Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2002

All has gone well today. There was a two and a half hour transit south to the Burin area where we ran three stages, had lunch, then ran the same three stages backwards. One of those was through the town of Marysville, a bit controversial because one resident was dead set against the rally passing through town. In response, organizers put a cap on speeds with serious penalties for those who exceeded them. Residents were a bit disappointed at not getting "the full monty" but were thrilled to see the cars in action nonetheless. There were no serious offs on any of the stages, an occasional missed left at sideroad but no visits to the ditches.

But the PEOPLE! Hundreds of people lining the streets of the towns we raced through. This might as well be EUROPE! Think of famous tarmac rallies such as in Ireland, Corsica and San Remo! Zipping down a one lane alley with buildings on either side, past houses, churches, schools, grocery stores, and flocks of people lining the roads. At the lunch break there were so many people crowded around, especially around Jerry Churchill's Dodge Viper, that it was nearly impossible to see the cars. Did I mention there are a LOT of spectators?

And Marshalls. It seems like there are more marshalls on Each stage than at some entire rallies in the U.S. The organization has treated them well, providing caps and jackets for all, and giving them plenty of training. There is still some confusion, but as the days progress, the timing crews are more efficient.

Churchill's bright red Viper probably gets the most attention as it has been modified to nearly full race trim. Every place it stops for a few moments, adolescent boys call to one another, "Oooo, a Voipa." One marshal said there was a pair of youngsters near where she was standing, and when Churchill's machine bottomed out on a rough section, one turned to the other and said, "He scrope it!"

Two memories really stand out from the Burin stages. One was on the Frenchman's Cove-Garnish stage, where someone was in a boat on the lake alongside the road, standing up, taking our photo. The other was along the waterfront in Burin - a sharp right turn along a cliff with a long plunge into open water if you missed the turn. There were two Coast Guard boats just below, one with divers at the ready. Amazing!

Thanks to the new sending unit bracket fashioned by Dwayne Eddy, the Terratrip was correct all day long. That has built confidence on both sides of the car. Tonight Dwayne is modifying a set of just arrived brake pads that were a little thick for our 911's calipers. We are looking good for the remainder of the rally.

After yesterday's little bash against a guardrail, Scott and I had a discussion about finishing this event. After all, we are in a 26 year old car and there are still four days of rallying. He says he has already considered that, plus his rookie status, and will try to quell his enthusiasm at the wheel.

Fortunately the our revised strategy is working as we had a clean run and no missteps. As of this point we are among six teams who have no penalties. Many teams, however, have picked up road points checking in to stage starts (ATCs) due to confusion over the scoring and timing system.

We have four stages on the way to Gander on Thursday, with a final 6 km. stage in a suburban housing development within the Gander city limits.