May 2, 2022
The host inn has been booked and room blocks will be available at Mills Falls at the Lake in Meredith New Hampshire.
Registration will open mid May at Motorsport Reg:
INFORMATION FOR YOU TO GET A FLAVOR OF WHAT GAMRR 2022 WILL BE LIKE. May 5, 2022
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History of the Original Great American Mountain Rallye 1953-1957
The flag dropped on the very first GAMR on Thanksgiving Day of 1953 and the rally continued every November through 1957. Described in the April 1956 issue of Auto Age as “America’s longest, toughest, and coldest rallye,” the races attracted driving teams from across America, Europe and Scandinavia. Conducted the weekend of American Thanksgiving, the rally typically featured challenging snowy weather through New York’s Adirondack, New Hampshire’s White, and Vermont’s Green Mountains. Tire chains were an absolute must!
In its day, the Great American Mountain Rallye attracted top teams from around the world. The Rootes team entered Sheila van Damm in 1953 and 1954. The late great Stirling Moss also competed in this rally in 1954. The great Maurice Gastonides, the 1953 Monte Carlo Rally winner, was a competitor as well. One year, multi-time world driving champion, Juan Manuel Fangio was the official starter.
The rally is hosted by New England Vintage Road Rally LLC.
GAMRR is a Hybrid rally incorporating a “Tour” and a precise Time Speed Distance rally traversing approximately 380 miles. There will be a course to follow through central and northern New Hampshire and western Maine utilizing a Tulip style of instructions and a short map reading section. This rally is well suited for inexperienced as well as veteran rallyists.
A TSD (Time Speed Distance Rally) utilizes checkpoints (controls) throughout the entire route and thus requires you to ‘stay on time, all the time’. It is not our intention to create a rigid “structure” like a TSD; we feel you should be able to adjust your speed faster or slower as you want, provided you are not in a timed Regularity Section.
There are a number of Regularity sections throughout each day where you have to roll up your sleeves and try to stay exactly on time. You need to follow the numbered route instructions and assigned speeds, which will change throughout the Regularities. These Regularity Sections will comprise approximately 250 of the 380 total miles; the event will be “won or lost” on these sections.
We will be employing a modern system of GPS timing, the RICHTA system, eliminating the need for numerous Control Workers. The timing system also enables us to have as few or as many controls as we see fit. The scoring will be performed via an automated system, which will allow a timelier reporting of daily scores.
We do, however, want to maintain the flavor of the original rally and thus we will be limiting the technology that can be used by contestants. In theory if the technology did not exist in the 1950’s or early 1960’s it is not allowed (with a few exceptions) for GAMRR 2022.
Classes:
- Original: Cars that could have competed in the 1950’s GAMRs (model year 1957 or older)
- Classic: Cars of model years 1958-1978
- Modern: Cars of model years 1979-1999
- Touring: Cars of model years 2000 or newer (class only award, not eligible for GAMRR overall Trophy).
Rally Equipment:
- Electronic, digital clocks and stopwatches ARE allowed.
- Extra trip odometer(s) ARE allowed, including GPS odometers. The odometers may also be capable of showing your speed (similar to a speedometer) but not your ‘average speed’ (the speed you have been averaging since some previous point). (Ex: Terratrip 202, Brantz 2 Pro, 3 Pro ARE Allowed). Note: the Terratrip 303 or the Brantz 2S Pro may be used, but NOT the Average Speed Readout and/or the Driver’s Display, which shows how many seconds you are behind or ahead of a set average speed. The device may allow the user to calibrate the trip meter to match the organizers distance.
- Phones ARE allowed ONLY to be used as an odometer and/or speedometer.
- Halda Speedpilots ARE allowed; Curta, Rally tables, Slide rules, 4 Function Calculators ARE allowed.
- Devices that allow the user to input a speed from which it can automatically calculate a theoretical ‘perfect’ time as you drive (Ex: Timewise, Alfa Rally Computers, certain APP’s) are NOT allowed.
- GPS map display, in car, on phone or on a similar device, is NOT allowed.
The organizer requires that each competitor’s car has a phone which will be dedicated by the organizers as a RICHTA timing device.
Rally Roads:
We would like to clarify that we have carefully laid out the event such that the “flavor” of this years’ event reflects the events of the ‘50’s. In keeping with this train of thought, we have utilized some of the same roads that were run during the 1955 & 1956 events. Many of the roads used were not paved during that era; some of them are still not paved!
Parts of New Hampshire and Maine do not pave many of their secondary and tertiary roads because of the havoc the long cold winters wreak on paved roadways. A couple of the roads we will traverse are closed for the winter and open as late as early May.
After the spring thaw and spring rains the towns take to the roadways and make any necessary repairs filling in potholes and repairing culverts. Then they run a grader over the surface and tamp and roll it so that it is sometimes indistinguishable from pavement.
Over the last two years approximately 20-25% of the roads were gravel and we expect a similar percent this year. No one running our event had any issues with getting stuck or causing damage to their car.
We are dedicated to keeping this event in the spirit of the original events of the 50’s with just a touch of modern-day conveniences.
We hope you consider joining us for this adventure!
Respectfully:
Gary J. Hamilton, Rally Chairman
John Buffum, Clerk of the Course
GREAT AMERICAN MOUNTAIN RALLY REVIVAL 