TeamD Adventures

Totem 2008 starts off clear and cold at the bear claw inn, Gentle readers, wish the 4 TeamD cars good luck and smooth roads.

We ran Monster’s Revenge (formerly Armageddon) last weekend. We drove up from Portland the morning of the rally and started as car #13. We blew the odo section, going a few feet off course. But, we managed to recover. Overall, the transits were very tight on time. Once finishing a regularity, there was barely time to get to the start of the next one. Now we had 20 points. Another adjustment brought us to 19.

After a tough course rally, we were ready for the touring rally, the Barlow Trail. We finished 7th for day 3. We tied for 6th overall in the equipped class.

Feeling good about MRDs and traps after Day 1, Day 2 promised more of the same, but it introduced time and speed back into the mix. Our goal was simple, don’t max one leg. We’d be happy with that result. Although we maxed 6 of 21 controls, we zeroed 2 legs and got 2 on 2 legs, 3 on 2 legs and 4 on another.

We’d heard that running in the USRRC could be a humbling experience. But never mind that. With the rally series in Portland, OR this year, we signed up for all 3 days. The competition would be tough! The first day of the USRRC was a gimmick rally. We didn’t really know what to expect. Maybe it would be scavenger-style hunt? We’d heard that some gimmick rallies were trivia hunts where ralliers simply went to the library and researched the answers. But Ghouls Gone Wild turned out to be a complex trap rally, but without the time and speed elements. If you followed the course correctly, you’d answer the sign question correctly. If didn’t, you’d wouldn’t. The route carried us by landmarks associated with local rally community. We tied for 12th overall, just 5 points behind the winners.