rally spain 2014

lads,
thinking of trying to get to spanish rally in october.....can get flights only to barcelona, rally based in and around salou....next thought is accommodation...anyone on here been or have any recommendations/advice re accommodation? this will be first rally outside uk/ireland for us....
cheers in advance....

Billy any time we went we used Rally Travel, all you need to sort is your own flights! They provide everything else!

col thats brilliant, thanks m8, i'l get onto them now.....  

Brian

Been twice to Rallye Spain in the past two years.

Rally Travel is spot on with their recce notes, accommodation, travel plans, rally forums etc..

The hotel they use is on the NW side of Salu, 5 minutes walk to the test stage, 15 minutes walk into town, 20 minutes walk to the service area, and easy parking around the hotel.

All stage are 1 - 2 hours away from the hotel.

Go a few days early so that you can drive some of the stages and work out a plan of what to do. You can get two stages in a day easy. BUT if you move stage you will come across all the cars parked from the morning stage. So stay put on the morning stage and move to another location in the afternoon. The parking for the stage might mean a long walk if you are not in early.

Fantastic stages you MUST drive El Priorat it is perhaps the best stage you will ever drive along.

Dos beerio Manuel!!!

Chris

Brian

Forgot to say you can take a number of packages with Rally Travel.

You can go on their coach to the stages. But the coach can only get to the busy corners.

Suggest you take a hire car at Barcelona Airport its 1 hour to Salou.

You don't need a big car if their are only as few of you. You will barely use a tank full.

Chris

Its great to see the forum members working to help each other.......long live the forum !!

They will send a rep to the hotel and they will give you a pack with maps and information.. If you mention areas you may have seen on tv they will point you to them.
We went to spain in 04 but it was ran from a different location.

chris............cant thank you enough for all that info, even if you do keep calling me brian lol!!   

maurice.........thanks m8, much appreciated....  

donie........couldn't agree more m8.....   

OK Brian no problem....!!!

I would have to say that spectating on Rallye Spain is pretty easy.

If there are just a couple of you get a small hire car. Its easy to park in most spaces. We did get a pretty gutless Pug 208?? one year we all had to get out and push it up every hill!!! Make sure you check the car carefully before driving away from the airport. Point out all dents and scratches and take photos just in case.

BUT do your homework to avoid all the big areas of spectators. On the El Molar?? hairpin they are camping from the day/night before. A place to go and drive round but a place to avoid as a spectator.

Rally Travel have loads of contacts and the two forums we had in the last two years were like we used to get in the 80s. Top chat, top drivers, good insight to what's going on.

Its the end of the season in Salou and it does look a bit sad. The weather can be hot, cold and wet!!

Eat in the hotel, they do early breakfasts if you want an early start. Its all buffet style if a little dreary at times. But you can eat a lot as its all in the price.

The stage on the sea front is a complete waste of time so don't bother with it. If it was more punchy it would be better.

Take a fold up stool to stand on at the finish otherwise you will see nothing.

Service area is big. Easy FREE!!!! access, lots of trade stalls including Simon from Car Crazy.

Test stage last year changed a bit from previous. But be there in good time to get a good spot possibly on the roundabout

They recommend a bar in town at the end of the rally. Cant remember what its called but its rubbish go to the Irish Bar next door!!!

Barcelona Airport easy to get in and out of. Not so easy is finding a fuel station to fill up the car on your return. There is a station on a road going in the wrong direction. This is the only one. You can turn back at the next intersection. Beware that sleazy jet have there own terminal to the left of the main entrance when you come back to go home.

If you look around on the forum I posted up photos from Rallye Spain 2013 and 2014.

If you think of anything I haven't covered please ask.

Have a great time.

Cheers
Chris

chris, for all that info m8 you can call me doris if you like!!   

cant thank you enough m8, cheers!!

That's excellent info, Chris. You're bang on about the small car - it's all you need!

Hint No. 1; as you approach a hill, turn of the air conditioning - by doing this, you release an extra 4 bhp which reduces the amount of pushing you have to do   

If you get the Super CDW insurance (couple of quid extra per day) it'll do away the need for checking the dents on the rent car - it's like a comprehensive insurance here. It also reduces the need for the rent group to book a grand or two from your credit card. I prefer to do it that way - kinda puts my mind at ease. On return, fill up within 20km or so from the airport - all they want to see is a full gauge.

Enjoy the trip, Billy. It's one I always wanted to do but since my current wife and I went to Sardinia a few years back (where lo and behold there was a WRC round on at the same time - talk about coincidence   ) she is wary of a holiday in Spain in October!

Not used Rally Travel personally but know lots who have and they all rave about the service. Echo what has already been said in that the bus/minibus tours do go to the main speccy points (but usually pull up to the tape!) and leave after the top 10 or so.

True also that you need to get to spots early or face a long walk and sometimes the police can stop traffic way before you would noramlly expect to have to park so driving into a stage and parking up for the day is normally the best way.

Re car insurance I bought a yearly excess policy earlier this year for about £25 which covers me for anything over and above cdw like damaged exhausts tyres and obviously the excess which can be up to £6k on some hires! From previous experience Spain is always the iffiest place for car hire so take as many pics of the car as soon as you pick it up and make sure everything is marked on the form and signed by the rep before you drive off!!

Having said all that spectating on an overseas round of the WRC or any other series for that matter is worth every cent. Enjoy!