Anyway, here are some pictures.
First I had to get out of LA
Gee, what a surprise: Lots of Subarus were there. I headed out to the fairgrounds to check in as a volunteer. I met my captain, got instructions for what I was to do, and then got to go hang out. I checked out the vendor pavilion, hung out with some nasioc guys I knew, and then we got invited to go eat with a bunch of Subaru Execs. That was cool. Then I took a ride with my friend in his WRX on the auto-x course.
That's a B9 Tribeca on the end there at the hotel.
Some nasioc and rallyinnovations guys on razor scooters.
At 7:17 the rally started. This is Super Special 1. Since there isn't much spectating on the course, they have four of these stages througout the weekend so people can watch from the grandstands.
Two cars go at the same time, on side-by-side loops.
The guys in the trucks were going big on the jump. Many cars slowed way down and just rolled over it, especially since this is the first stage before about 3 hours of night rallying.
Guess who's in this car:
Yay! a Legacy in amongst all the Imprezas. There were three.
After the Super Special the cars went off to the actual stages. I hung around inside at the nasioc booth for awhile with some guys I know, and then we all went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I went to bed pretty much right after that because I had to get up at about 5:30 to be a spectator marshall at the start of the first stage for Saturday. They ended up closing the morning rally to spectators, so I had to tell people that it was closed and they couldn't go up. Then I ended up working the start for the first two stages. I wasn't at the actual start line, though. It was the place where the cars get their timing cards filled out before going up to the start.
I was at the start point by about 7, and the first car went out at 8:29. So, I had a little bit of sitting around to do.
Also I did some donuts.
Here's where I was working.
Here's the actual start
Cars have to be at this point by a certain time and we give them their actual start time. Here's the cars starting to show up. That red ESX STi was fast. I think they won the rally.
This Legacy was pretty quick. I think they did fairly well.
Oooh yeah. There's another Legacy.
Gravel Girl started last.
The second stage was supposed to be somewhere else, but it was closed, so they ran the first stage over again. So, cars were lining up for the 2nd before everyone had even started the first.
I heard the ESX car has no handbrake
This is one of my favourite pictures
Hay guys check out my official marshall vest. Don't I look important?
Oops. There's a bent strut.
After starting the first two stages, I was asked if I wanted to work the last two later that day. It was about 11:30 and I didn't have to be there until 4, so I drove back to the fairgrounds to see what was going on and to watch the Super Special.
There was a car show too. Lots of Subarus.
You don't see these very often, so I figured I'd might as well snap a few pictures.
These RX-7s were pretty nice.
Lambo doors on a VR-4
I stopped by the service area and said hi to the Legacy guys.
They bent a control arm
Then I watched some of the Super Special
Cars were hitting the jump a little harder
After they went, I went back to the hotel, ate, and headed out to Del Sur. I was working the finish for Del Sur South II, which became the start of Del Sur North II after all the cars came in. This meant I got to drive up the course. It was fun. I got a little bit of air, got a little bit sideways, and bottomed out the suspension a couple of times, which probably wasn't good, but whatever. The new suspension goes in this week.
Here's a nice picture of the veiw.
The finish:
There was a crash on the previous stage, so all the cars were delayed, and Super Special III was cancelled. I was at the top of Del Sur by about 4:15, and the first car didn't leave the bottom until 8:26. I slept in my car for awhile.
Then the cars started coming in. I didn't have time to take many pictures, and it was dark. My job was to run the time cards to the table and back to the navigator as the cars came in. I did get this picture, though.
After all the cars finished, they turned around and we became the start. This was probably the coolest part for me. I was working the start line. Cars would get thier ideal start time at the table, and then pull up to the line. I took the cars and filled out the actual start time, which is the same, unless there's some sort of a delay which prevents a car from leaving on time. A car went off the road at one point, so the 4 or 5 cars that already had their cards got a different actual start time. This also meant I was standing about 2 feet away from the cars when they launched. It was awesome. After that I got to haul ass back down the course with my rally lights on, then got drunk with some people at the hotel.
