World rallies can be considered the ultimate test of a driver's mettle - pitting vehicles against the elements and heading off the beaten track, away from the reliability of a racing circuit. Rallies take place across the world, but some lie closer to home in Canada and North America.

The Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007, making it the longest running motorsport series in the nation. Taking place from coast to coast, rally events are scheduled throughout the year, setting racers and their co-drivers against Rocky Mountain trails and winding pine forests. The Canadian climate also means drivers need to bear more adverse weather conditions than rallies elsewhere across the globe, with snow-covered roads being a distinctive feature of the championship.

Never a nation to be outdone, the US has several rally events to its name too, one of the most recent and prestigious being Rally America, based in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Boasting a very different climate from the CRC, the organisation has operated events in the region since 2005.

With rallies testing more than just speed, some events have developed an even more specific focus - such as the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which was set up by the FIA to provide opportunities for young or amateur drivers who could otherwise be ignored by the mainstream media. Expanding over the past five years, the challenge takes place in destinations around the world, incorporating the Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil, the Rally Islas Canarias and the RAC MSA Rally of Scotland.

For all-encompassing global rally racing, however, the World Rally Championship still sets the standard, encompassing 13 three-day events in locations across the globe to test drivers' skills in a variety of conditions - from standard gravel and tarmac to snow, ice and sand. With extensive TV coverage making stars of winners such as Sébastien Loeb and Colin McRae, the World Rally Championship is also a major event for car manufacturers, providing extra motivation for companies to innovate improved aerodynamics and safety features that can be easily adapted into their public vehicles.

So while heading to your local service centre for repairs or windshield replacement might not be as frantic as a pit stop, the speed and efficiency of the service may owe a significant debt to developments of the rally racing industry, helping drivers stay safe out on the road even in the most adverse conditions.

Peter Rose writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.