive cross country if I feel like stretching legs! Great location choice. The roads and scenery...and the companionship at the Rally...are all spectacular. We love group cruises!

Thanks to the planning committee. Ed Sims...I didn't know you were involved, but way to go mate! :cheers

 

[ChipBeck]

Rally VIII

Gentlemen,

I have been to every single Rally. Probably the best single day I have ever had at one of these events was at Rally II in California the day we went out on the road rally through the California mountains. I wrote a summary of that day at the time that I will find and re-post. I was really hoping that our next Rally would be in California and I can't wait for this event. While I like track days I enjoy road rallying to interesting locations more. It wasn't until Rally 3 in Nevada that we even had a track day and the Gold Standard will always be Rally 1 in Detroit with no track day because they were still building the cars. Nobody has to break any laws and while I did some spirited driving at the last California Rally I was never involved in any street racing and nobody that I know of even got a ticket. I will host a Rally to the Rally event at my home in Scottsdale, AZ for members traveling to westbound through AZ on the way. I'm in and REALLY looking forward to this!!

Chip

 

[dbk]

As much as I talked to all the track people in the area, it really just came down to a matter of how many hoops you have to jump through and how much that's worth to the majority of the people. The tracks in the area were either 90-92 db which is a comically low level, or 103 db with strict enforcement. I talked to a track director that had black flagged a number of our California forum members and he said they were between 106 and 114 db. Whoops. It would be a major bummer to lug a car out to a far away track and get the flag of death on Lap 1, and with as many exhaust, cat, header, blower, turbo combos as there are, that would be looming over a ton of people. I talked alot with Ed, Sandman and others who had a very good idea of what a big chunk of the group would be up against. I asked about unlimited sound and was told that it with the very limited amount of those days available, getting one this year would not realistically be possible.

Sonoma Raceway is a cool place, but it's a tough track with lots of potential to become friends with concrete, and one of our members that absolutely knows what he's doing behind the wheel crunched his car pretty badly there. With the values of the cars going the way they are going, I feel like if we can't have the safest on track experience for the most owners possible, we should just focus the effort on having the maximum amount of fun elsewhere. We've got a pretty incredible record of safety and vehicles staying in great condition for how fast we're going, and I'd like to keep it that way. After all, at the end of the day, 98% of us are driving a car that is way more car than we are driver. A place like NOLA is great for every driver of every skill level because if you lose it, at 90% of the locations of the track, you're likely only getting a dirty car out of the deal.

So is California worth it the trip without a track? At Rally 2, those road drives we did out into the mountains were incredible. Northern California is just as good, and it's always a blast to be out with a gaggle of GTs in spectacular scenery, especially for those of us that live in places where a 3 foot elevation change and a left turn on yellow is as exciting as it gets. I'll never forget one of our Michigan members saying after one of our SoCal runs "I didn't even know roads like this existed!" It's the perfect time of year, and the perfect place to bring a spouse or guest. Crush Season will be in full effect, the food will be great, the scenery will be great. So we'll work hard to make this the most fun yet. :cheers

 

[THamonGT]

Great news Dave. Sue and I are counting the days. Sounds like a great time with friends and Ford GT'S in Gods Country with a little, wine.

 

[Colton74]

This is of real interest to someone like me. I have never been on a track and wouldnt have felt comfortable taking the GT out due to the risk of damage. This however is something that would be really enjoyable I think.

If it works I will be there. Maybe we can get a Canadian convoy together to make the trek south.