Rallye On!: Badger Burrow report.

Due to work commitments we were unable to attend the Badger Burrow Rally out of Madison, Wisconsin recently. So once again I turn the blog over to Jay Nemeth Johannes for his description of the days events. Thanks Jay.

After a long, hard winter, we were definitely ready for spring. The problem was, spring was refusing to emerge. Rallys got postponed, and then run as winter events. We were getting nervous as May 3 approached because we had no backup plan. This was going to run as a spring event. Fortunately, the sun finally emerged, and Saturday turned out to be a perfect day, with scattered clouds and highs in the 60’s.

Seventeen cars gathered at Dunn’s Imports in Middleton WI, ranging from New Camaros to a 1973 Plymouth Duster. BMWs outnumbered Subarus for once. While we waited the start, contestants admired the selection of exotic cars and Moto Guzzi motorcycles in the shop. Jason Dunn provided a continental breakfast to help folks get in the mood. After a short rally school, teams were off at 11 AM on their 7 hour journey.

Hosts and contestants Jason and Beth Dunn.

Rallymaster Fred Rosevear provided a 200 mile course that wound through the driftless area west of Madison. The roads are narrow and follow the terrain up and down through the many small canyons. Nothing is straight. The event had longer transit zones, followed by short timed ‘stages’. The timed sections, usually a couple of miles, were chosen to be the twistiest roads available. The speeds were set from 38-45 MPH and teams needed to be alert to maintain them. Controls were placed around curves and over crests.

Approaching Control 3.

We are working to establish a local program here in Milwaukee Region, and have started building a loyal group of regulars. When we decided to make this a national, our main concern was encouraging that group to run. We decided against telling the locals that this was a national, and writing the event with the locals in mind. The only advertising we did that was aimed at the national crowd was the SCCA calendar listing and a single posting on the national road rally mailing list. All of our promotion on social media and to the car clubs emphasized that this was a driver’s event with an emphasis on brisk driving on the roads you wish you had time to find for yourself. It worked. 12 of the 17 cars were from the region, most of them entering in the novice class.

Dan and Alieca Bailey showing great enthusiasm

I ran as sweep car, and we solved a few problems. A blown tire, a carsick navigator, but nothing major. Fred’s course was rock solid. CZTs after every control kept the rally running on time, and everyone arrived at the finish line just before 6 PM as promised.

S Class winners Dave and Rich Bireta prove you can get good results with a GPS and Apps.

People really seemed to enjoy the event and there were many stories of the great roads and cool exploits during the day. We awarded trophy “kits” consisting of a Lego car (complete with little man holding a trophy) on a mat containing the place award.