Event Report: 2002 HeadWaters SCCA ClubRally - LONG NAC

[robert_a_dupree at bankone.com]

Car: 1977 Dodge Colt / Mitsubishi Lancer 'Pre-Evolution' Grp 2, running
#380
Seed:  7
Status: DNF
Perspective:  Driver

     It has been a long time since I have encountered a task that I wanted
to do right so badly that the anticipation and build-up in my head almost
made me never attempt it in the first place.  It was with this mindset that
I started the HeadWaters ClubRally.  My nerves were so bad that I would
never have even left for Park Rapids, MN had my friends not been there to
support me.  My thanks go to Sharon, Dave, Scott and John for their
assistance in many forms.

     This was the first rally for me as the driver, which for those of you
who have not been exposed to this racing means basically it's all my gig.
Everything is my responsability.  I suppose in more evolved teams there is
a better delegation of roles but this was my first time to try and
coordinate everything.  It's a big deal.  We departed Chicago at 12:00PM on
Friday which was a fair number of hours later than I wanted to be.  There
were issues with everything and I just was not organized enough and I was
exhausted anyway from working on the car until 3:00AM.  We stopped a few
times getting to Park Rapids, MN which mean that our arrival time was
around 1:30AM Saturday.  I decided to be a polite hotel guest and NOT
unload the trailer (car's a bit loud) which prevented me from aiming the
lights beyond my half-hearted attempt to do so before leaving.

     Saturday morning came too early.  I was up at 7:00AM to start working
on the car.  I had a list of things to take care of before tech-check.
Between Travis (co-driver), John and myself we got everything buttoned up
in time to go for tech and off I went.  I was totally worried.  The car
needed its anual inspection as well as a regular check and I had no idea
what they would find.  My tech inspector was way cool.  Since there was a
backup he tech'd the car outside and took the time to explain everything.
He showed me some things that might need improvement but he passed the car.
AFTER a particularly cruel joke about my (brand new) Sabelts not being good
yet.  I stared at him blankly while inwardly cursing not having brought the
old belts and he suddenly bust out laughing.  Yup, it was a tweak on me
because the belts are dated June 2002.  I guess he was making sure I was
still awake.  I get back and Travis and I run a quick odo check but the
results are dissapointing in that we cannot seem to get it dialed in.  I've
never had that problem before when I sit in the right seat, but he was
doing the equation right IMHO.  I was starting to feel like I might at
least make the start of the race so I hope I was becoming less crabby...

SS1 - I can't believe I'm really here..  At the start line..  Getting ready
to race.. Just gotta stay on the road..  This stream of thought was rudely
interrupted by someone shouting 'GO!' and before I knew what I had done we
were off.  I had no idea what I was getting into.  The Colt felt from this
point on like I was driving on an ice track.  Pick a gear, any gear and the
wheels still slip.  The rear end was doing it's best to try and pass the
front end of the car.  Travis soon figured out that all that wheel slippage
meant the odo was basically useless.  About 5 miles into the stage I
remember Phil Smith's (historic class MGB GT Rally racer, and Quattro
friend) comments to me about just drive like I was on pavement and I'll be
OK; unfortunately I couldn't seem to slow down enough to do it.  So it was
left foot braking and tail slidin' the whole time.  The Colt may be old and
slow but it's tough as hell and loves to be flicked through turns.  Neither
big-ass-rock, nor large burms of earth prevented us from reaching the
finish.  I thought maybe I had blow the tires on te drivers side but a
check and everything was peachy.  Holy sh*t!  I just finished my first real
stage!  Yippee!

SS2 - Not sure if the spectre of failure is lurking somewhere I turn up the
effort from 8/10ths to somewhere around 9/10ths.  Travis is getting the
hang of guessing where we are besed upon gut feel and a way-off odo.  We
pass someone (Jetta?) who appeared to have some mechanical issue because
their pace to way down.  This stage was more of the same super slippery,
multi-inch deep mud and it meant more sliding and drifting.  I was
certainly more daring (stupid) with my turns but overall the line was still
not insane.  I missed going from third into second but chalked it up to
operator error.   This stage went much quicker.

SS3 - Since the Colt has no heating/cooling system at all there is no
provision for defogging.  It was on SS3 that this started to be a real
problem.  I couldn't see out the back but for the few seconds after I wipe
my side window off and I was becoming real nervous about holding people up
behind me (there was no one back there but they could have been).  Over the
course of this stage I had to continually wipe the drivers side of the
windshield because I couldn't see forward either.  NOTE TO SELF:  solve
this problem before next race.  I've now got the wick turned up to
9.8/10ths with occasional excursions into 11/10ths...  I slid into a few
burms, tagged the pass rear quarter on something hard but our pace was
really improving.  It's so fun to drive a car and not care about damage.
Very liberating.

Service - We roll into Akely service area driving down the road with me
holding my door open to clear the fog out of the car.  It was so wet and
humid that it didn't really help.  John and Sharon helped put fuel in it
while my nav checked wheel lugs.  We ate a couple breakfast bars, had some
gatorade and got back in the car.  John warned me about the spectator turn
on SS4 and that he thought it would be really rough.  He tossed me the 19mm
box wrench in case we needed to adjust lights and we left.  The drive to
SS4 once we got off the main roads was very difficult.  Quiet zone, so I
had to putt-putt the Colt through very deep and soft mud.   We were just
barely making it through.  I was completely worried about getting stuck on
a transit; luckily we made it OK.  Huge traffic jam at the start of SS4.
But we were too bunchy to get my lights aimed without blinding people.  I
do a quick check and determine 'good enough'.

SS4 -  We had reseeded higher into sequence so I was directly behind the
Grp. 5 RX-7 driven by Doug Dill.  I was pretty worried about having more
experienced open class cars behind us but no one wanted to jump places in
the start line.  It's almost dark.  At the start I hit the lights and it
looks pretty good.  Off we go!  Everything fell into place.  I was on, my
nav was pretty much on and the car was rippin'!  I don't know what our time
was but outside of my goof at the start of 4 (don't ask...).  The spectator
turn I simply nailed.  It was perfect.  A 160 degree uphill lefthander that
fades right.  Rutted and chewed to hell.  I set the car up perfectly and
(according to observers) took the outside line with my inside tire riding
the biggest rut.  For me this was the ultimate.  Crowd on both sides, rally
car flinging mud and gravel, sideways and flash bulbs popping all around.
I knew I did it right.  It was magical.  The rest of the stage went really
well.  I pushed and kept dialing in more forward brake bais which left our
overall speed higher.  SS4 finished.  Amazing!  I'm really going to finish
this race!

SS5 - It's now dark.  It takes me all of 500 yards to figure out that as
bright as rally lights are, you can't see crap relative to daytime driving.
I totally missed all that extra sensory input from the peripheral vision.
I should have backed the pace off more than I did.  A downhill 90 right
claimed me.  I came in too hot and the car was not rotating.  I tried
everything I could think of but in the end we slid off straight leaving us
with the drivers side wheels off the road and the car was beached.  We both
bailed out.  Travis set out the triangles and stood with the OK sign.  I
immediately got to work with the 2 tow straps and the come-allong hand
winch.  After being passed by the remaining field it became obvious I could
not get the car out without using a tree across the road.  As sweep came
through they stopped to let me try it.  Some swearing and grunting later
and poof we were out!  We dump all the stuff back into the car and were
running again.  Travis had some problems getting his belts on so I had to
take it easy.  About 1 mile later we were going up a hill and the motor
quit.  I thought I was maybe out of gas.  I tried and tried but could not
restart.  Sweep caught back up and I declared us unable to finish.  We were
towed to the end of the stage and then were going to be towed back to Park
Rapids.  For giggles I tried to start the car again and VROOM! it fired
right up.  It drove for anoth 30 minutes back to the hotel.  I still don't
know why it pooped.

Thus ended my rally.

I am extremely bummed about not finishing.  My goal was to finish last and
that would still have been possible had the motor not died.  I want to
thank my nav, and team for their effort and hope they enjoyed the trip.  I
will be back.  The Colt will need some repairs but overall I think it's
workable.

Cheers,

Rob Dupree
  84 UrQ
  97 4Runner
  77 Dodge Colt Grp 2 SCCA Rally



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