TeamD Adventures

As the February 18 jump off approached, we started to get a *little* nervous about the number of electron-consuming doodads that we were stuffing into the WRX. The stock battery was only about two years old, but it never inspired confidence never mind awe. The stock alternator? Rated at 75 amps, so even with a conservative rating, we were skeptical of it keeping up with the the demands of dual Ham radios, stereo, rally computer, laptop, driving lights, and more.
(more…)

Two TeamD cars spent some quality indoor time today in the TeamD Vinyl Tech Application Center (V-TAC) in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Thanks to our great sponsors we had a difficult time choosing where decals would be applied as well as getting back in practice for getting the dang things to line up properly and not get messed up.
(more…)

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.
(more…)

Some of the technically inclined may be interested in all the equipment we use in the cars to stay on perfect time. Both the BMW and the WRX use the same equipment in this quest.

(more…)

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.