Alcan Update

The sup regs for the Winter Alcan 2008 have been posted.

Link to the Alcan site HERE.

Rocks and Roll at Mountain Trials 2007

The Prescribed Burn Rally Team had an eventful but fruitless rally in Merritt this past weekend; working effectively to attain second place by the end of the morning Nicola and Sheep Mab stages, only to meet disaster on both Helmer runs. The rally ended in the first rollover crash for novice rallyist and Sirius Rally Team member Jennifer. It was a slow roll and both Mark and Jennifer were unhurt. Their car will need some serious bodywork before it appears in the Canada Day parade in Kelowna, but at least the crash happened before the car got its brand new paint job.

The event began on Friday evening with a two pass recce session, where pacenotes were generated for Saturday’s competition. Recce was smooth and successful and the team felt confident in their notes. Saturday morning began with three runs of the Nicola and Mab stages, during which Mark and Jennifer traded times the rally frontrunners, and ultimately ended this first leg in second place, with two competitive teams less than 30 seconds behind.

Two runs of the infamous Helmer stage would complete the rally, and the team went into the stage determined to hold on to the podium positions (second place overall and first place open class). The car overheated on the first stage, but luckily it happened near a creek. This setback eliminated Mark and Jennifer from podium contention, but the team decided to continue for experience and fun. Unfortunately the second Helmer stage ended in a rollover caused by a wide ride around a greasy corner, and large rocks which destabilized the car and caused it to roll. The team ultimately landed wheels down in a ditch, unhurt and with repairable car damage.

Despite a challenging rally which ended with a crash, we had a great time and learned a lot. This was Mark’s first rollover as a driver; a roll is something every rallyist eventually experiences, and ours was low damage and exciting. The 2007 stage rally schedule is empty for the summer months, and resumes with the National Pacific Forest Rally in October. This is a Merritt event as well, and Mark and Jennifer will be seeking their Helmer revenge.

Jennifer and the other Sirius Rally Team members are gearing up for a busy tsd schedule in preparation for ALCAN, beginning with the SnoGit tsd in July.

Click HERE for event photos.

Click HERE for a video of the extraction.

2007 Mountain Trials Stage Rally This Weekend!

Sirius Rally Team members Jennifer and Gord will be in Merritt BC for the Mountain Trials Regional Stage Rally, taking place June 15/16. Jennifer will be codriving for the Prescribed Burn Rally Team, and Gord will be taking care of the Rocket Legacy, which is rented for the event.

This will be the first recce event for Mark and Jennifer. On Friday they will drive the stages and make their own pacenotes, which are essential to a good performance on Saturday. The Prescribed Burn car again has escaped the new paint job, but many of the mechanical problems that plagued the team at Rocky have been remedied. The Prescribed Burn service crew, Steve and Trevor from Agar Autobody, will be joining the team in Merritt. The weather is forecasted to be warm and it should be a great event.

Click HERE to view the Mountain Trials homepage.
Click HERE for updates on Merritt weather.

Happy Fathers’ Day to all our dads. We’ll call you on Sunday with some great rally stories!