Western - Kananaskis Rally preview

Kananaskis Rally entries highest in recent history.

With 15 cars entered, the 2002 Kananaskis Rally has the largest field of competitors in more than a decade. The final event of the 2002 Western Canadian Rally Championship is benefiting from the rising popularity of what some consider the purist's form of Motorsports.

Driver and co-driver (navigator) in the car with a supporting service crew form teams to contest rally races. Competitive sections, known as stages, run on closed roads, challenge the driver and co-driver to negotiate the road as quickly as they can, separated from their nearest competitor by one minute. Transit sections, which are on public roads, connect the stages and regular traffic laws regulate the teams. The sport is well described by the saying, 'real roads, real cars, real fast.'

The battle for the 2002 Western Canada Regional title will be fought on the rugged gravel roads of Powderface Trail and the Jumping Pound Forest Demonstration Loop in Kananaskis Country.

Series Leader Scott Trinder is once again teaming up with his father Bob Trinder to contest the Kananaskis Rally. A future rally star for sure, Scott has been driving in the United States in an Open Class Subaru WRX. In their production 4 Subaru 2.5RS the pair narrowly won the recent Mountain Trials rally in Merritt BC.

With 20 season points going to the winner of the rally, the Trinders can't afford to give anything away to the rest of the field.

Western Canadian Rally Championship Overall Points standings 1 Scott Trinder (Vancouver BC) 44
2 Gord Olsen (Brooks AB) 40
3 Jim Dewitte (Calgary AB) 32
4 Janusz Komorowski (Calgary, AB) 30
5 Mehran Arefi (North Vancouver BC) 26
6 Ross Foster (Seattle WA) 24

The Brooks, Alberta couple of Gord and Kathy Olsen are in tight contention for the championship, trailing by only four points. The couple was sidelined in the Mountain Trials Rally in BC after a Grouse took out their VW GTI's radiator. The Olsens' are also campaigning the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship where they are in contention for a second consecutive national class championship. With the final event of the national series just weeks away, The Olsens have opted to run a 'back-up' 16 valve VW Golf - Kathy's daily driver - for this event.

Calgary driver and reigning regional champion Janusz Komorowski can climb to a 50 point total with a win at Kananaskis. Unfortunately, for Komorowski to bring home the title again, Trinder can finish no higher than 6th in the event, and the Olsens have to wind up 5th or less. 2002 is a 'rebuilding year' for the Calgary driver, taking on rookie co-driver Keith Morison and changing cars to an open class Eagle Talon. The promising winter conditions and the home road advantage might play into Komorowski's hand when the points are totaled.

Jim Dewitte and navigator Joe Proteau are placed to be the spoilers in the Championship. With the leaders forced into pushing themselves to the limit, Dewitte is in a position to take advantage of the situation and bring his open class Isuzu Impulse to the top of the pack. Dewitte, a helicopter pilot, has only campaigned local events this year in his extremely well prepared open class car.

Rookie driver Mehran Arefi has enjoyed some success this year, starting off in a production 4 Subaru WRX. While the Pacific Forests Rally gave Arefi his first overall win in the regional series, the return to Merritt for the Mountain Trials event was not as successful. A spectacular crash took Arefi out of the rally and seriously damaged the car. Both Arefi and navigator Dan Mclean were uninjured, but with extensive damage to the car it is doubtful he will be ready for Kananaskis, but we hear he is working at it.

On the other end of the scale from Arefi are drivers Adam Scrivens and Chad Manley who prove that at the regional level the sport can be easy to enter. Scrivens, an 18 year-old from northern Alberta, will be entering his third rally of his career at Kananaskis and is running a Datsun 510 lift back he bought as a used rally car. Manley, a 19 year-old from BC, prepared a 1980 Toyota Celica to race this year. Kananaskis will be his second event.

The Kananaskis Rally starts at the Shopping centre in Bragg Creek where the cars will head off to the competitive stages in Kananaskis Country at 11:30. Registration and technical inspections will start at 8 AM with drivers and cars available to the media and the public until the 10:00 drivers briefing. Rally headquarters at the mall is in the Moose Mountain Diner Restaurant.

Competitive sections of the rally will lead the teams West of Bragg Creek to the Jumping Pound Forest Demonstration Loop on the south side of Highway 68, about 14Km in form the Trans Canada Highway. This spectator stage will see the cars run past spectators a total of four times in two directions, and is also directly across the highway from the service area for the event. The first competitive car is expected on the spectator stage at 12:51.

The Kananaskis Rally will finish at Camp Horizon on Highway 66 just east of McLean Creek Trail. The first car is expected to arrive at the finish at about 5:30 PM. Fundraising efforts at the spectator area will help raise funds for Camp Horizon, an effort already supported by Swiftdraft Design and Drafting Services Ltd., ZZ Construction and Heninger Toyota.

Event Schedule - Sunday November 11th

08:00 Scrutineering Parking Lot, Bragg Creek Shopping Center
11:30 Official Start Parking Lot, Bragg Creek Shopping Center
12:55 First car through spectator area
13:15 Service - Forest Loop Interpretive Center
14:15 First car through spectator area after service
17:25 First car arrives at Camp Horizon Finish area 18:00 Awards Presentation and Dinner Camp Horizon, Bragg Creek

Websites of interest
Kananaskis Rally -- www.rrunracing.com/kananaskis
Calgary Sports Car Club -- www.cscc.ab.ca
Canadian Association of Rallysport -- www.carsrally.ca
Rally BC -- www.rallybc.com
Camp Horizon - www.esmod.ab.ca/camphorizon/findus/findus.cfm

-cars-