To all,                                                                  November 1, 2010

The 2011 organizing committee for the Rally Perce-Neige Maniwaki is pleased to announce that plans for the upcoming event in the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship are well under way.  The competitive portion of the event will take place on Saturday, February 5 while competitor reconnaissance of the event will take place on Friday, February 4.  Reconnaissance and event registration will take place on the evening of Thursday, February 3 and the event will conclude with an early morning awards’ breakfast on Sunday, February 6.

The seventeen member 2011/2012 organizing committee will be headed by Terry Epp who will be the interim coordinator for 2011 while Rejean Losier is the designated coordinator for 2012.  Interim Clerk of the Course will be Ross Wood with Sylvain Erickson as the designated 2012 Clerk of the Course.  The Chief Control Marshals will be Kevin Heistermann and Jennifer Murray and the registrar will be Denyse Moisan.

The route for the 2011 event will closely mirror the 2010 event with fourteen stages totaling almost a 50% ratio between stage and transit over the 430 km route.  The event will encompass a regional event (the first 11 stages, 129 km) within the national event.  Plans include several in-town roads: Marie-Anne’s slippery corners, Des Eaux’s incredible fast flow, Farley’s 8 kms of dips and challenging turns as well as Blue Sea/Bouchette’s rhythmic flow as well as many winter spectators.  The event’s traditional, winter forest stages (156 km in but two passes over 3 stages) will include: the 33 km ultimate winter challenge of Kitigan Zibi, the 16 km roller coaster ride of the Forêt de L’Aigle–Eagle Forest and the 29 km incredible Tortue as the rally’s finishing touch with its famous bonfire at the turn around.  Getting to run Tortue is the holy grail of the Perce-Neige.  The stage has to be experienced to appreciate the absolute joy of playing in the woods on a snowy evening.

The organizing committee is planning on implementing several changes to the event including adding a shake down stage on the Friday evening so that competitors can check out their set up and their winter tires.

While the web site (www.rallyperceneige.com or www.rallyeperceneige.com) is now active, updates for 2011 will be posted in the coming days and weeks.  The event’s supplementary regulations are planned to be posted on November 20 as well as updates on accommodation availability.

I look forward to seeing you in Maniwaki in February.

Terry Epp, interim coordinator