MLRC Forum - Print Page

MLRC Forum
https://www.mlrc.ca/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl
General >> Rally >> MLWR: a first timer's experience
https://www.mlrc.ca/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1298678893

Message started by jotham on 02/25/11 at 19:08:13

Title: MLWR: a first timer's experience
Post by jotham on 02/25/11 at 19:08:13

After attending the KWRC year end banquet and being advised by Leo to simply start rally if I want to do it, get some snow tires and do a RallyX, I did. Found some snows, mounted, on kijiji, got my car serviced (the alignment was out by significant amounts) and adapted the new found handling characteristics. Next challenge was to find a navigator, unable to get anyone with experience; I recruited a buddy of mine from school. Challenges: English as Second Language and no navigating experience whatsoever, but he has good work ethic, learns quickly, and aims to be precise so I asked him and he was glad to try. We left waterloo around 2pm and headed to Bancroft, picking up the winning navigator (Christoph) in Toronto. He lent navigational skills and knowledge to my navigator, thanks! This certainly helped our efforts.

We reached Bancroft around 6 30, did the odo check, fuelled and prepared for the wait to the start. I was slightly intimidated by the “prepped” (i.e. lights, many 4wd, rally computers, calculators ;) ) nature of the cars of the other competitors, but knew I would simply enjoy the drive if we couldn’t compete. An hour before car 1 departs, I found out blackberries don’t have clocks that measure to the second; luckily the every humorous Martin Loveridge had a clock on hand and lent it to us.

Finally our start time approached. We grabbed the directions, and headed out to the trusty ‘Corolla. As we first left the sealed surface it was evident that the night would be a lot of fun, a bit of snow over some very packed snow~ice and the conditions were consistent so there was no fear of gripping up ungripping without notice. That being said, there was a 90 degree left mid rally, we approached sideways, the speed was too high and I was hard pressed to not get stuck in the snow bank on exit, it gripped up all of a sudden, the outside wheels loaded and we took off in the right direction! I was immediately confused to see some competitors/random cars stopped early in the stage -> “is it a CP?” but pressed on thinking I’d rather lose out on my own mistake.

I remember little of the first leg; I was not very tired during this leg, my navigator performed well. I just took it easy, came to terms with the conditions. We zeroed two CPs and had a total penalty of 8.4 seconds, and finished the lef in 5th place of the Novices.

Leg B was very memorable. We took only 4.8 minutes of penalty (I will note that puts us in 5th overall for this leg, unequipped, in a weak car, though this may be have been to our advantage as I was not afraid of damaging the car over the section of ! bumps 3km). We zeroed 5cps by sheer estimation, despite the one frequent error of my navigator, forgetting to mention the average speed! In this leg there was one extremely twisty, narrow stage (I think the stage in which the Audi went off) that maybe was the most fun of the rally for me. It felt fast as there were no straights in which I had to ease off so as to not exceed the average speed by too much, the constant turns meant pendulum technique was every demanded. I think it was during this stage that I leaned the back neatly on a snow bank (last time I did that there was a mailbox in the snow bank, significant body damage). I’m thankful visibility was good so I could judge whether a corner would tighten or open and whether to let the back come around more or accelerate. During this leg I was very tired, but it was my best driving (though the roads demanded as much). We experienced near free-fall over one crest, and many jolts in that bumpy section. Thanks organizers, you chose great roads. Thanks La Nina, for providing a snowy, cold winter. Sometime during leg B I wondered, what this would be like at full tilt, with accurate notes, and a good car.... I intend to find out. Sometimes I decided to just have fun by LFB and pendulum to slide the car around bends, other times chose a faster cutting line, I wonder now if perhaps sliding on the approach and cutting the inside with a late apex, letting me apply lots of throttle would be faster...but we didn’t need to go faster.

In leg C fatigue crept up on us. I didn’t feel tired, but apparently it was so. We missed a couple junctions, had 5.6 in penalties, and zeroed only 1 CP and the EOR. It was fun, though, I gauged our time because Ferdinand and Christoph were running behind us, if I could see their lights in my rear-view, I upped the pace. The last section was beautiful, a cloudy dawn peaked with light snowfall, visibility was incredible and the stage was free of view-obstructing trees or crests. Fast and flowing, I didn’t push, there was no reason. I had my fill in leg B and most of my accidents come at the end of a track day/outing, when time seems short and there’s still so much to learn. Hye (navvie) was tired without a doubt, his brain was fried as the last two instructions he called out were the opposite (in terms of right/left) of what was on the page. I’ve often considered myself as having a good sense of direction, and I gathered my wits and challenged him quickly, we returned to the EOR without further issue.

We placed 3rd in novice with a total penalty of 18.8 minutes. I was satisfied with the result, and moreso with the enjoyment I got out of driving. The roads I’ve encountered on this side of Toronto are not exciting, and it’s been a while since I’ve had such a good driving experience. I’m very proud of my navigator, for his first time he did exceptionally well I think. Thanks again to everyone who volunteered or competed, and who gave me advice in the lead-up to the event.

The drive home was tough. I slept a lot the next two nights. I look forward to the next event. I hope this was an enjoyable read, however much of it you read.

Cheers