This article by me appeared in the CCRMIT Blower in 1975. Some of it sounds as relevant today as then!
For some time now (probably in the order of a decade) discussions have been going on over the types of rallies we should be running, and on how the sport ought to be run. Changes are occurring continually and this is in itself is a good thing.
The problem as I see it is not merely a dissatisfaction amongst competitors with the events being run, and with the general administration of the sport, but also a continuing lack of acceptance of the sport by the public. The latter, I feel is the most serious problem we have, as it continually threatens the existence of the sport. It takes a form we all know well: a subtle attitude by many people that rallying is some form of heresy; an eccentric, non-spectator sport, carried out by two people alone at night. The practical implications of this attitude in our society is the occasional knock back from a shire engineer, forester or local farmer, and of course the ever present possibility of rallying being outlawed by the authorities.
Two things are the answer in my opinion. Firstly, the sport of rallying should be administered far more tightly, by someone who is not at the same time concerned with other aspects of motor sport. Secondly, we need several events each year which are directed at the public — these are already developing in Victoria, as the Alpine and the RACV 500. Another is needed - closer to Melbourne, but then, three will be enough.
Let me enlarge upon these two solutions. In effect, the practical application of the first idea, at this stage, is the employment of a single individual to administer rallying alone. We really have to stick with CAMS for the moment, as we haven’t really the solidarity to go it alone yet, as the speedway bods have. So we need to convince CAMS that x% of the fees that they get from the clubs are from people whose only interest in the sport is rallying. In our club for example, the percentage would be quite high, so that most of our affiliation fee should go to use in rallying administration.
This guy (administrator) will, of course, take a lot of knocking, and he must. He must also communicate with the competitors and directors through a democratically elected rally panel of which he would be either secretary or chairman (with his own full time, paid, secretary). In case you don’t know, the present rally panel is not elected and has no power to act, only to recommend things to the board of management who can direct the CAMS office to “do” things; a somewhat inefficient system. Anyway, the new form of admin would hopefully clean up the sport even more than it already has been during the last couple of years.
The other part of getting the public’s “approval” of the sport is through these public events. The RACV 500 is a great idea and it has my full support. My criticism is that it is too far from Melbourne on roads that are not really good enough either in interest or quality. The fact is, the only people out really watching were enthusiasts. We, as a sport, need a “showcase” event near Melbourne. The showing of about 5 minutes of narrated highlights on the national news on the Monday night was indeed a great step forward. However, we are not going to get 10,000 Melbournians up to Bright to watch the Alpine. We may however get them up to Kinglake. We may also manage to get live TV coverage if it's that close and set up in the right manner. This is the only way you can get the public’s support for rallying; by showing them it’s fun and exciting.
I am of the opinion that competitors basically want one thing - variety. The RACV was popular because it was different, and I believe this years Derrick will be popular for this same reason. Generally, the day of the navigational nightmare is over. Certainly as far as the VRC is concerned.
