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Message text written by Keith Hearn
"
Are there any ralleys put on in the bay area? I used to do TSD and
gimmick ralleys when I was in college, down at PolySLO. I don't see
any mention on sfrscca.org. "
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The rally game sort of died during the last fuel crunch and never
recovered. TSD rallies died before that because of the "Get Charlie"
syndrome, i.e. each succeeding rally master would devise an even more
devilish course and obscure logic course-following instruction for the
specific purpose of nailing the masters of the TSD field. The results of
building this monumental "Trap" situation is that novices would get lost
and never return. Thus the game died of its own rather significant weight.
Spell that as political infighting.
There are, from time to time, attempts to revive both TSD and
gimmick rallies but with the loss of the SF Chronicle's motorsports column
every Tuesday and Thursday (Thursday had the most extensive calendar ever
seen), there has been no means of communicating to the public about an
event's existence.
Gimmick rallies were once so popular there were Friday and Saturday
night events in four distinct areas: SF, North Bay, South Bay, and East
Bay. The Lake Merritt Duck Pond was once a very significant starting point.
People used to invent fictitious clubs in order to secure start permission
from the City of Oakland's park dept. The City of Oakland ain't what she
used to be. And neither is the rally scene. Recently an article about TSD
rallies appeared in SCCA's Sports Car. That particular "National" event was
run through the Napa Valley.
Then I saw Dennis Hale's Post:
>>The Rallye Club holds more or less monthly events out
>>of Larry's Autoworks on Old Middlefiels Road, Mt View.
>>Hotline: 408-REWIND5
>>email: Http://members.aol.com/rallyeclub
The Rally Club started as a part of the SCCA SF Region TSD rally program in
the mid-'70s when yours truly was on the SFR BoD. After one event under the
SFR banner, they decided they wanted to be independent. The same people
organized the Napa Valley event (noted above), sanctioned by SCCA SFR!
according to Sports Car. It would be my suggestion not to make any big
thing of your SCCA membership. Wouldn't even mention it.
--John Kelly
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