Cache
Creek - The exciting sport of Performance
Rallying returns to the BC motorsports calendar
this summer. Two closed-access, high-speed
road rallies are being planned: The Mountain
Trials Rally - October 05th in Merritt,and Pacific
Forest Rally - June 08 in Merritt..Teams
from across BC, Alberta and the Pacific Northwest
will be headed to these events sanctioned by
Rally Pacific Motorsports, the BC region of
the Canadian
Association of Rallysport and part of the Western
Canada Rally Championship (6 events
in BC and Alberta) 2002
WCRC Championship Standings
The Mountain
Trials Rally has
been held in BC's southern interior off and
on since 1960. During the 1970's and
80's this event became famous as part of
the Canadian National Rally Championship.
Revived once again in 2000, the Mountain
Trials Rally will feature challenging roads
around the CacheCreek/Merritt area
to test the abilities of the rally teams
and their vehicles.
Pacific
Forest Rally is
another 70's/80's National Performance Rally
with a long BC tradition. It was revived
for 2000 and will take place around Merritt.
It was observed as a CARS National Event
and is on the 2003 CARS
National Rally Schedule.
Over the
past few years Performance Rallying has experienced
strong growth in Canada. National level rallies
attract thousands of spectators and are televised
regularly. Unlike conventional racing, rallies
are held primarily on forest access roads. Conditions
on these roads can dictate speeds from well over
200 km/h to as low as 30 km/h. Also, unlike racing,
the route remains unknown to the driver until
it is read at speed by the co-driver (navigator).
At every moment, the car, driver and co-driver
must be ready for whatever may be around the
next curve!
The Performance
Rally format consists of two parts: Special Stages
and Transit Sections. Special Stages are run
flat-out against the clock and are closed to
public traffic. Transit Sections are the routes
between Stages, in which teams must obey all
traffic laws. Plenty of time is given to allow
teams to arrive at the start of the next Special
Stage without speeding, and penalties are assessed
for arriving too early or too late. The accumulation
of times from the Special Stages and any Transit
Section penalties make up the final scores and
help to determine the winner.
If you would
like to find out more about rallying contact
the BC Rally Director, Paul Westwick, at 604.682.3296 <paul
@ rallybc.com> or check out the
BC Region website at www.rallybc.com