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Mountain
Trials Rally
June
15/16, 2007
Merritt,
BC
Organized by the
West Coast Rally Association
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Merrit
Maps |
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CARS
event entry permit |
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Easy Rider
- Thank you to Warren Currie at EasyRider for
draw prizes for the competitors / workers at
Mountain Trials. |
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Canadian Tire - Thank You for
the use of a service bay for scrutineering
and the use of your lot for the competitor
service area during the event. |
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Neumann
Conquers Slippery Roads And Wet Weather |
June
18, 2007 |
MERRITT,
BC - Despite a deluge of heavy rain, Aaron Neumann
of Vancouver
won the Mountain Trials Rally in a two-wheel drive rally car
this past
weekend. Neumann displayed confidence and car control in keeping
his
quick, red Honda Civic on the road and ahead of all other competitors
at
the closely fought race. He and co-driver Graham Coates won six
of the
event's eight competitive stages, taking the lead at the start
and
maintaining it throughout the entire rally. They finished with
a time
of 01:08:12 and a sixty-two second margin of victory over their
next
nearest competitor. |
The
heavy rain that fell off and on throughout the
day made for
extremely slippery driving conditions. Despite the weather, a
large
field of twenty-one entries and featuring some of the best rally
drivers
from around British Columbia and Alberta, put on a great show
for the
volunteers and fans who braved the cool, damp weather at the
high
elevation Helmer Lake summit spectator area. |
Neumann's
closest challenger was Calgary's Zbigniew (Zibi)
Szewczyk,
with Tomasz Karzynski co-driving, in their Mitsubishi Lancer
Ralliart.
The pair won the last two stages and appeared to be pushing hard
to try
and catch the leader, but came up just short at the finish with
a time
of 01:09:14. |
Meanwhile,
Colin Armstrong was third overall in his Volkswagen
Golf,
with Ryan Warrington co-driving. The Calgary-based duo put in
an
impressive performance, keeping their car on the road and moving
along
quicker than many of the more powerful machines behind them with
a time
of 01:10:25. |
A late
challenge by BC native, Mark Jennings-Bates and
co-driver
Jennifer Daly, ended when their Subaru Impreza left the road
on the
penultimate competitive section. The pair had been running as
high as
second overall at the time and fortunately neither were hurt
in the
incident. |
The
event was a tremendous success on all fronts
thanks to a dedicated
team of volunteers who braved the uncharacteristically cool,
wet
weather. |
"We
are blessed with a talented group of supporters
who come out to help
rain or shine," said event coordinator Paul Westwick. "Without
their
commitment to the sport, rallying would not be possible." |
Thanks
to support from The Easy Rider, an Edmonton area
snowboard shop,
competitors and volunteers received much appreciated take away
gifts and
prizes |
Special
thanks to all those in Merritt who supported
the rally and the
Merritt Canadian Tire store for providing parking space for the
teams'
service pits. |
There
will be a long break in the racing action from
the Western
Canadian Rally Championship during the extended summer season.
The next
event in the championship will be held in October when the Western-based
teams return to Merritt, along with visiting National and North
American
Championship teams, for the Pacific Forest Rally on October 19-20,
2007. |
For
more information about this event and to view
the complete results,
check out Results |
Overall Results for Mountain
Trials Rally 2007 |
Pos |
Car |
Driver |
CoDriver |
Vehicle |
Class |
Total Time |
1 |
2 |
Aaron Neumann |
Graham Coates |
Honda Civic |
Gr 2 |
01:08:12 |
2 |
1 |
Zbigniew Szewczyk |
Tomasz Karzynski |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
Gr 5 |
01:09:14 |
3 |
4 |
Colin Armstrong |
Ryan Warrington |
VW Golf |
Gr 2 |
01:10:25 |
4 |
6 |
Eric Grochowski |
Leanne Junnila |
VW Golf |
Gr 2 |
01:11:44 |
5 |
15 |
Bryan Maplethorpe |
Brad Bistritz |
Subaru WRX |
Open |
01:11:51 |
6 |
10 |
Rahul Khanna |
Keith Morison |
Subaru Legacy |
Open |
01:11:54 |
7 |
14 |
Piotr Kadlubowski |
Krystian Ostrowski |
Mitsubishi Eclipse |
Gr 5 |
01:12:33 |
8 |
13 |
Houston Peschl |
Brad Nurse |
Volvo 240 Turbo |
Gr 5 |
01:15:06 |
9 |
11 |
Ken Maydaniuk |
Chris Maydaniuk |
Subaru WRX Sti |
Open |
01:15:43 |
10 |
20 |
Voytek Stywryszko |
Kate Liniarski |
Toyota Corolla |
P 2 |
01:16:39 |
11 |
8 |
Peter Hill |
Geoff Hill |
Toyota Corolla |
Gr D |
01:17:23 |
12 |
12 |
Neil Wright |
Lorna Wright |
Mazda RX-7 |
P 3 |
01:17:55 |
13 |
17 |
John Breen |
John Hall |
Ford Focus |
P 3 |
01:18:27 |
14 |
21 |
Johnny Summers |
Kodi Hutchinson |
Eagle Talon TSi |
Open |
01:18:30 |
15 |
16 |
Brian Berturelli |
Robert Black |
VW Golf |
P 3 |
01:21:29 |
16 |
3 |
Mark Jennings-Bates |
Jennifer Daly |
Subaru Impreza |
Open |
Retired |
17 |
7 |
Tom Machnik |
Amy Machnik |
VW GTI |
Gr 2 |
Retired |
18 |
5 |
Martin Chung |
Christa Monasch |
Subaru Impreza |
Open |
Retired |
19 |
19 |
RJ Carroll |
Michelle Mah |
Subaru Impreza RS |
P 4 |
Retired |
20 |
9 |
Dave Sharp |
Kelly Melvin |
Nissan NX2000 |
P 3 |
Retired |
21 |
18 |
Shane Anderson |
Mike Dibblee |
Subaru Impreza |
Open |
Retired |
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The totals in this report
include Assigned Penalties and Road Penalties |
For
more information contact:
Paul Westwick - Organizer
Ph: (604) 682-3296; e-mail: paul@rallybc.com
Additional Resources:
Canadian Association of Rallysport
West
Coast Rally Association
Merritt Chamber of Commerce
2007 BC Rally Supporters:
Easy Rider
Best Western Nicola
Inn
Rocket Rally
Driver's Edge Autosport
Wilkinson's
Automobilia
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