Spectating Guidelines

Performance Rallying is often called the most exciting and demanding of motor sports. It has also been one of the most difficult for the spectator to get to and watch.  While the LSPR spectator points are not in your backyard, you can be assured of seeing real Rally action, not something staged in a parking lot or industrial park. Instead, we give you exciting stages within a short drive of Marquette, considered by many to be some of the best rally spectator spots in North America.

 

Safety at these spectator points is our most important concern, especially with the large crowds expected this year, as has been the case in recent history. Whether you will be heading out to view your first Performance Rally or are a veteran spectator, here are some simple rules to ensure you return home safely.

• Spectating is only allowed at designated spectator areas.

• Follow the route given in the guide to get to the spectator areas, as they avoid stage roads.  Do not trust your GPS to get you correctly to the spectator areas.

• When you reach the other parked cars, turn your car around and park on the right side of the road, facing away from the spectator area and leaving enough room for emergency vehicles to pass through.

• Leave plenty of time to get to and from spectator locations, and make sure you have vehicle capable of traveling on logging and forest roads.

• Obey the speed limit and drive responsibly while traveling to spectator areas.  Local Residents will appreciate it. 

• Please follow the Spectator Marshals’ directions at each spectator point. While spectating is free, we do have control over these areas. Our marshals are specially trained to recognize potentially hazardous areas and will keep people out of them for their own safety.

• ​You must stay behind the yellow tape, never red tape.

• There will be lead cars that enter the stage before competitors to make sure the stage is set up for competition, and that all spectators are in an acceptable location.  If you are asked by any of these cars to move, please do so.  They also let the cars behind them know to make sure no one has moved back into a position they were asked to leave.

• After all the competitors are on stage, several sweep vehicles will follow to make sure all cars complete the stage, and to help any that did not finish.  After the sweep trucks come through, they will be followed by a vehicle with a green light on top - the stage is considered hot until Green Light has passed, and no one should enter or cross the stage before that.

• Stages can be cancelled if it is deemed that spectators are making it unsafe for competitors, please don’t be the reason a stage is cancelled.  Follow directions from marshals and lead cars.

• Plan your spectating. Travel time and maps to get to each of the spectator locations will be published prior to the rally. Pick your vantage point carefully. High on a hill or behind the tree line is best. The worst place to stand is on the outside of a corner or in the ditch. Rally drivers make creative use of the whole road in order to gain a competitive advantage. Listen to the marshals – they know the safe spots. You must remain behind the banner tape at all times.

• Be wary and alert at all times, particularly at the daylight spectator points. The cars make far less noise than they once did. At night, their lights will warn you they are on the way, but in daylight, you might now know until it’s too late. Don’t ever assume a driver will see you if you are on the road. Often the driver is listening to instruction from the co-driver who is providing route instruction and is concentrating on the upcoming corner. Drivers often say they drive past a spectator area with hundreds of people and don’t even notice.

• Alcohol and high speed motor sports can be a deadly combination.

• Flash photography can be dangerous for a rally driver. Remember to point your camera at the approaching car, but do not start taking photos until they are along side of you to avoid blinding the driver.

• Leave the forest cleaner than you found it. Please remember to take anything you brought with you when you leave.