Rallymasters Harold and Karen Davis wrote this year’s third event in the Southern Indiana Region (SIR) best six-of-seven Rally Championship. Their Hill and Dale Rally started in Evansville, Indiana. Seven teams took part in the rally that the Rallymasters described as simple, three hours, 100 miles, straightforward with only the “Straight as Possible” Main Road Rule, and would be without tricky stuff. Good times were had by all…though some had better times than others. (That last statement is about as insightful as stock market reports saying, “Trading was mixed.”)
Henceforth, I shall refer to Harold and Karen as Team Davis. There’s no sharing which of the two is more pleased with creating a trap, and, after all, road rally is a team sport. My rally partner, Terry Davis, and I regularly compete against Team Davis. I shouldn’t be adding to their motivation through smack talkin’. They are always ready to pounce on any minor issue Team Davis/Sonntag may have on the course (or even easier for them, off-course). Always the gentleman, Harold readily admits Karen is the one with the devious mind; Karen smiles so innocently. Perhaps it’s that twinkle in her eyes that’s the problem.
Entrant performance in the ’23 Team Davis rally helped them realize that they didn’t really need to work on any traps or tricky stuff for entrants to have a good time. As Harold noted in the pre-event publicity, regular participants in SIR rallies are good enough to create their own traps on the fly and mainly on the route…until they’re not.
Teams didn’t fall for their traps in ’23, but did create their own. Ultimately, Team Davis did less work; as predicted, entrants participated fully by making mistakes and their own traps. The Rallymasters had just as much fun watching the activity on the Richta Rallymaster map.
As in all Time/Speed/Distance rally events, some teams have better times than others. Unfortunately, the best rally stories usually come from those who had the not-so-good times because they explored the area AROUND the route rather than staying ON the route. Before the use of TAs, I would have said those with the worst times also have the worst scores. (Get it?) Now, even those with great “offs” can finish well with good Time Allowance usage.
As Car #2, Team Davis/Sonntag, we were a bit surprised to see Car #1 (Team Sturgeon/Cannon) coming at us only six instructions into the route. There was no loop, and we were heading to a couple of well-known straight-as-possible vs. centerline vs. ONTO intersections that were EVEN used as illustrations in the General Instructions. We just smiled and waved.
We would later use a TA to drop back from Car #3, which gave us a great view of Car #3 missing a DEAD END sign. That undoubtedly gave them fits after they turned at THEIR second opp, which was not THE second opp. We just smiled. There was no point in waving goodbye as Car #3 was already gone.
A benefit of writing these articles is that I don’t have to explain how Team Davis/Sonntag (Car #2) came to be following Car #3.
Other than seeing two or three different cars at the breaks, the only other car we spotted on the course was Team Dornburg/Knott (Car #6) when they braked too little and too late for a top-up turn in the free zone after the final checkpoint on the way to the post-route gathering. Again, I don’t really need to explain how we saw a car behind us pulling a U-ie school parking exit just past a turn on the route. So, I’m not going to. It was an at least twice-tested, very convenient, and well-tested spot for a U-ie, though.
At the end of the day, the Class winners in both the SIR classes (essentially Equipped and not) were taken by out-of-town teams. The daughter/father team of Lucy and Kurt Schnippel from Decatur, IL, won in Class A (in a Silverado) with 38 points over the 100-mile, 10-checkpoint route. They also used the most (by count) TAs. We won’t put that on the trophy! The Class B honors went to Greg and Terri Wilkins of Findlay, Ohio, with 108 points.
As you’re finishing this article and are about to look up your travel time to Evansville, we’ll welcome you, but don’t think we’re easy pickins! We’ll just help you have a good time! One way or the other. Just search “Southern Indiana Region” on MotorsportReg.com.
