Zack Smith
New Member
Hello everyone,
My name is Zack, and I am the creator of the Red Clay Rally and owner of the instagram @Overland_Tennessee. I am not a Land Rover owner, but deeply enjoy spending time wheeling with good people, even if they drive a British auto. Anyways...
The RCR is a 3 day, 600 mile on/off-road TSD rally. The rally brings people from around the world to compete in one of the worlds oldest mountain ranges, Appalachia. Competitors from Venezuela, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Spain, France, Australia, England, the USA and Canada have attended.
Last year marked the first year a Land Rover had ever finished the rally, and I am here to answer any questions you may have. I will begin by telling you a little bit about the RCR, and why zero rovers had finished until last year.
2017 was the first year of RCR it was a rough event, and we learned a LOT from it. Only 1 land rover competed with a team of Nissan trucks. They quit on day 1.
2018 came around and we decided to take the RCR through some of the most rural counties in WV. Two land rovers were released at the start line of day 2 and did not show up to camp for night 2. I received an email when I got back into service informing me that they too were out. The driver told me the trails were a bit too technical for his skill level and he would return next year. He did not.
2019 marked the first year a competent Land Rover team competed in the RCR. The Lucky 8 team was prepared, and took some friendly hazing from the jeep and toyota guys just like a champ, too. The trucks looked good, and performed well. All said and done, Lucky 8 finished near the end of the list, but they finished, and that is quite the accomplishment. Finishing near the end is expected for first year competitors. Each year we see attrition of nearly 50%, starting in 2018 with 138 trucks and ending only with 69. Most of these dropouts return the following year and about 85% of those finish.
There are several reasons i believe land rover struggles to finish and I think you can all help me in getting some rovers to not only finish, but also get a podium worthy finish. Here are the reasons I think LR hasn't been successful in RCR.
I KNOW a land rover could place top 5 if they do these 2 things.
1) Study the data sheets given before the rally. Study as in MEMORIZE.
2) Drive trails faster.
Historically, Land Rovers have been ridiculously, no, abysmally slow in reaching camp each night. I'm talking an expected camp arrival time of 4pm and arriving at 10:45pm, HOURS after the previous truck arrived. This has happened since year 1. I just don't think Land Rover drivers are wheeling fast enough, OR they aren't running to compete and are just taking their time. You have to maintain pace if you want to be competitive. I also feel that maintaining a good pace will help you power through some of the obstacles. Trails are where you make up time. While on public roads we drive the speed limit, while on trails going 5mph vs 2mph means the world when you are spending hours on trails each day. When we map the route, we aren't busting our trucks but we also aren't stopping to get pictures, talk or even eat lunch during mapping. We drive, refuel, drive, repeat. We've even been known to bring along a Gatorade bottle to *** in so we dont lose minutes while mapping.
With that said, I am recruiting you all to help me get the word out to LR owners. I know Land Rover history is as rich and successful as Toyota's, and I want competitors, sponsors, and spectators to see that Land Rover makes amazing vehicles capable of tackling RCR. So if any of you want to take part in the RCR please spread the word! You can contact me on IG or via the website with any questions. The rally isn't for the meek, or the ones who tend to complain. We want competitors who are prepared, determined, and skilled. All others need not apply.
The CHRISTMAS SALE is live, use code SNOW for 15% off your entire ticket order.
There are thousands of photos under the Instagram hashtag #RedClayRally, feel free to check those out and also give me a yell if you have any questions. I really hope to get more land rovers out to RCR 2020. One of the Lucky 8 guys posted his own thread here: https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/red-clay-rally-the-rovers-are-coming.40221/ Great thread, but i think he downplays a lot of the route.
www.RedClayRally.com
Instagram: overland_tennessee
My name is Zack, and I am the creator of the Red Clay Rally and owner of the instagram @Overland_Tennessee. I am not a Land Rover owner, but deeply enjoy spending time wheeling with good people, even if they drive a British auto. Anyways...
The RCR is a 3 day, 600 mile on/off-road TSD rally. The rally brings people from around the world to compete in one of the worlds oldest mountain ranges, Appalachia. Competitors from Venezuela, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Spain, France, Australia, England, the USA and Canada have attended.
Last year marked the first year a Land Rover had ever finished the rally, and I am here to answer any questions you may have. I will begin by telling you a little bit about the RCR, and why zero rovers had finished until last year.
2017 was the first year of RCR it was a rough event, and we learned a LOT from it. Only 1 land rover competed with a team of Nissan trucks. They quit on day 1.
2018 came around and we decided to take the RCR through some of the most rural counties in WV. Two land rovers were released at the start line of day 2 and did not show up to camp for night 2. I received an email when I got back into service informing me that they too were out. The driver told me the trails were a bit too technical for his skill level and he would return next year. He did not.
2019 marked the first year a competent Land Rover team competed in the RCR. The Lucky 8 team was prepared, and took some friendly hazing from the jeep and toyota guys just like a champ, too. The trucks looked good, and performed well. All said and done, Lucky 8 finished near the end of the list, but they finished, and that is quite the accomplishment. Finishing near the end is expected for first year competitors. Each year we see attrition of nearly 50%, starting in 2018 with 138 trucks and ending only with 69. Most of these dropouts return the following year and about 85% of those finish.
There are several reasons i believe land rover struggles to finish and I think you can all help me in getting some rovers to not only finish, but also get a podium worthy finish. Here are the reasons I think LR hasn't been successful in RCR.
- Out of my 14,000 followers, I estimate only 30 being land rover owners. I am a Toyota owner and therefore most of my followers are too. There simply arent the amount of Rovers running as there are Toyota, Jeep, Nissan, and Ford.
- Land Rover customers tend not to wheel their trucks as extremely as is required in RCR. (I know it hurts to hear but I can say the same about most 4runner owners as well.)
- Previous Land Rover owners became upset when they learned they weren't doing well in rankings.
- Land Rover ground clearance is lower than most other vehicles that run RCR.
I KNOW a land rover could place top 5 if they do these 2 things.
1) Study the data sheets given before the rally. Study as in MEMORIZE.
2) Drive trails faster.
Historically, Land Rovers have been ridiculously, no, abysmally slow in reaching camp each night. I'm talking an expected camp arrival time of 4pm and arriving at 10:45pm, HOURS after the previous truck arrived. This has happened since year 1. I just don't think Land Rover drivers are wheeling fast enough, OR they aren't running to compete and are just taking their time. You have to maintain pace if you want to be competitive. I also feel that maintaining a good pace will help you power through some of the obstacles. Trails are where you make up time. While on public roads we drive the speed limit, while on trails going 5mph vs 2mph means the world when you are spending hours on trails each day. When we map the route, we aren't busting our trucks but we also aren't stopping to get pictures, talk or even eat lunch during mapping. We drive, refuel, drive, repeat. We've even been known to bring along a Gatorade bottle to *** in so we dont lose minutes while mapping.
With that said, I am recruiting you all to help me get the word out to LR owners. I know Land Rover history is as rich and successful as Toyota's, and I want competitors, sponsors, and spectators to see that Land Rover makes amazing vehicles capable of tackling RCR. So if any of you want to take part in the RCR please spread the word! You can contact me on IG or via the website with any questions. The rally isn't for the meek, or the ones who tend to complain. We want competitors who are prepared, determined, and skilled. All others need not apply.
The CHRISTMAS SALE is live, use code SNOW for 15% off your entire ticket order.
There are thousands of photos under the Instagram hashtag #RedClayRally, feel free to check those out and also give me a yell if you have any questions. I really hope to get more land rovers out to RCR 2020. One of the Lucky 8 guys posted his own thread here: https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/red-clay-rally-the-rovers-are-coming.40221/ Great thread, but i think he downplays a lot of the route.
www.RedClayRally.com
Instagram: overland_tennessee
