Without the use of publicly owned roads and the cooperation of the people who oversee them, rallying would be in a world of hurt. This is why ProRally event organizers, the National Forest Service and the various State Forest entities they interact with have had a good relationship for decades. Sure there's the occasional turf war or personality conflict, but usually, things go well. This was not the case in Tennessee.
Rallies are, after all, hard enough to watch when things are normal. Check the map and the schedule, find a spot with access to a stage, watch the cars and try to leapfrog the rally to the next spot. If you see the cars go past six or seven times during the weekend, it was worth the trip. Cherokee Trails' compact layout around a central service area should've made it relatively easy for any fan to see at least four of the eight stages and maybe even catch a service.
The Forest Service, however, made that impossible.
From the start, the organizers made it clear the NFS had set down rules and spectators would need to use the designated spectator areas or risk a trespassing ticket. No more than 50 special media passes would be issued allowing access via selected intersecting roads on other stages. Fair enough, resources arelimited and every sandbox has its rules.
The trouble started during Thursday's pace-note recce. One driver was given a $100 parking ticket when he pulled over in the wrong spot. Another driver stopped to admire the view and catch up on the notes and decided to answer nature's call. A ranger happened by and when the unfortunate soul stepped out from behind his chosen tree, he handed him a $150 ticket for "urinating in a National Forest." Do bears need permits to defecate in these woods?
Entrance to Saturday's spectator points was gained only after paying a $20 "road use fee" (at least there were porta-johns). And when the fans arrived at the chosen point they were kept, not behind the wisely placed snow fences, but in front of the fences, dangerously close to the road. Even with the approved credential and "go-anywhere" media vest, the video and still photographers were told to stand there or there. No walking around the corner to find a better shot. There or there, period.
The second time through, reason prevailed and the spectators were moved to safer positions behind the fence. Whereupon, the stage captain later said the ranger randomly handed out $100 tickets to several people who had strayed past a line only the NFS could see. Then the gates closing the press access roads were never unlocked and SS3 was delayed because the ambulance found its gate locked as well. Did we mention the cost of the necessary permits for the rally went from just more than $2,000 to $12,000?
That said, the frustrated spectators were treated to a great show. Hyundai debuted two new 2003 Tiburons for Mark Higgins and Paul Choiniere. Prodrive entered the final version of its Open Class Subaru WRX for Mark Lovell and Tim O'Neil debuted his Air Force Reserve-sponsored Group N WRX. The Chicago Autoklub Polski entered the 2001 Polish Rally Champion team of Janusz Kulig/Jaroslaw Baran in their 2000 Mitsubishi EVO VI and brought its entire crew across the pond for the rally. Subaru Rally Team Canada dropped south of the border with cars for Tom McGeer and Patrick Richard. And for the first time in eight months, an independent team won a SCCA ProRally as the Isle of Mann's David Higgins and English co-driver Calvin Cooledge brought their AV Sport-prepared WRX home just one second ahead of Poles Kulig and Baran.
By Tim McKinney
Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!