Have fun at the Winter Challenge Rally, you guys!
Since Neil and I can't make it, we're compensating by doing three other rallies in the new WINTR series. First was the Long Way Home Rally last weekend. #2 was the Rallye des Neiges last night in the Eastern Townships of Québec.
In a nutshell, it was a great night: 170 miles of brisk driving on twisty, snowpacked roads, from 7 p.m. to midnight. Here's a Google map of the route: (
Part 1)(
Part 2)
This was our first Canadian rally, and there were several things that took some getting used to. First, instead of classes for equipped (rally computers), stock (no computers), and novice, the classes are "expert" and "novice." Since we're not novices, we must be experts.
That meant we were competing against teams with rally computers, but it also meant we got to use the crude on-board computer in the BMW, which displays average speed. It took halfway through the rally before I figured out the best way to use it, but once I did, it was a huge help for keeping on time.
Another big change for us was not getting the route instructions until we were driving away at the start. Over the years Neil and I have developed a routine that's based on two sets of instructions that we get an hour ahead of time. That meant that we had to devise a new technique. We planned it out at dinner before the start, but it took us a while to get the hang of it, and we never really got comfortable with our timing until almost halfway through the rally.
The scoring at Canadian rallies is very different. Instead of being timed to 1/100 of a minute, each leg is timed either to the minute or to 1/10 of a minute, with one point given per minute early or late. This means that scores are very low, and the winner is usually the team that scores the most zeroes. In last night's rally, the winning team zeroed every leg for a total score of 0. In contrast, Neil and I blew one leg where we missed a turn and arrived at the checkpoint 10 minutes late, giving us a score of 10 for that leg (no time allowances in Québec rallies). We finished with a score of 18.5, good for 11th overall. Other than the one blown leg, we zeroed almost the whole second half of the rally, with most of point accruing early on when we still were trying to figure out our timing. Next time (and there definitely will be a next time!) I expect we'll do better.
Anyway, the rally itself was great fun to drive, and once we got into our rhythm we both enjoyed ourselves immensely. The roads were all snowpacked, fast, and tricky -- in other words, FUN!
Next up: the all-night Maple Leaf Winter Rally in Ontario.