How Will I Explain to My Grandchildren That I Chose Rallying?
By Mwambazi Lawrence
When it comes to sports, the world has options. There’s football, where people passionately argue over a ball being kicked for 90 minutes. Basketball? Sure, it’s exciting until you realize it’s just a game of “throw ball, score, repeat.” Cricket? Well, some matches go on longer than a bad relationship. But then, there’s rallying the one sport where both the drivers and the fans share a hobby of surviving the unexpected!
Out of all the sports disciplines in the world, we chose rallying a sport full of risks, ridiculously expensive, and drenched in dust and mud. But come rain or shine, we are there, because this is the sport we love. And let me tell you why rallying is not just a sport, but a way of life.
In most sports, by the time you hit 35, you’re already considering retirement. Your knees hurt, your back complains, and your coach gives you that look that says, “Maybe it’s time to open a coffee shop.” But in rallying? That’s when you’re just getting started! Take Christakis Fitidis, for example a man who started rallying in his youth and kept going well into his 60s. And even then, he was still competitive! Retirement? In rally, that’s just a suggestion.
A true rally fan will tell you that nothing beats the smell of burning rubber, high-octane fuel, and a little bit of fear in the morning. The sounds? That anti-lag popping and turbo flutter is pure music to our ears. Forget Beethoven; a revving rally car is the only symphony we need.
Rally drivers don’t just drive they wrestle their cars through some of the most treacherous terrain on the planet. Hairpin turns at 160 km/h? No problem. Jumps that make airplanes jealous? Bring it on. And co-drivers? They sit calmly, reading pace notes like, “Flat left, 100 meters, jump into death.. well, let’s just hope we land.”
Other sports have predictable patterns. In rally? Anything can happen. Adriver can roll his car, land back on its wheels, and still finish the stage. A cow might wander onto the road mid-race, forcing emergency maneuvers that make F1 drivers weep. Fans have seen cars lose bumpers, doors, and even roofs yet the drivers just keep going!
In most motorsports, if a car takes a little damage, the team packs up and goes home. In rally, if a car is kind of drivable, they’ll zip-tie, duct tape, and hammer it back into shape. Lost a bumper? Who needs it! Windshield smashed? That’s just free airflow! Missing a rear door? Weight reduction, baby! Rally mechanics should get engineering degrees and medical diplomas for all the car CPR they perform.
This is the only discipline where fans stand just inches from a sideways-sliding, fire-breathing car, where local farmers become VIPs when their land is transformed into a world-class stage, and where drivers don’t just compete against each other but against nature itself. And let’s be honest where else can you see a car launch 50 meters off a jump, land, and keep going like nothing happened? Nowhere but rally!
While most sports fans sit comfortably in stadium seats, we the rally fans are out in the wild, dodging flying gravel and standing at corners where a 500-horsepower monster is inches away from turning them into human road signs. And do they move? Nope! They just take a step back, sip their beer, and say, “That was close, eh?”
Simple. It’s the only sport where chaos is part of the fun, danger is a badge of honor, and passion fuels every second. And if you’ve never stood in a cloud of dust, with a car drifting inches from your feet, wondering if you’re slightly insane for loving this are you really living?
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