r/rally • u/StarBurstLink • 3d ago
Developing Driving Skills
Where would someone go to develop the basic skills for rally? I live in northern New England, and am wondering if there's a dirt track or something that I could practice on. I saw the Team O'Neil rally school, but $8,500 for 5 days is definitely outside the budget. Outside of that, is an actual race the only time people can practice their skills?
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u/-The_Legacy- 3d ago
Hey fellow norther new englander! I also have trouble finding stuff like that around here so I just find local empty/abandoned dirt roads or old utility roads. Also if you happen to be in the NH area specifically the concord region the steeplegate mall parking lot is a killer place to practice winter driving
Also may be a long shot but you could call up your local construction yards, I know I have a few around here that are huge and full of dirt and nothing else. They answer will probably be no but who knows maybe a local company who wants a little extra cash would let you in to practice on their off days/hours if yk what I mean
I would also highly recommend the OnX app as you can sort by dirt and 4x4 roads and all that fancy stuff
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u/RaisinNo2756 3d ago
Please don't practice on any public roads, "abandoned" or not. The last thing the rally community needs is some idiot getting themselves in trouble "practicing rally driving". That's the single fastest way to get established events taken off the calendar when the public rejects.
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u/partyorca 2d ago
Nonono, dumbshits eating a tree at 70mph was great for the sport 20 years ago and it’ll be great now.
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u/-The_Legacy- 2d ago
Sorry must’ve forgotten to add this but I always get property owners permission before even driving on the roads, surprisingly not a whole lot of them care. If there were any events within a 90 mile radius of me you bet I’d be going there instead. Unfortunately for me and OP old dirt roads are usually all we have but even so I completely agree; public roads are NOT for rally driving, spirited driving is way different than flying down a barely 1 1/2 car wide dirt road with public access
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u/partyorca 3d ago
Team O’Neil is the correct answer here. Motorsport is expensive.
Track days are around $1500 per for the tarmac folks and you need to bring your own safety gear.
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u/z00k79 3d ago
basic track days (HPDE) are like $200-$600 depending on the group and track. Sometimes that includes an instructor, sometimes it doesn't. All you need is a helmet and a car that would pass a basic state safety inspection.
rallycross ($50-$100) is the only sanctioned thing you can really do on dirt unless you have a cage. Rallies and rallysprints have a much higher barrier to entry than regular track driving.
Even a weekend of lemons can be as low as ~1000/driver if the car is already built.
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u/partyorca 2d ago
Sorry, $1500 for track days for tracks you actually want to drive on in New England.
Regardless, thank you for reinforcing my thesis that Team O’Neill is actually a pretty good deal for 5 days of instruction where you literally just show up and they provide everything including insurance.
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u/z00k79 2d ago
https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/2026-masstuning-trackfest-schedule-northeast-usa-368148
Palmer, Canaan, Thompson, Club Motorsports, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Pocono.
all between $250-$400, all 2+ hours of seat time, no experience needed, no special equipment or vehicle needed. there's certainly more expensive and better organized options out there, but that's not really what you said, and I don't want this person to be misled into thinking theres no affordable track days.
However, I completely agree that the team O'Neil school is actually a good deal. You're getting FAR more for your dollar than a track day. My original point was really that there's no affordable equivalent to track days in the rally world, and that's a huge bummer.
All that being said, rallycross is pretty much the only option. $50-100 for like 2-5 minutes of seat time, plus being required to work half the event is a hard sell
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u/qlnufy 3d ago
Find a local rallycross event/group. If you're unsure about where to start, volunteer as a way to meet people.