Press on Regardless was my first rally ever last year. This year i'm entering my own car.

Press on Regardless

Press on Regardless (POR) started out in 1949 as a 24-hour TSD Rally. So similar to what it is today but for 24 hours straight. 20 years later it became a stage rally (WRC and Rally America hold stage rallies). In 1994 it became a TSD again.

In 1972 POR was part of an FIA championship! That year a Dearborn police officer won. He was also the first to do so in a 4WD car. Gene was heavily involved in rally and started a company, Competition Limited, that still sells essential supplies to rallyists.

Driver Gene Henderson (R) and Navigator Ken Pogue,
 with their winning Jeep Wagoneer

What i learned last year was that it's not the easiest rally on the calender in the Detroit region. The remote location provides lots of loose gravel roads and two tracks. And the rally runs late into each night. Both days run into the next morning.

This I found out on the way to my first POR and my first Rally with Chuck. While driving from Whitmore Lake to Indian River we talked rallies, score cards, and navigating. We fired up the rally computer so I could learn how to use it to keep track of our progress in the rally and help us stay on time. I had done none of this before. The computer ended up helping a lot because it allowed me to have a little more time to do all the other navigator duties.

I survived POR and learned a lot about rallying. I've run more rallies since and have even scored points in a National SCCA Rally. The thing I learned the most is that I really enjoy it. As POR approaches I'm thinking about kicking it up a notch.

I'm entering the Benz!

Yup, entering my own car. I'm going to navigate and I'm going to have my good friend Kevin Chaney drive for me. Wilhelm will be getting maintenance and upgrades. We're going to see just how well you can prep a road rally car on a budget. Look for updates on Tuesdays!

Want to know more about TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) rallies?



The Detroit Region-SCCA website says:

TSD, also called Road Rallies are unlike races in that they are not tests of speed. Road Rallies are a test of skill and precision. Teams consisting of a driver and a navigator are given a set of Route Instructions that define which roads to drive and the speeds to maintain. Rally teams are scored on how closely to their ideal time they arrive at each checkpoint along the route. This may not seem all that exciting – but there are many challenges to the team members that keep things fun and interesting.

Following the proper course can be a subject of satisfaction (and sometimes frustration) as can the math calculations the navigator must perform to keep his/her team “on time”.
The driver will often be challenged by the road conditions, the weather and the speeds. Regardless, teamwork is essential to being competitive against the other teams running in the class. There are classes for Novices who are just getting started in rallying (using the stock odometer and a handheld calculator). From there, classes are defined by the level of navigational equipment used.

Beyond that I recommend Wikipedia's article on the subject.