RBC - 2003 Mt Trials Home

Mountain Trials Rally
October 18, 2003
Merritt, BC

Round 5 of the
Western Canadian Rally Championship
Organized by the
West Coast Rally Association
Detailed Results

2003 Mt Trials Home

Competitor Bulletin #1

Competitor Bulletin #2

Supplementary Regulations

Results Press Release (pdf)

Overall Results for Mountain Trials 2003

MERRITT, BC (Oct. 18/03)

The adrenalin-fueled form of motor sport known as car rallying descended on Merritt, BC this past weekend at the annual Mountain Trials Rally and once again the victor was Vancouver native Scott Trinder. The rally, round five in the Western Canadian Rally Championship presented by Yokohama, attracted 17 teams from around BC, Alberta and Washington.

Photo by Shawn Bishop

Despite suffering from a series of mechanical difficulties, last year’s winner Scott Trinder maintained a blistering pace right from the start of this challenging racing event held on mountain and forest roads around the Nicola Valley in BC’s central interior.

Trinder and co-driver Bill Westhead of Vancouver piloted their Production Class all wheel drive Subaru Impreza 2.5RS to victory over an incredibly deep field of high caliber competitors, some in much more powerful rally cars. The pair had their hands full right from the start, encountering brake fade problems on the steep mountain roads. Quick repairs were made at a scheduled service break, however, and they were able to maintain the brisk pace needed to stay in touch with the early rally leaders.

The rally was, in fact, lead throughout the day by driver Ross Foster of Seattle, Washington and co-driver Dave Kean of Everett, Washington in an Open Class Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII. This team was piloting the most modern and powerful vehicle at the rally, running with nearly a one hundred horse power advantage, which they used handily to win five of the nine competitive sections run on gravel roads. Unfortunately the crew made a timing mistake on the final transit, picking up a substantial penalty that dropped them down to ninth overall at the finish.

Meanwhile drama continued for the eventual winner, Trinder when, on the eighth special stage, he found himself without second gear midway through a long 22 km section. “We were moving quickly through a rapid series of left and right hand corners when – zing! – I heard the sound of shearing metal and the transmission popped out of gear. I went to shift back into second gear and couldn’t find it!” With one more competitive stage left to run, Trinder nursed the car back to service and enough repairs were able to be made to get the car through to the finish.

Over in Group 2, the two wheel drive class, a heated battle raged throughout the day between some Western Championship regulars and a few visiting American competitors. A fleet of powerful and well driven Volkswagen Golfs hounded the Honda Civic VTEC of Derik Nelson and Lea Flagg, both from Monroe, Washington. Such was the intensity of this competition that, at one point, five of the leading Group 2 teams finished a stage within the same three second window! Attrition took its toll on some of the Group 2 teams, yet Nelson and Flagg stunned their opposition with some very quick, consistent driving and brought their well-prepared car home to second overall and first in this two-wheel drive class.

A few other notable performances came from BC-based drivers Joe Battrick of Squamish, Tony Reynolds of Vancouver and Chad Manley of Deep Cove.

Battrick and co-driver David Loop, running in only their fourth event, managed to bring their Subaru WRX home to a well-deserved third overall and first in Novice class, winning four of the nine special stages along the way. Look for more signs of driving brilliance from this new team.

Tony Reynolds, along with co-driver Sean McPhee, was competing in Canada’s only Mini Cooper built for rally in the Production Under two liters class. In attempting to run the brisk pace set by the leading teams, Reynolds suffered from a series of broken rear suspension parts over the rough roads. However, the determined work from his service crew insured that Mini made it through to the finish and won its class. Congratulations to this team for perseverance and gritty determination.

Meanwhile, Chad Manley, one of the youngest licensed rally drivers in Canada, finally got a well-deserved finish and class win in the fan-friendly Group D class for older two-wheel drive rally cars. Manley and co-driver Aaron Neuman wound up tenth overall after a steady drive and some previously elusive good luck. Congratulations to this pair for finally bringing it home to the finish.

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 AutoPlus, and Total Autosport.

And with that the 2003 Western Canadian Rally Championship has come down to the final event: the Kananaskis Rally, November 9th in Cochrane, Alberta. For more details about this event and other rallies, check out the BC rally website: www.rallybc.com

For more information or photos contact: Paul Westwick (604) 682-3296; e-mail: paul@rallybc.com

2003 Specialty Subaru Mountain Trials Rally presented by Yokohama

Pos	Car	Driver/CoDriver	Vehicle	Time	Gap	Previous	Penalties	Total	Class	CP
1	1	Scott Trinder Bill Westhead	98 Subaru Impreza RS	01:20:04	00:00:00	00:00:00		01:20:04	P Over	1
2	17	Derik Nelson Lea Flagg	93 Honda Civic	01:20:34	00:00:30	00:00:30		01:20:34	Grp2	1
3	11	Joe Battrick David Loop	04 Subaru WRX	01:19:36	00:01:32	00:01:02	00:02:00	01:21:36	P Over	2
4	6	Tom Machnik Amy Machnik	85 VW Golf GTI	01:21:51	00:01:47	00:00:15		01:21:51	Grp2	2
5	4	Maciej Ogrocki Danuta Ogrocki	00 Subaru Impreza	01:22:26	00:02:22	00:00:35		01:22:26	P Over	3
6	10	Derek Bottles Becca Galfer	85 VW Golf	01:23:07	00:03:13	00:00:51	00:00:10	01:23:17	Grp2	3
7	5	Martin Burnley Greg Karenko	98 Subaru Impreza RS	01:25:29	00:05:25	00:02:12		01:25:29	P Over	4
8	12	Andrew Tilston Warwick Patterson	02 Audi TT Coupe	01:28:05	00:08:01	00:02:36		01:28:05	P Over	5
9	2	Ross Foster Dave Kean	03 Mitsubishi EVO VIII	01:19:10	00:08:06	00:00:05	00:09:00	01:28:10	Open	1
10	16	Chad Manley Aaron Neuman	81 Toyota Celica	01:29:35	00:10:31	00:02:25	00:01:00	01:30:35	GrpD	1
11	15	Norm LeBlank Paul DeLeeuw	02 Subaru WRX	01:21:54	00:11:10	00:00:39	00:09:20	01:31:14	P Over	6
12	8	Mark Durley Erick Schuler	01 Ford Focus ZX3	01:36:04	00:16:00	00:04:50		01:36:04	Grp2	4
13	13	Tony Reynolds Sean McPhee	02 Mini Cooper	01:46:28	00:29:34	00:13:34	00:03:10	01:49:38	P Under	1
DNF	14	Budd Stanley Scott Martin	87 Toyota MR2					Overheated	Grp2
DNF	7	Bob Trinder Andy White	87 Toyota Corolla GTS					Off road	Grp2
DNF	9	Noah Third Jason Lane	88 VW Golf					Off road	Grp2
DNF	3	Peter Hill Dave Sharp	73 Toyota Corolla					Engine	GrpD

The Yokohama Tires
Contingency Award Program

To participate in this program, vehicles must carry the Yokohama windshield banner, which will be provided at registration, and completely cover or remove any decals of other tire companies.

· The overall event winner will receive a gift certificate for 4 Yokohama tires
- First in class will receive a gift certificate for 2 Yokohama tires

This event is sanctioned by the Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS), and is part of the Western Canadian Rally Championship. It counts for SCCA NORPAC out-of-division points.

WCRC points after 4 rounds - Provisional

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