'06 ESRC Round 5: Black River Stages Rally, New York

October 7, 2006

Those that have, those that will.

We made it to Harrisville, NY to run our first Black River Stages rally. This was the last event of the Eastern States Rally Championship and the objective was to finish in a position that would allow us to win the championship. Just like Rally West Virginia this event did not have reccee which translated into a more relaxed schedule.

Upstate New York greeted us with beautiful fall days and perfect weather to play in the woods. Friday tech inspection and registration went smoothly and we were soon chilling at the lake house that the Wilburns (fellow competitors) rented for the weekend.

Saturday morning was chilly but as soon as the sun broke over the horizon the temperature raised to a pleasant 60' F. The small field of 22 competitors gathered in downtown for the ceremonial start and we were off at 9:09 heading to SS1 "Power Line".

We decided to push right from the start of the first stage. There were some "interesting" moments (watch SS1 video) on this first stage but overall we were happy with the way it went. SS1 claimed a few victims right off the bat reducing the field to 19 cars. As it turned out we did clock a very competitive time that put us 3rd overall on the first stage (our first top 3 overall in a stage).

Unfortunately, this good start did not translate into a good finish which brings us to the title of this story; in rally there are those that have rolled and those that will. I did not slow down enough on a "!! R5/2 smCr>4 n.c. into L4+ short" and clipped a rock with the left side of the car which catapulted us into a 1 1/2 roll. Sarah exited the car and quickly set up the triangles and the "OK" sign to warn competitors that there was a car on the side of the road. We were both OK and in good spirit waving cars by as the stage came to an end. Extracting the car from the woods proved a 4 hour ordeal and we were only able to do it thanks to the help of Donal, Noel and his crew proving once again the comradery of the rally scene.

Not a great result to what it was shaping out to be a fun fun rally. The roads are fast and smooth and I'm sure we will be back in 2007. The rolling experience is unique to say the least and if I didn't have to flip the bill to repair the car I would even say it was fun.

So long!

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Videos:
- SS1 "Power Line"