Loud Pedal - Oregon Region SCCA

22
Rallying with Chris and Kristen
Go Rallying with Oregon Region SCCA!
Oregon Region SCCA is blessed with an
abundance of rally people eager to organize
and work rallies, and compete in them
too—like the other venues, we’re as crazy
about cars and driving as the rest of the
club!
If you like the prospect of sliding your car
around a cone course but on dirt, RallyCross
is your cup of tea. Oregon Region SCCA
has partnered with the Oregon Rally Group
to craft the fi nest RallyCross program in the
SCCA nation, winning the Gold Standard
award in 2006. We have 6 to 8 events each
year at a variety of locations, and you don’t
need any special equipment to come join
in the fun. Bring the “family truckster” or
that recently-purchased Subaru to the next
event, go through our easy and friendly
tech inspection and registration, and you
are good to go! Information on the dates,
times, locations, and of course rules can be
found at www.oregonrally.com, or www.
oregonscca.com. We bring the loaner helmets
and set up the course, and you get to
compete on it (and wash all the mud off the
bottom of your car, too)!
Maybe you aren’t too into that sort of
fun… Oregon Region and Oregon Rally
Group also have partnered up in the
RoadRally program to bring you some of
the best time-speed-distance rallies on the
West Coast. Road Rally is not about speed;
it’s about precision. A route is laid out on
public roads and using legal speeds by the
RallyMaster, an often-devious soul who
delights in causing confusion and delay in
the participants; fi nding the checkpoints at
the right time is the key—but the hard part
is following the route correctly and at the
Oregon Trail Rally 2007 by Ron Sorem
The Oregon Rally Group (ORG) and Rally-
America, presented the 2007 version of last
year’s “Rally of the Year”. Oregon Trail,
and the three regional rallies Wagon’s Ho,
Oregon or Bust, and Trail’s End covered
varying venues from tarmac to gravel under
the lights, with a grandstand view at
Portland International Raceway and winding
forest stages west of Hillsboro, with a
Service Park in Vernonia.
Seventy-fi ve cars started the rally on Friday
afternoon at PIR. Stages 1 & 3 were nearly
a full lap on the track. Stages 2 & 4 started
on track, then moved to the gravel perimeter
roads. Stage 5 started mid-straight,
eastbound, passed the grandstand to an ontrack
U-turn, then west down the drag strip,
before the perimeter roads again, through
the RV parking sod, and back to the track,
reverse-course. Stage 6 was completely in
view of the infi eld Motocross grandstands,
site of future Super Special Stages.
Retirements included the #20 of Comrie-
Picard/Goldfarb who had pushed their
EVO-9rs, through the start as the 75th
starter, gaining one point, after losing a
motor on the practice stages.
Day Two, began at the Hillsboro Stadium.
Ron Sorem and Max Vaysburd were there
in the Legacy Turbo, as “Slow Pace” 00.
“Ho Dow-wn”, SS7/10, was Music Road.
The route climbed quickly into the fog,
and Block/Gelsomino led Pinker (New
Zealand) and Walsh in the rally by 0.9 seconds,
after the fi rst run. “Ho Dow-wn II”,
saw top cars a bit slower to the Music, but
challengers picked up the tempo.
“Cochran Loop”, SS8/11, was a steep climb
into the clouds, with areas of downed timber,
cut “just wide enough” for rally cars.
Foust/Beavis took fastest time on the fi rst
run. The second run was in better shape.
From way back in the pack, Carl Jardevall
made up 21 seconds over his fi rst run, only
precise speeds, and the checkpoint locations
are unknown. Yes, it sounds diffi cult,
but it’s really not. All you need is a car, a
friend to navigate, a stopwatch, clipboard,
and a couple of pens (I always manage to
lose one), and you are good to go. A passing
familiarity with the rules is always encouraged,
and they can be found on those
websites shown above.
Road Rallies can take you to a lot of interesting
places off the beaten path—and the
hard part is trying to fi nd them again after
the event is over! Although I suppose if
you wanted an extracurricular challenge,
you could run the route instructions through
again to fi nd that beautiful view, and also
try to fi gure out what you did wrong that
earned you those time penalties.
Come rallying with us! You’ll enjoy our
family-friendly aspect (since our entire
families are involved—from the grandparents
down to the littlest grandkid, we can
vouch for that!), and we think you’ll have
a great time!
to retire overnight. Mid-pack, Amy Beber-
Vanzo was 18.8 seconds better. Block/Gelsomino
won the second run with 8:16.3 for
a 54.91-mph average.
“Reehers Camp”, SS9/12, was the longest
stage of the rally, combining steep climbs,
fast ridgetop, steep descents, for 16.37
miles. The “big off” on the fi rst run was
Car 10 (rental), Anton/Jozwiak, at about
10 miles in -- and 200 feet down -- out of
sight from the road. “Reehers Camp II”
saw Foust /Beavis push their 2007 Subaru
STI to a 17:30 fl at.
Day Three, saw a break in the “Oregon
Sunshine” -- drier for the stages. The 5.52
mile “Sterling Loop”, SS13/15, had a slight
climb, through a series of right-left-right,
slight crest, repeat... Then right after crest
at “T” -- one problem -- the right can’t be
seen, the lay of the land shows only the
left.