MTC 2, Kenton
Welcome to the end of a long and challenging first day of the Lake Superior Rally. It has poured rain all day, the wind has blown, and the stages have been treacherous. But there are a number of hardcore spectators that have been enjoying the action out in the woods.
Here's what some of the teams had to say as they checked in to the final MTC for the day:
-David Grenwis and Drew Burkholder, in the #654 VW Golf, went off on Stage 6 and got pulled out by another competitor. They got down the road a bit further, then they stopped to pull out the Summers/DesLauriers RX-7 which had gone off the road. The lengthy stage time resulted in just five minutes of service. They went out for Stage 7 and lost their windshield wipers, then they lost their driving lights. At that point they decided that they needed to fix some things before they continued, so they withdrew from Friday's event.
-Jan and Jody Zedril, on Bob Lake 2, went wide around a corner and went off-road over two very large logs. They were a minute slower then their earlier running of the stage, but they are OK and their #708 Mitsubishi Lancer is in good shape.
-Joseph Burke says, "This is the most difficult rally I've ever done, with all the slipperiness and dealing with the windshield issue." He and Alex Kihurani are soldiering on in the #115 Ford Fiesta.
-Chris Greenhouse and Brian Johnson, in the #319 Plymouth Neon, report that on Bob Lake 2, the trenches were so deep they was getting high-centered in the middle of the road. Chris is happy that the team is still moving and in the rally.
-Billy Mann and Mary Warren hit something (they were unsure what) on Far Point so hard that it moved the right front wheel back several inches. They #37 Honda Civic is tough to drive in the slop, but OK on the solid roads. Billy will try to fix it before morning.
-Chris Czyzio and Jeff Secor hit a big rock on Far Point and lost the brakes of their #244 Volvo 240. They finished that stage, and Bob Lake 2, using just the handbrake.
-There were five or six cars stuck on Bob Lake, but Mark and John Huebbe managed to bob and weave around them and they got through. They have no major issues with the Volkswagen Beetle.
-Steve Brockelman and Dustin Masters, in the #262 GMC Sonoma, also came across the folks stuck on Bob Lake 2. They tried to pull out the front one, the #824 Ford Focus of Cameron Steely and Josh Buller, to relieve some of the congestion, but they were just digging a hole so they had to give up. The truck is doing well.
-The #824 Ford Focus of Cameron Steely and Josh Buller did, indeed, get stuck on Bob Lake 2. They still just have one working front caliper, and now have developed a coolant leak, and they are having the same windshield fogging issue that seems to be plaguing most teams. They are glad the night is done and they are looking forward to running on Saturday.
-Derek McCorison and Paul Johansen, in the #92 Hyundai Tiburon, ingested some water in the throttle bodies, and got stuck. They were one of six or seven cars that got stuck on the stage, and they were pretty frustrated that the second running of the stage wasn't canceled after how bad it was the first time through.
According to Ian Seppanen, in the #240 Nissan 240SX, the sweep crew pulled the time cards of the six or seven cars that got stuck on Bob Lake 2. They checked in, despite not knowing whether or not they would be counted as finishers. He adds that if they are counted as finishers, he'll give someone a great big hug.
Unfortunately, all of the cars that were stuck on Bob Lake 2 and had their time cards pulled by sweep were classified as DNFs. So at this point, of 21 starters, there are only 9 cars remaining to start the second day of Lake Superior MaxAttack! (although presumably most of these DNF's will start Saturday's regional rally).
The unofficial results after the first day are:
1. Zedril/Zedril (Mitsubishi Lancer) 1:35:03
2. Burke/Kihurani (Ford Fiesta) 1:37:32
3. Greenhouse/Johnson (Plymouth Neon) 1:41:41
4. Mann/Warren (Honda Civic) 1:44:53
5. Himes/Himes (Honda Civic) 1:47:17
6. Czyzio/Secor (Volvo 240) 1:56:08
7. Huebbe/Huebbe (Volkswagen Beetle) 1:56:34
8. Brockelman/Masters (GMC Sonoma) 2:05:26
9. Chernick/Conte (VW GTI) 2:05:37
DNF - Seppanen/Clark (Nissan 240SX)
DNF - Steely/Buller (Ford Focus)
DNF - McCorison/Johansen (Hyundai Tiburon)
DNF - Van Way/Blattner (Ford Fiesta)
DNF - Grenwis/Burkholder (VW GTI)
DNF - Holder/Payeur (Plymouth Neon)
DNF - Scray/Vickman (Datsun 510)
DNF - Bushore/Bushore (VW Jetta)
DNF - Donlin/Tinsey (Ford Escort)
DNF - Summers/DesLaurier (Mazda RX-7)
DNF - Hill/Cooper (Eagle Talon)
DNF - Yahner/Benusa (VW GTI)
We'll see you in the morning at Parc Expose at the L'Anse Marina.
