TeamD Adventures

This weekend is the annual No Alibi TSD rally, put on by the Rainier Auto Sports Club (RASC).  Eric is the Rallymaster, Steve is the registrar, Dan and Hans are competing, and Marvin and I are volunteering in some capacity (working checkpoints, I will be doing the Novice Talk).

No Alibi is our (RASC) premiere two day touring rally in Eastern Washington.  This year it starts Saturday morning in Wenatchee, heads out to Colville Saturday night and returns to Wenatchee Sunday afternoon.  It runs on roads varying from highways to little-used gravel tracks out in the farmland.  Although the roads are “picked for character” they won’t be so rough that you will have to worry about your car falling apart (we hope).

We at Team D HQ are brimming with excitement.  The No Alibi rally has a great reputation in the area for challenging courses on scenic roads and this year’s edition will not disappoint the 34 teams that have pre-registered. 

In addition to all its other attributes, this year it serves as round two in the Pacific Coast Challenge, the international TSD rally series in the Pacific Northwest.

The weather for this weekend is predicted to be spectacular (sunny and in the 90s so bring your hat and sunglasses).  Here are a few photos from the pre-run (taken by Eric) to whet your appetite and here are my checkpoint photos from 2005 to keep you going.

Friday afternoon I will be loading up the WRX and heading East.  My friend Pete (Canadian but we don’t hold that against him as long as he buys a couple of rounds at the pub) and I will be camping out at the Wenatchee Confluence State Park (spot 44) so come visit if you are in the area.  The rally starts at said park Saturday morning so our commute will be minimal.

The rally starts Saturday morning with check-in at 8:30am.  I’ll lead the novice meeting at 9:00am.  The general driver’s meeting will be at 9:30am and first car out will be at 10:00am.

There are many perks to working a rally as opposed to participating as a competitor.  You get to drive the same scenic roads but you don’t have to worry about staying on time, you get to hang out with your fellow rallyists during the event, you support the local rally community.  In many cases, the event volunteers get part or all of their expenses covered.  In this case, we get free lunch and dinner on Saturday and all the pizza we can eat on Sunday.  It’s also a great way to get exposed to TSD without feeling the pressure of competition.

If you are a novice, I’ll see you at 9:00am Saturday morning.  If you are a competitor, I’ll see you out on the roads.  If you are a casual reader or can’t make it out this weekend, watch this space for updates.

(Disclaimer:  Members of Team D are also members of Rainier Auto Sports Club .  In fact, 4/6 of the 2007 RASC Board of Directors are part of Team D so our opinions on this event could be biased.)