What is Rally?

Performance Rallying is one of the world's most challenging and popular motor sports. Unlike any other type of car racing, rally teams must face a "track" which is unknown to them, and which consists of rugged unpaved roads across terrain ranging from deserts to mountains, including sand, gravel, mud, or snow.

At the start of a Performance Rally, the co-driver (navigator) is handed route instructions with exact mileages and simple course following directions.

For a day and a night, or several days, the team's task is to drive as fast as possible on every "racing" section with only the "transit" sections in between to repair their vehicles or relax a moment. Racing full speed on unknown dirt roads requires courage, teamwork, an incredibly tough vehicle, and a sideways-through-the-corners driving style that is thrilling to watch.

Rally cars, all street licensed and registered, are usually compact sport sedans, with the fastest being turbo-charged for extra power and all wheel drive for traction. At the national level there are five classes; two for production -based cars and trucks, and three for highly modified vehicles.

From local rally-sprints to four-day international events, rallies share the same attraction: Real cars on real roads, but driven at speeds which are difficult to believe!

(Definition provided by the Colorado Cog Rally)