Sirius Rally Team Founding New BC Stage Event

The Sirius Rally blog will be quiet for a few months while the team prepares for the first annual Big White Winter Rally, a full stage rally presented by Valley Mitsubishi at the Big White Ski Resort, and hosted by the West Coast Rally Association.  The event will feature a snowX similar to last year, which rally cars will run as a super special, plus four snowy forest stages, totaling over 100km of stage distance.

Link to the Big White Rally Weekend HERE.

Pacific Forest Rally Spectator Guides Available in Kelowna

Spectator guides with all the details regarding the location and timing for this weekend’s Pacific Forest National Stage Rally in Merrit are available at the following locations:

Agar Auto Body, Westbank (PBRT Sponsor)

Big-O Tires, Westbank (PBRT Sponsor)

Dan’s Tires, Kelowna

Valley Mitsubshi, Kelowna (CRC Contingency Sponsor)

Wyatt Auto Parts, Kelowna (PBRT Sponsor)

Dig Out Your Old Routebooks, Sheep Mab is Back!

The stage schedule for the 2009 Pacific Forest Rally has been posted, and the rocky, tricky Sheep Mab stage is returning to the rotation.  Friday will be multiple runs through Comstock stage, with its infamous hairpin and tarmac into tunnel sections, plus the downtown Railyard Mall stage for the spectators.  Absent on this year’s schedule is Princeton Cutoff, but with three runs through Nicola stage, there will be plenty of cheek clenching exposure for the rally teams to brave.  The spectator friendly AMR and Helmer stages complete the schedule.

The Prescribed Burn Rally Team will be competing in the Pacific Forest Rally on October 2, 2009.  This will be the first event for the team as a two car entry, with Craig Ross in Mark’s old Talon for his debut rally drive!

Volunteers are still needed for the event. See the PFR homepage below.

Link to PFR stage schedule HERE.

Link to PFR homepage HERE.

Our Canada Features Sirius Rally Alcan Adventure

In December 2008 Our Canada magazine ran an article on the Sirius Rally Team’s experiences of the ice road to Tuktoyaktuk.  

Here’s an excerpt:

“In the low light of pre-dawn, we find our way to the boat launch and creep onto the frozen Mackenzie River. We pass tugboats and barges frozen into the river on which we are driving, but we don’t encounter any other rally traffic or local traffic – the ice road is ours. It’s smooth, straight and seems almost five lanes wide along the Mackenzie Delta, but we encounter more cracks and sweeping corners as we head northeast on the Beaufort Sea. We are driving on ocean water along the northern shore of the Northwest Territories.”

Link to a PDF of the article HERE, thanks to rallysport.ca.

Canadian Rally Championship on TV – Reruns & Premieres!

TSN will be running the entire 2008 CRC season as a leadup to the 2009 shows:

2008 Rallye Perce-Neige – Maniwaki, Quebec: Mon Jun 08 09 05:00

2008 Rocky Mountain Rally – Calgary, Alberta: Mon Jun 08 09 05:30

2008 Baie des Chaleurs – Richmond, Quebec: Tue Jun 09 09 05:00

2008 Rallye Defi – Ste. Agathe, Quebec: Tue Jun 09 09 05:30

2008 Pacific Forest Rally – Merritt, British Columbia: Wed Jun 10 09 05:00

2008 Rally of the Tall Pines – Bancroft, Ontario: Sat Jun 13 09 05:00

2008 Year In Review – Sat Jun 13 09 05:30

2009 Air Dates:

2009 Rallye Perce-Neige – Maniwaki, Quebec: Sat Jun 13 09 11:30 Premiere

2009 Rocky Mountain Rally – Calgary, Alberta: Sat Jun 20 09 11:30 Premiere

(as reported on SpecialStage)

 

Sweet New Logo for Prescribed Burn RT this Season

The Prescribed Burn Rally Team enlisted the help of trusted graphic designer Cynthia Frenette, the artist behind the Sirius Rally Logo, to update their logo for the 2009 season.  The Okanagan rally team is beginning to attract local commercial and media attention; it has also added a second rally car to the team for 2009, and everyone wanted a logo that reflected the team’s growth and success.  Thanks to Cynthia for an eye-catching professional  that reflects the flare and fun at the core of the Prescribed Burn Rally Team.

Link to Green Couch Designs HERE.

The current PBRT website will be updated to fit the new logo soon, hopefully before the team’s first event of the season, Cochrane Rally of the Ranchlands, on March 1st.

Canadian Rally on TSN/RDS

The first event of the 2008 series, Perce-Neige Maniwaki, has been aired on RDS and is now available at flatovercrest.com, in association with CARS and TV2Go. The English version will be on TSN this fall.

The next event on the CARS calendar is the Rocky Mountain National Stage Rally in May. The Prescribed Burn Rally Team will be competing at the Olympus Regional Stage Rally in April as part of their preparation for Rocky.

Sirius Rally in the News

The Alcan pace had me barely skimming some of the comments while we were on the rally, but now I’m enjoying going back through and seeing what people wrote. I almost missed a heads up from someone we met on day 2, a teacher at the school, I think, about an article in the Quesnel Cariboo Observer. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a paper copy but it’s also available online HERE.

Send the Sirius Rally Team Real Time Email Messages

The Rom Comm tracker is working better than ever since we brought it in from the cold just before we hit the ice road. It will be amazing to see our route plotted along the Mackenzie Delta and the ocean in the years to come, but now we’re hoping to use it to keep in touch with our families and friends. To send a message directly and instantly, check the siriusrally box on the main menu, and hit the ’send email’ button. Popups MUST be enabled for this to work, as a text box will open for you to type your message. August has tested this and it works well, so feel free to send us greetings or scoldings or any notes from home. The tracker is in the rex, car 17, but we are in close contact with the Keatleys in car 16 as well as Bill & Doug, and Stevan and Kristin. We could probably send word along to any team on the rally, as long as we know who to look for, so please include names and car numbers.

Connect with the Sirius Rally Team via Rom Comminications HERE.

Tracking the Sirius Rally Team at the Alcan Winter Rally

The BC contingent of the Sirius Rally Team is together in Squamish and preparing for Saturday morning’s departure. The Rom Comm tracker is online and can be viewed through the following link:

http://www.romcomm.net/romtrax_md/

The following information is required to access the Sirius account:

username: rally
password: rally

On some computers a map may be visible on the main screen. To view the team position in Google Earth, from the main Rom Comm screen, check the box next to ‘Sirius Rally’, then click on the Google Earth icon. Google Earth provides an accurate and detailed map, but it’s not absolutely required. To use the Rom Comm map server, click on the ‘Sirius Rally’ text from the initial menu. This will open the Unit Detail screen, and clicking on ‘ROM Map Server’ will show the team position on a map. In general, the Rom Comm site can be navigated by following directions in the left hand column. The site also has a date range feature that shows all the tracker points for a set period of time, plotting the route as the team travels.

Please email siriusrally@telus.net for troubleshooting suggestions. We’ll do our best to get everyone interested in tracking our adventure online before the official start on Sunday AM.

Rom Communications Provides Tracking for Alcan Rally

The Sirius Rally Team is excited to announce a unique partnership with Rom Communications for real time satellite tracking during the Alcan Rally. This venture will raise the profile of the Sirius Team and demonstrate the strength and breadth of Rom Comm’s remote tracking service. We will be traveling with a Rom Comm ROMTrax unit, which will track our location. Our progress will be monitored with an online route map, which will be constantly updated and available on our website. We are also planning on keeping a road diary with tall tales and team updates. This sort of accurate, immediate tracking has never been achieved for the entire Alcan route, and we are confident that Rom Communications will follow us into the far North all the way to Tuktoyaktuk. Google Earth software will be required for viewing. August has been testing the tracker as he travels the province for work, and we can’t wait to get it working in the rex. Thanks to Roger and everyone at Rom Communications!

Link to the Rom Communications site HERE.

Sirius Rally Team Adds Another Subaru for Alcan Rally

The Sirius Rally Team has grown! Jennifer, Gord and August will be teaming up with father & son team Evans and Josh Keatley, who will be traveling from Ontario and Alberta to take part in the Alcan 5000 Rally. The Alcan rules require teams to travel in groups on the long transit sections, and a couple of Canadians in a Forester couldn’t be a better match. Josh is an established TSD and stage rallyist, and has experience in both the left and right seats. The Sirius team is looking forward to sharing parts and tips, and to some time in the back seat of the Keatley’s Forester if the rex gets too crowded.

OK Lake Rally Test Day Sirius Style

On September 22 the OK Lake Rally Test Day planned by Sirius team members is coming to Kelowna! Jennifer and Dave have been working extremely hard to make the event a fast and fun preparation day for the Pacific Forest Rally in October. The day will be based on a new group of rally keeners who will be volunteering for the event for the first time.

The 7km stage was chosen by the Sirius Team after hours of scouting the Okanagan Forest Service Roads. It has been praised by experienced rally planners from the West Coast Rally Association, who are supporting the event. A fun combination of newbie volunteers and an experienced WRCA crew should make for a well run and enjoyable event for the test day entants. Gord and Mark (Prescribed Burn Rally) will be representing the organizers and giving new rally fans short trips in their rally cars in order to promote the sport. Mark has raised charity funds by offering a rally car ride as a raffle prize, and the winners will be getting into the right seat as part of the test day.

Sirius Gear Available Now

Sirius Rally Team shirts and stickers with our spankin’ new logo are now available for order online. Any funds generated from our schwag will be stored in our Alcan piggybank. They look great and they are a fun way to show support for our team!

Contact siriusrally@telus.net for information, ordering troubleshooting, or specific requests (ex – shirts shown only as Eis Munky are also available in the Sirius style)

Check out our stuff HERE.

Sirius Rally Team Gets Graphic

The new Sirius Rally Team logo is ready for press! We’ll be printing and plastering our new design all over the place in the coming months; details regarding stickers, shirts etc will be posted soon. Thanks to Cynthia Frenette @ Hula La Design Company for creating a great new image for our rally team.

Link to Hula La Design HERE.

Stage Season for Sirius Team Member!

Jennifer will be making her start as a stage event codriver for the 2007 season. She is joining the already accomplished Mark Jennings-Bates as part of his Prescribed Burn Rally Team. The Prescribed Burn team, 2006 WCRC Novice Champions, is based in the Okanagan and debuts a new rallycar this year. The first outing for the new team will be May 26, 2007 as a national entry in the Rocky Mountain Rally. Codriving for an established driver will be a challenge and a nearly vertical learning curve, but it will be a great time and a fun way to get ready for ALCAN.

Check out the Prescribed Rally Team website HERE.