Tonight, I am writing from The Home Office in Lancaster, CA!
The United States Road Rally Challenge was held on the East Coast, October 20-22, 2023, with three rallies sanctioned by the Philadelphia and South Jersey Regions. I was fortunate to be there with Rebecca Bastien, Travis Maxim, Jen Bersch, Bill Demming, Cyndi English, and a dozen or so of my rally family! Two of those women—Bastien and Bersch — were recipients of the SCCA Foundation Women on Track Scholarships. They were not given their due coverage by National post-event last year, so we are choosing to bump their articles from last year, and we hope you’ll reread them or, perhaps, catch them for the first time!
“The rally is over,” yet no one recalls if we all got zeros and were cheering our score!
Rebecca Bastien
Three Days of Adventure
“The competition consisted of three rallies: two Tour Rallies and a Course Rally. The days were long, but the stunning foliage and picturesque locations provided ample inspiration. We persevered, taking Second Place on the first day, securing First Place on the second day, and clinching First Place again on the final day, earning us the Overall victory in the Regional Championship category. This achievement was a testament to our resilience, teamwork, and dedication.
Empowering the Next Generation of Female Racers
One of my concerns is the limited representation of younger women in motorsports. To address this issue, we need clever and relevant social media content, such as movies, videos, and clips, that showcase motorsport as a welcoming and inclusive space for women. National-level organized publishers to official social media, in-car cameras utilizing the latest sponsorships like Go-Pro, and expanded scholarship opportunities can also play a pivotal role in attracting and supporting women who aspire to join the motorsports community.”
Click here to read the full article and view photos from the weekend.
Jen Bersch
Revving Up for the Unknown
“They say that “life truly begins at the end of your comfort zone,” a belief I’ve long held close to my heart. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, encouraged by my friend Cheryl, I decided to take a leap and apply for the SCCA Foundation Women on Track United States Road Rally scholarship. As a seasoned rally Navigator, I knew my next step was finding a reliable driver. Unexpectedly, my usual partner in adventure, my husband, declined the invitation. Then, I thought of my sister, Cyndi English, who happened to live in the area where the rally would take place. With little prior experience in rallying, she eagerly accepted the challenge.
The catch? We hardly knew each other, and effective communication between the Driver and the Navigator is paramount in the world of rally racing. The Navigator must orchestrate the road directions and convey them in a clear, easy-to-follow manner. At the same time, the Driver must listen attentively, all while keeping an eye on their speed, odometer, and the road ahead. A wrong turn, inevitable in rally racing, could cost us valuable time. Our venture could have gone one of two ways, and we were about to find out.”
Click here to read the full article and view photos from the weekend.
Scholarship Recipient Coming “Cross Country”
For 2024, the SCCA Foundation’s Women on Track offering of scholarships found a worthy recipient in Lucy Schnippel, a SCCA Central Illinois Region member. She has entered the SCCA California Sports Car Club Region, aka SoCal Region‘s sanctioned USRRC presented by the Santa Monica Sports Car Club and the Into the Night Rally Team, which begins Saturday with Thunder Road by Rallymaster Joe Akerman, Sunday’s Stagecoach Rally by Rallymaster Larry Scholnick, and wrapping up the Weekend is Highway Robbery by Rallymaster Jeanne English. They represent a Tour Monte Carlo, a Tour, and on Veteran’s Day, the Course Rally — Lucy and her father, Kurt Schnippel, are ready for the adventure and the competition as they continue their inaugural road rally season!
I have not had the pleasure of meeting Lucy yet, but that will happen tomorrow evening during the social time after registration for the 2024 USRRC. And you’ll have the pleasure of reading her story on the USRRC later this month here on CRRwUS.
Click here to read the SportsCar spotlight on Team Schnippel posted in August!
Rebecca, I hope we can have that gathering of women during one of the evening dinners this year! We are eager to learn about the 2025 USRRC Region host in hopes of getting more SCCA Regional competitors in attendance and marketing the event so that more women can join us, too! Yet first, let the adventures begin this evening as Registration opens, friendships are renewed, and new ones are made.
