Contributed by James Heine
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (Oct. 24, 2013) - Three National championship teams were crowned at the 19th annual SCCA United States RoadRally Challenge (USRRC) on Sunday, Oct. 20, in Fredericksburg, Va.
Sunday’s awards ceremony capped three days and some 600 miles of rallying through the historic Virginia countryside surrounding the city that dates back to the colonial era.
In Equipped, Chuck Larouere and Carl Staab (Mitsubishi 3000 GT) won a tight contest with Jack von Kaenel and Stu Helfer (Ford Fusion) by finishing second to von Kaenel and Helfer on Friday’s Virginia Map GTA National Rally, then winning both Saturday’s Virginia Reel National Course Rally and Sunday’s Magical History National Touring Rally. Von Kaenel and Helfer finished second in class on the Virginia Reel and fourth in class on the Magical History Rally.
The weekend’s Limited Class belonged to Jim Crittenden and R. Bruce Gezon (Mini Cooper S). The veteran team won both the Friday and Saturday Class L contests (finishing first overall on Friday), and nearly won the Sunday Touring rally as well—except for a missed half-minute pause on the first leg of the rally. Fellow Class L veterans Jeanne English and Dave Kolb (Toyota Supra) ran a clean event and prevailed over Crittenden and Gezon for Sunday’s class win. The final Sunday tallies for the two teams—English and Kolb 23 penalty points, Crittenden and Gezon, 69.
In Stock, Nathan Harris and J Toney (Chevrolet Cobalt LTZ), like Larouere and Staab in Equipped, earned a second- place finish on Friday and picked up class wins on Saturday and Sunday. Will Moser and Kyle Rand (Toyota MR2) earned second-place honors in Stock by winning Friday’s map rally and finishing second to Harris and Toney on Saturday and Sunday.
In each class, RoadRally Challenge competitors earn points, 10 points for first place, eight points for second place and so on, based on their finish in each of the three events. The points earned are then added together to determine the winning team.
The 19th edition of the RoadRally Challenge was organized by the Washington, D.C., Region. At a RoadRally town hall meeting after Saturday’s Virginia Reel Rally, Gezon, a member of the RoadRally Board, announced that the board had selected Chattanooga, Tenn. as the location for the 2014 USRRC. The event is scheduled for late September, with a specific date to be announced later, will be run in conjunction with the Coker Challenge, a Great Race regional event organized and sponsored by Coker Tire.
WDR USRRC GTA Map Event Rally WDC USRRC Virginia Reel Course Rally WDC USRRC Magical History Tour Rally
