It’s been a while since I’ve been up to Canada. My last race there was in 2019 with Chris Miller where we didn’t have the best event, totaling our Ford Focus. And my last time to Rocky Mountain Rally was in 2018 as a driver with co-worker and co-driver Eric Schofhauser next to me, where we DNF’d with mechanical issues.
Then COVID hit, borders closed and rally, well, slowed down.
I am so excited to be back up north. Arguably one of the most beautiful landscapes in North America, Rocky Mountain Rally is held in Invermere, British Columbia – a mountain town just outside of Radium Hot Springs and Banff. Surrounded by rugged peaks in the wetlands of the Columbia River you couldn’t ask for a better back drop or road trip to get up there. The rally is aptly named as it is rocky!
I was excited to get the call to co-drive from former DirtFish Motorsport team-mate Vincent Trudel. Vincent worked with our stage and rallycross race teams as a top mechanic and has many rallies under his belt as a co-driver, crew member and driver. And I was doubly excited to be part of his team, AZE Performance, on their first trip out west; they were a long way from Quebec fielding two cars in the competition.
Meeting the team on Thursday afternoon, they quickly adapted to my English speaking as we did belt-fittings and I familiarized myself with the vehicle. We were running in the Production 4wd class which meant we had very few modifications to the vehicle – namely safety equipment, rally suspension, brakes and tires and a few drivability items. Catching up with friends at registration, it was just like old times greeted with hugs and smiles.
Friday morning was recce, and it was not without it’s drama. We started on Hawke Rd, an out and back stage with over 3000ft of elevation change over it’s 10 miles, the return down made infamous by Brandon Semenuk’s dominance earlier in his career. On our second pass we suffered a flat on the sharp rocky surface. We changed to the donut, but were not excited about completing a recce we knew would be rough with no spare!
We swung by service and Nadine kindly took care of finding a tire shop locally to get us back out there, but it meant we were behind schedule so missed a second pass on two stages. The Dogleg and Steam stages looked to be very fun but also with some quite rough and bumpy bits, some exposures, jumps and definitely some areas not to cut. Recce done, Vincent finalized items on the cars, while I cleaned up the notes and we were ready for the next day.
Parc exposé started in downtown Invermere where we were greeted by some very cute local shops and enthusiasm from the business owners. There was even a pancake breakfast to raise money for the Columbia Valley Search and Rescue. You could feel the energy in the air as teams prepared to go out to tackle these tricky roads and fans cheered us with cowbells. I was excited to see so many familiar faces, DirtFish alumni and their families (and future alumni) and it was like no time had passed since my last travels up north.
Despite massive testing before the event, from our launch at the start we knew something was up. The car was down on power and really struggled with any uphill sections. We had a blast going down but when we wrapped up the stage, we knew we were off pace.
In true rally fashion, we kept going and worked on trusting momentum, capitalizing on the downhill sections and keeping our frustration at bay when we were going uphill. Being smart and managing our expectations were key. After four stages and a remote refuel, we came in for our 45-minute service. We weren’t able to get much of a diagnosis in such a short time so went out for repeat with a plan for a compression check and sending logs to the tuner on our three-hour night service at the end of the day.
On the second leg of the rally we ran the morning stages in the reverse direction. It didn’t get any less bumpy and lots of rocks were being pulled up to the surface; our Hoosier tires stayed strong but the wear and tear of the day ended us having the top hat fail and our strut popping through the tower and into the hood three corners from the end of the final stage.
We weren’t giving up. With assistance from some fellow competitors we were able to get the shock ratchet strapped in enough to make the 35km transit back to service, with a 2m50s late penalty.
Our team-mates Sebastien Clark and Yannick Marin didn’t fare much better. Like many teams at the rally they were suffering from fuel and overheating issues and only got a few kilometers of stage in throughout the day. They thought their event was over until a fellow competitor swung by with an aftermarket pump. The team had a lot to do with only a three-hour service and an overnight parc fermé.
With a strut to rebuild and a car that was only running on three cylinders we had a big night. Gilbert, Jeffrey, Bradley and Gabriel hustled on the car while Vincent worked with the tuner to see if we could diagnose issues on both cars through data, while Nadine and Nathalie ensured we were fed and watered. Three hours had passed and we still weren’t done so we decided to take the late entry penalties for parc fermé, 10 seconds per minute late, as we finished up with the diagnosis. It wasn’t great.
There was a failure on the internals of the ECU preventing the coil from operating on cylinder two. Vincent decided to sleep on whether we would run Sunday and we put the car into parc fermé, taking a 3m20s penalty, which put us 4.5ss off the class lead. In the meantime, the team got Clark’s car operating again and were able to get some miles on it with no issues of overheating or fuel pump failure.
After some sleep, not as much as we probably needed, Vincent decided whatever damage is done is done and that we were going to run it. We went into the day ready to finish the rally, get some miles (slow miles are better than no miles) and I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about whether we would make the climb up to the top of the Hawke road stage.
We did!
Slowly on the uphill sections but the downs were fun. And we gained back our lead. Now we just had to keep the pace and finish the event. Our team-mate, unfortunately, did’t fare so well, again struggling with the car overheating on the climb up – his rally done. Back to service and then out for another pass of the Hawke stages we were again met with some frustration and the car randomly died about halfway up the stage. We pulled off on a junction and flipped the kill switch a couple times and surprisingly she came back to life and we were able to finish. Waiting at the turnaround with the other competitors, it was a tough rally for them all. Flats, overheating, dust, oil leaks, smashed exhausts; we saw it all. One more trip down though and we would make it to the finish!
We were greeted with applause as we came through the final time control back in Invermere and were shocked to see we had taken the class win against some great competitors. We celebrated on the podium then went back to our house and watched videos, ate food and commiserated and celebrated a weekend of rally.
But, this is why we do it. It is hard and challenging and fun and exciting and terrifying and if it was easy, we would have no story. It grows us as human beings in a way nothing else quite can and keeps us coming back for more, tempting us with that time it will all go to plan, and if it does, we will be bored and go back out to see what happens next time. I’m already looking forward to the next one.
And now some well earned appreciation. The Canadian Rally Championship, Rocky Mountain Rally organizers and volunteers and fans. The communities of Invermere and Radium Hot Springs. Our crew and team-mates: Gilbert Lévesque, Jeffrey Lévesque, Bradley James Faucher, Gabriel Monette, Nadine Simard, Nathalie Bourgeois, Sebastien Clark, Yanick Marin. And the companies that support our efforts: AZE Performance, Hoosier Racing Tire, Topik Graphic, Turbo Parts Canada, Inc, DirtFish Rally School.
