Most
of the two day, 1000 km route between Merritt
and Kelowna was made up of icy forestry roads
covered in fresh snow. 35 teams from
BC, Alberta, Alaska, Washington, Oregon,
Utah and beyond, enjoyed challenging driving
conditions and friendly competition.
The
first sections, through Davis Lake, Otter
Valley, Hembrie Mountain and Missezula Lake,
were won by Satch Carlson, of Anchorage Alaska,
and Russ Kraushaar, of Battle Ground, Washington,
in the historic class 1969 Saab Sonett V4,
using a period Zeron rally computer. However,
they had to throw one section to fix a bent
throttle linkage, dropping them out of
contention for the win.
By
the time the crews reached Kelowna for
the end of the first leg, Fouse and Wende had
a slim 1 point lead over the Washington State
team of Gary Reid and Steve Richards, in
a brand new Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. They
were followed closely by the team of Bob
Chandler and Marc Clemmens, in a 1970 Datsun
240Z.
The
night-driving sections, north-east of Kelowna
offered a further challenge, with most teams
losing time to the leaders. By the time the
crews returned to Kelowna for a welcome
rest, the order of the top three was unchanged,
however Chandler's Datsun had lost third
gear and would retire from the event. That
moved the novice team of Sid Kendall and
Mikael Heidrich up into third place.
The
second day saw more fresh snow, and a marathon
91 km section around Trout Creek, deep enough
in places to have snow spraying up over the
bumpers of some of the cars. Nothing
could slow Fouse and Wende, though, and
they came through to the finish with a
solid lead over Richards and Reid, and
Kendall and Heidrich, for an all-Subaru
1-2-3.
Many thanks go out to all of the volunteers
who make the event possible, and to the event
sponsors, Nokian Tyres, Specialty Subaru and
Polaris Water, and to all of the teams who have
continued to support this historic event year
after year.
The
first event in next year's BC Rally Championship
is February 16-17, the 31st edition
of the Thunderbird Rally. For more
information or photographs, please see www.rallybc.com or
contact Paul Westwick paul@rallybc.com (604)
682-3296. |