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This event is sanctioned by CARS and is part of the Western Canadian Rally Championship, also this event qualifies for SCCA NORPAC out-of-division points. Special Info for SCCA Competitors.

Sponsored and Supported by: Yokohama, Specialty Subaru, Western Driver , Polaris Water, Drivers Edge - OMP , Lordco - Merritt, City of Merritt, Nicola Valley Tourism Assoc, Chamber of Commerce - Merritt , Ministry of Forestry - Merritt, Ministry of Transport - Merritt, Best Western - Nicola Inn, Nicola Ranch, Railyard Mall, Nicola Valley Custom Logs Ltd, Aspen Planners Ltd, RCMP - Merritt Detachment, CJNL Radio - 1230 AM, Shaw Cable, Mandolin's Bagel & Coffeehouse

Photos: PreRun,  Dennis,  Betty, Bodo, Dave

Results

Results Summary

General Results

Stage by Stage Results

PFR Poster

Front,  Back (1+ Mb ea), Want to Volunteer?

2002 PFR Entry Form, 2002 PRR Supp Regs

Stories

Dave Sharp

2002 WCRC Championship Standings

Specialty Subaru Pacific Forest Rally
Presented by Yokohama Tires
June 7th and 8th in Merritt, BC CANADA
Round 4 of the Western Canadian Rally Championship

The results were declared final at 9:51pm, June 8, 2002, with no inquiries or protests.  The awards were presented shortly thereafter, at the Merritt Civic Centre.

Thanks are due to a large number of people and organizations.  The move to Merritt was made possible with a great deal of assistance from numerous local officials and business people, but especially from Amanda Geoffrey (Nicola Valley Tourism Association), Alan Sanders (MLA Dave Chutter's office) and Norm Brigden (Aspen Planers).  Ken Kwong and I each made at least 10 trips to Merritt this spring, meeting with officials and planning the route, and the help we received in getting introduced to the right people was invaluable.  We're looking forward to working more with Merritt for future events.

Other officials and commercial contacts that helped make this event possible were Doug Kirk, Brent McDonald and Earl Nygaard from the Ministry of Transportation, Rod Deboice, Kelly Thomas and Noelle Kekula from the Ministry of Forests, Jennifer Brodarolli and Carol Fraser from the City of Merritt, Rob Goddard from the Merritt Fire Department, Deanne Parise from Community Futures Development Centre, Robyn Cunningham from the Chamber of Commerce, Jean Arnason from the Best Western Nicola Inn, Andrew Laird from Radio CJNL, Rick Passmore from the Merritt News, Paul Varga from the Merritt Herald, Sgt Al Clark from the RCMP, David Laird from the Railyard Mall, and Patrick Miller from Milco Safety Services.

Of course, no such event can possibly take place without an army of volunteers, all of whom did sterling work beyond the call of duty.  We didn't tell them that they would have to clear fallen trees!  They are all listed on the following pages.  I want to pay special tribute to the radio network. It was an absolute treat to sit with Dallas, Ardith and Nora at net control, tracking each team's progress through every stage.  We heard the drama of the event as it unfolded, from the fallen tree right through to the rally leader sputtering to a halt and then rolling backwards towards the spectator marshals.

One challenging and often thankless job is scrutineering, and Andrew and Gary certainly raised the bar in terms of thoroughness and attention to detail. CARS encourages scrutineers to be proactive in trying to solve eligibility questions at tech, rather than waiting for competitors to lodge protests against eachother.  This is why every turbo car's inlet restrictor is checked or sealed at every event.  It takes time, but everyone benefits from the knowledge that the playing field is level, and Andrew and Gary deserve our sincere appreciation for making it so.  They also brought to light some interesting inconsistencies in how our current driving suit regulation has been applied until now.  Oh yes, and we have now been promised an indoor scrutineering facility for next year's event!

Last but not least, I need to thank the competitors for supporting this event.  We are in a difficult part of the schedule, between the two national events in Alberta and the divisional events in Washington, and it was good to see so many teams making the journey.  Congratulations to you all, and we look forward to seeing you at Mountain Trials in October.

Paul Westwick
PFR Coordinator

Notes:

• For the purpose of awards, Group 2 and Dinosaur were combined.  For the purpose of points in the Western Canada Rally Championship, they are still scored separately

• Although Peter Hill was first in G2/Dinosaur, he opted out of the Yokohama contingency due to a conflicting tire sponsor.  The organizers therefore exchanged the awards between first and second place in that class.

• The cash award for second overall was donated back by Janice Damitio for a random draw for the workers, which was won by Tony Latham

Thanks to all of the event sponsors for prizes and other support: Yokohama Tires, Specialty Subaru, Western Driver Magazine, Polaris Water, OMP Driver's Edge, Merritt Lordco, Wilkinson's Automobilia, Railyard Mall, and Mandolin's Cafe.  Thanks also to the staff at the Merritt Civic Centre for the banquet location, and to Ron Froelich and ABC Restaurant for the catering.

Year 2003 Sponsors

Drivers Edge Autosport