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What is a Rally ? Although speed is of the essence, a rally is not a race but a time trial. The cars travel sequentially, starting at one minute intervals, along sections of route, known as stages, from the start to the finish of the event. Some stages of the route are on public roads and are un-timed. They are only there to link the other, timed, 'special stages', where the important action happens. Special stages are not on public roads and can vary in length from a few to several tens of kilometres. The crew of a rally car consists of a driver who drives the special stages and a navigator who also acts as co-driver for the un-timed stages. Whilst the WRC is the pinnacle of rallying, with its works teams and professional drivers, for the countries, which host one of the rounds, it is only one of many events in its annual rally calendar. Every weekend thousands of car enthusiasts take to the hills and dales to watch, enter, or officiate in smaller rallies organised by local, regional and national motor clubs across the UK and beyond. Even a local rally organised by a small club can involve between 50 and 200 cars. Such events usually run for fewer than 24 hours. This year's Wales Rally GB takes place over three days from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th September 2005 and has 17 special stages covering just under 400km. Winning this, as with any other rally, is achieved by the crew who get their car through all the special stages in a cumulative time that is less than that for any of the other cars.
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