Well, I thought I would share the article I wrote up that all Canadian rallyists will be receiving. It is from my point of view as the co-driver for team Hardyboy Racing, a team owned and operated by Hardy Schmidtke. I've written up previous articles for various events we've attended on the forums here. As of right now, we are second nationally in P4 (PGT for you USA guys), while we are in the top ten (tenth) overall nationally. I believe that we should be able to secure a first place finish in British Columbia at PFR, which will have us tied for first in P4 nationally (as well as moving us up the overall leaderboard). All of this will then come to a conclusion at the Rally of the Tall Pines in Bancroft, Ontario in November where we push for 1st in novice nationally, 1st in P4 nationally, and a top ten national finish both overall and at the rally. Anyways, on to the article (pictures after the article + video links)!
You first have to wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into when you log onto Rallye Défi’s main webpage. Before being able to gather information like the sup regs and entry information, you see under the name of the rally the question, “Do you know the meaning of DÉFI? It’s a real challenge!” My French has never been the strongest, but intrigued I consulted a language translator about the meaning of “défi”. Turns out it literally means “challenge”! This could get interesting.
Having been a competitor at Rallye Défi last year, I was somewhat prepared for the challenge that accompanies the rally. This time around however would be a whole new feat in logistics, competing with the relatively new team Hardyboy Racing based out of Cochrane, Alberta. Coordinating when and where the service crew had to be for the different services, the actual trip of the truck and trailer out to Sainte-Agathe, as well as keeping driver Hardy Schmidtke filled in on what was going on would be a task.
Luckily for us, the aforementioned service crew was superb. Having simply kicked the tires and made sure the car would make it to the next stage on previous rallies, Hardy and I have never had a service intensive rally before. We figured that would change at Rallye Défi. We confirmed this when we holed the oil pan on our recce vehicle, requiring the service crew to start their work before the rally even began. This setback also forced us to do one recce pass of all but a few stages. Défi indeed.
Friday came and the rally started. After a recent off that ended our contest of a rally out in British Columbia, we began the first stages with some trepidation. This showed in the stage times with us being re-seeded around 30th at the end of the day. Obviously, nothing close to the 5th overall we had experienced at the Rocky Mountain Rally. While the rally truly hadn’t begun, worry was setting in that we may have lost too much time already to catch up. The stages went well enough but the times were simply not there. Hardy could be heard saying, “We were out for a nice Sunday drive.” The same could not be said for drivers at the front of the pack. The top ten were separated by a mere 12 seconds! Having some fun with our unfortunate circumstances, the side of the team trailer was the location of a pro-picks list including the top 5 and then a place for us much further down the order. The pro-picks list would end up having an eerie foreboding about it once Saturday was underway.
Saturday morning was where everything started falling into place for the team. Excellent weather had settled in, with lots of rain and cool air. Wait, that doesn’t seem right? To quote Hardy when interviewed at the Rocky Mountain Rally about how the weather was, “The weather is good.” Obscene weather is where team Hardyboy Racing tends to excel at. Having only competed at one full, dry gravel event before, not finishing there seems to reinforce this trait. Energized by the dismal weather, we headed out to the first stages of the day. The first stage alone saw us move up two places overall. Our main competition, Ted and Lise Mendham were now only 18 seconds ahead of us.
The rest of the day went essentially like clock work. Slowly but surely, we crept up the leader board fighting for stage times with the Mendham’s all the while. An unfortunate time penalty due to checking in one minute late at a time control was a minor setback in our determined charge. Right on the tail of the Mendham’s, as if both teams were moving as one, almost a place a stage was gained. Over the last two stages, due to the incredible attrition Rallye Défi tends to have, we gained seven places. Seven! The previously mentioned pro-picks list seemed to be having a say in the attrition of the top leader board, with 4 out of the 5 teams on it withdrawn from the rally. With the cancelation of the final two stages though, a final sprint for first in P4 as well as a better overall finish was cut short. Whether the time we needed to have made up would have been possible to attain will always be unknown.
Hardy walked away from the event amazed. He at first did not believe that any rally could be as rough as I made Rallye Défi out to be. Of course his disbelief in me was strengthened after recce of the first seventeen stages. That all changed once we arrived at Mulgrave North. From there on his attitude quickly changed to one of amazement at how treacherous the event could be. Also taken away from the event was our top ten finish, coming in ninth overall. The objective set for ourselves when we first entered the rally was a top ten finish, believing tenth place was attainable. Grabbing ninth was the icing on the cake after finishing such a tough rally. At the end of it all, both Hardy and I would like to thank the organizers for putting on another superb Rallye Défi, and the volunteers for sticking it out in the miserable weather. Will team Hardyboy Racing be seen at Rallye Défi next year? Hopefully!
