JB,
Thanks and yes they are! I have tried all kinds of motorsports with my car over the 23 years I've been driving it. In Solo2 and track day events you tear up your tires and sometimes your car. Rallies are much easier on the equipment and you see great scenery and you get stories to tell that people just do not believe. Last year, we started a rally just before the rain let loose. I wrote a story for the Santa Monica Sports Car Club magazine. I will post it here for your enjoyment:
An Intense Rally Experience
Through Snake Eyes
To Joe Akerman, the ITN Team and SMSCC Team,
Thank you for putting on an excellent event on Saturday. From our perspective, the “Training Wheels Rally” was a masterpiece using the very best of our local roads. If you ran exactly the same rally a few more times, I would run it over and over and love it every time.
I didn't really know if we would make it to the end. The challenge of running an open car in unpredictable weather conditions makes life a little more intense. I usually love it especially when we can dodge the showers. On Saturday, the precipitation was much heavier than we expected, though. Instead of the 20% chance of rain predicted, it was more like 90% percent. I wasn’t worried about the Cobra getting wet, there are holes under the carpet to let the water out. Besides, they make boats out of fiberglass, don’t they? I was only concerned about getting cold and keeping the 500 HP monster on the road.
To run the first checkpoint in the parking lot next to registration was a stroke of genius. It was so much fun to watch other competitors hitting the hose for their score. The run up the Freeway to standoff 2 was a blast. The engine LOVED the humidity and the extra torque made the driver feel like he could leap tall buildings and outrun speeding bullets. The overview of the mountains from the standoff was spectacular. People who don’t run rallies are missing so much!
The compass bearings nailed the position of checkpoint 4 and gave us three choices for checkpoint 2. The passage control picture of the paddle marker showing 19.32 miles pretty much put that on Lake Hughes Road. Sure enough, we found it there. The Rallymaster thoughtfully provided a nice downhill creep area so we didn’t put any strain on the clutch while waiting our turn to cross the hose. All the checkpoints had this feature or were level. This is the mark of a man who knows what he is doing.
The northern loop to pick up CC4 got pretty cold and when I felt the chill hit my back trough five layers of clothing, I got worried. Then, I remembered I had turned off the heater valve on the last rally. When I pulled the knob under the steering wheel, the cockpit heaters came to life and things got better.
The run down San Francisquito Canyon bought lots more rain. We had to stop under a tree and get out the map light and some fresh towels. The towels are mainly for directing the water that flows around the windshield post somewhere except down your leg! After we dropped back down the mountain into Valencia, the air warmed up and life was good.
We figured that spicy Mexican food would be the best way to fortify ourselves and stopped at Taco Bell for a snack. We had turned the seat cushions over to stay dry while we ate and that worked out well. One of the most worrisome events took place as we approached standoff for 5 and 6. A police officer had his cruiser parked in the middle of the parking area with his lights flashing brightly in the dark night. We really needed the information at this control. Joe did an excellent job explaining the rally event to him and he left pretty quickly, so the rally was saved.
By the time we got to Howe, there were less than 5 minutes left and we had to MOVE. I came onto the gas through one of the curves a little too aggressively and fishtailed both ways. You have to be quick to catch this car with the 90 inch wheelbase! But, I managed to keep it on the black part. After we made checkpoint 5 on time, the run up Guiberson Road was really fun and we were going fast enough to keep the rain over our heads.
On Highway 23, we were behind slower cars and that got us pretty wet. Then, we turned onto Balcom Canyon and the rain got really heavy. I couldn't drive fast enough on the curves to keep the stinging drops off our face and eyes. Many of the turns were complete drifts and unlike many passengers, Ron noticed the little jerk when we regained traction. He is an amazingly tough individual and even though I asked him several times if he wanted to go home, he stayed positive and competitive. He had no glasses and the liquid bullets must have been agonizing for him. But, he never gave up!
The run up to the hose on checkpoint 6 was around a curve, but it was an easy zero, or so I thought. We got a one, late! I have to admit this bothers me. I have spent more time practicing for Monte Carlo Rallies then most people have spent running them. I even designed and built a rally timer that beeps you down to the zero so that I can practice this art. I have worn out many broom sticks and mop handles by going around and around parking lots to run over them exactly on time. I have to give credit to Barrie Adsett for teaching me the technique of accelerating over the checkpoint hose to get all four tires to hit it within the same hundredth of a minute. I have been determined to be the best Monte Carlo Rally driver ever and have worked hard to achieve perfection. I practice on uphill and downhill surfaces and start from near and far to hit the mark at higher and lower speeds. I even look for inclines where the broomstick will roll down the hill so I have to hit a moving target. For one rally, I learned to run over broomsticks in reverse and hit it perfectly with the rear wheels. I tend to be a little too competitive and have pushed myself to hit at least 20 perfect zeros in a row, before big rallies. I felt that Checkpoint 6 was a good zero. However, if our clock is a tad late and the checkpoint clock is a tad early, these things happen.
The worst came on the way to checkpoint seven. It was very hard to see through the droplets on my glasses and I kept moving my head around to find clearer spots. Then, the water from the soaked ski cap, started dribbling down my back. About the same time, a big puddle from a fold in the front of my jacket, poured down into my crotch. That was a shocker!
We had a little trouble finding Etting Road as we came down Los Posas. The wind and rain made reading the maps impossible and Ron was working from what he had memorized over the Mexican Pizza. We did find it, but then, had a terrible time find the letter on the passage control. I had to get out of the car and use a flashlight to see the letter down low on the pole.
I usually love Potrero Road. Every time I run its curves, I remember chasing (and passing) the most beautiful car in the world, a 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was pretty miserable this night as I could only get a dim view of the stripes even with HID headlights, 140 watt spot lights and foglights all beaming away. It's not surprising that we missed the right turn to stay on Potrero. We were intently looking for the course control and we realized our mistake, Ron OK'ed a 180. Unfortunately, the tires failed to resume their grip after the burnout turn and we had to do an extra 360 donut to head the right direction. That lightened up the mood!
Ron displayed the skills of the amazing navigator he is at this point. If we had continued back to Potrero to find the course control, we would never have been able to get to the next checkpoint (8) in time. So, we accepted the 100 point penalty and ran back to the 101 freeway. Then, the most dangerous moment of the rally happened. At a fairly high speed (similar to the penalty we just got), we hit a big puddle of water in the fast lane. It tried really hard to swing us into the center barrier but I managed to hold on and get it straight again. Even at this speed, we barely got to the in-marker in time and sealed the event with another zero.
It was an excellent rally and could only have been better if it ran earlier in the day before the wet stuff started. Having the maps available on the Internet on Wednesday before the event made it so much more fun and so much less stressful. Running the event in the rain is one thing, but standing out in the cold and wet to work it is MUCH harder and we all just cannot thank all of you enough for what you workers did.
I will list all the intrepid souls here who gave so much to make a wonderful day for us:
SO 1/SO 5,6
Gregory Harris
Bradley Chapman
CP 2, SO 7
Tom Alcott
Joanna Paden
Sean Ayers
SO 2,4, CP 6
Larry Scholnick
Jeanne English
CP 1, CP 4, CP 5, CP 8
Kevin Ayers
Kaylee Ahnemann
Dave Boytis
lead car/CP 7
Joe Akerman
Marvin Castillo
Greg Keller
plus checkout and/or general support
David Budlong
Milly Chapman
Nathan Harris
On the way home from the event I asked Ron if we should wear helmets next time we ran a rally in the rain. He replied, “I think we should wear a better car!”
Paul
Cobra Team is One for One
Those Subaru's are fun to pass!
Hybrid Mode
