Part 5: School of Rocks

Day 1. Saturday.

I woke up at 5am on the morning of rally school with my mind racing. I was experiencing a curious combination of forgotten emotions – half 8 year-old me on Christmas day, half 18 year-old me on A-level exam day. I tossed and turned until 7, necked a quick coffee and was off.

Two hours down a foggy State Highway 1 later, I arrived at Rally Drive NZ HQ. In true Kiwi tradition, this centre of engineering excellence was a large shed in the middle of nowhere. I stopped for a few moments to admire the phalanx of rally spec Mitsubishis parked on the verge, then headed inside. The cavernous workshop was crammed with rally paraphernalia, well-used tools and cars in various stages of undress. The owner of the Rally School, Dale Perry, was presenting a pristine Mk2 Escort that he had built specifically for the Colin McRae to the students who has arrived early.

After introductions and a while chatting about Dale’s colourful 40 year rally history we took to our seats. The morning was taken up with a lengthy lecture about rally admin. We learned about what it takes to run in a multi-day event, from licensing and safety procedures through to logistics, timecards and team management, washed down with plenty of paper-cup tea. While this was all very interesting, I did find it strange that we were covering this in such detail. Most of the students (especially me) had never done any competitive driving, let alone being anywhere near ready to take part in a multi-stage rally.

Next we covered navigation. We were each given a road book to study. On first inspection, it’s a little like attempting to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, but it became clear soon enough. At the top tier of rally, a navigator describes each corner and road feature with pace notes like “3 left over crest tightens into 5 right, don't cut…” However, at most other levels of rally a typical navigation is more like, “in 3 kilometres turn left at the crossroads”. In these common ‘blind’ rallys the driver reads the minutiae of the twists and turns of the road with their eyes, while the navigator is there to navigate the general stage route and help with logistics.

In keeping with the Kiwi style of the school we were thrown in at the deep end and expected to get on with it. Our task was to navigate a 20km touring stage on public roads. We were put into pairs and buckled into the tight bucket seats of the Evos. As soon as I turned the key the growling throaty grumble of the engine shook the car to life. The noise and power was a little daunting. Having driven automatics for the last 4 years I scrambled to remember how gears work. Moments after pulling away I stalled it, earning an eye roll from Dale. A quick restart and I was off. It was like being pulled along by a giant rottweiler. I was cautious, and I think I drove the country roads more slowly than I had in the Mazda 2 on the way down. We swapped at the end of the stage and I navigated us back, which was more fun than I was expecting. We made it through the touring stage in one piece and arrived back for lunch and more study.

Later in the afternoon we made our way out to a sun-baked paddock for our very first timed event – a motorkhana in a beat-up old automatic Polo. We took it in turns to run a short slalom course. Despite the simplicity of the event it was great fun! This was my first time driving a road car at full tilt and I liked it.

We soon moved on to our second event, an Autocross. This time however, we’d be driving a rally spec Evo III. By now, gallons of adrenaline were pumping through my veins from the previous tests. I was dehydrated, sleep deprived and my brain was well baked by the morning’s study and the now fierce sun. It was a struggle to remember the twisty course and I had to double back a few times on the reccy run to make sure I got it right.

I had every intention of doing a tidy lap, but that all went out the window when I felt the true power and grip of the Evo as I floored it for the first time. I absolutely hooned it round, tail flying out round every bend, dust plooms everywhere. It was incredibly fun. However, Dale didn’t seem too impressed with my over-enthusiastic first run in the Evo, or my difficulty remembering the track. I couldn’t help grinning like a naughty child.

As I clambered back into the Evo III and set off for my final run of the day Dale had a few careful words about calming down and concentrating on racing lines. It was a struggle and I was feeling overwhelmed. There was so much to take in; remember the track, racing lines, keep calm, have fun but not too much, don’t crash, get a good time, change gears, power and brakes. I managed a slightly better time, but a bit off the pace of the other students. In his summary, he said we were all competent drivers who were learning and improving, but some of us needed to concentrate. It was obvious where the focus of his last comment lay.

When I got home after another 2 hour drive, I was thoroughly drained. That night I reflected on the day’s experience. Though it started off slowly, it turned out to be a great day. Driving the crappy Polo had been a hoot, but the Evo was another level of awesome. However, there was also a small niggle in the back of my mind. The excitement had definitely got the better of me and although I didn’t do badly, I certainly didn’t show my best. On the other hand, I was disappointed that we had been thrown in with no driving tuition and I felt a little harshly judged by Dale based on my very first experience of rallying. Either way, I was determined to focus and get the most out of it on day two.

Day 2. Sunday.

A shorter drive this morning, to the Maramarua Forest, about an hour outside Auckland. I was calmer than the day before, but still feeling a fair amount of nerves and excitement as I walked up to the Rally Drive NZ crew who were all busy setting up cars and marquees for the day.

After a brief reccy of the stage and exceedingly short safety briefing we got to it. After being fitted with a race suit and helmet I was straight out in the Evo VI. Full speed on a gravel rally stage, the type of gnarly gravel that you’d be worried about walking on let alone driving 100kph through. The 5km stage looped through the pine forest, up and round a hill with mixture of fast and slow corners. As you drive you go into some kind of trance, it’s hard to take it all in as you are so focussed, even so, what an incredible experience it was.

My first run was an improvement on the Autocross the day before, but it was still fairly messy, nervous and inconsistent. However, today was different. I was joined in the car by top tier rally driver Stephen Barker who patiently talked me round the stage via helmet intercom. Focus on your lines, brake here, ease off, more power, get into 4th. At the end of the first run he explained in detail where I had been going wrong and how to fix it. He helped calm me down and concentrate. The second run went a lot better.



Over the long lunch break I sat listening to the Evos departing and arriving from hot-laps. I took deep breaths, kept hydrated and out of the sun. The feeling of driving at speed was already becoming familiar. I was calming down at the thought of it now, the shock and surprise of it easing. I was a driver getting into -what a motor racing commentator would describe as ‘the zone’.

I had my final four runs with experienced rally driver Brett Lightfoot, a super chill guy and a great teacher. He stepped in when he needed to, but progressively let off the reins as the day went on. On my third and fourth runs my focus began to pay off – I was getting the hang of the shifting terrain, the delicate steering, flying through the gears, hugging the racing lines and harnessing the power of the Evo.

By my fifth run a switch had flipped in my brain. It suddenly felt like the most natural thing in the world. I think a mental bridge had finally formed between my years of driving a road car and years driving video game rally cars. Instead of feeling like I was running away from a charging bull, I now felt like I was riding on top of one. Still an exhilarating experience, but one that I was sort of in control of. On the final run of the day Brett stepped back and trusted me to drive, only chipping in to help me go even faster. We were both impressed with how much I had improved in just a few runs. 

Not for the first time in my life I was reminded not to underestimate myself. Although I can be a slow starter, I’m a fast learner.

As I clambered out after my final run, it hit me. This had been my childhood dream come true. I just drove a Group A rally car, full tilt on a New Zealand gravel stage! Nothing could have removed the beaming smile from my face at that moment.

There was a final cherry on the cake at the end of the day. We each got a hot-lap driven by Stephen. Dale had spoken the day before about this young man’s talent and now we got to experience it first hand. It was literally and figuratively stunning being propelled around the stage at ferocious WRC pace. It had felt incredibly fast when I was in control, but this was simply unbelievable. It was like we were flying. After my lap had finished I watched each of the students in turn scramble out of their hot laps with a stupefied grin on their faces, unable to form a sentence to describe what they had experienced.

As we received our certificates of completion I even got a word of low key respect from Dale after he’d heard about my rapid improvement throughout the day. Though in truth I think I could win the WRC and he’d still think I was a tool!

We said our goodbyes and I left the event a changed man.

Epilogue

In one weekend I went from a nervous goon with zero experience, to being a confident novice rally driver. I’ve made my childhood dream come true, if only for a weekend. My advice – not that you asked – is that if you're lucky enough to be able to follow your dreams (no matter how stupid) do so. Just getting a taste of this has been an incredibly fulfilling experience.

Now back to earth for a moment, I’m well aware that I have hundreds or even thousands of hours of experience to gain before I’ll be confident and fast enough to drive in a legit rally (and that’s not considering the financial side). Even then it’s certainly too late for me to get anywhere near the standard of Stephen, Dale or Brett who have all been driving since they were kids. But then, that was never the aim of Rally Quest. The aim was to have fun, and I now know that – from Polo in a paddock to Evo in a rally – fun is guaranteed.