Thursday, June 23, 2005
Hotel: McLean Hilton
Weather: Perfect, mostly sunny skies, temperature in the 80

Well, things are finally getting serious now. We drove in to Tysons Corner this morning through significant traffic congestion but still managed to get to the Hilton by 10:30. We completed registration, picking up our badges and rally package and headed for the Technical Inspection area. All cars are subjected to a rigorous inspection to determine that they meet Greatrace qualification standards as to age and modifications, if any. It is also a safety inspection to assure that all the cars are road worthy and legal to operate on public highways. I am happy to report that Don Currie, the Technical Chief, pronounced us fit to race after finding no deficiencies. This was followed by the application on the car of all the Greatrace decals as well as those for the race sponsors.

...Including all the necessary checks under the hood.

This afternoon we attended Rally School where the race instructions for the Trophy Run tomorrow were reviewed. The Trophy Run is a half-day practice rally that does not count in the competition but is intended as a warm-up and final tune-up for the big event. Rally School is mandatory for all rookies and is intended to teach them how to interpret and follow the graphical instructions used in the race. I did some preliminary training with Dawn last night and she is already becoming proficient in following the directions. Tomorrow will be the test!

Rallymaster John Classen commented that the route for the Trophy Run tomorrow is likely the most difficult course we will see so we expect it to be challenging. I suspect the 29 rookie teams will have quite a few problems with this one. Starting positions are different for each day and determined by drawing. Tomorrow we start in position 78.