Mendocino Rally 2011

Who wants to hear about Mendocino Rally?
It was a brand new event with some fun road*s.
*there was only one road

It was also the only event I’ve ever driven that gave me a blister.

That’s right, the road has so many tight turns that the thumb and heel of my left hand had real live blisters by the time we collected our trophies.

It was so twisty that my puny radiator fan (at only 9.5volts – thanks Sean) couldn’t get enough air to cool the motor.  We overflowed the system on almost every stage.  Average speeds were slow.  There was some fun technical driving going on.  We set the fastest 2wd time on the first stage, and the last stage, but everywhere between I was keeping an eye on the temp gauge.

Back to the trophies, we finished 2nd in class.  Again, we were behind George, and again the Mosers were very quick but broke down.  This time we were also 3rd over all.

Lucas Oil sent us home with $75 and a case their best gear oil.

Since I made this swing down south, we’re looking good for the Emperor Norton rally Championship – we’re in 1st! Had we not broken down in Oregon, I’d feel a bit better.  Henderson is fast on his home roads, at the final championship event, Mt. Hood Rally.

Now for the bad news, followed by some “rally thanks”

The Bad News is that Rumbles the box van is dead (long live rumbles).  Climbing out of lake Shasta on I-5 on our way to Seattle, he overheated, and died.
The Funeral procession (tow truck-van, and rally car) went directly to the wrecking yard.  A final resting place with a view of Mt. Shasta. – I’m looking for a new van now.

The other bad-ish news, when I hit record for the incar video, I had my Contour GPS set to photo mode.  The results are on YouTube.  On the last stage, there is a nifty warp speed effect, that turned out pretty neat.

Rally Thanks goes to Sean M. my co-driver, the organizers, volunteers, and Portland Friends.

Things are looking good for the end of the year, there are still some events to do: Wild West Rally, Pacific Forrest Rally, Mt. Hood Rally, and Big White Rally.