Nine teams turned out for the season opener “Sprung Spring”. This is encouraging for event organizers, as it is the largest turnout for the first rally of the season that we’ve seen in several years.
PSRC Rallymaster Dave Treen sent competitors out to Issaquah and then south toward Renton to end the odometer transit on Wax Road. Leg 1 continued along Wax, then zig-zagged over to Lake Francis briefly, before running the length of Maxwell to the checkpoint just before Norvydan. Car 9 missed a turn (either Lake Francis or Maxwell) and had a little adventure but found their way back to the course.
Leg 2 wound through the Taylor Creek area and crisscrossed Hobart before coming back to SR169 to reach Witte Road. Cars followed Witte to its next encounter with SR169, where the route took them to Belmont Woods and along the Pipeline to the next checkpoint in an area you probably didn’t know is called Noble.
Leg 3 headed toward Landsburg, then south, past the Ravensdale Market (which is in Georgetown, not Ravensdale). It looped around Ravensdale Park (exactly where you’d expect it to be), back through Georgetown and almost to Landsburg before teams turned on Summit-Landsburg Road, eventually reaching the final checkpoint very close to the finish location in Four Corners.
Scoring was completed quickly and awards presented as pizzas were being served.
There was a question at the finish about Time Allowance behavior observed in the Competitor app. Teams attempting to take a 0:10 or 0:20 T/A could not do so, getting 0:30 instead. This was traced to a parameter in the event settings. For future rallymasters, please check that you have the minimum T/A value set to 0:10, maximum set to 19:30, and the increments set to 0:10, 0:20, 0:30, 1:30, … These are established in section 9.5.1 of the NWRC General Instructions. Using other values requires that a supplemental instruction be issued.
Puget Sound Rally Club gives Dave a big thank you for stepping up as rallymaster, and also gives recognition to PSRC members Kevin, Mike, and Vasco as well as non-members Jack and Charles for their assistance.