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Thanks to: "Mark Nolte" <mnolte@uswest.net>
for Steve and Ron's articles
- Steve
Ricards - Wishbone
Alley Gazette - December, 2001 - Rainier
Auto Sports Club
- Ron
Sorem -
Wishbone Alley Gazette - December, 2001
- Rainier
Auto Sports Club
- Roy
Lima
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TOTEM
2001, By S. Richards P,
R, N, D, one, two, three
P, R, N, D, one, two, three
D to R and woe is me.
This was to be the first rally
in my new Subaru Outback Sport and first rally
ever with an automatic. The
D to R scenario was certainly in the back of
my mind throughout the event but the one time
we needed the R in a hurry, I couldn't find it.
My navigator, Gary Reid, gave me plenty of warning
for the upcoming acute right, "very tight," he
said, and when I couldn't negotiate it cleanly
and when it was much too late for a handbrake
turn, my only option was to back and fill.
My praises of the neatly gated gear selector
lever on the Sube turned to curses as it took
me an agonizing 10 seconds to find the reverse
slot.
The Totem has traditionally
been an all-gravel rally but, due to conflicts
with other events, has been held in late November
for the past two years. The weather can take many turns
in BC this time of year, especially as far north
as Merritt, the starting point. I had two sets
of tires from which to choose. The unstudded
Cooper Weathermaster S/T, which I bought for
gravel use and the studded Hakkapeliitta 10s. I
wanted to save the Hakkas for the Thunderbird
in February, but a last minute change in the
weather up north, prompted me to go with them
for Totem. This turned out to be the
best choice by far.
There was an unbelievable amount
of snow covering about 90% of the regularity
sections. Only
a week before, Route Master Paul Westwick said
that most of the route was bare gravel with a
bit of ice on some of the higher sections. But
for the weekend of the rally, cnn.com/weather
was indicating subfreezing temperatures overnight
with snow.
As usual, the speeds were very
brisk. In
some places we were making fresh tracks in eight
inches of fresh snow and in other places two
or three inches of snow was covering solid ice. On
several occasions while on steep downhill sections
with hairpins I was sure we weren't going to
make it but with the anti-skid thumping away
we somehow got around the corner. Finally I got
to find out what left foot braking is all about. I
was never quite coordinated enough to pull
it off with a standard transmission.
Gary and I have run numerous
Totem Rallies in my '82 Toyota Starlet with
varying success. The lack of power in that
car prompted me to try to run early most of
the time as the crafty Canadians are wont to
put the controls at the top of unclimbable
hill climbs or at the end of a series of unstraightenable
hairpins. With 165 hp, however, the Outback
has enough power to make up a 20 second deficit
in fairly short order.
Unfortunately I was mentally
still driving the Starlet and, as Gary felt
obliged to point out at the end of the rally,
I had collected three times as many early points
as late. It
was just such a thrill to be capable of being
early for once.
Nevertheless we kept the car
on the road and solidly in second place to
John Fouse and Dennis Wende in John's Subaru
SVX after the first ten hours on day 1. On Sunday, my early syndrome
continued to haunt me while John and Dennis turned
in a remarkable 17 score for all of Sunday. They
finished first overall, first computer with 65
points (with unstudded Hakkas no less); Gary
and I hung on to second overall / first in calculator
class with 106 points. Special note:
The third place finishers, Novice class Subaru
2.5RS of Sid Kendall and Mikael Heidrich with
195 points and running only the stock odometer.
Definitely a team to watch in the future.
A few other entries of note
among the 35 starters were Bob Chandler and
Mark Clemmons in Bob's ancient and tired old
240Z. They were solidly
in third, nipping at our heels Saturday night
but had lost 3rd gear late in the day and decided
not to start Sunday. Roy Lima and John
Rapson in Roy's Subaru Legacy Turbo had many
offs and much difficulty maintaining the speeds
due to choosing to run on gravel stage rally
tires -which were not much better than slicks,
according to Roy. They decided to work
checkpoints on Sunday. Satch Carlson and
Russ Kraushaar probably would have won it all
in Satch's SAAB Sonnet II V4, consistently turning
in some incredibly low scores, but suffered a
broken throttle linkage on Saturday and missed
a section as a result. They ended up
3rd Historic and 12th over-all.
The Totem and Thunderbird are
two rallies I look forward to every year and
again I was not disappointed at this years
Totem. The challenging
and well run events, friendly organizers and
diehard checkpoint crews make these must-make
events. We're now eagerly looking forward
to Thunderbird in February. |
2001
Totem Rally by Ron Sorem -
Merritt, BC. November 24 & 25,
2001.
Ken Kwong is conducting the Novice meeting and
unfortunately I'm not paying close enough attention; after
all, it is the Novice Meeting. Ken has
asked the veterans in the crowd to impart some
words of wisdom on the neophytes and I distinctly
hear several phrases along the lines of "stay
on the road, stay on course, and then stay on
time" Excellent advice to all.
Then there
was the admonition to be really prepared for
the weather, surviving a BC Winter Rally, the
eventuality that you may go off and have to wait
quite some time for help. Have
water, juice, food, warm clothing, and something
to start a fire. "Start a FIRE" ??? He
suggests buying a local paper and a lighter or
matches. Good advice- too bad we didn't
heed it. Rally Master Paul Westwick directs the
Driver's Meeting with further comments from experienced
BC Winter drivers: "First you have
to finish; Stay on the course, Then worry about
your score" Seems to be a recurring
theme here. Well, we tried, but we didn't
succeed.
We passed tech with the RX but we were
still plagued by a small coolant leak. The
first car is out and we are car two. Time
to go. The first transit is 39km out to
Brookmere Road. We hit the cattle guard
in a cloud of steam, and zero the odo. The
steam seems to have come from coolant puddled
up somewhere and falling out onto the exhaust.
Still unable to
find the leak, even with a crowd of onlookers
and varying suggestions. I'm
guessing it is the weep hole in the water pump.
We're running
in Calculator this event, instead of Paper, and the AlfaPRO
is working great. We
have it set for km's and it's cranking out
to three decimal places- right on.
The first
Regularity is Highway 5 to Tulameen via Boss
Davis Lakes and Otter Valley. After
starting late we take a 19, then three 0's, a
1, and a 0 into Princeton. Third in class. We're
feeling really good about the change in class
and it looks as though the coolant leak has lessened
to a cup of antifreeze every 100km. It'll
hold, I hope.
The second Regularity starts at
Hembrie Mountain Road and is to go through
to Missezula Lake. Then
Kentucky-Alleyne Park, Sunset (with a caution
at the start: "Very Icy"), Westbank,
Beaver Lake, Big White Ski Area, and McCulloch. We
start our portion of this Regularity with the
verbal instruction from sweep that there
has been fresh snowfall, with no traffic, at
about 14km. The distance is about right and the
Subaru SVX in front of us is plowing snow with
the belly pan. The road is just an outline
with only John Fouse's tracks to follow. We're
7 late at the first control, zero at the second,
and 6 late at the third. Not too bad! The
Hakkapelliitas are holding well. We are third
in class by only 5 seconds. We are right
on time at the CG at 30.34km, then at 32.296km
we missed a corner and found a rock.
The road
was about a 1km straight, rolling downhill. The
corner was flat to off-camber and in the sun. Absolutely
sheer ice, with fresh snow covering it. I
braked early from 68km/h (42.3mph), maybe as
low as 30km/h, turned the wheel- car continued
straight! Brake. Power. Left
foot brake and power. Sawing at the steering
wheel but just no contact with the road surface.
2:30PM. Tracks show the rear end was starting
to come around, just not soon enough. (We just
have to convert to a rear E-brake!) Car
1 had made it OK, we were car 2 and after dinner
Saturday night several competitors said our triangles
probably saved them from the same fate on that
corner. We could hear them slowing, tires
skid, recover, and proceed very slowly around
the corner.
This now became the Primeval Rally,
the Survival Rally--
While we are now stopped,
high centered on a four-foot diameter rock
under the radiator, both front tires hanging
in air, and a three-foot rock holding the driver's
door shut. We
have ample time to look at Vinson Lake, not too
far further off our front bumper, and listen
to the geese. The only other sound is the
occasional rally car continuing past. It
seems like there are substantially fewer than
the 35 starters. Sweep confirms our guess. There
are quite a few "offs" behind us, and
the extrications have put sweep very late. The
tow strap is out and a couple of tugs only succeed
in shining up more of the corner as all four
wheels of the truck spin in vain. They
said second sweep was only about 15 minutes behind.
Forty-five minutes later a caravan of 4x4's and
rally cars show up. All the cameras come
out to document the recovery. We position
one truck down the road to keep us from rolling
over left, and one truck straight back to pull
us up and out. Five minutes talking it
through and a minute and a half later we're on
the road. Unfortunately it is deemed too
dangerous to tow us out to the highway, or Kelowna. What
was it they said at the Novice meeting?
4:00PM. Our recovery has the road blocked
and a logging crew behind us offers to call for
a tow truck. 40km from Merritt, 12km into
the woods. Should take a little over an hour. It
is getting dark quickly. We can't find
any matches so we borrow a lighter from Ken. They
leave- asking a dozen times if we'll be OK here. Five
minutes later we have a warming fire growing,
in a copse of trees near the road. We watch
the moon rise over the trees and try to gather
more dry firewood. Do you know how to start
a fire without paper, in the snow, with wet wood? If
you plan on a BC Winter Rally, you should learn. Also
learn what to take as a survival kit, overnight,
snow, below freezing.
Only one car passes, doesn't
even come to a full stop. 6:00PM, the tow arrives. He'd
been stuck twice on the way up the hill to get
us. The driver says he'd prefer to disconnect
the driveline rather than to dolly the car, so
while I do that, Josh douses the fire. We're
all hooked up and ready to go. Only four
hours, could have been a lot worse. We've
been told that there is a Subaru dealer in Kelowna
so we tow there, drop the car, and arrive at
the MTC at the hotel in time to check in, two-minutes-early.
The
initial plan was to see if Subaru could pull
out the front air dam and sheet metal, replace
the radiator and fan, within a day or so. Plan
B was discussed at length at the pub during the
Blue-Gray game, and evolved into trailering the
car home. Fixing it at leisure with existing
spare parts.
Monday morning we called Subaru
to explain why they had a wrecked rally car,
and found the parts manager was an ex-FIA rallyist,
very interested in our plight, the rally, and
as to who had participated. Finally,
a call to the rental people. We have to
go to Penticton to get a "one-way rental
to the States". Down and back to Anthony
Subaru. The ex-rally guy helps us load
up.
We're headed for the border-the long way. To
avoid bad weather on the Coquihalla and 97C,
we choose 97 South, Wenatchee and Snoqualmie
Pass. This was an hour or so longer, but
the Border took about two minutes, so we figured
it was about even, and on dry roads!
We had a
great start, the middle wasn't as planned,
and the experience in the snowy woods was quite
the little adventure! Even with the adversities
we had a great time. And we came away with
a new list of things to take along on BC Winter
Rallies.
By the way, pay attention at the Driver's Meetings
Subaru RX
Rally Team
10835 SE 170th Street, Renton,
WA 98055 ronsorem@hotmail.com
(Editor's Note: Brian Palidar's Sirocco went off so bad that
it wasn't worth hauling back to the States.)
|
Totem
2001 by Roy Lima
It all started with numbers.
I tend to be as prepared as I can for most things
I do, so as not to get any nasty surprises that
life may throw my way. So with this in mind a
week before Totem I contacted the organizers
for road conditions as this year's event was
scheduled later in the year than normal.
The conditions given were 90% gravel and 15%
ice. Ahem … "That doesn't add to 100%",
I thought. This should have served as clue #1.
The day before leaving I stood in front of the
different sets of tires and thought "90% gravel,
I'll use the Legacy's AWD system to carry me
through the 15% icy sections, no problem".
Friday
afternoon with the car all checked out and competition
rally tires in the trunk I crossed on the ferry
and picked up John, my navigator to our uneventful
trip to the start in Merritt. Once checked into
the hotel the street tires were replaced with
the precious rally tires because as you know,
there was 90% of competition gravel roads ahead
of us.
The next morning having to worry only
about having breakfast and teching the car, I
noticed everyone else had winter-type tires on
either with or without studs. This should have
served as clue #2. No matter. I had "nice rally tires
on pretty wheels" to quote my daughter before
I left home. After John was more or less satisfied
he had enough time calculations done we headed
out on our odo section to the first stage. Davis
Lake was no problem and the day looked great
with the odd blue patch of sky showing up.
Stage
4, Sunset. Just as car #1 was about to leave
some hunters in a 4X4 ask if we've seen any deer. "Ahem, no we're not after deer, but
if we see any you'll be the first to know" I
said. Off they went followed by car #1 shortly
thereafter. Our out-time come up and we started
out great. Yes, nice gravel roads. Tires are
biting pretty good until about 6 kilometers into
the stage where an open patch on the trees allowed
a small deposit of 2 inch-deep snow. Suddenly
my left foot breaking technique decided to take
a holiday as the car severely understeered on
an easy left-hander. We made a quick tour to
the rim of the ditch, a bit of power and we were
away. "What the hell was that?" I said to John. "I
wasn't even going that fast". A few kilometers
along we met the first casualty. Car #2, the
Sorem's Subaru was off into a slight incline.
A definite sweep candidate, one of the four available
in this event. From this moment on we were "riding
the rails" so-to-speak, as I was finding what
traction I could by riding shoulders and cutting
any apexes. A bit of a straight comes up, give
it a little power, suddenly we're doing a 360
in the middle of the road. Ok, let's take a deep
breath and try again. Another easy left hander
comes up and there we go again. Around and around
we go. This time we do about a 540 coming to
rest on top of the 12 foot embankment. High-centered,
there we stayed as all, yes all other competitors
passed us, until the hunters come by. "Hey have
you seen any deer?" they ask. "Ahem, no we still
haven't see any deer, but if we move from here
I'll look for some" I said. Well, just a little
yank from their truck did the trick and we were
free. "Don't forget to look for deer",
said the driver. "You bet, as soon as I take
my eye off the icy road I'll try and spot one
for you", I said. A few more kilometers along
we came to a downhill left hander with a goat
trail going straight. John calls for a keep left. "That's
a left Roy" John said. "Yes, I know, see the
wheel turn that way?" as the car went straight
up the trail. Well, another 32 more kilometers
of this. No problem. Car #4 passes us and I gun
it after him. Ooops, another 360, and I mean
right there!!! We sure practiced our "being passed
maneuver" as we just could not keep up to speed.
There goes car #5 and a wave … car #6
and another wave and so on. As we descend the
snow disappears and the tires start biting into
the road like a pit bull to your butt. Great
adhesion, but alas at the end of the stage we
were 35 minutes behind.
We were 19 kilometers away from the
start of the next stage, Bear Lake, on the other
side of Kelowna and we had about 12 minutes to
do it. We inconspicuously traveled through Westbank
and Kelowna with their 23 traffic lights and
numerous, shinny gas stations and made it to
the start of the stage one minute down. A quick
reset of the odometer and we were off as the
other competitors looked on. Shortly after we
pass car #4. Shortly after we start gaining altitude.
Shortly after we start visiting the ditches.
Shortly after car #4 passes us … wave.
Car #5, wave. I was having a bad case of "deja-vous" … sigh ….
Well, another 68 kilometer stage. No problem.
Behind us we see lights coming up on us as the
car decides to go on another unauthorized ride. "Its
ok John, I think we can make it". The car starts
turning towards the only snow bank I remember
seeing. The rear lightly bounces off of it and
we keep turning into another 360. Without losing
a beat we keep going downhill. Wow, 28 minutes
down before that "moment" and we're still 28
minutes down. The end of the stage came shortly
thereafter. I looked at the gas gauge as I noticed
it was hovering just over empty. I guess we should
have stopped in one of those nice shinny gas
stations. We made the decision to cancel the
last 2 stages as we knew we could not make another
55 kilometers of stages and transits, so off
we went to an early meal at the hotel.
Day 2 presented the same type of roads and this
time I took this as a real good clue and
decided to serve as checkpoint control for the
rest of the event. This was ok too as John and
I discussed the pros and cons of British comedy
and tried to solve other world problems. Needless
to say we were not contenders in this event,
but we did encounter certain situations we usually
don't find ourselves in. Being a rally event
I will have to say that it was still fun, as
I find any event fun. As usual Paul Westwick's
usually leaves something for competitors
to remember and this year's Totem was no exception.
Just one thing though, I have to remember that
90 + 15 is more than 100. Something just didn't
add up. But it's ok because at least I had
pretty wheels.
Roy Lima |
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