From the RReNews Clan —

Ray Kriegbaum, when he sent in the Happy Camper wrap-up, could not have know the delight for us at seeing these two wonderful people in the candid shots. Worthy competitors, they hosted the ending of our last rally here in Alaska - Bob and Margo Wesley, now retired and they are active with aviation and boating interests.

Seeing this photo in the mix, I quickly sent an text inquiring if they knew about the rally prior or read about it in the Summer II Edition of RReNews. I must admit, I was delighted it was because of RReNews. Part of growing the sport is letting folks know you are out there, and while we reach out to Rallymasters as we find them, we hope more will choose to send in the events months out of the date. Many we find are happening in two weeks, which is just not enough time for most to plan to attend. Please, send notice of your events to us. We can't promise the Wesley's will make it to your event, yet if they are in the area...who knows!

Congrats on finding road rally on the East Coast, Bob and Margo! You two (and Mocha) are missed, and we'll see you down the road or up a river in the future! Safe travels, Cheryl Lynn, on behalf of the Clan

Saturday morning, October 24, 2020, was overcast and cold as we started the Kettle Moraine Colors Rallye. The continuing pandemic has forced us to hold registration and results out in the open, so the weather limits interest, as was shown in the high number of cancellations. Twenty-seven cars registered, and 21 started. Fred Rosevear put together a course through the gently winding roads of the South Kettle Moraine Forest and one which took the best advantage of the changing colors. The colors were there, but the overcast conditions all day pretty much muted them. The roads were first class, as usual. Narrow lanes winding through the trees, with lots of elevation change and tight turns, made this a good driver’s event. The event featured 43 timed controls in a 5-hour event.

The Rallye used the Richta scoring app, as is becoming the norm these days. The app’s prominent feature is that we can run an event without control workers, but there are several other less obvious advantages. First, using the app allows us to place more controls than would be possible with workers without using DIYC controls. Next, it enables us to put controls in locations that would not be possible with a manned-crew. The app also allows the sweep car to monitor contestants’ progress and gives an early warning to find and recover teams who drift off course by using the map and running controls reached functions. The most significant advantage, though, is how it eases scoring. We decided early on that we would have Jim Crittenden work as Scoring Chair. Fred, as Rallymaster ran Lead, and I (Jay) ran Sweep. We were able to communicate when cars dropped out or were not making controls. It went so smoothly that scores had been posted and finalized by the time I pulled into the parking lot.

Although we ended in the parking lot, we were next door to the Water Street Brewery, and several of the contestants chose to move there for dinner and beer. The Brewery was a good compromise as it is their choice, and a nice location readily available.

A few teams dropped out, leaving us with 17 cars that finished the entire course. The most notable team to drop out was Joel and Yvonne Wheaton. They had brought their two large dogs. At the first break, I found Yvonne cleaning up from where one of the dogs got sick from the turns. I helped her clean up, and after walking the dogs, she put them back in the car, only to discover that the other one had gotten sick as well. At that point, they decided that it was prudent to call it a day.

A first-timer team of Martin Sadowski and 

Courtney Riess took the Overall win with 157.4 points. The Experienced SOP Class was closely decided, with the team of Chris Gabo and Tony Yarborough edging out Bartosz and Maggie Surowka. Those teams took Second and Third Overall. To be fair, the one Computer Class entry of Jeff Whalen and Fred Glenn were doing a shakedown run using a new homemade rally computer. I looked this over, and their setup is very flexible. The odometer and timing are in separate boxes so that they can run Limited Class as well. The design includes a Driver display with more information displayed: overall and interval mileages, current and next CAST, ahead/behind, and current speed. It is presented in a clear-to-read manner with the most crucial info larger and bolded. I was quite impressed, as I am always asking my Navi about the current CAST. I think that as they mature, they will have a very competitive setup. Before it was canceled, they had entered OKTOBERALLY, so look for them in Midwest events as things start to open back up.

The team of Tim Marx and sons Kyle Marx and Ian Marx won the Calculating Class. They came up from Rockford, Ill, and we talked about helping them re-establish a rally program in Blackhawk Valley Region. The last TSD in that Region was a Monte I put on in 2009 when I still lived down there. Tim is an old time rallyist and I am confident he will put together a really nice event.

The title of this year’s Ghouls Gambol was “A Stranger Stalks the Highway…”

Seventeen teams left the start line on Halloween morning to run the 54th Anniversary Ghouls Gambol Road Rally, on Saturday, October 31st. 

Rally participants submitted ballots to select the winners in the Costume Concourse. Car #7, Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man, the team of Kevin and Angelique Ortega took home the honors. Congratulations!

First overall and first GPS was the team of Bob Morseburg and Cheri Eddy with a total score of 7 over 16 scored legs. Bob and Cheri zeroed 15 of the 16 legs. Outstanding accuracy! (Any remaining concerns about the accuracy of the Richta GPS Checkpoints app should now be laid to rest.)

Second overall and first Novice was the team of Brian and Jamie Anderson. This was their first season as Cascade ralliers and they did great! We expect they’ll move up to the SOP class next season.

Third overall and second Novice was the team of Andy and Mercedes Lilienthal. We hope to see them at more rallies next season. Torm Kelsey-Green and Kasey Klaus finished fourth overall and first SOP. Torm and Kasey had a solid season. They wrote the July Saturday Rally this year, and we expect they will Rallymaster an event next season. Ed Frank and Jo Su finished second SOP. They weren’t able to run many rallies this year. Hopefully next year we’ll see them more frequently.

Madelyn and Mark Tabor finished in third place SOP. The Tabor family is well known for their involvement in regional road rally of all sorts. It is nice to see them at a Cascade TSD rally.

Third Novice was Angelique and Kevin Ortega. This year’s Mountains to the Sea Rally was their first Cascade event. We hope to see them at many rallies next year.

Congratulations to all the Ghouls Gambol Halloween Road Rally participants!

A special thank you to our checkout crew, Kat Iverson and Hal Ballard. They drove the course twice! Thank you!

It’s been a quick four months since we officially launched SpeedWaiver, our innovative motorsport-specific electronic signature system. In that time over 67,000 waviers have been signed, across 148 organizations and 1541 events.

We unveiled this product quickly in order to meet the demand for safer events, while ensuring secure storage of signed waivers. Since launch, we’ve solicited feedback from you, our customers, and have taken that feedback and put it into action. We’re happy to announce the following enhancements have been completed:

We're not stopping there! The following future enhancements are also in the works;

While 2020 is winding down, motorsports events have been heating up – September registrations on MSR were up 23%, for example. We’re optimistic that this will continue into next year, bringing more events and more opportunities for enthusiasts to get behind the wheel.

That said, looking at the COVID forecast for the upcoming months, with an anticipated rise in cases expected, we want to remove all barriers to using electronic waivers to ensure motorsport events can continue to safely operate through these challenging times.

To help keep the momentum going, we’re happy to announce a special offer on SpeedWaiver for ALL organizations (new and existing). Starting 10/1/2020 and running through 5/31/2021, SpeedWaiver fees will be waived, regardless of number of waivers signed.

Already using SpeedWaiver? No need to do anything, you’ll automatically have your fees waived. Not signed up yet? Click here to go to our webpage and learn more about SpeedWaiver today! Or send us a note at [email protected].  

A few words from RReNews: this is wonderful news for our road rally programs, as it further reduces the contact point at Registration, as well as the worry of storage of Waivers post-event.