Mark and Ken's Big Alberta Adventure

Our Big Adventure to the National Races

We are RRUN Racing from Vancouver, BC.  Mark Ward is RRUN Racing Driver.  I am Ken Kwong, RRUN Racing Co-Driver.  Our objective this year is to run the Western Canadian Championship Series .  Lucky us, two of the series events also happen to be National events.  So off we go.

The day had arrived, May 18, 2001.  The embarkment of a 10-day road trip to Alberta to attend the two National Pro Rally events.  It is our first time preparing for such a journey.  Tools, spare parts, jerry cans, tires and more tires - and of course - the 1000+ plus packages of Pocky (which I'll explain later).  It still amazes me how we got all that stuff into my Jeep!?!

The trip to Alberta was relatively uneventful.  When about 100 Km out from Edson, out of nowhere, a piece of gravel hits the Jeep windshield, which immediately sported a big 5-inch crack that was growing. Hence begins our broken glass curse. 

We could feel our excitement mount as we pulled into the parking lot of the Guest House Inn.  The first person that came up to us was Peter Hill - always a friendly face and bubbling full of Alberta hospitality as he offered us a beer.  Heck, we just arrived and haven't even checked into the hotel, er, motel yet!  We got our room key and parked the trailer in front of our room.  Also parked next to us were Brain Scott's Eagle Talon and the tiny ( and indestructible) Subaru Justy of Stephane and Annie from Quebec.  This was so cool.  After we settled in, we found the other guys from BC (ah, familiar faces) and we joined up with Paul Westwick ( CARS Director for BC), Martin Wilson ( President of WCRA) and Bill Westhead ( WCRA - Promotions Director) for a quick dinner and beers at the local pub.  By the time we got back to the Inn, the parking lot was humming with activity.  The Subaru Canada Team had arrived ( WRX's!!.. nice!)  and so had the two Mitsubishi Evos ( ooo! Ahh!) .

The next day began with breakfast and registration.  Suzette Sharp greeted us as we arrived at 10AM sharp - we looked around - no one else here but us. (Yes, we were a little too eager and our enthusiasm showed).  We were the first to get registered and now we had a few hours to kill before Scrutineering and Parc Expose.  Here is where the Pocky comes in - our newest sponsor, Glico Canada Corp, generously donated 7 cases of custard and chocolate covered biscuit sticks. (Shameless plug for sponsor: you can buy these at your local convenience stores, 7-11 and Costco across Canada).  We loaded up on Pocky and started to walk around the parking lot, handing out Pocky to fellow competitors and crews, introducing ourselves and admiring their cars.  The Parc Expose, which was also scrutineering, was held inside an ice rink at the Edson Leisure Centre.  Media and spectators were pouring in to check out the cars and talk to the competitors.  We handed out more Pocky and met with spectators and answered their questions - the venue was perfect and the exposure was great!  We passed tech and headed back to prepare for the Roast Beef Banquet.  Our service crew, Fred Wiedemann and Shelly Donaldson from BC, arrived just in time to join us for dinner.  Afterward, as we pulled into the parking lot at the Inn, we see Barry and Sandra Latreille from Ontario with their very fast Eagle Talon parked in from of our room.  Mark and Fred jumped out to help Barry unload the Talon as Shelly and I went out to go shopping for food supplies for the next day.  Mark later informed me that helping the Latreilles unload their car and helping out was totally cool - when before, we've only seen them on TV. What Shelley and I learned was the grocery stores close very early in Edson.  We ended up shopping in 7-11 (don't ask how much we paid).

The race day began early, 7 AM Driver's meeting.  Then followed a transit to Vision Park, the spectator stage.  Two rounds of 1.5 km of stage road through grass and gravel in a residential development area.  The first casualty was Barry's Talon with a blown Turbo.  Then we transited 60 km to SS3 and SS4 ( Raven Creek In and Out) which was a dead end stage.  We posted incredible times on these two stages.  On SS3, we were 5^th fastest - 3 seconds behind the Besner's Evo and 2 seconds in front of Brian Scott's Talon. And then on SS4, we matched Patrick Richard's Production WRX - 1 second behind the Paynter's WRX wagon and Dave and Todd's Subaru Legacy (which once belonged to the Paynter's and Tom McGeer).  Wow! Our Subaru legacy we bought off the dealer's lot 7 months ago was working quite well. SS5 was a fast stage.  At the end, we were beginning to wish for more horsepower.  We finished 9^th and posted a modest 36 sec behind McGeer.  Transit to service was a short distance away.  As we approached MTC into service - I realized that I hadn't calculated our declared time in - oh no! - What was the calculation again? Every novice co-driver's nightmare!  I franticly flipped through the route book looking for the "long times" and added it together.  I thought to myself - I think this is right? Maybe? I'm not sure - help! So I declared our time in ( which I later realized was missing the 7 minute long time for the stage. Ack!  I quickly went back to the time marshall and asked if I could change it.  He replied that there can be no changes but my request will be noted.  This was to bother me for the rest of the day.

SS 6 to SS9 was a relatively smooth run.  At SS8, anticipating a chicane ahead over crest, we arrived to discover the chicane had been decimated by someone ahead of us - that was a whole minute penalty for someone.  We just matted the gas and kept going. We were placing consistently top 10 stage times relative to other cars.  Then in SS10 and SS11, I told Mark to be extra careful - we are entering a 9km dead end stage littered with hairpins and long 180s.  These were no problem for our Legacy as we drifted through each turn - we were really getting use to the car by now.

The SS12 and SS13 were a great treat for us.  It was to be run through the Town of Robb.  Blowing thru stop signs and past a hotel covered with spectators on the balconies and roof at full speed - oh what joy!!  This is where we heard that Patrick had lost his transmission,  Apparently, in service, they were unable to reassemble the transmission within the allowed time.  That was not good news for Patrick as we knew he was running very fast times throughout the day.

On SS14, we noticed that the Besner's Evo was missing - fuel pump problems.  This was getting interesting.  By now, three of the fastest teams were out of the race and there were 8 more special stages to go.  SS14 and SS15 ( Deerhill Dead End Stage) was to be one of our fastest stages.  We set 3^rd fastest time on SS14 and 5^th fastest time on SS15.  On SS15, an interesting event happened.  Apparently the Payner's WRX got the same tranny bug that hit Patrick's car.  They were down to 3^rd gear only -  so in order to get going, they needed a push and a rolling start.  What a sight to see - about half a dozen rally drivers pushing a rally car to get it rolling.  Like they say, takes and licking and keeps on ticking - nothing was going to stop us rally guys.  For us, 4 km into the stage, we came into a long right over a narrow one lane bridge at well over 100km/h . Are we going to make it?  We ended up sliding over the bridge and exiting at a 45 degree angle, barely clipping the bridge by a few inches!  Further down the road, a long left over crest - and again, carrying a lot of speed, we slid wide to the right. And it kept sliding!  Into the ditch we went!  With quick thinking, Mark decided to straighten the car into the ditch rather than try to power the rear end out.  Thank gawd Edson has nice clean ditches!  We drove about 30 m in the ditch and launched the car back out onto the road once we had enough momentum.  That should make for some interesting in-car footage (wink!) 

On SS 17, the "Goat Trail In" stage.  Twisty and rutted.  Driving on this stage was like trying to drive on top of train tracks.  The car was thrown all over the road riding the ruts.  Near the end of the stage, I yell, " over bridge rough exit!".  Ba-Bam!  Time Marshal says we get the hardest hit award! Mark says," that was really rough!" and I say" that's what I was trying to tell you!". On SS18, "Goat Trail Out" - I reminded Mark about the bridge this time and as we approached the bridge we noticed a huge chunk of plastic on the side of the road - Gee, I wonder who lost that? Later we find out it was the fender liner from our car.  Now SS18 was run mid evening as the sun was getting low.  The light streaming thru the trees was causing the dust on our windshield to reflect blindingly! - Not to mention the trail of hanging dust from the cars ahead.  The view out the front was like staring into a strobe light - I yell " drive what you can see!" Mark yells back" I can't see a damn thing!"  How was anyone to see where they are going in this?

By the time SS20 rolled around, it was getting dark.  It was the first time we had raced a night stage.  With our driving lights mounted, we forgot to aim them when leaving service.  So at the start of SS20, we discover our lights were pointing way out to the left and up into the trees!  This was going to be pretty much useless. Until we come along a triangle near the beginning of a long 90 right. And who do we see up in the left in the trees - Brian Scott and this Talon about 30 yards in the brush and clearing a log!  Well - at least the lights gave us a good view of where Brian was.  Further along the road we see glass all along the gravel.  Who could this be from - we couldn't see a car in sight - at least not left of us and in the trees.  At the finish, we see a crowd of competitors surrounding the Erickson's Evo, which looked like a round ball of metal!  Apparently they had rolled the car three times and landed on their wheels, only losing 10 sec, and continued to the end.  With a leaking fuel cell and crumpled fenders, competitors all jumped in to help them.  They were pulling on the fenders to clear the wheel and offering duct tape and tools to fix the leak.  That's why I love this sport, the sportsmanship and comradery of the people.  This was rallying!

SS21, last stage, we re-aligned the lights and pulled 3^rd fastest time out of the stage - 10 seconds behind McGeer.   In the end, when all was said and done, our 7-minute penalty stuck.  Dropping us from 4 ^th overall to 10^th.  Disappointed, we learned not to do that mistake again.  Tom McGeer claimed 1^st.  Ericksons earned a well-deserved 2^nd. And the Paynter's took home 3 ^rd.  Two WRX's on the podium - what a great debut from Subaru. 

At the awards breakfast, we were pleasantly surprised to be given the Big Horn Rally Congeniality Award  (as quoted from Dave Sharp ) " .. For embodying the spirit and sportsmanship of rallying." and earned the nickname of the "Pocky Boys".  Thanks to the town of Edson and Dave Sharp and the crew for putting on a well-organized and fun event!

We head to Edmonton for two days of rest and repairs.  In summary, we learned a lot.  Firstly, we added extra skid plates to suspension parts - after seeing the shiny "shot-peaned" surface of our control arms.  Next, we riveted all fender lining into place - as not to lose it again.  We also changed all the fluids and plugged all the holes we could find so that the dust won't get into the car anymore.  The two days quickly passed and off to Calgary we went - to attend the Media Presentation in downtown Calgary.  All packed and rolling down the highway, about 50km into the trip and doing about 140km/h , Mark looks out the side view mirror of the Jeep and yells," oh! *&%#@! - What happened to the rear window of the rally car?  Now let me explain, we had towed the rally car backwards on the trailer in order to distribute the weight properly.  The whole rear windshield of the rally car was demolished!  We immediately pulled over and scrambled to the trailer to inspect the damage.  The glass curse had struck us hard.  What were we to do?  We strapped all loose supplies down in the rally car and opened all the windows to relive the air pressure. We continued to drive toward Calgary while calling our insurance company back home to figure out our options.  Along the way, our insurance company arranged for replacement glass to be waiting for us at a Calgary Glass company.  All was well - or so we thought.  Upon arrival into Calgary and at the glass shop, with one hour to spare before the media show, we find out that they did not receive any faxes from our insurance company.  Not to mention, there was no spare Subaru Legacy Rear window available at all.  The glass company was kind enough to allow us to clean up the broken glass and arrange for a spare window to be shipped in next day from their Toronto warehouse.  We managed to arrive at the media presentation one hour late sans rear window.  This allowed the spectators a really good view of the roll cage construction.   By the next day, the rear glass was replaced and we were back in action.

Now, I've never run the Rocky Mountain Rally before - but Mark had last year in his '72 Datsun 510.  To sum up his adventure, he managed to hit a cow, shear the engine mounts and drive the engine thru the radiator and roll the car over  - all at different point at this event.  I was determined not to let any of that happen to us. 

At the driver's meeting we were all solemnly warned not to aggravate the current situations that were happening with the locals regarding road permissions.  Basically, all transit zones were deemed quiet zones.  Needless to say - everyone was extremely careful, as we did not want to jeopardize this event.  In the end, all was well.

As for the race - the first two stages were spectator stages at the Blackfoot Motorcycle Park.  Lots of spectators came out to watch and the air of excitement was everywhere.  Running in reverse order, the all female team of Penny and Helma in their VW Golf started the event.  As they were nearing the end of the stage, at a over crest into 90 left - rough, the ruts in the road launched their car over the embankment and they rolled over.  This was the first of three cars that would not complete the first two stages.  The BC team of Fred and Shelly in their Suzuki Swift opened a quarter inch crack in their transmission case.  And the Calgary team of Jim and Jean in their Isuzu Impulse lost their gear box.  During the break between the two stages, we, again, conducted PR with the spectators and handed out more Pocky samples.  By now, people who had met us at the Big Horn were creating slogans like " Pocky me!" or " have you been Pocky'd yet?".  This was attaining a contagious status that we did not anticipate.  By now, we had already handed out over 1000 packages of Pocky.  As we exited the spectator stage to retire for the night, a rock comes flying towards our rally car and nails our front windshield, which now sports a 2-inch bulls eye crack. The glass curse hits again!

The next day, we were off to 11 stages held in the Porcupine Hills area of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve.  I have heard from people that the Rocky Mountain rally was one of the most enjoyable events because a number of roads were run back and forth in different directions but never the same route.  All of these stages also ran by a central spectator area.  Mark had warned me that he felt a bit nervous about a particular turn ( now dubbed Mark's corner) where he rolled his 510 last year.  I smiled and said," Hey, don't worry, we have more horses and two more driving wheels, just keep you foot in the gas and we'll pull thru."  SS4 was to claim two more victims.  Barry Latreille's Talon, again, blew his turbo. And the BC team of Bill and Ted did not have an excellent adventure when they ran out of fuel mid stage due to a mis-calculation of fuel.   The rest of the day ran relatively smooth.  We were posting stage times in the top 10 and finished the regional portion of the event placing 8^th overall.  By this time, the top three cars where McGeer, Richard and the young Komorowski in his Mazda 323 GTX running a borrowed turbo.  There were three more stages to go to complete the National event and the sky opened up and began to rain.   We were glad to make it this far and just wanted to drive to finish the event.  In transit, as we were about to exit the highway, we see Komorowski's Mazda 323 GTX parked to one side.  We were informed that they had blown their turbo in transit - this was a pity for they were putting on an excellent performance all day.

At SS11, we were to run a 20km stage, the longest stage of the rally.  This was to prove to be the slickest stage of the day.  At mid point, getting ready for a 90 right at spectator stage, Mark yells" hang on!" as he cuts the corner and launches the car off the ruts in the apex - air time!.  How can you tell we were having so much fun!  As we neared the last 5 km of the stage,  the TSN helicopter hovers above!  "Ok Mark, we've got a series of hairpins coming up - let's put on a good show!"  We put the power down and drifted through the hairpins - ah, the beauty of all wheel drive!  Yes, I admit, we were grinning ear to ear - what an exhilarating 13-minute ride!  SS12, we wanted to see if we could make up some time, so we decided to drive a little harder.  18km in under 12 minutes of pure speed and adrenaline - we were in the groove posting 5^th fastest time.  We later found out that Patrick had posted fastest time on this stage and the last - beating McGeer's Open class WRX by 34 sec total in just two stages.  SS13 was the drive to finish.  We finished 7 ^th overall. 

At the awards banquet, we collected 1^st novice in Regional and National for this event while the room chanted "Poc-ky! Poc-ky! Poc-ky!" .  I think we should go back to Glico Canada and discuss with them about this phenomenon.  Hmmm, the Pocky Boys, Team Pocky. we'll be working on this. In the end, Tom McGeer takes 1^st, Patrick took 2^nd and Besners, the father and son team from Quebec, takes home 3^rd.

Thanks to Shawn Bishop and the crew for putting on a great show and a well-run event.

Heading back to Vancouver was kind of melancholy.  After spending 10 days on the road and hanging out with great people. And after competing against some of the best teams in Canada and getting to know some of our idols. Watching the teams packing up and waving good-bye to each other was pretty heart moving.  I can speak for us that this road trip was certainly a great learning experience for us.  We felt the spirit of rallying those 10 days.  I wonder how many days we will go before we get rally withdrawal?

As memories of this adventure, we've got 4 hours of in-car footage, 6 trophies, two bottles of wine, a watch, 4 sweatshirts, a new set of Hella Driving lights, a few thousand dollars lighter and a big 14 inch crack in my Jeep windshield

Our next race will be the Western Regional event in BC called Mountain Trails on June 16, 2001 ( not soon enough).  We hope to see you all there!