Of all the events to have disaster strike, it had to be at the Rally of the Tall Pines. After having officially won the Western Canada Rally Championship (along with our P4 class and novice group) team Hardyboy Racing was itching to get back into a national event to compete against the best of the best; and the best of the best were at Tall Pines this year. From the high profile Ken Block to the up and coming Nick Matthew's, everyone and EVERYTHING was at Tall Pines this year. Our contest of the event was not meant to last long however.
Rallying is a fickle sport, and up until Kananaskis our team had been content with "to finish first you must first finish." This motto has officially been thrown out the window now, as Hardy is pressing to take his driving skills to a whole new level. Evidently, the stage times (albiet few) bear witness to this, as we set a 7th fastest time on stage A2 (The Peanut), ending the first two stages in 7th overall. This was a MUCH faster pace then the 31st after 3 stages at Defi. It was not meant to be however. On the final corner of stage A3 (Old Detlor), a long sweeping L3 that tightens just a "teeeenie" bit at the end, we met our downfall. After beginning to set the car up to exit the corner, Hardy found the corner to be a bit longer then he expected. Corrections were to no avail, as the road also has a slight "crest" followed by the road very shallowly dropping away onto the straight towards the finish. This small decrease in traction caused the car to understeer very wide. I was pretty sure we were going to make it! Yes, we would take out a few guardwire poles in the process, but things were looking great. The car had the necessary angle and grip that it SHOULD have been able to pull itself back into the road (the cars tire marks offer fairly solid proof of this). That is, until we actually hit them (the poles). The spectators say it best, "We heard a WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, and then the engine screaming to redline!" The poles were mounted with steel pieces of railroad iron put about 4 feet into the ground. This gave enough force on the rear of the car to spin us 180* facing off the cliff we were next to. After that, the rest is history. Suprisingly soft for an off, but a large off nonetheless.
The car's shell is almost gauranteed to be a writeoff (every body panel is mangled). After being hauled out by the famous (imfamous?) Tall Pines Sweep Crew, it fired right back to life. Hardy proceeded to drive over 10km back to service. If we hadn't of gone off so deep, we probably could have continued the rally! From my figuring on how Hardy drives, and the stage times we have set against the competition previously, a top 7 result would not have been questionable if we had finished. I know, I know, what ifs but I'll what if all I want thanks!
I met radio guy Dave Cotie AFTER the crash. We blabbed a bit, I distinctly remember him seeming a bit preoccupied with all the radio chatter as there had already been something like 4 or more offs in the first 3 stages. Nice meeting you, mabye next time it won't be in the same way 
Originally we though the body/shell was a writeoff (every body panel, glass, a-pillars, roof etc). As we speak however, the car is at the body shop and will be as good as new at the end of the month. The car then (I believe) will take a trip to Patrick Richard's Rocket Rally shop in BC for its once a year checkup. I can't really tell our schedule at the moment, but lets just say that the upgrades to full-out no options spared P4 spec has been put aside to help with funding to do the COMPLETE 100% CRC and defend our WCRC title. Oh, did I just give our schedule away?
Now for the pics ;) AND, if you want super awesome HD rally awesomeness, check out www.flatovercrest.com for the english streaming HD versions of Rallye Pierce Neige (round 1) and the Rocky Mountain Rally (round 2) of the CRC. Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs (round 3) should be up tomorrow I believe.
http://www.flatovercrest.com/2008/11/crc-tv-tsn-rocky-mountain-rally-english.html
