"Daddy why did they crash?"

Mountain Trials Rally
October 18, 2003
Merritt, British Columbia

"Daddy, why did they crash?" Now that's a good question. The young spectator's concern, overheard at the Helmer Lake spectator point, makes sense. They came to race not to crash, but there they were, Car 9, Third-Lane Motorsports, off the course, off the road, down a bank, balanced on a boulder---not the route most taken. They didn't exactly "crash", but they were certainly "off."

Photo by Betty Third

First to emerge from the car, Noah scrambled back up to the road to set out the triangle and display the OK sign for the next car. Jason was a bit slower to get out. The Golf had stopped beside a large fir and he had to exit the vehicle, crawling over Noah's seat, through the driver's side.

Noah said: "We were simply going too fast. Having set second fastest overall stage time on Stage 7 we were trying very hard to set a fast time on this stage in an effort to get time on the other Group 2 cars. It's an disappointing way to end our season."

The competition amongst the Group 2 cars was fierce. Noah and Jason had set a blistering pace on the first stage, finishing third fastest overall, behind Scott Trinder's Subaru and Ross Foster's Evo. Five of the seven Group 2 teams finished Stage 4 within the same three-second window! "In thinking back, I think we might have a brake problem, " Jason adds, "the brakes grab a bit prematurely. That possibly was the problem during a stage when we almost ran off the cliff---it may have been going on in earlier events this season too."

"The first stages at Mt. Trials were tight, slow and quite short. Our history shows that Noah tends to open up and get flowing over longer runs. He gets into a groove and warms up. My eyes were really wide open on that run through Stage 7, we were going so fast! We were just behind Joe Battrick in his Subaru. Second fastest overall!"

"But I didn't know we were going off on that spectator corner. I had my head down. I was already reading the next right, concerned about the cattle guard. I looked up just as we drove down the bank."

Photo by Betty Third

Sometimes it's good to have a REALLY BIG truck as a tow vehicle. Extricating the Golf

Photo by Betty Third

proved challenging. Third-Lane Motorsports' service crew would have been short-handed, Randy Lane, the team's chief mechanic, was still recovering from having broken three ribs in a biking accident, were it not for the help in service of two of the team's sponsors, Ryan Dumanesq of Hot Water Performance, and Todd Hastings from Hyperformance. With Todd and Ryan's help, Randy and the guys were able to haul out the car, damaging it only slightly in the process. Noah drove the Golf out of the stage and onto the trailer. Apart from the minor dents and a broken tail light, it was none the worse for the detour.

The fun of racing in our home province is having friends come to say "hello". Noah and Jason and the rest of the service crew want to thank Todd and Ryan very much for their support and help with servicing at Mt. Trials. The team looks forward to working with them in 2004. Cliff Green, from Carleton Rescue Equipment, and his son Jeff dropped by to lend a hand and take photos. Thanks for coming by!

"from our perspective"
Mt. Trials Rally

Q: How did the car work?
noah: Quite good.
jason: Excellently---for a change.

Q: What was the course like?
noah: Fun! Less mud then anticipated.
jason: First half was tight, lots of corners. The second half was more open and flowing, less muddy then we expected---dust in October?

Q: High point of the event?
noah: Setting the second fastest time overall on Stage 7.
jason: Going really fast in a 2-wheel drive against 4-wheel drive cars

Q: Low point of the event?
noah: Stuffin' it---seems pretty obvious.
jason: Let me think......not going left?

Q: What next?
noah: Get more sponsors.
jason: Winter. Save money for brakes, fix the heater. Get more sponsors.

Please see some of the photos available here and here.
Fred and Shelly Wiedemann or Bovine Patrol Productions shot a little video available here (2.44Mb) and here (3.00Mb).

Photos are also available on the Rally BC website available here.

last updated 11/16/03