All of our in-car video from this rally is available on YouTube!

Preparation

[09/11/2009] Well, it's a week before the Black River Stages rally in upstate New York and I'm on a plane to California for my oldest son's wedding. I could be doing final preparations for the rally but I suppose I really should be paying attention to the other joys in my life. I'm just kidding of course, but sometimes we get so caught up in the excitement and anticipation of impending rallies that it's easy to forget this is just a hobby and a sport.

I return to Raleigh, NC on Wednesday and we head out on Friday so it'll be a bit of rush. Of course, I also have a real job that will require my attention before we leave. Kieran, my other son, is my co-driver and navigator and lives refreshingly close so that he helps with car and rally preparations. Black River Stages will be our twentieth rally in less than three years and we've successfully completed seventeen to date - a respectable record for a new privateer team on a budget.

I seriously didn't expect we'd come so far, especially with the same car. Kieran and I built the Ford Focus rally car ourselves with expert, professional help for the important bits such as safety cage and transmission. I did the appropriate research before starting down this slippery slope and statistically we should have done some serious damage to the car by now. Perhaps it’s a reflection of my timid driving or our grow-slow approach to rallying that accounts for our performance so far. We’ve had a lot of fun along the way and have both learned a lot about, cars, rallying and the great rally community. There are few sports today that demonstrate the camaraderie and selflessness of rally. Even though we’re out on the stages to beat our competitors or rushing to get all tasks done on time in service, folk are always willing to lend a hand to or a tow a car for a team in need.

All timidity aside we are currently in first place in the NASA Rally Sport 2009 Atlantic Rally Cup championship for our two-wheel drive class (M2).  And we hope to stay there. It’s our third appearance at this event in Harrisville, NY. Last year was our first ever DNF when a strut failed on a stage on the second day of the event. We limped off the stage but needed repairs before we could continue. I have a secret weapon for BRS this time. During a recent visit to the UK to see family and friends I had a half-day one-on-one training session with David Higgins at the Forest Rally Experience in Wales, David then went on to win the Fogang Rally in China. Let’s hope I can remember my lessons and not let David down.

Even though I’m away from home and the car, there are still things I can accomplish to prepare for the rally. Coordinating with my crew; reviewing the Supplemental Regulations from the rally organizer; watching the in-car video from last year’s event to refresh my memory; convincing myself I really can go faster and still be safe. Unlike most other forms of racing, the stage roads of a rally are hard to memorize - you don’t get the opportunity to refine your line through a turn the next time through like you do at a track. In many cases we’ve never seen the roads before. Some rallies provide reconnoiter sessions (recce) but not BRS. We don’t even get a practice stage to settle our nerves and prove the car’s readiness before the event.

On Thursday, after my trip out west, we’ll be doing final readiness checks on the car and get everything loaded. We’ve learned the hard way to value our check lists to make sure everything is loaded in the car, on the trailer and in our tow/service vehicle. After towing 750 miles, it’ll be painful to find we’ve left behind a critical component.

Service Crew

Our prearranged crewman unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute and, with only four days to go before the rally, we were scrambling to find a replacement. I admire the teams that manage to run a rally with no crew but don’t recommend it. Having a competent, prepared crew when you pull into service means that we can take a few minutes to relax during the 20 or 30 minute service periods. Brenden Belge of Driver Technologies and his friends Jeff Brady (BRI Auto Engineering), Joe Angiolillo (Sticky Graphics) and MIke Griswold all volunteered to help after I posted to several online forums.

The Big Tow

[09/18/2009] We head out well before dawn for the long tow up to New York state. We’ve loaded almost all our tools and spare parts in the rally car on the trailer. The trailer seems to handle better that way. I take the first watch. Kieran is most definitely not a morning person. Neither am I but someone has to drive the rig. Interstate 85 to Richmond, I-95 to DC. Then up 270 and 15 to join I-81 north. 750 miles! Kieran takes over about half way while I try to get some office work done. I’ll do some work on the journey back too.. It’s one of the ways I can minimize the impact of rallying on my precious vacation time.

Lodging

In our previous two visits to Harrisville we’ve stayed at a local motel that is, to put it generously, quite quaint. I vowed to do better this time around. Fortunately I managed to score a room in one of the cabins procured by the rally organizer. Our crew are local and have already made their own arrangements which is a relief. The cabin is right on Lake Bonaparte but there’s no place to take the trailer. I manage to find a place to leave it for the weekend. Thanks to Hunter’s Moon Motel.

Scrutineering

[09/19/2009] Up on Saturday morning to juggle our gear and take the rally car for scrutineering, We load all the spare parts and tools into the back of the Sequoia and it’s now our service vehicle. After loading more stickers on the car from our crew and the required rally decals we submit the car for it’s safety inspection and it passes easily.

Night Stages

BRS is one of the few rallies in the US that still has scheduled night stages. It’s not unusual for rallies to run late, requiring the use of rally lights but the start of this rally doesn’t begin until 3:30PM and runs until 11:00PM guaranteeing several hours of full night stages. The rally begins with Parc Exposé at the American Maple Museum (yes - they have one of those) in Croghan, NY.  This is an opportunity for rally fans to get a close look at the cars and to mingle with the teams and crews. Amy Feistel, one of the organizing and administrative powers behind the rally, has asked us to do a meet-and-greet session with a local Boy Scout troop. We’re happy to oblige and are grateful to return the support and warm welcome of the local community. We arrived at the Maple Museum thirty minutes early and the boy scouts are already checking out the other cars that have arrived early. We show them the car and explain how a rally operates. In-car video from the previous running of Black River Stages is playing on my laptop so they can get a better idea.

Anders and Amy of Lina Racing have, I believe, made a huge contribution to rally in North America. They organize three rallies each year (Sandblast Rally in SC, Rally Tennessee and Black River Stages) and have pivotal roles in the operation and management of NASA Rally Sport. I am fortunate to have them as relative neighbors and try to help out when I can. Anders has often generously donated his welding skills to our little rally project. I treasure their friendship.

For the first time in US rallying history parts of the event are being broadcast live to the internet. Marcel Ciascai is the man behind the camera and he’s shooting the official start.

Off to the first stage, named Texas, which is 5.71 miles long. We’re not running lights on the car yet, planning to mount them at he first service.

That’s a strategic decision in case a minor bump in the daylight hours damages them. We’re off to a good start and have a good run. There are some serious jumps on this stage and it’s important to decide which ones we think the car can survive. Next is Jerden Falls which is the longest stage in the rally at 8.43 miles. Six miles in and we come upon spectators and other competitors frantically flagging all the cars to stop. Bob Olson and Conrad Ketelsen in a Subaru Impreza took a jump and kick too fast and collided with a huge car-sized rock, incurring some injuries and wrecking the car.  We were requested to call in on the ham radio net to summon the EMT to assist. The injuries were serious enough to warrant some time in hospital but the latest news is that both driver and codriver are home and doing well. The rest of the stage is, of course, cancelled. Finally we run Tidd at 3.33 miles. Back to service and our crew check the car and give it a clean bill of health.

Stages 3, 4, and 5 are a repeat of the first three stages and this time we get to complete Jerden Falls. All these stages are at night and we’ve mounted our rally lights at service. As is usual for me I am a little slower at night but pleased to note that we’re not quite as slow as we used to be. That’s down to experience and having faith in my co-driver and the notes. The rally is running late, it’s getting colder and the volunteers have been out a long time so the organizers decide to cancel the remaining the stages on Saturday night. Some last minute preparation on the car and off to bed.

Sunday Stages

[09/20/2009] Despite the late finish on Saturday we’re up bright and early for the 9:30AM schedule that starts with Parc Exposé in Harrisville, The stage order is a bit odd as they are running the rally-moto bikes on another stage (in and out) while the cars run Jayville in and out. These four and a half mile stages are a lot of fun. The cars and bikes swap stages and we run Goose Pond in and out then join the bikes again for Fullerville.

The first and only service on Sunday is 45 minutes long which is fortunate since we’ve bent a tie rod. We decide to keep running it but get a minor alignment to correct for the toe out. The crew also spots that our left rear strut is spitting hydraulic fluid from the hose leading to the external canister. We elect to swap the strut out for one of our old, spare DMS struts. The guys do a great job and we’re out of service with time to spare.

We repeat the Jayville In and Jayville Out stages but the surface is getting loose from the rally traffic and we lose a little time. The last stage is another run through Fullerville and we’re very pleased with our performance but have no idea where we stand. The car has held up well and we’ve had no major incidents. On the journey back to finish we spot Mike Hordijk waiting with his car for his crew to retrieve him.

Apparently his transmission on Jayville Out failed. That’s a shame - they had been faster than us most of the weekend and seemed destined for the podium in M1 class.

Awards

The rally party and awards ceremony is held in the Harrisville Fire Hall and they’ve laid on beer and garbage-can chicken. Scores are posted and we’ve taken 1st place in Modified 2. Incidentally we also beat all the Modified 1 cars too so were 1st 2WD. We finished 8th overall. We are the 2009 M2 Atlantic Rally Champions!