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Specialty
Subaru Mountain Trials Rally
October
5, 2002 in Merritt, BC CANADA
Round 5 of the Western Canadian Rally Championship
Presented by Yokohama Tires
TRINDER
TAKES WIN AND CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
For Immediate Release |
MERRITT, BC (Oct. 6/2002)
- Vancouver-based rally driver Scott Trinder won
the Specialty Subaru Mountain Trials Rally held
in and around the Nicola Valley near Merritt,
B.C. this past weekend. Driving a Production
class RSport Rally Subaru Impreza 2.5RS, Trinder
finished 12 seconds ahead of his nearest rival,
Janusz Komorowski of Calgary, AB who piloted a
much more powerful turbocharged Open class
Eagle Talon to second place. |
The win sends Trinder
to the head of the pack in the tight race for
the 2002 Western Canadian Rally Championship presented
by Yokohama. After five of six rounds, he
has a slim lead of four points, 44 to 40, over
Gord Olsen of Brooks, AB. In fact, going
into the final race of the season in Bragg Creek,
AB on November 10th, there are still five drivers
with a mathematical chance of claiming the 2002
title. |
The championship leader
before the event was Gord Olsen and he did make
an appearance here in his powerful Group 2 Volkswagen
Golf to try and extend his lead. However
Olsen's rally came to an end on special stage
four when he encountered a grouse crossing the
rally route. "There was a loud thud
and a shower of feathers across the windshield,"
said Kathy Olsen, Gord's wife and co-driver. Unfortunately,
the pair were forced to retire with a hole in
their oil cooler while running second overall. |
For Trinder, who just
missed a top five placing at the SCCA Wild West
Rally down in Olympia, WA last month, this victory
was particularly sweet. He and his co-driver
(and father) Bob were fast from the start, taking
an early lead and setting a quick pace against
their main rival, Komorowski. The pair completed
141.8 kilometers of special stages - the competitive
portion of the event run flat-out against the
clock on gravel roads that are closed to public
- in one hour, forty-two minutes and twenty four
seconds. |
The rally drew entries
from across Western Canada, Washington and Oregon,
helping to ensure a broad field of competitors.
At the finish, the podium even held a representative
from three regions with a driver from B.C. in
first place, followed by others from Alberta and
Washington. |
The Active Mountain Park
just south of Merritt hosted a series of special
stages on a network of private roads usually reserved
for campers at the famous Merritt Music Mountain
Festival. At the Mountain Trials Rally,
competitors raced one minute apart along a 6.46
kilometer section in front of several hundred
thrilled spectators. |
The winner of the last
event held in Merritt, the Pacific Forest Rally,
Mehran Arefi of North Vancouver and Dan Mclean
of Victoria, rolled their Subaru Impreza WRX heavily
on the second special stage. The pair had
started the day well, posting the fourth fastest
time on the first special stage, but got it all
wrong while traveling too fast through a series
of tight corners. Despite crashing out of
the race, Mclean was later seen helping out another
team at the Lordco Auto Parts service point, and
showing that rally isn't necessarily about winning. |
Meanwhile, another promising
young team earned their first Canadian podium
spot after trying hard all year. The Washington
based novice team of Ross Foster and Alan Perry
finished third overall in their Production class
Mazda 323GTX after pushing hard all day.
They ran consistently near the top throughout
the day and even posted fastest time on special
stage eight. |
One of the tightest battles
of the race emerged as a tie in the Group 2 class
for modified two-wheel drive vehicles. Noah
Third of Portland, OR, along with co-driver Jason
Lane of Burnaby, BC, drove their immaculately
prepared Volkswagen Golf to tie for the class
win with Carey Wright and Dave Kean, both of Seattle,
WA, in their Mazda RX7. The final few stages were
incredibly tense for these crews as the slippery
conditions of the roads favoured the all wheel
drive vehicles, yet there they were locked in
a fierce competition right to the end. |
And, finally, in the Production
under class for vehicles with smaller capacity
engines, the ALS Rally Team of Martin Wilson from
Vancouver and Dennis Wende of Coquitlam
brought their "trusty" Subaru Justy
home in 10th place. In doing so the pair
have now clinched the 2002 Western Canadian Championship
for the Production under class. Congratulations
to this determined crew for their efforts in raising
awareness of ALS while "rallying for the
cure". |
Many thanks go out to
the people of Merritt for their warm welcome,
especially the ranchers and business owners who
supported this event. Thanks also to event sponsors
Specialty Subaru, Yokohama Tires, Merritt Lordco,
Polaris Water, Merritt Tirecraft and OMP - Driver's
Edge Autosport. |
And with that the 2002
Western Canadian Rally Championship has come down
to the final event: the Kananaskis Rally, November
10th in Bragg Creek, Alberta. For
more details about this event and other rallies,
check out the BC rally website: http://www.rallybc.com |
For more information contact:
Paul Westwick paul@rallybc.com (604) 682-3296,
or
Ken Kwong ken@rallybc.com (604) 808-0536.
Photography is also available, please contact
the organizers. |
Special thanks
to the following supporters of rallying
in BC |
Driver's Edge
Autosport |
http://www.ompwins.com |
Polaris Water |
http://www.polariswater.com |
Rally Equipment.com |
http://www.rallyequipment.com |
Rocket Rally
Racing |
http://www.rocketrally.com |
Specialty Subaru |
http://www.specialtysubaru.com |
Western Driver |
http://www.westerndriver.com |
Wilkinson's
Automobilia |
http://eAutomobilia.com |
Yokohama Tire |
http://www.yokohamatire.ca |
|
Final
Standings - updated Oct 06 |
|
Car# |
Driver |
Co-Driver |
Car |
Class |
|
Time |
1 |
2 |
Scott
Trinder |
Bob
Trinder |
98
Subaru Impreza 2.5RS |
Prod
Over |
|
01:42:24 |
2 |
1 |
Janusz
Komorowski |
Keith
Morison |
92
Eagle Talon TSI |
Open |
|
01:42:36 |
3 |
8 |
Ross
Foster |
Alan
Perry |
88
Mazda 323 GTX |
Prod
Over |
Novice |
01:44:24 |
4 |
6 |
Carey
Wright |
Dave
Kean |
86
Mazda RX7 |
Group
2 |
|
01:51:58 |
5 |
13 |
Noah
Third |
Jason
Lane |
88
VW Golf GTI |
Group
2 |
|
01:51:58 |
6 |
3 |
Zbigniew
Szewczyk |
Tomasz
Karzynski |
88
Toyota Celica All Trac |
Prod
Over |
|
01:52:00 |
7 |
4 |
Maciej
Ogrocki |
Joe
Payne |
Subaru
Impreza 2.5RS |
Prod
Over |
|
01:52:32 |
8 |
12 |
Graham
Burnley |
Martin
Burnley |
98
Subaru Impreza 2.5RS |
Prod
Over |
Novice |
01:56:24 |
9 |
14 |
Derek
Bottles |
Rebecca
Galfer |
85
VW Golf GTI |
Group
2 |
|
01:57:41 |
10 |
15 |
Martin
Wilson |
Dennis
Wende |
92
Subaru Justy |
Prod
Under |
|
02:05:05 |
11 |
17 |
Bud
Stanley |
Dwayne
Jackman |
86
Toyota MR2 |
Group
2 |
Novice |
02:08:28 |
12 |
16 |
Penny
Zuk |
Rome
Awde |
85
VW Golf GTI |
Prod
Under |
Novice |
02:08:31 |
13 |
9 |
Mehran
Arefi |
Dan
McLean |
02
Subaru WRX |
Prod
Over |
Novice |
DNF
- Rollover |
14 |
5 |
Gord
Olsen |
Kathy
Olsen |
92
VW Golf GTI |
Group
2 |
|
DNF
- Grouse |
15 |
11 |
Ted
Wilkinson |
Bill
Westhead |
80
Toyota Corolla |
Group
2 |
|
DNF
- Fuel system |
16 |
7 |
Richard
Penrose |
Tony
Penrose |
82
Toyota Corolla |
Group
2 |
|
DNF
- Clutch |
17 |
18 |
Chad
Manley |
Travis
Streb |
81
Toyota Celica |
Group
2 |
Novice |
DNF
- Water pump |
|
Detailed
Stage by Stage Results |
|
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