Thanks for your assistance in making the 2012 Rally of the Tall Pines a great success.  We had a large entry (54 starters) and a large volunteer roster with representation from across Canada. Nicki flew in from BC and Kaley drove up from the Gaspe. There were volunteers from every CRC event.  Even with the large entry, due to great worker teamwork, we never fell more than a few minutes behind all day.

On Thursday and Friday over 110 of you helped with event preparation, competitor recce and Shakedown.  Saturday saw 224!  Thanks especially to the 19 who helped clean up on Sunday.

With the unseasonably warm weather, the roads were soft and even very muddy in some places on Friday, but due to a sudden drop in temperature and a strong North wind, they froze overnight. On Saturday morning the first two stages had some very icey patches.

Thank you to the highly experienced team who came up with a flawless plan under Mike Koch to carry out the Reseeds. It included scoring out in the field with the reseeded positions being radioed in. We are still working on real-time scoring as a future goal, but currently technological hurdles are presenting  challenges.

There were a number of epic battles amongst the competitors.  With L’Estage/Richard, and Richard/Ockwell both determined to grab 1st Overall, it was a great contest with the lead changing through the day with both teams suffering flats and mechanical issues. Pat and Alan finished stage B3 with their rear brakes fully engulfed in flames, but they managed to put out the fire and limp to the Finish without losing their lead.  

The MLRC team of Ryan Huber/John Vanos drove an excellent event to finish  4th O/A, first Novice  and 2nd Regional. Nick & Kelly Mathew won the Regional, but later fell behind due to multiple flats.  The Ouellette brothers from Quebec claimed 1st PGT with Martin Walter/Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff winning Group 5. Eric Growchowski/Leanne Junnila were first in Group 2, thus clinching the 2WD Championship.

You can check out the full Results at http://www.rallyscoring.com/results/2012/TallPines/index.htm  

Your comments and constructive criticism of ways to improve the event are always welcome.  Send them to ross at tallpinesrally dot com  

Note – with the hope of getting back to the Pines’ reputation of ‘winter roads and summer ditches’, we have decided to move it a week later next year to November 29-30. If this year is any indication, it should work, as the roads froze for Saturday and snow came today.  Please mark the date on your calendar now.

Thanks again.

Ross Wood, Clerk of the Course

Thank you all who helped in any way. We (in the cars) may not always remember to say so, but we are extremely appreciative of your work.

Thanks again,

Paul