The updated schedule for the Canadian Rally Championship on TSN has been released:

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)

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.

Local Prescribed Burn Rally Team driver Mark Jennings-Bates and co-driver Jennifer Daly achieved their best ever national finish and second overall in the regional at this year’s Pacific Forest Rally on October 3 in Merritt, BC.

After an exciting and competitive event, the team took a well deserved regional podium for the first time in their new 2004 STi rally car. The rally started well for the duo on the Friday night stages, as the team adapted to the new KSport gravel suspension, which was tested heavily at the event, and provided consistent and confident handling.

Even in the dark, Friday night proved to be very fast; this trend continued for the whole event and ended with Subaru Canada’s Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell destroying the stage record on Helmer in the dark on Saturday.  With mud, snow and fog during the early recce portion, choosing tires was a significant challenge, but the conditions improved dramatically by the time the cars were on stage, and PFR 2009 turned into one of the fastest Merritt rallies in history.

The PBRT service crew were professional and effective, and kept the team in the hunt for a strong finish; however, the last 150km of the event were run without any power steering, a big challenge for driver Mark Jennings-Bates:  “Now I will stop whining at my strength and conditioning coach, Leanne Manlove at Pinnacle Elite Athlete, about all the strength work she is making me do.  I really needed to work hard to keep the car on the road for the last two stages, but thankfully we did not drop much time and gained a place in the process.  I guess the training is paying off!”  Codriver Jennifer Daly was also very busy at the weekend, as the stages were fast and adapting delivery timing to a greatly increased pace can be very challenging. “We certainly came out of the first stage with a good pace” said Daly, adding “on Saturday we hit a jump and seemed to be in the air for several seconds, which was intense, and a total thrill.  Our service crew was reliable and we owe a big part of the success this weekend to them”.

The Prescribed Burn Rally Team’s newest driver Craig Ross and codriver John Hall took the start line for the first time ever at PFR.  Craig’s objective for his first rally was to finish, which he did, setting some very competitive stage times along the way. A puncture and necessary tire change cost the new team in overall time, but Craig clearly demonstrated that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

PFR was the first successful rally for the Prescribed Burn Rally Team in over a year.  Mark and Jennifer finished 5th overall nationally and 2nd overall regionally.  Craig and John finished 12th overall regionally, despite their puncture!  

The PBRT service crew for PFR consisted of Dave Hood, Anthony Evans, Reagan Ritchie and Devon Crosby. The next event on the calendar for the Prescribed Burn Rally Team will be the all new Big White Winter Rally, taking place on December 5, 2009 at the Big White Ski Resort. 

Link to 2009 Pacific Forest Rally results HERE.

Link to the Big White Rally Weekend homepage HERE.

(car photo credit Kurt Schantz)

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)

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.

The final day of Targa Newfoundland 2009 started in Marystown, and competitors made their way back to St.
John’s through a number of stages. Weather was not cooperative today. Rain was constant, and the forecast called for 30-40 mm over the day.
One of our stages ended up being cancelled as the schedule fell further and further behind as the weather required downgraded speeds all day.
Final results should be available soon on Targa Newfoundland website.

Today started at a beautiful little town on the Burin Peninsula called Harbour Mille. Cars ran into the town, breakfast was served at the fire hall, and then the stage was run in reverse. Following that we went to one of my teammate’s mother’s homes for lunch in Lewin’s Cove. Afterwards we worked the finish control at the stage through Marystown.

We got off to an early start this morning, as we were working one of the first stages of the day. Another two competitors went out on the Frederickton-Carmanville, although one managed to get going just as sweep was approaching, and finished the stage, getting a terrible score.
We took a little tour around the Kittiwake coast after our assignment as we had a fair bit of time to make it to our next post. Fantastic scenery in all directions.
We ended the day in North West Brook with a stage that had to be split into two sections due to major construction part way through. Suffice it to say, the construction was warranted.

Today the first stages were run. I woke up with a fine hangover because I have not yet learned to not try to keep up with the English in the pub – the service crew for the cars I posted yesterday just happened to be there.  

Today’s stages were not scored. It was a sort of test day / familiarization course for the competitors. Despite this, the day was not without incident. Car 906, the factory supported STi, driven by Marc LaChapelle & codriven by Keith Townsend, was involved in an off road excursion resulting in a precautionary trip to the hospital for the crew. They were checked out and are fine. Last I heard, they are in need of a steering wheel hub in order to complete repairs.

The combination of jet lag and sleep deprivation has resulted in a feeling of disorientation like no other. I got a basic tour of the St. John’s area from my gracious host which included a jaunt out to Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America.
I met with the rest of the volunteers today, got the standard package of stuff, had a little bit of time to check out the competitors that were on display, and saw a couple of gorgeous twins (see picture.) Now it’s time for a nap…