National Rally 2005

Yes, the National Rally is with us again on July 2nd/3rd, and this year there's some changes to the format.

After spending the last two years finishing at Uttoxeter Race Course, the final control is now moving to Rugby, allowing those with sufficient stamina to take part in the Sheene Run through the town centre just after the rally finishes. The other major change is that the three outer zones have been combined into one zone, giving you more flexibility in planning your route. The progressive opening and closing of controls on the zone borders should also make life a lot easier, and prevent a repeat of MBT's high-speed cross-country dash last year due to poor timekeeping!

The "National" is officially described as a 'navigational scatter rally', which means that it has a number of fixed controls but no specific route. Unless you're going for the Medal award, you can start from any control point you like in the outer zone, and with a few constraints, pick a route to get you to the final control. A couple of weeks before the start you'll get a list of all the controls, their approximate locations and opening and closing times, and any other facilities they'll offer. You'll also get a matrix map of the controls showing the official distances between them. Then the route that you choose will depend on what award you want to go for.

Award	Miles	Controls	Times	Notes
Medal	200 minimum in outer zone only	As visited, finish at any control	Between 1400 & 2400 hours	Medal
Finisher	200 minimum	As visited, finish at Rugby	Start between 1400 & 2200 hours	Outer & Inner Zones
Bronze	300 minimum	As visited, finish at Rugby	Start between 1400 & 2200 hours	Outer & Inner Zones
Silver	400 minimum	As visited, finish at Rugby	Start between 1400 & 1800 hours	Outer & Inner Zones
Gold	500 minimum	As visited, including a minimum of 8 outer controls without exceeding 270 miles	Start at 1400 hours	Outer & Inner Zones
Special Gold	540	As visited, including a minimum of 8 outer controls without exceeding 270 miles	Start at 1400 hours	Outer & Inner Zones. No requirement to attend Special Test
Platinum	540	As visited, including a minimum of 8 outer controls without exceeding 270 miles	Start at 1400 hours	Outer & Inner Zones and attendance at Special Test on June 25th

To prevent you falling asleep on the saddle you must take a one-hour rest break every 200 miles, and get to the final control at Rugby between 0730 and 1000 hours on Sunday July 3rd. You can't go through the same control point twice, and once you've entered the inner zone you can't visit an outer zone control. The route you take between controls is up to you, but you'll only get credited with the 'official miles' given in the final instructions. And each control that you stop at must have a direct link on the matrix map from the last control you visited, which means that you can't go directly from say Guildford to Norwich, and expect to be credited with the sum of all the miles in between. You can however expect to be excluded from the results!

If any of this has whetted your appetite, then you need to get your entry in by May 31st 2005. The cost is £22 for each rider with another £7 if you plan to carry a pillion to help with the navigating and keep you awake. More information can be found on the National Rally website, and you can also download the regulations and entry forms from there.

Back for 2005 after a couple of years absence is the Special Gold award, so to commemorate its return, the MBT Team are going for the Special. We'll be starting from a control somewhere in the south/southeast of England and if you'd like to join us, first get your entry in to the ACU and then send us an email. We'll do all the planning and provide the road book and instructions; all you have to do is turn up, have some fun and stay awake.