By Mark Biernacki
The second event for the year began in a very exciting way. Reconnaissance of the eight special stages occurred on Friday afternoon. Each of the stages occurred on gravel roads of varying roughness. Several of the same stages will be used for the Rally of the Tall Pines, including the infamous Peanut. These roads were excessively rough and brought concerns of the strength of the suspension components. Representatives from Hotbits ensured us of the durability of the suspension. Since the recce occurs at much lower speeds the road can appear rougher then it would appear at higher speeds. This can be quite advantageous as the roughness can paint a high resolution picture of the road that is used to find traction. Black Bear’s new stage, Moccasin Lake Road, was notably smooth and consequently had the potential to be quite fast.
A thunderstorm pounded the area all night and it changed the road conditions considerably. It added depth to the already large washouts that were scatted throughout the route. Saturday brought an end to the sound of thunder. It was to be replaced by the sounds of several performance tuned rally cars, including our 1991 Subaru legacy. The legacy was joined in the production GT Class by two 2002 Subaru WRX.
Moccasin lake road turned out to have changed significantly due to the night’s rainstorm. It brought several patches of clay to the surface that were previously hiding under the surface. These clay patches, in conjunction with a suspension setup that was biased towards oversteer made the car very difficult to control at high speed. As a result the we went off on the first stage, dropping to last place. We spent approximately seven minutes with the rear wheels in the air. The car initially failed to start, with a weak battery as the cause. We were pulled clear off the stage by Michelle, Car 22 in a Mitsubishi Evo IV. We were allowed to continue, however we had to fight hard to try and catch up to our direct competition.
We returned to the service park where there were considerable adjustments to the suspension setup. The crew, under the leadership of our Crew Chief: Mathieu LeBlond had to work hard in the rain. After an exhausting service the car was back together and ready for the next battle of stages. Three more stages were run with confidence growing for the team and the car. As this confidence improved as did our position. The stages were fast and hard. There were many instances which the tires were never even in contact with the ground. Speeds were in excess of 130 km/h. The full washouts caused large amounts of water to be drawn into the intake. The engine didn’t respond well to the water and misfired considerably.
The car survived the three stages admirably. During our last service, a cover was produced in order to block some of the water kicked up by the washouts. Maintenance was conducted on the car. With a minute left in service a gash was found on the left rear tire. This gash had the potential to cause a time wasting flat. As our exit time was run down to mere seconds the crew changed the tire with F1 precision.
Our last service ended and we were on our way for the last 50km; broken into three special stages. During the first of the last three stages, the pipe that feeds the turbo had broken off on a rock. This caused there to be no turbo boost and substantially less power. After a hard “right three plus” (an agressive 90 degree turn to the right) the front left tire had become flat. With half the power and now half the steering we pushed our way to the finish of the stage. We changed on to our last spare during the transit and made it just in the correct time to the Peanut. The stage went smoothly and was relatively quick, until the end, where a one hood pin had become unlatched. We continued at a reduced pace and kept an eye on the other hood pin. The eighth and last stage of the day was very quick. With the lack of power we had to maintain the momentum through the turn. The rally ended with an improvement for the driver, co-driver and the entire crew.
Many thanks to our sponsors and fans,
Mark Biernacki and Red Bird Rally
Here are some videos of the stage:
Stage 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8TrrjJwEFE&feature=related
Stage 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgI1sP2WZ5o&feature=related
Others can be viewed from Jeff Hagan’s channel on youtube.
Results : http://www.mlrc.ca/blackbear/results/index.htm
Photos:
Car 19
http://www.performancerallyimages.com/the_2010_black_bear_rally_index1.htm
http://www.evanholtphotography.ca/automotive/mlrc-black-bear-2010/
