Phil Price Rally School

[Housey]

I spent the day at the Phil Price Rally School on Saturday with a bunch of mates and had another great day. If you can get a team of 10 up I strongly urge you to attend for the day as for £230 each for a full day it's rather excellent value and with 10 you get it all to yourself.

The format is pretty simply. He has a figure of 8 circuit which you spend the morning driving, roughly 5 laps each about 6 times on your own and with coaching (we had the current British rally champ and another lad) which is nicely paced and VERY relaxed. Then lunch and then the full course in a Scooby Rally car with twin controls, which is a 2 mile stage used by the WRC teams to test, while more lapping in the Escorts on the figure of 8 coursem this time the other way around. Coffee and biccies all day at request and a warm cabin with balcony for watching and then he does some fast stage runs in a full on Group A scooby which is fantastic. Then you have some competition and some prizes. Start and 9am finish at 5pm and for £230 I don't think you'll get a better value motorsport day in someone else's cars.

Messing around in Escorts

 

[Housey]

Fast runs in a Scooby

 

[Housey]

Nice air, bet the Impreza has been broke a few times doing that

Ah, that was Mr Price deciding to show the one lady in the team big air. She was a little nervous but he said he would be very steady.....he lied and ensured she was the one to get BIG air!

 

[Housey]

No that's not filmed at Phil Price from what I can tell.

 

[Housey]

Great pics, looks like a top day out. Wish I had 10 mates who're into motorsport though!

Get 10 up from here, I'm sure you could get 10 people up for it. We travelled down on the Friday, getting there mid afternoon and stayed at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells, about 20 minutes away then had a spirited drive to the school on the morning, then back for a drinkies and home. Hotel rate I arranged for us all was £86 so not too expensive really.

 

[Housey]

Oh wow, have to look into this!

Do you have to contact them to find dates?

Yes, just go to their website and go from there, though I think I took the last weekend of this year (due to darkness) so it would need to be for next year. I have done it twice now and both times were one of the best days out I've had and I've had a few over the years!

 

[Housey]

I went with my Dad for my 21st birthday and it was an absolute blast. Really, really great fun, Phil and his Mrs are really friendly and you get your moneys worth definitely. As said in the OP you basically spend all day in one of the Escorts going around the figure of 8, there's 2 out at a time so you don't have to wait too long for your turn to come around. After lunch, which they provide, and which is very tasty indeed, you get to have a drive in an Impreza around a proper testing course while Phil calls pace notes out to you ( I got confused at the end, there were two hairpins and I took the wrong one ). After that you carry on with your driving around the figure of 8 and Phil takes everyone out one after the other in whatever car he feels like taking you out in on the day. I can't remember what he's got in all but my dad has been several times and been taken out in a few different ones. At the end of the day everybody races to see who's the quickest around the figure of 8. It's a really good laugh and excellent for stag weekends and such.

The thing that makes it great is the relaxed way Phil and his team run it. It's not up its own backside, it's all about giving the punters a real taste of Rallying, not showing you how great the 3 'hands' are at driving Rally cars, it's all about the paying people getting car time. His Mrs is an absolute star, like a mum making you're butties and coffees and just a great chilled day out with lots of micky take of course!

 

[Housey]

The thing that never stops amazing when you go out in a full on Rally car is how they stop and steer like a race car on slicks, but on gravel and mud! He could hammer it down hill at close to 3 figures and brake later than most people would on track and still get it stopped!

 

[Housey]

Dave, you should have come mate, we had 2 drop out and therefore we were 'cash rich' on the deposit front. Next time...

 

[Housey]

The cars do start out clean as you can see. Car 2 was much the better car as it had an LSD and was around 8 seconds quicker around the figure 8, not least clockwise as Car 4 simply didn't want to go right!

Me.

 

[Housey]

Escorts make anyone look like a hero really, they are so easy to get and hold sideways, not least with tyres that are somewhat less grippy than a normal stage tyre. It is great fun and after a couple of laps you are going from lock to lock without to much trouble.