Another awesome compilation! Many thanks to World Rally Sport for coming out and putting this together. See it in HD on YouTube!

Compilation of photos & video from the Big White Rally Weekend – Dec 4-6, 2009 from in and around Big White Ski Resort, south of Kelowna, BC.

Photography & Videography by Louis Prussner, Matthew Bean, and Chris Martin.

Updated to HD version, Jan 13. Click here to view in HD.

Hardy Schmidtke (AB) / Adam Vokes (AB)
Valley Mitsubishi 2nd Overall Fund – $80
Rocket Rally 2h dyno time ($340 value)

Tibor Kertes (AB) / Sebastian Fudalej (ON)
Valley Mitsubishi 3rd Overall Fund – $55
Rocket Rally 1h dyno time ($200 value)

Kris Dahl (WA) / Don Burress (WA)
Mr Lube 2WD Prize Fund – $220
RESQME beltcutter from Safe Drives

Quinn Morley (WA) / Jesse Parkerton (WA)
Last But Finished Award – $50
1/2 Rocket Rally Spirit of Rally Award – $125
Awarded for keeping at it after going off 600m into the first stage, on the transit and many times throughout the the day, for leaving rally car pieces at the spectator area and for being generally the most entertaining entry to hear about over the radio.

Eric Grochowski (AB) / Leanne Junnila (AB)
1/2 Rocket Rally Spirit of Rally Award – $105
Awarded for investing a lot of effort to come out and enter the event and suffering a tough break after the first stage, as a seed fund for a new engine.

Tony Penney – SnowX Overall Winner
Free entry into Targa Bambina 2010

2. Hardy Schmidtke (AB) / Adam Vokes (AB) 2002 Subaru WRX, wrb (car 1) 1:04:39.2 PGT

3. Tibor Kertes (AB) / Sebastian Fudalej (ON) 1992 Toyota Celica GT 4, white (car 8 ) 1:13:05.8 OPEN

4. Craig Ross (BC) / Dan Norkus (ID) 1990 Eagle Talon, white/blue (car 6) 1:20:31.7 OPEN

5. Mark Jennings-Bates (BC) / John Hall (AB) 2004 Subaru STi, wrb (car 2) 1:27:39.7 OPEN

6. Graham Bruce (AB) / Christa Monasch (AB) 2002 Subaru WRX, black (car 4) 1:44:04.1 OPEN

7. Kris Dahl (WA) / Don Burress (WA) 1988 Honda Civic, orange (car 7) 2:10:28.6 G2

8. Quinn Morley (WA) / Jesse Parkerton (WA) 1975 Saab 99EMS, black (car 9) 2:17:38.6 G2

DNF Eric Grochowski (AB) / Leanne Junnila (AB) 1996 VW Golf, orange/black (car 3) engine detonation G2

Big White Winter Rally Overall Podium, with Blair Ireland, Big White’s Director of Guest Services

The Valley Mitsubishi SnowX Results are listed below.  All entries are 4wd no studs, except Ian Price-Jones, 2wd no studs:

1. Tony Penny / Forester  - 173.165 (fastest lap of the day: 82.958 )

2. James Aubert / Impreza – 182.650 (second fastest lap: 87.082)

3. Tim Liong / Impreza – 190.022 (third fastest lap: 91.754)

4. Jeremy Bourdon / WRX – 199.911

5. Steve Wolter / WRX wagon – 206.730

6. Al Bourdon / WRX wagon – 206.961

7. Ian Barrett / Loyale – 207.040

8. Richard Matte / Nissan GTR – 212.622

9. Anthony Evans / WRX – 214.354

10. Dave King / WRX – 228.306

11. Ian Price-Jones / Lancer – 235.165

SATURDAY Valley Mitsubishi SnowX DETAILED RESULTS (08/12/09)

SUNDAY Valley Mitsubishi SnowX DETAILED RESULTS (08/12/09)

The rally cars are returning from the Gem Lake stage as dusk is falling.  The stage schedule has been shortened, eliminating the Ridge Rocket Stage entirely.  The Happy Valley Super Special has been postponed to the final stage, to give the teams as much daylight as possible for the final run of Gem.

Here are the updated, unofficial results up to the end of stage 8, with revisions in snowX times:

1. Schmidtke / Vokes 52:58.1

2. Tezcan / Neumann 53:10.5

3. Kertes / Fudalej 59:32.3

4. Ross / Norkus 1:07:53.5

5. MJB / Hall 1:15:18.3

6. Bruce / Monasch 1:31:45.1

7. Dahl / Burress 1:52:34.4

8. Morley / Parkerton 1:53:08.8

Here are the unofficial Big White Winter Regional Rally results to the end of stage five:

1. Schmidtke/Vokes 25:53.3

2. Tezcan / Neumann 26.12.3

3. Kertes / Fudalej 30:12.6

4. Ross / Norkus 39:33.4

5. MJB / Hall 46:47.7

Car 3, Grochowski / Junnila, suffered engine failure early in the event and DNF’d.  Car 4, Bruce / Monasch, and the two US teams spent so much time in the snowbanks during the morning section that they came into the first super special over the max late time.  The situation was evaluated by the event organizers and Stewards, who made the decision to establish an extended snow rally max late time of 1h, allowing the teams to continue.

Valley Mitsubishi SnowX Fastest Laps

1. Tony Penny Forester 85.448

2. James Aubert Impreza 89.700

3. Tim Liong Impreza 96.515

The spectator area is busy, and the event is turning out to be a fun, flexible, challenging pure winter snow rally.  Some of the stages are reported to be a bit icy, but in the next section the teams will be taking on the snowy Gem Lake stage, a 13km descent into the forest between snowbanks as high as the windows, with six hairpins at its centre.

The teams rolled in from recce in the dark tonight, red cheeked and exhausted, and ready to take on the powder filled, technical rally roads of the first ever Big White Winter Rally. After the cancellation of two events earlier in the year, the new winter stage rally was granted a chance to expand from its initial incarnation as a single stage test day into a late addition to the 2009 Western Canadian Rally Championship.

The snow began falling on the dedicated volunteers, who were still out prepping the stages, at 2AM on Friday morning, and it’s been dumping ever since. High winds blew drifts around all the service vehicles, and pushed cars off the racing line during testing of the Valley Misubishi SnowX course this afternoon. The forecast suggests things will blow through overnight, potentially creating perfect rally conditions with soft, light snow cover and bluebird skies tomorrow.

Saturday’s Valley Mitsubishi SnowX has attracted an diverse mix of cars customarily seen at car shows, including a 2009 GTR and a Porsche. Most of the snowX entrants have some competitive experience, ranging from community autoX enthusiasts to rally driving instructors. The snowX entrants will be competing against the performance rally teams on a sweeping cornered course in the Happy Valley Day Lot. There are some novel rally cars entered as well, including a 1975 Saab, which will be competing in the 2WD group 2 class against the VW Golf of an established and winning team from Calgary.

The event has drawn volunteers east from Prince George and west from Calgary; some of the Albertans, including the scoring chief, have been blocked by road closures, and are still trying to make their way up to the resort. Two and one half American teams have come north for the winter rally, an unusual presence, as rally teams do not typically cross the border to compete. The teams adapted relatively well, although one team did require a volunteer escort to find the stages as dusk was falling. Several rally traditions have also been borrowed from the American Pacific Northwest for the Big White Winter Rally, including competitor driven cash awards for winning teams. The new rally has also drawn unprecedented support from event sponsors including Valley Mitsubishi and Rocket Rally, generating novel prizes such as the ‘Spirit of Rally Award’ and the ‘Studless is Faster Award’.

The Big White Ski Resort has been a welcoming and hospitable host, sending out plow trucks to line the stage roads with snowbanks up to the drivers’ windows, and grooming the boundaries of the Happy Valley Skating Rink for spectators to watch the snowX competition.

The snowfall disrupted recce today, with some stage roads not accessible until the late afternoon. The teams returned to HQ in between stages to receive information about the next destination, an inefficient process which they bore with patience. The adjectives describing the stage roads included ‘fantastic’, challenging, and ‘spectacular’. First car out for the Big White Winter Rally is at 9am.

Valley Mitsubishi Overall Podium
1st – $105
2nd – $80 & 2h dyno time @ Rocket Rally ($340 value)
3rd – $55 & 1h dyno time @ Rocket Rally ($200 value)

Mr Lube 2WD
1st – $110
2nd – $5
3rd – $5 and a RESQME beltcutter from Safe Drives may be folded into 2nd since we only have two 2WD entries)

Rocket Rally Spirit of Rally Award
$140

Last But Finished
$50

Rocket Rally Studless is Faster Tire Award
2 free Yokohama A034 tires (or 4 tires for 1/2 price) to the top studless finisher – or 4 free if you win overall. (must complete more than 1/2 the stage km on studless tires)

Volunteer SnowX Winner
$50

SnowX Overall Winner
Free entry into Targa Bambina 2010

Thank you to everyone who is supporting the newest rally on the WCRC series!