It
was a dark and stormy night.
Those who were
there won't forget it anytime soon! Heart of Darkness
2002 was going to be a rally that Mother Nature
was going to predict! 22 brave souls braved the
elements of this all-night TSD event starting
in Hope, moving up to Princeton, proceeding through
Coalmont and Tulameen. Afterwards, moving to Peachland,
Summerland and back to Princeton for a trip home.
Mother Nature first starting
dabbling with the weather right from the word
go. The first transit to Princeton saw torrential
rain and high winds turning 4 lane highways into
2 lane creeks. After getting to Princeton and
out of the rain for the first fuel top ups, it
was off to Tulameen for the first stage. A car
blocking the road greeted CP crews. As it was,
there were 2 washouts on the first stage effectively
canceling the first regularity. After re-grouping
in Princeton, the competitors were off to Bates
Road for the second regularity, which was wet
but clear conditions. After the second regularity
it was off the third regularity, which also quite
high and saw some snow. The normally muddy conditions
of the Peachland forestry road were further augmented
by the wet weather making the entire stage very
slippery and challenging for all the drivers.
Slippery enough that the CP crew of Shelley Donaldson
and Mike Wiebe required a tow out of a muddy corner.
After proceeding to Summerland for
the 2nd fuel stop, it was off to the
Princeton-Summerland road for the trip home. After
a reasonably uneventful stage, and a clear sunny
sunrise coming up, it was back to Hope for scoring
and breakfast. Alas, Mother Nature still had one
more surprise for us! The torrential downpour
we had left in Manning Park on the upward transit
had turned to snow before stopping! The transit
home had become a driving event in itself! As
some competitors remarked, it wasn't very often
the transit was as exiting as the regularities!
We would like to thank all the check pointers
who took the time to come out and help us with
this very difficult event! Without them, there
is no event! If you see a check pointer, show
you gratitude and thank them and maybe shake their
hand, they are as vital to the event as the route
book. We would also like to thank Rolly's family
restaurant for hosting us, Yokohama tires, Driver's
Edge, Specialty Subaru, Polaris water and Western
Driver for their contributions to us and the sport
of rally in B.C. Keep an eye out for the Merritt
Rally Challenge coming up on April 26, 2002. For
more information on Rally, please see www.Rallybc.com
for upcoming events! |