Alcan RallyLog

Revised Final Scores

Final, final scores have been posted on the official Alcan Winter Rally website. There were rumors at the awards ceremony in Anchorage of a tiny math error in the calculation of the scores for the last day of the rally. Now that the hardworking scoring team has had a chance to drive themselves home to California they have corrected these errors and posted the final version.

Scores for a number of cars (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 16) were corrected, mostly for the better. Only one correction affected overall finish position--TeamD car #7 edged out Challenge Driving car #2 by 0.3 points for the fifth place title.

Full scores are available below or on the Alcan Winter Rally website.

The Beaver Creek Pad

Our first day out of Anchorage and we're in Beaver Creek, Yukon, barely one mile into Canada. Oddly the Canadian customs agent stamped our passports. In all the times I've entered Canada they've never stamped it.

But the coolest thing about Beaver Creek is that we totally lucked out on a place to stay. We called and stopped at the 1202 Motor Inn which is one of only a few structures in Beaver Creek. After telling him we needed three rooms with two bed each he said "how about a house?" He took us outside and pointed to the stairs at the end of the porch and said to take a look, "it's nice and I'll make you a good deal."

We ended up with two ajoining apartments that run the full length of the log cabin that is the restaurant and store below. We have four king beds, a queen, and two twins. Three bathrooms, two sitting areas with satellite TV and two nicely equipped kitchens. All for $130 Canadian! It is an awesome setup.

Spreading The Rally Word

Before leaving Anchorage, Eric answered questions from throngs of curious citizens. They were very interested in TeamD and all the cool technology in our sharp looking rally car.

Heading Home

We've eaten and packed here at the Millenium Hotel in Anchorage. TeamD is heading out for some quick sight seeing and gift buying before hitting the road again for the 2500 mile drive home. All three cars are traveling home together by way of the Cassiar Highway and hope to be home Monday. Along the way we'll get to enjoy a bit more scenery and who knows, if there's time we'll stop back at Barnes Lake in British Columbia for one last go at an ice covered lake.

Thanks to everyone for their comments and support during the rally. We appreciated the feedback and hope you enjoyed our coverage. After we get home we'll finalize our stories, post our pictures, analyse our GPS data and wrap up our coverage of the 2004 Alcan Winter Rally.

The Awards -- Final Scores

We knew this was going to be a tough finish. Going into the last day, finish positions third through sixth were up in the air, spread across only four points. Being so close it would be anybodys guess.

The final ice race was very fun but Paul Eklund was so much faster than everybody that all cars got the 10 point maximum penalty. That was somewhat of a relief for Eric and Steve since they find the ice racing most challenging. With everybody getting a max score it meant that the ice racing would not impact their position. Eric was third fastest on his first run at the ice race and had the 'prettiest' run, doing a perfect controlled slide around the spectator end.

Results were kept secret until the award banquet and the results were announced. Eric and Steve finished 2nd in class I and 6th overall. Their hopes of a final-day victory were dashed. Jim and Dan finished 3rd in class I and 8th overall, quite happy after their trouble with the WRX alternator. Rob and Nick finished third in class III and 9th overall. Rob and Nick relished their three victories in the non-studded tire class at all ice racing venues.

TeamD took second place in the team trophy competition. Subaru Challenge Driving took the trophy home. Third place team was Mitsubishi (car 5, 8, and 13). Contrary to earlier reporting, BMW was not declared as a team, lacking a rookie car.

Here are the full results as presented at the awards banquet:

NOTE: THESE HAVE BEEN SUPERCEDED

 1.   Car #1   Ahearns, Schneider, Webb (class II) with 47.5 points
 2.   Car #3   Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar (class II) with 56 points
 3.   Car #4   Eklund, Rounds, Reid, (class III) 76.2 points
 4.   Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, (class I) 82.3 points
 5.   Car #2   Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, (class II) 85.7 points
 6.   Car #7   Horst, Willey (class I) with 87.4 points
 7.   Car #8   Bornhop, Kott, (class III) 242 points
 8.   Car #11 Hogan, Comden with (class I) 392.1 points
 9.   Car #6   Dunn, Marcuse, (class III) 465.5 points
10.  Car #9   Wright, Fuhrman, (class II) 724 points
11.  Car #16 Brown, Morris, (class I) 751.1 points
12.  Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, (class III) 1024.3 points
13.  Car #5   Elder, Elder, (class III) 1275 points
14.  Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class
DNF  Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood (class II) with 1336 points (donated parts to car #3)
DNF  Car #13 Gilland, Boyd (class II) with 1602 points (engine failure)

Down to the Line -- Day 8 Scores

Day 8 is the home stretch to the finish of the Alcan Winter Rally. There were only two timed sections today and there will be two tomorrow. Compared with the early days of the rally there is little opportunity to regain losses. But the chance still exists to make your score way worse.

At this point, going in to day 9, TeamD stands as follows: Eric and Steve in BMW 325iX #7 are 2nd in class I and 5th overall. Jim and Dan in their Subaru WRX are 3rd in class I and 8th overall. Rob and Nick driving the Mazda 323 GTX are 3rd in class III and 9th overall. Wish us luck on Day 9, the final day of the Alcan Winter Rally.

Full scores and a little more discussion follows...

There is tight contention between car #1 and car #3 for first overall. For third through sixth places it is still very, very tight--those cars are spread over four points.

 1.   Car #1   Ahearns, Schneider, Webb (class II) with 34.6 points
 2.   Car #3   Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar (class II) with 41 points
 3.   Car #4   Eklund, Rounds, Reid, (class III) 67.2 points
 4.   Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, (class I) 68.3 points
 5.   Car #7   Horst, Willey (class I) with 72.4 points
 6.   Car #2   Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, (class II) 72.7 points
 7.   Car #8   Bornhop, Kott, (class III) 209 points
 8.   Car #11 Hogan, Comden with (class I) 372.1 points
 9.   Car #6   Dunn, Marcuse, (class III) 234.5 points
10.  Car #9   Wright, Fuhrman, (class II) 688 points
11.  Car #16 Brown, Morris, (class I) 372.1 points
12.  Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood (class II) with 926 points
13.  Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, (class III) 945.3 points
14.  Car #5   Elder, Elder, (class III) 1053 points
15.  Car #13 Gilland, Boyd (class II) with 1392 points
16.  Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class

Car #12 was damaged and then damaged worse by a tow truck operator leaving it unreparable in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Car #13 rolled over off the road and returned to the road briefly before having it's engine seize up due to complications from the roll. It is going to stay in Carmacks, Yukon until summer when Gilland and Boyd make another vacation of coming up to repair and drive it home.

Updates and scores for Day 7

We are at the end of Day 7 of the Alcan Winter Rally. We spent days five and six testing the endurance of ourselves and our vehicles by driving North from Dawson City 500 miles to Inuvik. After turning North at the junction onto the Dempster Highway it is about 230 miles of completely uninhabited snow covered valleys, hills and mountains until you reach Eagle Plains, a lone self-sufficient outpost that provides the only gas on this road. Leaving Eagle Plains going North it's another 250 miles to reach Inuvik. You don't want trouble on that road.

Trouble struck TeamD car #11, Jim Hogan and Dan Comden had their Subaru WRX alternator fail only 13 miles up the road. Eric and Steve in the BMW and Rob and Nick in the Mazda 323 escorted the WRX back to town where it was left while Jim and Dan were hauled North as passengers. We could not leave them to miss the most adventurous part of the trip. They got to see the scenery but not getting their vehicle to Inuvik cost them a 200 point penalty.

The next adventure was the round trip drive up the Mackenzie River and across the Arctic Ocean to Tuktoyaktuk, 112 miles each way. Only 26 miles into that drive Rob and Nick hit a large crack in the ice and popped both tires on the right side. Eric and Steve helped them change the tire and sent them back to town. The missed out on reaching Tuktoyaktuk but were able to find replacement tires in Inuvik. They received a 10 point penalty for not
reaching the end of this drive. Jim and Dan also got nicked 10 points for the Tuk trip too.

Happily the bad luck did not strike Eric and Steve and they were able to get all the way upthe road to Inuvik and to Tuktoyaktuk.

car #13 made it all the way to Tuktoyaktuk and unfortunately on the way back down the Dempster Highway accidentally rolled off the road onto their roof when an oncoming semi-truck passed them. With the aid of the sweep truck they got back on the road but being upside down upset the engine and within a short time it completely seized up. They left their broken MitsubishiMontero in Carmacks, Yukon. A friendly person in the town said they could leave it until spring.

R. Dale Kraushaar of car number two, has been fighting the flu for a few days. He finally got in to see a doctor in Whitehorse after coming back down from Inuvik. The doctor reportedly ordered him to bed and so R. Dale sent his team on while he will spend the next three or four days recovering at the High Country Inn in Whitehorse.

Other than penalties for not reaching the Northern towns there were no scored TSD sections on days five or six. The two days without timed sections gave the scoring committee time to catch up and finalize scores for the first four days of the rally. Today, Day 7 we had one timed TSD section and that is reflected in the scores below.

 1. Car #1  Ahearns, Schneider, Webb with 31.6 points

 2. Car #3  Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar  with 35 points

 3. Car #4  Eklund, Rounds, Reid, 61.2 points

 4. Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, 63.3 points

 5. Car #7  Horst, Willey with 67.4 points

 6. Car #2  Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, 69.7 points

 7. Car #8  Bornhop, Kott,  180 points

 8. Car #11 Hogan, Comden with 367.1 points

 9. Car #6  Dunn, Marcuse, 419.5 points

10. Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood with 516 points

11. Car #9  Wright, Fuhrman, 662 points

12. Car #16 Brown, Morris, 677.1 points

13. Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, 913.3 points

14. Car #5  Elder, Elder, 938 points

15. Car #13 Gilland, Boyd with 982 points

16. Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class

We've been at hotels with only a single phone for the last few days. More serious web updates Wednesday night.

Disaster strikes TeamD

Jim and Dan's WRX lost alternator power a scant 13 miles up the Dempster highway dashing their hopes of piloting it to the Arctic Ocean. Thankfully it chose that point only 13 miles of the 500 mile drive. The full team returned to Dawson City, we parked the WRX at the El Dorado Hotel and put Dan and Jim into the Mazda 323 and BMW 325iX. We will haul Dan and Jim North to complete the mission. We are two hours behind schedule and are back on the road to Inuvik. More on events when we arrive in Inuvik tonight.

Ice and Snow and Day 4 Scores

After three and a half rally days of temperatures around 40F the cold Alcan Rally weather finally arrived today. We have ice and snow at 3 degrees farhenheit and fresh scores on hand! Today we had only one TSD section and our second ice race but changes were dramatic. First, the TeamD news of course...

At the ice race on Fish Lake (a fabulous temporary venue constructed by Porsche as a destination for journalists to test drive the Porsche Cayenne) Eric threw his BMW 325iX around the 0.7 mile course third fastest, behind only the Subaru Baja Turbo #2 driven by hotshoe Jake Engstrom and the Subaru WRX STi #10 piloted by Greg Hightower. Not bad for a 16 year old bimmer with 240,000 miles. It is A testament to the strength and longevity of the BMW 325iX that it stands up to the shiny new technology. Oh, not to mention that it was faster than all three new BMW X3's.

Rob Dunn was "going for smoothness" and handily drove his trusty Mazda 323 GTX to victory in the non-studded tire group at the ice race beating both brand new Mitsubishi Lancer EVO's. Are his Hakkapellitta Q snow tires better than the Blizzaks on the EVO's? Is he just 'smooth'? Whatever it is he got the job done.

Dan and Jim didn't hit their marks on the ice course and took the maximum 10 point penalty but Jim gets congratulations for confidently getting back in the saddle after cramming his Subaru WRX into the snowbank on the outside of the super slick hairpin that sat at the far end of the track.

The TSD gave all the teams a smattering of points and TeamD didn't make major gains or take major losses during the TSD section.

The most dramatic effect today came from the score reductions each team got as they get to throw out their worst single checkpoint score from days 2, 3 or 4. That scoring benefit shaved 35 points from Eric and Steve, 169 points from Jim and Dan and 188 points from Rob and Nick.

So...overall. Eric and Steve move back up two postions to fifth overall and to first in class. Jim and Dan move up one position to 8th overall and hold at 3rd in class. Rob and Nick stay firm at 3rd in class and 10th overall. TeamD is still second team in the race for the team trophy but the gap is now very small between us and Team Challenge Driving.

Here are the full scores. Note the changes again in the top contenders. Car #4, running with no rally computer have moved into third overall. Very impressive.

1.   Car #1  Ahearns, Schneider, Webb (class II) with 31.5 points
2.   Car #3  Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar (class II) with 35 points
3.   Car #4  Eklund, Rounds, Reid, (class III) 55.2 points
4.   Car #2  Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, (class II) 69.7 points (Best overall studded tire at ice race)
5.   Car #7  Horst, Willey (class I) with 73.4 points
6.   Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, (class I) 82.3 points
7.   Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood (class II) with 102 points
8.   Car #11 Hogan, Comden with (class I) 135.1 points
9.   Car #8   Bornhop, Kott, (class III) 177 points
10. Car #6   Dunn, Marcuse, (class III) 234.5 points (best overall unstudded tire at ice race)
11. Car #9   Wright, Fuhrman, (class II) 521 points
12. Car #16 Brown, Morris, (class I) 574.1 points
13. Car #13 Gilland, Boyd (class II) with 592 points
14. Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, (class III) 816.3 points
15. Car #5   Elder, Elder, (class III) 847 points
16. Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class

Oh, and this last note for Amanda: Jake says "I actually have a slight buzz". He had wine with dinner. Says you'll never believe it.

The Ups and Downs-Day 3 Scores

Hello, Eric here reporting on day 3. We overslept this morning. Steve and I got up at 5:25, about an hour later than planned and only 35 minutes before our scheduled start time. The day started off bad for us, the famous Alcan hillclimb was about three miles into the first timed TSD section. It looked fine until we found ourselves behind a semi truck with long low-boy trailer and had to follow it through the three switchbacks of the hillclimb. We took a 35 point penalty at the top of the climb. I was not happy. But if you drive for 16 hours and put about 800 miles in, those problems become distant memories.

TeamD slipped a bit today. Eric and Steve's hillclimb fun moved them back to second in class. They are 4.5 points behind first in class. They slipped from 5th to 7th place. Dan got stuck with some of their major points from yesterday, they are still third in class and 9th overall. Nick and Rob are hanging in there, third in their class and 10th overall.

Read on for more details and full standings...

On day four we get to drop the worst single checkpoint score of the first four days. These scores do not reflect those deductions so they may change radically tomorrow.

1.   Car #3  Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar with 27.7points
2.   Car #1  Ahearns, Schneider, Webb with 33.9 points
3.   Car #2  Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, 37.7 points
4.   Car #4  Eklund, Rounds, Reid, 49 points
5.   Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood with 76 points
6.   Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, 96.1 points
7.   Car #7  Horst, Willey with 101 points
8.   Car #8   Bornhop, Kott, 150 points
9.   Car #11 Hogan, Comden with 286.1 points
10. Car #6   Dunn, Marcuse, 385.5 points
11. Car #9   Wright, Fuhrman, 706 points
12. Car #16 Brown, Morris, 709.1 points
13. Car #13 Gilland, Boyd with 747 points
14. Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, 808.3 points
15. Car #5   Elder, Elder, 837 points
16. Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class

Exclusive Day 2 Scores!

Sometimes it pays to stay up way, way too late. We have to get up at 4:30 AM for Day 3 and I'm still up sharing the internet connection with Satch Carlson at 12:25AM. But as we sat the Day 2 provisional scores arrived in our hands. The results improve my mood considerably.

The TeamD summary is that Eric and Steve move the BMW to first in class and fifth overall. This despite taking max points at Gold Pan Speedway and ruining a tire and some bodywork. Eric and Steve were also the only team to score zero points on the controversial Do-It-Yourself TSD section late in the evening.

Nick and Rob make waves in their lowly Mazda 323, taking only 4.5 points in the unstudded tire group at the Gold Pan ice race. This means they were only 4.5 seconds slower on their two runs than a high-performance Mitsubishi Lancer EVO driven by a professional driver!

Both Jim/Dan and Rob/Nick have outstanding queries in to the scoring committee about confusion at the DIY section and until those are resolved they stand with max scores of 200 points for that section, making their day two scores abnormally high.

Top positions have all changed around, read on for full scores:

1.   Car #3  Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar with 24.7 points
2.   Car #2  Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, 28.6 points
3.   Car #1  Ahearns, Schneider, Webb with 30.9 points
4.   Car #4  Eklund, Rounds, Reid, 38 points
5.   Car #7  Horst, Willey with 54 points
6.   Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood with 59 points
7.   Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, 71.1points
8.   Car #8   Bornhop, Kott, 116 points
9.   Car #11 Hogan, Comden with 259.1 points
10. Car #6   Dunn, Marcuse, 317.5 points
11. Car #9   Wright, Fuhrman, 378 points (got a flat and accidentally discharged fire extinguisher in their car!)
12. Car #5   Elder, Elder, 481 points
13. Car #16 Brown, Morris, 499.1 points
14. Car #13 Gilland, Boyd with 627 points
15. Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, 644.3 points
16. Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class (raced on the ice track with his trailer!)

The TeamD Heros of Gold Pan

Cold, Hard Truth--Scores for Day1

It pains me to be the one to say that TeamD got off to a rocky start today on day one of the Alcan Winter Rally. After an easy day of rally Eric and Steve are standing second in class with a score of 23. Dan and Jim are third in class with 34. Rob and Nick are fourth in their class with a score of 84. But overall those scores make us a little sad.

Read on for more detail including full standings.

Rob and Nick in car number six have the best excuse, they missed a turn on the first scored TSD second and went a long way down the road before realizing that they had made a mistake. They retraced their steps and recovered.

Eric and Steve suffered navigator trouble. A miscalculated odometer calibration factor had them running about eight seconds off for the first scored section. They got that corrected but not before collecting poor scores at two checkpoints. They didn't completely ruin themselves being only 13 points out of first in their class, but they have no room for further mistakes.

Dan and Jim have good technique, scoring well early in the day but are still trying to understand where they gained points later in the day. They'll get that pinned down tomorrow for sure!

In the run for the team trophy TeamD is in third place behind Team Challenge Driving holding second place and Team BMW lands in first place. The team trophy placement is calculated based on the average of each cars position in their respective class.

All is not lost, we're still holding strong, headed into our first ice race in the morning and two scored TSD sections in the afternoon.

Overall standings:

1.   Car #1  Ahearns, Schneider, Webb with 3 points
2.   Car #3  Carlson, Joy, Kraushaar with 6 points
3.   Car #2  Kraushaar, Engstrom, Richardson, 8 points
4.   Car #4  Eklund, Rounds, Reid, tied with 10 points
4.   Car #10 Wallace, Hightower, Carozza, 10 points
6.   Car #12 Miller, Duchene, Wood with 13 points
7.   Car #7  Horst, Willey with 23 points
8.   Car #11 Hogan, Comden with 34 points
9.   Car #8   Bornhop, Kott, 53 points
10. Car #5   Elder, Elder, 71 points
11. Car #6   Dunn, Marcuse, 86 points
12. Car #9   Wright, Fuhrman, 128 points
13. Car #13 Gilland, Boyd with 217 points
14. Car #16 Brown, Morris, 259 points
15. Car #14 Weaver, Weaver, 340 points
16. Car #15 von Richthofen, Touring Class

We're leaving when?

For some reason my head is pounding. Could it be that it is now 1:00AM, the day the Alcan Rally starts and I'm still up packing? That I ate way too many cookies at registration today and at the Alcan reception tonight? That I'm grinding my brain trying to think of what I've forgotten?

The out of town teams have it easy. They went through this already. They left home days ago. They already know what they forgot and bought new. They are sleeping soundly dreaming of ice and snow and second place trophies. I'm awake, yet dreaming of sleep and starting the rally rested. Such sweet thoughts those are...

How is this Rally Scored?

One of the common questions I get when telling people about the Alcan Winter Rally and Time Speed Distance (TSD) rallying is how the rally and scoring works. I'll try to give a brief overview.

First, and foremost the Alcan Winter Rally and other TSD touring rallies that we do are held on open public roads at or below the legal speed limit. It is not a race to get to certain points the fastest or be first. It is a competition of precision, planning and preparation.

At the start of the rally we receive a big book called a Routebook which lays out, in words, the entire route that we are to follow. After the rally begins everything is predetermined by the Routebook and we are to follow it to the letter. The Routebook is simply a series of numbered instructions that we do in numerical order. It tells us precisely what time to leave and the mileages, speeds and route following directions for every turn.

Within the Routebook all of the instructions are broken up into things called Sections. There are two types of Sections: TSD and Transit. A TSD section is a scored section in which we must start at the right time and drive precisely the right speed at all times. Along the route in a TSD secion there will be hidden checkpoints recording the time that we pass. A TSD is typically short, less than 30 miles. A Transit is a non-scored section, which must be started and finished at a specific time but during the transit we are free to drive at our own pace, stop for gas or food or sightseeing. On the Alcan Rally transits are generally long, usually at least a few hundred miles. One important note is that time allowed for transits is limited, so while we can go at our own pace we must be very aware of how much time we have to cover the distance so we are not late starting the next section.

As I mentioned above, during a TSD section we must start at the right time (to the second) and drive exactly the right speed at all times. A TSD is planned by the Rallymaster (the person who setup the route) and measured with an odometer which is accurate to 0.001 miles. The Rallymaster also chooses the speeds and decides where to hide the checkpoints. Using a bit of simple math the Rallymaster knows precisely what time each car will be passing each checkpoint. On the rally when we drive past the checkpoint they record our time and compare it with the official calculated time. If we are early they penalize us one point for each second we are early. If we are late they penalize us one point for each second that we are late. Arriving perfectly on time scores us a zero. The maximum penalty on a TSD is 200 points.

The Alcan Winter Rally is unique in that it has special ice racing or ice slalom events in addition to the transits and TSD sections. On these closed courses, which are usually on a frozen lake, we go as fast as we possibly can without getting stuck off the course. On these events the fastest time scores zero points and slower cars score one point per 0.1 second that they are slower than the fastest car. That's pretty rough but luckily the maximum penalty at an ice race is only 10 points.

With all of this precision and time management required you can see how important the role of the navigator is. While the driver works to keep the car on the road, the navigator works to keep the car 'on zero' by doing calculations or running the rally computer. This provides feedback to the driver about how close he is to being on time.

Finally, after being timed at hidden checkpoints on a few dozen TSD sections and four ice races over the nine days of the rally, the scores are totaled. The highly competitive cars will generally have very low scores (under 100) and be separated by a few seconds. The winner of the rally is the one with the score closest to zero. We hope that will be us.

Car Numbers Assigned

The Alcan Winter Rally is only 18 days away. Today, rally chairman Jerry Hines posted the provisional start order. Steve and I were assigned car number seven, our veteran status earning us a single digit number. Jim and Dan have been given car number eleven, a good draw considering they are first-time Alcaners. Our new TeamD colleagues Rob Dunn and Nick Marcuse, two-time veterans and winners of class III (Seat Of Pants class) in the 2002 Alcan Rally, earned car number six.

As for classes, the Subaru WRX (Jim and Dan) is in class I, passenger cars with unlimited equipment. Our BMW 325iX is also in class I. Rob and Nick's Mazda 323 GTX is in class III, which is limited in navigational aids.

All six of us will be competing as TeamD for the Alcan Winter Rally Team Award. This new award goes to the team of three (or four) cars which scores the highest places in their respective classes. This will add some extra competition.

Remembering How To Rally

Part 54 of the the TeamD Alcan Winter Rally training plan required that we get out and warm up our dusty TSD rally skills in advance of the rally. On Sunday, January 25th, over two months since our last taste of competition the TeamD Alcan crews headed north to Bellingham, Washington for the 22nd running of the Armageddon Rally. This was a short five hour all-paved event but served well to remind us how to drive the cars and run the Timewise rally computers. There were no surprises and this gentle rally was smooth from start to finish. Steve and I missed first overall by a single point with a score of 16. Even more satisfying was that we came in with almost half the score of future Alcan competition Glenn Wallace and Greg Hightower. Of course we're all warming up but it gets us feeling happy. The Alcan Rally seems closer now.

Lac de Glace

None of us was sure what to expect from the day as we set out in the early morning darkness from Seattle on January 19th. It would be a long day and our expectations were high that our day at the dedicated TeamD test facility, Lac de Glace (Ice Lake) would prove beneficial. Our rented C-130 cargo plane and flight crew were right on time and in just a few hours we were on the ground again and warming up for a day of trials and tuning on the ice.

The temperature was above freezing, about 1.6C (35F) when we arrived about 1:00 PM. The lake was snow covered but the track plowed on the surface could be seen from above as we approached the lake. Very little snow had fallen over the last week and about 3cm of snow blanketed the lake. Once on the lake the course was harder to see but was outlined by small snow banks on either side of its 12m width. Several concentric tracks were available but the largest outer track was most interesting. There were two curves which had ice damage on the inside resulting in a long puddle and large chunks of ice so we worked around that by using what could be considered the pit lane to avoid the spots. In all our test track measured 1.9km (1.18 miles), with the start/finish at one end and the furthest point half that length down the lake.

None of us has that much experience with lakes that freeze so initially we were nervous about the soundness of the ice. We jumped and stomped like fools, examined the parts of the track that had holes torn in the ice at apexes and soon convinced ourselves that the ice was plenty thick.

The precise details of our driving and equipment test methodology is, of course, confidential information. What I can tell you is that it was totally awesome! The first few laps were exercises in finding the right path through the snowy track and then it was a simple matter of following the tracks. The somewhat slippery snow gave way to more predictable ice below after a dozen trips around. We began to learn the track and increased from slow second gear laps to faster laps that saw more third gear. As speed increased it became clear which driving lines worked and which didn't as the unforgiving surface was quick to show us our errors. Within the first hour all of us were very comfortable and loving every minute.

For tough winter driving like the Alcan Rally there is only one winter tire choice, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta. Jim's Subaru WRX has Hakkapeliitta 1's. My BMW 325iX has new Hakkapeliitta 2's that I've been breaking in. I recently switched from narrow, Hakkapeliitta 10's which are excellent for deep snow to the wider Hakkapeliitta 2's which are better suited for the compact snow and ice that we'll see on the Alcan. We expect the Hakka 2's to give excellent performance on the ice racing portions of the rally. Steve and I burned lap after lap dialing in our tire pressure settings on the BMW. It is amazing the huge difference in traction that a little change in pressure makes.

I love the sure footed feel of my BMW 325iX, the feedback that it gives through the steering and throttle and am very comfortable making it do what I want. After I drove my BMW 325iX until I was comfortable, I took some laps in Jim's WRX. Wow, what a difference. Switching to the WRX was a massive change and one that took some getting used to. The horsepower on demand and easier steering takes a light touch through the corners. I finally figured it out fine enough to stay on the track but boy do I prefer my BMW.

It is rare that you can spend enough time on a track to run out of setups to test and energy to drive. After four hours and almost 80 miles on the track we found ourselves standing in the fading light realizing that it was done. We rolled back to terra firma, loaded up for the trip home and took one last long look at our Lac de Glace. We all agreed, it was an excellent warmup for the long cold rally ahead.

Eric