One of the most common questions I am asked by new motorsport enthusiasts is “How do I start racing or rallying?” There are so many different types of motorsport that my first answer is to get out and spectate. Visit as many events as you can to figure out which form of the sport is the best one for you. Next step is to get out and volunteer. It may not sound glamourous, but every form of motorsport is so dependent on volunteers that the show would not go on without them.
You don’t even need any special skills, just a willingness to work and follow some basic directions. Volunteering allows you to see behind the scenes and meet the people who are in the know. Once you are ready to explore a bit of competition yourself, these people you meet along the way will be your biggest supporters and will usually help you out too.
So what does a volunteer do? It can be anything from organizing events to shuttling lunch around and pretty much anything in between. Canadian rally volunteer Justin Cohen put together a great video at the 2015 running of the Rally of the Tall Pines, to show how his day went.
