With just a month to go before the first car rolls from the start for the 2024 United States RoadRally Challenge® (USRRC), taking place Nov. 9-11, 2024, in Lancaster, CA, everything, reports event chairman Joe Akerman, is “pretty much” ready to go.
“We plan to do our final checkout three weeks before the event,” he explains. “We'll draw for car numbers and send out event generals about two weeks before rally weekend. During the days just before the rallies, we’ll be running additional final ‘validations’ on the Richta app to be sure all the CPs [GPS checkpoints] still match our control-location logs and timing spreadsheets. We’re very excited about the event.”
Akerman, in addition to his chairman duties also is the rallymaster for the weekend’s first rally, Thunder Road, Saturday, Nov. 9, which will be followed by Stagecoach, Sunday, Nov. 10, and Highway Robbery, Monday, Veterans Day, Nov. 11. Veteran rallyists and organizers Larry Scholnick and Jeanne English head up Stagecoach and Highway Robbery, respectively.
In organizing the event, his committee has three goals, Akerman says: entertainment, variety, and quality.
“Our number one goal is for you to enjoy yourselves on these rallies,” he says. “We appreciate that people have a lot of options for things to do with their time, so we want these events to be worth the time and effort you put into being here. You can expect a variety of high-quality rallies that will be challenging, fun, exciting, scenic, and interesting. We aspire to having you finish the weekend saying, ‘Wow, that was great, I can’t wait for the next one.’”
And Goal 2: variety?
“California has a variety of landscapes, climates, and environments,” Akerman says. “We’ll be taking you through many of them: the snow-capped peaks of the southern Sierra Nevadas, the elemental vistas of the Mojave Desert, through farmlands and canyons, along ridges with spectacular views, tracking running streams, and passing through a mini-Grand Canyon. We’ll visit some geological wonders along with some quaint historic towns. In other words, you’ll be going through every possible cool place we can find.”
Also, he adds, there will be a variety of rally styles and philosophies. His own Thunder Road, Akerman says, will be a Monte Carlo tour with CZTs at all checkpoints and with creeping/stopping allowed. Larry Scholnick’s Stagecoach Touring rally will use the Richta GPS Checkpoint System’s “Flying Restart Truncate” option, which allows teams to choose their own restart times at checkpoint outmarkers. “Plus,” he adds, “all of Stagecoach’s checkpoints will be identified in the route instructions.
“On Monday, Jeanne English’s Highway Robbery will be a moderately challenging Course rally utilizing variable Main Road Rules, but no more than four at any time – often only two – and with no arcane ‘rule-busting’ traps. She expects most teams to do most legs correctly.”
For Cal Club, 2024 marks the fourth time the Region and its rally arm, the Santa Monica Sports Car Club, have organized the now 29-year-old Challenge weekend, having previously hosted the event in 2004 (Santa Maria, CA), 2011 (Valencia, CA), and 2015 (also Valencia, CA).
“In effect, we’re also celebrating the 20th anniversary of our first USRRC,” notes Highway Robbery rallymaster English, “and that is a nice milestone.”
Headquarters for this year’s USRRC is the Hampton Inn and Suites at 2300 W Double Play Way in Lancaster. Special room rates are available and include free breakfasts, parking, and Wi-Fi.
Plus Regional Rallies
Regional teams interested in one or more of the three rallies should click on the event’s “Regional” page.
Regionals will not count toward the annual National Championship, nor will they be included in Lifetime Points, notes Akerman. The Regional versions will run at the same time and use the same course and route instructions as National competitors but will not have the pressure of competing against them. Regional teams will have their own separate results and trophies, Akerman explains.
Are You Ready?
Registration for the 2024 USRRC closes Saturday, Nov. 9, at 01:59 a.m. PST.
Akerman says he is looking forward to the weekend, especially because everyone has been working hard to achieve Goal 3, Quality.
“I have the honor of working with two of the best and most experienced rallymasters in the country on these events,” Akerman says. “We are all committed to the highest possible standards for all three rallies: clean, easily understandable route instructions, accurate measurement and ‘just right’ timing – brisk, but not too brisk, and smooth, uncluttered, picturesque driving roads with a wide variety of scenery. We want this weekend to offer you the best rally experiences we can give. We are doing this all for you – the rallyists who make it all worthwhile.”
Photo by Joe Ackerman
