colin555
10-26-2006, 12:16 PM
Tyres. THE story of the rally for the 555 bunch.
The week before the rally ( Oct 20 and 21, held in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan ) the first winter storm of the season blew in. They were predicting 2 feet of snow in the area that the rally runs, so I was, um, overly concerned. Most of you know how I like snow ( I don't ) and cold ( not a fan of cold either ) so the prospect of my favourite-rally-of-all-time turning into a snow rally was to say the least making me uneasy. I talked to everyone who would listen and some who wouldn't about tyre choices for a maybe cold, maybe snowy, maybe who knows rally. Eventually I took 16 tyres and wheels to Muskegon Brake where my good friend Bob Cutler and I got way too familiar with his tyre changing equipment. I still have sore muscles a week later ( no comments from you young folk about old people and being out of shape please) but we got them all mounted. Snow tyres, narrow hard compound gravel tyres, wide medium gravels, and some Kuhmos that we thought might be good in mud. More on that idea later. As the rally got closer the weather reports improved, the 2 feet of snow was actually more like 10" and that was melting fast so our backup plan to run Mr Buskirk's Gti instead of the Sierra was scraped. All was go.
Nancy an I left Zeeland on Thursday morning just after 8am, and had a nice relaxing drive of 520 miles to Houghton, arriving about 6:15. After unloading the car, unpacking and going through registration, we went to the Pilgrim River Steak House and had dinner with Mark Buskirk and his Mom Sharon (our service crew ), Jeff and Deb Secor, and Chris and Maria Czyzio ( car 521 ). Very nice meal. Certainly the best steak I've had in Houghton.
Friday morning we got up early, OK about 7:30, and took the car to tech inspection. We needed a new logbook since our original one is full - that means the 555 car has competed in 30 rally weekends, many of those weekends having 2 rallies. No problems at tech, and we're ready to start debating what tyres to use. I'm thinking narrow gravels, but most people are grooving tyres like mad for the expected muddy slop. So we decide on the Kuhmos which have a very open tread pattern. About noon Will How arrives and our team is complete. Park Expose is at 2:30 so we have lunch at the Suomi Bakery and get ready.
As we're socializing at the Park Expose, JB Niday ( Managing Director of Rally America) and Doug Havir ( owner of Rally America ) come over. JB says he has something for me and Doug hands me a big envelope. Inside is a picture of my 555 car ........autographed by The Man, World Rally Champion Colin McRae ! Whoa. Seems that JB knew how much I wanted to meet The Man and when my trip to the X Games in California didn't work out last summer he had this idea to have Colin ( The Man ) sign something for me. What an outstanding idea, and so very much appreciated. I smile every time I think about all these guys taking the time to get me The Man's autograph. How cool is that !?
So back to the rally. We're off about 3:30 ish, headed to the first stage, classic Herman Nestoria. We're right behind Bruce Davis and Jimmy Brandt in their Neon SRT4. It's all good, Nancy has taken half a Dramamine, a very small dose, and is ready for a nap. Once to the stage she's fine though, and we are 9th fastest of the 30 regional cars through the stage. Not bad, but already I'm noticing that the Kuhmos have limited side ( cornering) grip compared to the Pirellis and Michelin rally tyres I usually have. The stage is also much much drier that expected, virtually no muddy conditions, but 5 cars manage to roll or break something. Hmmm. We go to service in Kenton, just needing fuel and clean windows. We hear that stage 2 and 3 are really slippy, so the decision is to leave the Kuhmos on till the first long service after stage 4. Stage 2 and 3 are rougher and twistier than Herman, also a bit more muddy, but not bad, and the car is all over the road loose.....on to stage 4, the longest stage of the evening at 17 miles and to be repeated as stage 7 to finish the night. This stage is called Passmore, and is really quick and has a nice rhythm to it. It's a stage that rallycars with power can really get going on and we're looking to catch the car ahead of us. All is going well till about 8 miles in I start smelling burning rubber. I assume it's from the car ahead and keep my foot in it. Then just after a right turn through a spectator junction the right rear tyre explodes at high speed. I ask Nancy "how far to the end of the stage " and she replies "9 miles". We have no choice but to stop and change it, so we pull over into a side road, well out of the way so that the next cars can pass without slowing and get to work changing the flat. Nancy's out right away loosening the wheel nuts while I get the jack out and start raising the car....which falls off the jack because the ground is soft and I've put the jack in the wrong spot under the car while rushing....DOH ! So then, 7 minutes later, yes 7 whole minutes, we are back under way. It's surprising how long it takes to get back focused on driving and listening to Nancy calling out the stage notes. Frustrating, but we're laughing as we drive at how pathetic we were at changing the flat. It should have been about 3 or maybe 4 minutes max. Later we discover that Utect, out only competition for the Group 5 Cendiv Championship has also had car trouble and if we had not had this flat tyre we would have had a chance to beat him on the Friday portion of the rally. **** I say. That's right, ****. Oh well, just not our year.
We travel to service and get the flat tyre out of the trunk and into the light. It's completely destroyed, and so is the wheel. It's hard to decide if the wheel was damaged before the tyre exploded or after. No matter, our new problem is that I'd like to get the other 3 Kuhmos off the car and replaced with the narrow Pirellis. But, duh, the Pirellis are still on the trailer tyre rack and that's 55 miles away in Houghton. So, then, we must carry on with the Kuhmos.
Back to the stages and we re-run the previous 3 stages and finish with Passmore, this time we complete it trouble free and 7 minutes faster, it's really a nice stage. After the rally is done we find out that Utect/Bohn have likely added up our time and knows that they need to beat us by a bunch on the last stage to win the Friday rally ......he does....we finish 21st of 30 cars and 2nd in G5. If you take our flat tyre stage out of the scores we would have been 6th, right behind Utect.....the what if's never end when you're competing with someone ! What a gas !
Back to Houghton about 2 am and sleep.....up Saturday at 7:30 to switch tyres and clean the car for Saturday's rally. We put on the wide Michelin gravel tyres, planning to make the most of the traction on the Delaware stages later in the day. No car problems found.
The Saturday rally is much more "fun" than the Friday rally, the Saturday stages short and more like sprints. Loads of spectators, 2 runs up Brockway Mountain. We get through the Gratiot Lake stage carefully, not wanting to break before Delaware Mine, my favourite stage of the rally. With the Michelins we have no tyre worries, there's consistent grip and braking, making me more confident and faster. The in-car video is really fun to watch for Delaware and Brockway. We do Delaware in 3:57 , 7th fastest regional car, and proud of it. What a great stage. Oh what a stage. Service in Copper Harbour is a picnic, literally, with fresh Pasties, hot homemade chili and coffee and well, loads of goodies. We have no pavement tyres along so have no service to do, just enjoy the picnic and the company. Brockway is always interesting and Nancy does NOT like it at all. This year we did a bit of jumping, not all intentional, but the pictures ( and in-car ) are great ! And the Nancy tells us on the video what she thinks of jumping a rallycar at what seems like 100 mph next to a 500 ft cliff.... Hehehe. Back through the other stages in reverse and we finish tired but happy. We get 9th overall in the Regional Rally, again 2nd in class. Not bad at all. And we can drive the car back to Houghton and onto the trailer, that means we win.
1) Learned about tyres: you get what you pay for.
2) Learned about tyres : Kuhmo, poor. Pirelli, better. Michelin, best. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
3) Learned about tyres : they are really no good at all if they are 55 miles away on the trailer rack.
As always, we have to thank a bunch of people for helping us on this rally. I know I will forget something, so if it's you I'm sorry:
West Michigan Imports, Duane Bailey : The little gray trailer
Muskegon Brake, Bob Cutler : Tyre changing equipment and help
Mark Buskirk : Big A$$ generator, microwave, recce, gravel reports, service
Sharon Buskirk : killer chili, taking care of the co-drivers needs
Will How : service
521 car and crew : a pleasure to travel with you all again
Thanks All !
Colin and Nancy McCleery
The week before the rally ( Oct 20 and 21, held in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan ) the first winter storm of the season blew in. They were predicting 2 feet of snow in the area that the rally runs, so I was, um, overly concerned. Most of you know how I like snow ( I don't ) and cold ( not a fan of cold either ) so the prospect of my favourite-rally-of-all-time turning into a snow rally was to say the least making me uneasy. I talked to everyone who would listen and some who wouldn't about tyre choices for a maybe cold, maybe snowy, maybe who knows rally. Eventually I took 16 tyres and wheels to Muskegon Brake where my good friend Bob Cutler and I got way too familiar with his tyre changing equipment. I still have sore muscles a week later ( no comments from you young folk about old people and being out of shape please) but we got them all mounted. Snow tyres, narrow hard compound gravel tyres, wide medium gravels, and some Kuhmos that we thought might be good in mud. More on that idea later. As the rally got closer the weather reports improved, the 2 feet of snow was actually more like 10" and that was melting fast so our backup plan to run Mr Buskirk's Gti instead of the Sierra was scraped. All was go.
Nancy an I left Zeeland on Thursday morning just after 8am, and had a nice relaxing drive of 520 miles to Houghton, arriving about 6:15. After unloading the car, unpacking and going through registration, we went to the Pilgrim River Steak House and had dinner with Mark Buskirk and his Mom Sharon (our service crew ), Jeff and Deb Secor, and Chris and Maria Czyzio ( car 521 ). Very nice meal. Certainly the best steak I've had in Houghton.
Friday morning we got up early, OK about 7:30, and took the car to tech inspection. We needed a new logbook since our original one is full - that means the 555 car has competed in 30 rally weekends, many of those weekends having 2 rallies. No problems at tech, and we're ready to start debating what tyres to use. I'm thinking narrow gravels, but most people are grooving tyres like mad for the expected muddy slop. So we decide on the Kuhmos which have a very open tread pattern. About noon Will How arrives and our team is complete. Park Expose is at 2:30 so we have lunch at the Suomi Bakery and get ready.
As we're socializing at the Park Expose, JB Niday ( Managing Director of Rally America) and Doug Havir ( owner of Rally America ) come over. JB says he has something for me and Doug hands me a big envelope. Inside is a picture of my 555 car ........autographed by The Man, World Rally Champion Colin McRae ! Whoa. Seems that JB knew how much I wanted to meet The Man and when my trip to the X Games in California didn't work out last summer he had this idea to have Colin ( The Man ) sign something for me. What an outstanding idea, and so very much appreciated. I smile every time I think about all these guys taking the time to get me The Man's autograph. How cool is that !?
So back to the rally. We're off about 3:30 ish, headed to the first stage, classic Herman Nestoria. We're right behind Bruce Davis and Jimmy Brandt in their Neon SRT4. It's all good, Nancy has taken half a Dramamine, a very small dose, and is ready for a nap. Once to the stage she's fine though, and we are 9th fastest of the 30 regional cars through the stage. Not bad, but already I'm noticing that the Kuhmos have limited side ( cornering) grip compared to the Pirellis and Michelin rally tyres I usually have. The stage is also much much drier that expected, virtually no muddy conditions, but 5 cars manage to roll or break something. Hmmm. We go to service in Kenton, just needing fuel and clean windows. We hear that stage 2 and 3 are really slippy, so the decision is to leave the Kuhmos on till the first long service after stage 4. Stage 2 and 3 are rougher and twistier than Herman, also a bit more muddy, but not bad, and the car is all over the road loose.....on to stage 4, the longest stage of the evening at 17 miles and to be repeated as stage 7 to finish the night. This stage is called Passmore, and is really quick and has a nice rhythm to it. It's a stage that rallycars with power can really get going on and we're looking to catch the car ahead of us. All is going well till about 8 miles in I start smelling burning rubber. I assume it's from the car ahead and keep my foot in it. Then just after a right turn through a spectator junction the right rear tyre explodes at high speed. I ask Nancy "how far to the end of the stage " and she replies "9 miles". We have no choice but to stop and change it, so we pull over into a side road, well out of the way so that the next cars can pass without slowing and get to work changing the flat. Nancy's out right away loosening the wheel nuts while I get the jack out and start raising the car....which falls off the jack because the ground is soft and I've put the jack in the wrong spot under the car while rushing....DOH ! So then, 7 minutes later, yes 7 whole minutes, we are back under way. It's surprising how long it takes to get back focused on driving and listening to Nancy calling out the stage notes. Frustrating, but we're laughing as we drive at how pathetic we were at changing the flat. It should have been about 3 or maybe 4 minutes max. Later we discover that Utect, out only competition for the Group 5 Cendiv Championship has also had car trouble and if we had not had this flat tyre we would have had a chance to beat him on the Friday portion of the rally. **** I say. That's right, ****. Oh well, just not our year.
We travel to service and get the flat tyre out of the trunk and into the light. It's completely destroyed, and so is the wheel. It's hard to decide if the wheel was damaged before the tyre exploded or after. No matter, our new problem is that I'd like to get the other 3 Kuhmos off the car and replaced with the narrow Pirellis. But, duh, the Pirellis are still on the trailer tyre rack and that's 55 miles away in Houghton. So, then, we must carry on with the Kuhmos.
Back to the stages and we re-run the previous 3 stages and finish with Passmore, this time we complete it trouble free and 7 minutes faster, it's really a nice stage. After the rally is done we find out that Utect/Bohn have likely added up our time and knows that they need to beat us by a bunch on the last stage to win the Friday rally ......he does....we finish 21st of 30 cars and 2nd in G5. If you take our flat tyre stage out of the scores we would have been 6th, right behind Utect.....the what if's never end when you're competing with someone ! What a gas !
Back to Houghton about 2 am and sleep.....up Saturday at 7:30 to switch tyres and clean the car for Saturday's rally. We put on the wide Michelin gravel tyres, planning to make the most of the traction on the Delaware stages later in the day. No car problems found.
The Saturday rally is much more "fun" than the Friday rally, the Saturday stages short and more like sprints. Loads of spectators, 2 runs up Brockway Mountain. We get through the Gratiot Lake stage carefully, not wanting to break before Delaware Mine, my favourite stage of the rally. With the Michelins we have no tyre worries, there's consistent grip and braking, making me more confident and faster. The in-car video is really fun to watch for Delaware and Brockway. We do Delaware in 3:57 , 7th fastest regional car, and proud of it. What a great stage. Oh what a stage. Service in Copper Harbour is a picnic, literally, with fresh Pasties, hot homemade chili and coffee and well, loads of goodies. We have no pavement tyres along so have no service to do, just enjoy the picnic and the company. Brockway is always interesting and Nancy does NOT like it at all. This year we did a bit of jumping, not all intentional, but the pictures ( and in-car ) are great ! And the Nancy tells us on the video what she thinks of jumping a rallycar at what seems like 100 mph next to a 500 ft cliff.... Hehehe. Back through the other stages in reverse and we finish tired but happy. We get 9th overall in the Regional Rally, again 2nd in class. Not bad at all. And we can drive the car back to Houghton and onto the trailer, that means we win.
1) Learned about tyres: you get what you pay for.
2) Learned about tyres : Kuhmo, poor. Pirelli, better. Michelin, best. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
3) Learned about tyres : they are really no good at all if they are 55 miles away on the trailer rack.
As always, we have to thank a bunch of people for helping us on this rally. I know I will forget something, so if it's you I'm sorry:
West Michigan Imports, Duane Bailey : The little gray trailer
Muskegon Brake, Bob Cutler : Tyre changing equipment and help
Mark Buskirk : Big A$$ generator, microwave, recce, gravel reports, service
Sharon Buskirk : killer chili, taking care of the co-drivers needs
Will How : service
521 car and crew : a pleasure to travel with you all again
Thanks All !
Colin and Nancy McCleery