The course consists of 45 percent of tarmac, which will be Leg 1 on Saturday morning, and 55 percent of gravel in Leg 2 on Saturday afternoon.

In order to make the Rally more accessible and less expensive for competitors and to increase safety, we have implemented major changes that represent a significant departure from the past events, also as a result of constructive feedback from competitors:

1. All racing will be done in one day on Saturday. We have compressed the National Championship event into one day. The Rally also encompasses two Regional Championship events, a tarmac event on Saturday morning and a gravel event on Saturday afternoon. Registration, Reconnaissance and Scrutineering will all start on Friday morning instead of Wednesday night. This will eliminate one full day from the schedule. Do not worry, this will not water down the sport and you will still find tough and exciting competition.

2. A single Central Service Park for the duration of the Rally will be located at Lander’s Campground in Narrowsburg. There will be a Ceremonial Start in Narrowsburg after Reconnaissance and Shakedown are completed on Friday night. We will finish the Rally with a champagne-spraying ceremony for the overall winners in all-wheel drive as well as in two-wheel drive in Narrowsburg on Saturday night.

3. You may now, at your option, perform Reconnaissance in competition cars registered for the Rally (all speed restrictions and traffic control devices must be obeyed). An additional car for Reconnaissance is no longer necessary. Rally New York is the only event in the US to continually allow and encourage full Reconnaissance of the route for increased safety. We will continue with this policy.

4. The gravel portion of the Rally will take place partly on private property – Ten Mile River Scout Reservation – with limited access and no houses. Those who remember the condition of the middle three miles of Mortimer Schiff stage three years ago when we found the road would not recognize it now. Rally New York and Ten Mile River Scout Reservation have put a lot of work and money into this piece of road. The smooth Cochecton Turnpike stage in the Town of Tusten has only three residences on it.

5. The tarmac portion of the Rally in Narrowsburg includes the sweeping curves of Mathias Weiden stage that looks like a raceway in the woods and Blind Pond stage with the famous jump. Blind Pond stage is the only stage where the chicanes are required. We have reconfigured this stage with a smaller number of chicanes placed only on the straights with high speed and good visibility. It is our intention to make these chicanes of a more permanent type and eliminate the need for any chicane penalties. We will not be returning to the Town of Liberty where residents tried to disrupt the Rally last year.

6. We will again enjoy support from several law enforcement agencies that will close the roads for us and will patrol the spectator areas. We are in negotiation with a number of local car clubs that are interested in marshalling the Rally.

However, the issues mentioned at that meeting, which organizers are reluctant to talk about and many competitors do not want to hear, are as important as ever. For instance, it is impossible for us to come up with any reasonable event budgeting when 60 percent of the competitors in attendance pay the entry fees only at Registration.

Online entry is now available through the event website; major credit cards are accepted via Paypal. I appeal to all of you to send your entries in a timely manner so the planning of the event can proceed in an orderly fashion.

Last year the Rally, which was the first-ever full-scale National Championship tarmac rally in the US, was “a damn good event” in the judgment of the Chief Steward of the United States Rally Championship. The Rally was marred by the residents of Liberty who tried to disrupt the event. We are determined that this would never happen again.

Events at that Rally and the necessary remedies were analyzed in detail in the Report by the Clerk of the Course, which was written in cooperation with the NASA Rally Sport Event Steward and was reviewed by the Chief Steward of the United States Rally Championship before its publication. We regret the subsequent vicious campaign against the Rally on the Internet and question the motives of those who spread unsubstantiated rumors such as the allegation that starts and finishes of our special stages were open to regular traffic by residents during competition.

We also regret the actions by NASA Rally Sport East one month after the Rally. NASA Rally Sport East knew full well that our separation from NASA Rally Sport East became a fact two months before the Rally. NASA Rally Sport East insisted on operating as what is technically called an unincorporated association. Under the existing legal precedent, this would make every associated entity liable for NASA Rally Sport East outstanding obligations and unpaid taxes. On advice from our attorney, we wanted separation. Consequently, we view NASA Rally Sport East actions after the Rally as retaliation against us for raising this issue.

As a result, Rally New York, Ltd. now sanctions and insures all Rally New York events as well as events organized by other promoters. This is a satisfactory arrangement for us that gives us greater flexibility and lower cost for the same insurance coverages. Most importantly, we are happy to work within the framework of the United States Rally Championship with other events that are sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport.

I hope to see you all at 2007 Rally New York USA!

Olga Orisek
Deputy Clerk of the Course, Rally New York USA
Vice President & Treasurer, Rally New York, Ltd.
Vice President & Treasurer, United States Rally Championship