Perce Neige Rally

Martin and I decided to give this one a pass because we're saving money for another assault on Targa Newfoundland. We really regret not entering this one though, because it was epic! Supremely icy roads proved too much of a test for several teams.

Instead we volunteered to work this rally. Martin and I did the Green Crew run last week running the entire route to check for errors in the routebook. Then we worked the start control for the first and third stages on Saturday morning, and got to do some spectating later on. I've posted up my photos here.

It's a lucky thing we were assigned to the first stage, because it meant we got to witness ALL the teams starting as they launched one by one into the first stage. My daughter's boyfriend made his entry into stage rallying at this event, as co-driver in a Group-2 Golf. He hadn't slept properly for weeks before this event, worrying about getting all his licence paperwork in order, buying all the safety gear, studying all of our previous in-car videos, practising reading stage notes, and basically non-stop fretting about potentially screwing up.

Well, they did screw it up. But it wasn't his fault.

They made it literally two (2) corners into the rally before rolling their car!

See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudFV8rLz_M

And awesome photos: http://www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39683&page=2

They weren't alone though. Last year's Canadian Rally Champions, Patrick Richard and Alan Ockwell, first car into the stage ran off in exactly the same spot and buried their car in that ditch. They lost several minutes before spectators pushed them out.

Fourth car on the road, last year's North American Rally Champion, Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP), then dropped his car into the same hole.

Several other cars fell into the same ditch, each time pushed back onto the road by the helpful spectators.

Even Patrick and Lee got pushed back onto the road after their rollover with surprisingly little delay, but they were forced to retire because the windshield had smashed out of the car.

Quote
Ferdinand
Martin and I decided to give this one a pass because we're saving money for another assault on Targa Newfoundland. We really regret not entering this one though, because it was epic! Supremely icy roads proved too much of a test for several teams.

Instead we volunteered to work this rally. Martin and I did the Green Crew run last week running the entire route to check for errors in the routebook. Then we worked the start control for the first and third stages on Saturday morning, and got to do some spectating later on. I've posted up my photos here.

It's a lucky thing we were assigned to the first stage, because it meant we got to witness ALL the teams starting as they launched one by one into the first stage. My daughter's boyfriend made his entry into stage rallying at this event, as co-driver in a Group-2 Golf. He hadn't slept properly for weeks before this event, worrying about getting all his licence paperwork in order, buying all the safety gear, studying all of our previous in-car videos, practising reading stage notes, and basically non-stop fretting about potentially screwing up.

Well, they did screw it up. But it wasn't his fault.

They made it literally two (2) corners into the rally before rolling their car!

See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudFV8rLz_M

And awesome photos: http://www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39683&page=2

They weren't alone though. Last year's Canadian Rally Champions, Patrick Richard and Alan Ockwell, first car into the stage ran off in exactly the same spot and buried their car in that ditch. They lost several minutes before spectators pushed them out.

Fourth car on the road, last year's North American Rally Champion, Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP), then dropped his car into the same hole.

Several other cars fell into the same ditch, each time pushed back onto the road by the helpful spectators.

Even Patrick and Lee got pushed back onto the road after their rollover with surprisingly little delay, but they were forced to retire because the windshield had smashed out of the car.

Don't ya hate it when that happens, at least they didn't have to walk back!

That looks like a nasty off-camber corner (at least on the outside of the curve)!

Reports from the Sno*Drift rally in Michigan last weekend said it was the most slippery conditions that anyone had ever seen in a rally, anywhere. The roads were entirely sheer ice -- lots of cars were going off. Looks like the roads in Québec were similar.

__________
Dave
'91 325iX

so i see the most stupid people also exist outside of my country. i don't understand why in the world someone would stay on the OUTSIDE of a corner. or why they would all run ON THE ROAD during a rally ?

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2010 07:51AM by jaffar.

Quote
jaffar
i don't understand why in the world someone would stay on the OUTSIDE of a corner. or why they would all run ON THE ROAD during a rally ?

There is a deep ditch between the road and the spectators.

[attachment 91 Zedril.JPG]

The spectators were quite organized in pulling out cars that got stuck. Otherwise those cars would have never have gotten out on their own.

[attachment 92 Renaud1.JPG]

[attachment 94 Renaud2.JPG]

[attachment 95 Renaud3.JPG]

yeah, i bet these guys also thought they are pretty far & safe from the cars: [www.youtube.com]

one should NEVER sit on the outside of the corner. the organisers should take care of that, and they should also be punished when this happens. comeon, spectators pulling cars from the ditch ? and then they compain that they get hurt.

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!

one more, several angles:

[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2010 02:26AM by jaffar.

Quote
jaffar
yeah, i bet these guys also thought they are pretty far & safe from the cars: [www.youtube.com]

one should NEVER sit on the outside of the corner. the organisers should take care of that, and they should also be punished when this happens. comeon, spectators pulling cars from the ditch ? and then they compain that they get hurt.

Spectator safety is everybody's biggest concern. Most of the stage roads in our rallies are blocked and inaccessible to spectators. There are only a very few designated spectator areas at our rallies, where spectator access and behaviour can be controlled.

On the most popular spectator stage in this rally, the Farley stage, spectators are brought in and out on shuttle buses and only allowed off at designated spectator spots, where they must remain behind the taped off areas.

On this spectator location on the Marie-Anne stage, spectators can drive to this intersection, but they again must remain safely within the designated specator area behind the taped-off area up in the trees, across the deep ditch from the road.

However, Quebec rally fans are by far the most passionate and knowledgeable fans of all Canada. This was a Canadian National Rally event, with 54 competing teams coming from across Canada and the USA. At the end of this gruelling winter event the top eleven finishers were all from Quebec!

This stage is a bit unique because it was the very first stage, and this corner is literally the 2nd corner of the whole rally. The first six seed-1 cars start at 2-minute intervals. The remaining cars all start at 1-minute intervals. Since this corner was so close to the start line, everyone knew exactly how much time they had before the next car was expected to arrive on the scene. Furthermore, the rescue efforts of the fans were being directed by local rally hero Sylvain Erickson, who wasn't competing this year but was spectating along with everyone else at this corner.

Watch this video and you'll see how well organized the spectators were: [www.youtube.com]

The guy with the knapsack on his back, the first guy to dash out and open the door of the rally car each time, that's Sylvain Erickson. He's first checking to see if the driver and co-driver is okay, then tells them to stay in the car and asks them where their tow-rope is stored.

Watch at 4:40 into the video when the blue #22 Subaru goes into the ditch. All the spectators are safely up in the trees, but immediately jump into action the moment the car stops in the ditch. Sylvain goes straight to the co-driver's door to ask for the tow-rope. Others take up position to watch for the next car and flag it down if necessary. Someone else keeps saying, "Time it!" Sylvain tells the gang they have "trente ou quarante secondes" (30-40 secs). At 5:40 the car is already back on the road and takes off, and all the spectators safely scramble back across the ditch.

Only in Quebec! In Ontario the security marshals would never have allowed the spectators to run out onto a "hot" stage like this.

i'm not saying i don't understand them - i do but that scene is an accident waiting to happen, regardless of any reason they would try to make up (like they can see the cars, they know after how many minutes etc.). and usually when the spectators get hit, they blame the driver, not their own stupidity. in the movies i posted above, everyone is swaring badly at the drivers. if they hadn't been able to go away fast, they would have got their asses kicked, most probably.

--
A physics truck just turned over outside. There's physics everywhere!

The half hour TSN TV coverage of the 2010 Perce Neige can be viewed online at http://flatovercrest.com/2010/04/crc-tv-rallye-perce-neige-2010/.

At 3:24 into the video, as Richard/Ockwell are rolling up to the start line in their blue Subaru Canada entry, you can see our Subura Outback parked in the background. My wife, my daughter, and I were working the start Time Control for this stage, and got to stay warm sitting in our car. Martin is at 3:30 doing the countdown to launch cars into the stage. He froze.

Pat & Lee's rollover is shown at 14:24.