Our very first snow event was an interesting and, at times, challenging event. Held in and around the Team O’Neil Rally School in Dalton, NH it was a very long tow up from Raleigh, NC. We happily accepted an offer from friend, fellow rallier and STPR crew member, Travis Sleight in Ballston Spa, NY to stop en route and stay Thursday night which helped break up the journey.

We arrive in Dalton, NH early afternoon on Friday and check into our motel. Then head out to the rally school to see if we can unload the rally car and park the trailer. Our crew at this event are Meng Mao and Matt Ellis from Cambridge, MA and they’re en route to meet us. Meng has offered us the use of snow tires/wheels from his Focus that he’s preparing to rally later in the year so they are bringing the wheels for us.

On the way to the school we have a bit of a problem with the tow vehicle and trailer. Coming very slowly down a hill and round a sharp bend on compacted snow, the loaded trailer takes over and pushes us into a slow-speed jack-knife as you can see from this picture. With help from some locals and from Anders, Amy and Brad who were volunteering at the event we managed to get it sorted out. But is was an unnerving start to the rally for us. There is some minor damage to the Explorer and to the trailer. We end up having to unload the car right there and make our way to registration. We meet up with Meng and Matt, mount his wheels on the car and get the car through the safety inspection.

On Saturday the rally starts on time and the weather is bright but cold. There are nine stages that run on a combination of local roads, stages from the rally school and a road that runs through a local gravel quarry. Our in-car video is listed below and some of the quarry stages are very interesting. On the first run up the steep section of the quarry stage in Stage 2 we strike a snow bank and lose momentum. We can’t get enough grip to continue without help from nearby spectators. Later, coming down that same section on stage x we manage to spin out. No damage done and we continue. Watching the in-car video again I can see that I’m very timid in places. But I’m happy to blame that on new-surface-jitters, borrowed wheels, and used, unstudded snow tires. I’m just not sure where the limits are. Smooth, gentle steering changes are the best approach and judicious, non-aggressive use of the accelerator keep wheel spin to a minimum. When you hear the engine racing you know the wheels are spinning and you’re wasting energy and momentum.

Stage 4 takes us down the quarry stage where we got stuck and there’s an amazing view of New Hampshire from the top of the quarry as the road drops away.  About half-way along stage 5 we come across Mike Hordijk’s Golf TDI stuck up on a snow bank ending his rally. Then we come down the steep quarry section again. I’m very timid coming down that section but it doesn’t help as I manage to spin out. We recover and continue with no damage.

We finish the remaining stages without incident with stage 8 getting cancelled due to time. Transit back to Whitefield where we rush to load the car as the temperature plummets hitting 4°F as we finish and head for the awards ceremony and party. We’ve taken first place in M2 class (we switched from Rally Spec Focus since there were no other competitors). Heading out early Sunday morning and the temperature is now -20°F and drops to -27°F before we leave New Hampshire.

In-car video:

Stage 1    Stage 2    Stage 3    Stage 4    Stage 5    Stage 6    Stage 7    Stage 8