[woodcote]

Storm Christoph has subsided a little and we have a bright and breezy day on the south coast. The first action of the rally-sprint will take place this afternoon, working around coverage of the opening day of the real  Monte Carlo Rally.

Special Stage 1 - Falmer Rally-Cross

   

We move inland and into the South Down National Park for the first stage. Falmer is an ancient village between Brighton and Lewes - now site of the Brighton & Hove Albion football stadium and the campuses of Sussex and Brighton Universities. The A27 'south coast motorway' runs just to the north and the city of Brighton has spread to Falmer from the south.

The Falmer Rally Cross stage is built with Ninco track - a mix of standard and off-road pieces - and is a slight variation on the 'big' Ninco sets of the early 2000. It has R1, R2 and R3 curves and plenty of bone-shaking, teeth-rattling off-road track that will dislodge anything that isn't firmly in place! The layout wouldn't be out of place on the edge of the University of Sussex campus, which is forever encroaching into the South Downs.