Spectating rallys has always "blown." If you want the fun-and-sense-of-accomplishment/bullpoo ratio to flip positive, switch to organizing, competing, or crewing, and dedicate yourself to doing a good job. Otherwise, stay home, get Speedchannel and order the videos.
It's boring watching club races at the road race track too. At Portland International Raceway, specatators bake for 6 hours in the sun for a total of 20 minutes of actual interesting action. Jersey barrier, chainlink, and (yup, here too!) cranky marshals separate you from harms' way. You can't plant your butt down wherever your "judgement" deems is safe. The track is empty far more than it is occupied. Even when a race is happening, there are only a few interesting moments. I'm much more entertained walking through the pits between race groups. I would never show up at a rally merely to spectate.
Rally marshals are cranky because: [ul][li]they aren't paid[/li][li]they sure as hell aren't paid to deal with your poo[/li][li]they are often merely incredulous that you bring your poo[/li][/ul]
If you have your kids in the woods, they will not make you immune to marshals being cranky with you. Keep your stroller off the stage. Heed the signs and the bannertape. Your "BABY ON BOARD" sign is back in your car and never changed anyone's behavior anyway. If you want your family to experience and grow through motorsport, participate. Stop being a tourist.
Disregard this advice at your peril -- either control yourself at our events or take our crankiness with a smile. This isn't hockey.
The key to successful spectating, regardless the sport or venue, is keeping the spectaters entertained and controlled. Baseball has clowns, food, beer, and fences. Football has cheerleaders, halftime shows, food, beer, and fences. At the left-turn-races, you can see all the action, all the time -- and there's food, beer, and fences. At the big road races, they have Jumbotrons with feeds from the live video, there's also food, beer, and fences. Spectating rallys will continue to suck (or be dangerous) until we can provide fulltime eyecandy and fence folks in.
andy