First run in 1904, the Mt. Washington Hillclimb is the oldest motorsport event in the United States. Last run in 2001, Cassidy jumped at the opportunity to compete in the event. “Jennifer and I had no idea what to expect on the mountain. What we encountered was both a technical and psychological challenge. The weather and visibility were constantly changing, forcing us to push in low visibility on roads with significant exposures.” The event marked the first time that Daly and Cassidy have worked as a team since the 2008 Rallye Defi in Quebec. “We were ecstatic with a podium finish at the event, as we had no prior experience on the mountain. Having to run a restrictor in the turbo certainly kept our speeds down at altitude, but we pushed as much as we dared in the limited visibility at the top of the mountain. Our rally experience definitely served us well on the often wet surface and challenging visibility.”

The following week found the team in New Richmond, Quebec for the Rallye Baie des Chaleurs. One of LDR’s favourite Canadian events, the technical and rough stages of Baie suit Cassidy’s driving style. The team was setting solid top ten stage times on Friday night, until they had an off, striking a bridge with their Subaru STi on SS6. The front suspension suffered significant damage, and they were forced to retire from the event. “It was a bittersweet return to Canada. We had not been at Baie since 2008, and we were having a great time on stage. Jennifer and I were settling into the car and getting up to speed quite well. I came into the corner with too much speed and understeered into the bridge. It was a very heavy hit, and we were very lucky not to have done more damage to the car or ourselves.”

Two weeks on and many repairs later, the team attended their home event, the 2011 New England Forest Rally, headquartered at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine. The twelfth consecutive showing for Last Ditch Racing at the event, the notoriously rough roads are home for Cassidy. “The New England Forest Rally has a reputation for being rough, and this year was no exception. For some, the rocks are intimidating, but I’m used to pushing on rough events.” The rough roads were new to codriver Jennifer Daly: “During recce I was surprised by both the softness of the sand in some spots, and by the size of the painted rocks on the road, but John hasn’t missed this event in over 11 years, so I was very confident in his ability to be fast through these strange conditions.”

The National event spans both Friday and Saturday’s stages, and each day is considered a separate Regional Rally. Cassidy and Daly set quick times on Friday, but unbeknownst to them, Jason Smith and Jared Lantzy, driving LDR’s original Subaru, T-1, held a lead of 7 seconds on the LDR team going into the final stage of the night, the famous Concord Pond stage. Cassidy and Daly were unaware of their overall standing, and the team goal was to set a new personal record on Concord Pond. At the end of the stage, they had bested LDR’s stage record by 12 seconds over just 5.75 miles, and secured the win over Smith/Lantzy by 13 seconds. “Having both LDR cars on the podium was great. Concord Pond is an epic stage and we wanted to push for all the fans that come out to spectate. Taking the overall win and first in Open Class was a fantastic end to the day!”

Saturday’s regional event opened with the longest stage of the day, where the LDR team posted the fastest time of the regional competitors by nearly 1.5 minutes over Smith/Lantzy. A flat on the second stage dashed any hope of an outright victory for the day, despite setting the best time on every other stage. “We had a flat and the tire started to delaminate quite quickly. We had 5 miles left in the stage and it was a very technical section. The car wasn’t turning well and it would have been dangerous to continue. Changing a tire on stage is always costly, but sometimes it’s the best choice.” The team was awarded first in class for Saturday’s event. 2011 has been another development year for the team, with a new engine and other technical changes to the car.

The addition of Canadian co-driver Jennifer Daly to the team has also had a significant impact on LDR’s recent success. “Jennifer strapped into the co-driver’s seat like she’s always been there. The communication in the car is very good and we both feel there’s still more speed to be had on stage.” The team’s future schedule is yet to be determined and likely won’t be finalized until damage assessment is completed on the car after this difficult schedule of events. For Daly, the possibility of rejoining the LDR team is attractive: “It’s very exciting to have some success early on with a new driver and codriver match. John and the LDR crew are prepared and competitive; I was very happy to be a part of such a fun and tight knit team. When we set out to do three events in four weeks, it seemed a little crazy, but with the right people and some hard work, just about anything is possible.”

The team is appreciative of support from Mirraco, a BMX bicycle company founded by extreme athlete superstar Dave Mirra. Mirra supplied the team with his signature Bell helmets that he personally signed. Mirra is no stranger to injuries in the past and the team were able to distribute helmets to several local area fans. John and Jennifer want to extend a special thank you to their crew for 2011: Drew Gladu, Duncan Matlack, Nathan Haskell, Jon Bolduc, Zach Sennett, Cullen Gillis, Bronson Crothers, Kevin Sennett and John Cassidy V. “Rally is a truly brutal sport on the car and without the support of our talented and dedicated crew, we wouldn’t think about leaving the start line!”

The team would also like to thank Dave Heerdegen of DTECH Motorsport in New Zealand for his support in tuning the car’s engine after all the recent modifications. “Dave has been an invaluable resource for us over the past two seasons, and we owe a lot of our recent success to his hard work.”

We ended up with a proud 63 points on the day, a true feat in paper class, until I stuffed the front end into a snowbank a few km before the end of the last scored regularity, which inflated our total to 375.  Simon seems thrilled to have added slamming into snowbanks, shoveling for his life and jumping into a moving car to his list of experiences, and his newbie enthusiasm is infectious.

He’s very right to say that we’re lucky to have finished at all, given the meteorlogical tirade unleashed upon BC today.  The Thunderbird entrants and volunteers faced thick, visibility sucking snow, great winds, massive snowdrifts, flash floods and torrential rain.  The last regularity was cancelled, a rare change only seen in extreme conditions, and my shoulders are still in knots from the death grip I held on the steering wheel from dusk until we arrived in Kamloops.

I can’t report for certain how things stand at the top, because there’s still paperwork and time decks to be done, and it’s all very serious in the unlimited class.  After even he required extraction from car 1, the rallymaster will probably be up most of the night sorting it out.  I can say that our Eis Munky teammates are fairing fantastically, and we might have even been the leading team, if Simon and I hadn’t stuffed it.  Glenn and R Dale are in first place, our historic entry is barely into the double digits, and our novices have only 85 points.  The only Eis Munky entry that might be having more fun than Simon and I is Warwick and Izzy, who are sitting high up in the huge calculator class, with 121 points.  All these results are non official, and highly subject to the rumour mill and hearsay that permeates the end of TSD day one.

We’re all looking forward to a clean start tomorrow, and it’s not impossible that the Eis Munkys could bring home the team prize, despite my intial assertion that we’re just in it for the stickers and cookies.

On my 32nd birthday, I am embracing the time we spent in the snowbanks today, and I’m proud to be pursing something that I love, despite the fact that I’m really not very good at it.  Rally, maybe like most motorsports, is a fickle mistress.  The highs are euphoric and rewarding, but the lows are harsh and can linger, if I choose to let them.  I’m so thankful for dear codrivers and friends who remind me that finishing and enjoying the adrenaline ride are the best reasons to do it over and over again, and who really think this is epic fun, even when we don’t ‘succeed.’

As I write this, my codriver is still so dedicated and churning out endless pages of paper aiming to keep us on time for day two, and it seems clear that what matters is the stories we can hear and tell tomorrow, and the memorable and engaging company we’ve enjoyed during our crazy two day adventure on the backroads of BC.  TSD rally is a wicked, thrilling way to spend a weekend, and it attracts some of my favourite people ever.  This event has been a tough but lovely birthday gift, and we’re only halfway there.

The tone of the event was clearly set when I received the following text from Alex as we pulled into HQ:

“One of the teams brought a keg.”

Nice. I sampled some of the delicious Scottish Ale generously provided by Ryan and Jack of car 22, a flat black Volvo that I narrowly missed recruiting onto our Eis Munky RT as I lurked around the scrutineer, hoping our turn for tech would come. The beer they shared made the fact that we barely passed tech inspection that much more entertaining. Instead of the friendly Volvo team, we gained Mike and Garth in the red superbeetle as our historic entry, in a car that I’m fairly certain I’ve seen on its roof at least once in the past. It’s clear that this year’s Eis Munkys have good company, sweet decals and delicious snacks as our priorities, and my hopes are on team AFRICA for the Savoia Aero Trophy.

The one hundred competitors registered for this year’s Thunderbird TSD Rally have retired to their hotel rooms, resting up, or doing seemingly endless calculations, depending on which seat they’re riding in tomorrow. The talk at tech this evening predictably centred around the weather, in particular, rising temperatures that could turn the two day back road adventure into a messy slush fest. With showers and highs of nine degrees Celsius forecasted for Kamloops tomorrow, teams far back in the large field could be facing deep ruts and difficult conditions, and the weather would seem to favour the unlimited teams at the front end of the start order. The entry field this year features a much larger percentage of historic entries, and this class will be very competitive.

The Thunderbird TSD Rally is the most renowned and celebrated TSD in the Pacific Northwest. Teams have travelled from as far away as Arizona and Saskatchewan to rally in pursuit of perfect timing over two days and almost 400 km of challenging winter regularities. Fourteen previous winners are participating this year, including multi year winning team Satch Carlson / Russ Kraushaar, and multi year winning drivers Peter Hill and Glenn Wallace.

The 2011 Eis Munky Rally Team is a lively and complete one, with a car from every single possible class. The Eis Munky Rally Team for 2011 will be:

03 Glenn Wallace (WA) & R.Dale Kraushaar (AZ) Subaru Forester (unlimited)

29 Warwick Patterson (BC) & Izzie Egan (BC) Subaru Impreza Wagon (calculator)

32 Jennifer Daly (BC) & Simon Oakley (BC) VW Jetta (paper)

40 Jeremy Bourdon (BC) & Andrew Purnell (BC) Subaru Sti (novice)

50 Mike Palm (WA) & Garth Hales (WA) VW Superbeetle (historic)

Thunderbird will be the very first TSD for both members of the Eis Munky novice entry and Izzie, the calculator class navvie.   The Thunderbird Rally has a notable history of inducting new and unsuspecting rallyists into winter driving under duress, and this weekend is likely to be no exception. In 2005 Jennifer and codriver August Ustare accumulated a massive points total after high centering on a snowbank, costing Arctic Challengers teammates Glenn and R Dale the overall team win. Six years and a 2008 Winter Alcan Adventure later, Glenn and R Dale seem to have forgiven her, as they agreed to join the 2011 Eis Munky RT. Glenn and R Dale are essentially the team anchors, and the entry most likely to succeed this weekend. The rest of the entries will be happy to finish, although Jennifer and Simon will gain at least second in class if they don’t DNF, as one of the only two entries brave enough to tackle paper class.

Car 32 will be tracked through Helios Global Tracking, and can be followed by logging in HERE.

login: rally
password: markzoom

Follow the SpecialStage.com pre event thread and updates HERE.

Twitter updates should be available under #bcrally, and if we’re not exhausted or partying, I’ll try and keep things up to date here.

Rally on
JD

In partnership with HELIOS Global Tracking, the Rally4Life team will be equipped with hardware that will be uploading information to www.heliosglobaltracking.com.

With login id: rally and password markzoom, users will be able to see the speed and location of the car as they follow the progress of the rally. The Rally4Life team will also be using the HELIOS system during desert training in Morocco later in October. Current event information for the Pacific Forest Rally, taking place October 1 and 2, will also be available on rallyscoring.com, and on twitter, under the hashtag #cdnrally.

Merritt is the home event for the Okanagan based team, and the stages are favourites for driver Mark Jennings-Bates, of Peachland, and codriver Jennifer Daly, of Kelowna. The Pacific Forest Rally is the fifth round of the Canadian Rally Championship, currently lead by the Subaru Canada team of Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell. It features unpredictable weather, serpentine forest roads with extreme drops and spectator stages that are very accessible to the public. Every year crowds of rally fans attend the downtown night stage, in Merritt’s city centre, to see the high powered, production based rally cars wind through the gravel course.

The best result of the 2010 season so far came at the snowy Rocky Mountain Rally in May, where the Rally4Life team placed 2nd regionally. Otherwise, the team has encountered trouble when running in podium contention, with an off for Mark and a guest codriver during the opening event of the season, and an errant rock ripping a hole in the gas tank at Mountain Trials in June. “We’re eager to get another shot at the Merritt roads, especially Helmer, after the DNF this spring,” said codriver Jennifer Daly. “We are progressing as a team and making some smart changes to the way we make pacenotes, which should improve our performance.”

Driver Mark Jennings-Bates will integrate the note changes and work hard to achieve a steady, competitive pace during the rally. “Focus is the name of the game,” said Jennings-Bates, who sticks to a rigorous training program as part of his efforts to become Canada’s top driver in the infamous Dakar rally. “I will have competed in my last triathlon the weekend prior, and my wife and I will leave right after the rally to fly first to the UK, then on to Africa. There is so much happening with the project this fall.”

In Africa, Mark and his wife Jackie will be assisting Just A Drop, a UK water relief charity, with the
installation of a sanitized water project in a remote part of Kenya. The couple will also fly to Morocco for sand dune training with Dakar veteran Mick Extance, the Rally4Life copilot for next year. “It will be a busy time for sure,” says Mark, “but very rewarding, and all of this experience helps me become a better competitor and a better advocate for the more than 1.5 billion people around the world who are dying of thirst.”

The Rally4Life Canadian team is based in Kelowna, British Columbia and competes in the Western
Canada Rally Championship and select events in the Canadian Rally Championship which is broadcast in High Definition on TSN and will be Canada’s first competitive car entry into the Dakar Rally in January 2011, driving a Bowler Nemesis.

The hostile weather conditions made tire choice a significant factor in the outcome at Rocky. The Rally4Life team struggled through Friday’s initial stages, after selecting winter tires that turned out to be ineffective in the mixed road conditions. They ended the first day of the rally eighth regionally and fifteenth nationally. “It was less a case of multiple tire options and more a case of only one choice for a low budget team.  We had to make the best of a bad situation,” said driver Mark Jennings-Bates.

After considering tire choice for Saturday’s stages carefully, the team was able to take advantage of a new tire support programme provided by Yokohama and Rocket Rally. The valuable service provides on site tire sales and mounting, and the Rally4Life team was able to mount a set of specialized mud tires in preparation for the thick, sloppy Porcupine Hills Stages. On the right tires, and with their KSport suspension setup the team had an outstanding run, despite extremely snowy and muddy conditions.

The snow, sleet or rain fell relentlessly throughout the rally, but Mark and Jennifer were able to take advantage of the challenging weather and absolutely enjoyed pushing back up through the standings. Deep snow forced the cancellation of stages and modification to the event schedule, so the rally was shorter than intended. The Rally4Life team advanced considerably, given the reduction in overall stage kilometres.

Quebec’s Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard won the Rocky Mountain Rally with steady driving and wise tire choices. Squamish based Rocket Rally driver and 2009 Canadian Rally Champion Pat Richard and his codriver Alan Ockwell were second overall; the Quebec team of Bruno Carre and Yvan Joyal rounded out the national podium. Mark and Jennifer placed ninth nationally and second regionally. They shared the regional podium with first place Hardy Schmidtke and Adam Vokes, and third place JC Bourgeois and John Hall.

The hardworking Rally4Life service crew for the Rocky Mountain Rally was Dave Steeper, Alex Schubel, Eric Bauld and Jackie Jennings-Bates. The Rally4Life Team will be aiming for an overall win at their upcoming home rally, the Mountain Trials Regional Stage Rally, on June 12 in Merritt BC.

Link to Sirius Rally Team photos HERE.

Link to full results HERE.

Rocky has a reputation for being fast and dry or wet and difficult, and features the epic Powderface stage, one of Mark’s favourite roads.  Mark admits that it’s hard to know exactly what to expect until the car is on the start line: “There is a lot of competition coming from the east, especially from Quebec, so there should be some great battles.  Weather is a huge factor in this event, and with rain or snow forecast for the weekend, we will need to prepare for very challenging conditions.”

For the Rocky Mountain Rally Mark will be joined by his regular codriver, Jennifer Daly, of Kelowna BC, and the team is aiming for a top ten finish.  Jennifer is looking forward to competing again as an experienced team: “Mark and I haven’t been in the rally car together since we got our best result ever last October.  We’ve both learned a lot from rallying with others, and I think we’re in a good position to push for our fastest pace.”

The Prescribed Burn Rally Team will be competing under the Rally4Life name for the 2010 season, in preparation for Mark’s entry into the 2011 Dakar Rally.  The Rally4Life effort combines the adventure of a grueling international rally with the determination to raise four million dollars for charities providing clean water to communities in the developing world.

Live updates and scoring results will be available on the Rocky Mountain Rally event website, and the event will be broadcast on TSN on Sunday, June 27.

Jennifer and Leanne started the sunny morning with an accurate odo and a lot of anticipation.  The early regs were accurate and the feeling was great, but Jennifer found it hard to keep on time through the slogging mud sections by mid day.  A lapse in concentration caught her out on one of the middle regs, and the car ended up high centred on a snowbank.  With Leanne waving the tow rope and Jennifer frantically digging the car out, Gnu became a trap rally for the cars following: can anyone drive past two girls stuck in a snowbank?  This turned out to be a very tough test for the naturally sportsmanlike TSD’rs, and every car slowed to offer assistance.  

After a valiant attempt by James and Cynthia, the girls waved some 2WD cars through, and were eventually rescued by car 9, Jason and Shane, who finished just off the podium as a result of this assistance.  On the first pull, their car stalled, and they stayed for a second try even after requiring a bump start from a Golf.  

Trail of the Gnu is the best TSD in Western Canada.  Pending availability of the right car, the Sirius Rally Team will be sure not to miss this event next year.  Immense thanks to Alex for the car, Leanne for the top notch codriving and company, and to Jason and Shane for getting us back in the rally.

Link to 2010 results HERE.

Link to pics from IstaPhoto HERE.

Link to rally story by 2010 Gnu winner HERE.

(photo credit Craig Greenwell)

It’s that time of year.  The weather is getting milder, the winter season is growing tiresome, and no one has had a winter rally fix since Thunderbird.  The Gnu is hungry, it’s out there, and 24 brave rally teams will spend Saturday chasing it through the backroads of Alberta’s oil country.  According to the event press, the Trail of the Gnu is a challenging snow, ice, and gravel navigational rally, and part of three TSD Championship series.  Although hosted by the Calgary Sports Car Club, the Gnu is based out of Rocky Mountain House, and every year the stunning back roads and mountain backdrop of the area have raised both the risks and the rewards of this challenging event. The Gnu features exciting roads, challenging average speeds, and great fun with good rally people.

The Sirius Rally entry for this weekend’s Trail of the Gnu TSD Rally in Rocky Mountain House, AB, is an unusual one, because it’s an all girl team.  Jennifer will be joined by the steadfast and experienced Leanne Junnila in the right seat; the pair is aiming for a class win and dreaming of an overall podium finish.   Alex Schubel, organizer of the Big White Rally Weekend and honourary Sirius Rally Team member, has generously put up his 1998 Impreza for a TSD thrashing to help the girls achieve their goals.

Last year’s Gnu was a rally driver’s dream, and a snowy wonderland, where Jennifer and Leanne placed second overall.   Word has gotten out about the high calibre of this event since then, and the current entry field is very competitive, including some past Winter Alcan buddies from the US.  Just like last year, there is snow in the forecast for Friday, so luck may blanket the roads with true winter conditions for Saturday’s rally.   Last year’s overall winners, the Hills, are absent from this year’s entry list, but the third place driver, in a pickup truck, has returned, and there are many other experienced teams capable of putting in a competitive performance.  The field is travelling to Rocky Mountain House from as far away as Seattle, and Saskatchewan.

The event schedule is suited to a good afterparty, where everyone sleeps in the same place, and that’s always a big part of the fun for the Sirius Rally Team.  Hopefully the girls will have great stories to tell and something to celebrate by the time they pull into the HQ Saturday night!

Link to event website HERE.

Link to last year’s Gnu photos from Sirius Rally Team HERE.

Where service is available in Rocky Mountain House, the team will be tweeting live updates as the Gnu unfolds, which can be followed by clicking on the Twitter link on this site, or by searching #cdnrally on Twitter.

Rallye Defi

Wed Oct 21 01:30 / Fri Oct 23 04:00 / Fri Oct 23 13:30

Pacific Forest Rally

Sat Oct 24 11:30 Wed Oct 28 01:30 Wed Oct 28 12:30

(24 hour Eastern Time; check local listings for confirmation)

Link to the Big White Rally Weekend HERE.