[Graham]

Please remember that before 'proper' Rally cars started appearing in the late 70's (Stratos) we had family saloons and small sports cars, the likes of which we are seeing in the Classic Monte Carlo class that only ran on roads.

Well the Stratos was first produced in 1973, and won the WRC in 74, 75, and 76, and had actually ceased production by the late 70s, 1978 if memory serves.

As for the family saloons, yes I know and that's what I love about classic rallying, and the range of cars of course, which as you say we're seeing in this proxy which is great.

You're right about the Monte of course but those roads would often be potholed, and covered in snow and ice.

I guess my point was that if you only use smooth wood tracks, then the winner is likely to be more of a circuit racer which originally raced in a summer rally on good tarmaced roads, but would have no chance on an event like the RAC Rally. If you mix the tracks up a bit, it rewards the more versatile cars which can handle different tracks, and I think that's how it should be. That's just my preference, obviously, but it's all good.
 

I ran a Ninco Stratos at the recent Wye Valley Spring slot Rally, been sitting on the shelf for a number of years. And it ran really great, completely different from the very “difficult to run” Team Slot version.
I shall be using it on regular slot Rally events from now on. A definite favourite now