[Chris Powell]

We learned today that some race took place about 10 years ago on one of the roads we're planning for Quartzsite. Was there a rally there at one time? Was EOI in this area? It's not necessarily a bad thing that these roads have been used before, apparently, the guy we corresponded with was there then and didn't say anything negative about it. The name of the road is Cibola Road south of town on the Yuma Proving Grounds from US 95 up to Ehrenberg. If anybody has any info or knows who might have organized such an event in the past, please let me know ASAP.

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CP​

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[Ben]

>We learned today that some race took place about 10 years
>ago on one of the roads we're planning for Quartzsite. Was
>there a rally there at one time? Was EOI in this area?
>It's not necessarily a bad thing that these roads have been
>used before, apparently, the guy we corresponded with was
>there then and didn't say anything negative about it. The
>name of the road is Cibola Road south of town on the Yuma
>Proving Grounds from US 95 up to Ehrenberg. If anybody has
>any info or knows who might have organized such an event in
>the past, please let me know ASAP.

East of Indio basically ran parallel to I-10 between Indio, California and Desert Center, CA (at least the last few times it was run).

Ben

 

[Chris Powell]

Well then, that's not it. Maybe it was part of the Parker Off-Road Race with the SCORE trucks or something. Timo, you know anything about that?

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CP​

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[Nick the Brit]

Chris, I'm just going on what I've heard over the years but I believe that East of Indio was organized by Roger Allison.
My understanding was that the permits were hard to get because of an endangered desert tortoise. Apparently if the organizers had been willing to put up fences on both sides of the rally road and then take them down after the event everything would have been fine!
Damn those lazy Organizers!! (Tongue very firmly in cheek!!!)

I'm sure someone can chime in here to correct me but this is just what I've heard. It may all be poo!

Nick.

 

[J Nelson]

RE the desert tortoises.
I can remember this being an issue with the tree huggers back in the early 80s for the Parker 400 off road race, on the California side of the event. This was and continues to be a ruse only to stop the racing and also travel in the desert. They find an issue like a desert tortoise, some lizard, insect, plant, special kind of dirt, or something they try to use in court to stop people from using public lands. It is a very distorted selfish group of people who represent an extreme minority, most of whom have never even been near these desert areas.

john nelson

 

[Chris Powell]

Nick,
Thanks...someone else said that too, so I have an e-mail out to Roger now. Since then, though, I learned that EOI was not even near the area where we're planning the Desert Storm Rally...we're about another 120 miles east of that area on the AZ side of the Colorado river, so we shouldn't run into the same problems. Thanks for the help.

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CP​

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[Widget Codriver]

Sorry, couldn't resist a humorous aside

>I can remember this being an issue with the tree huggers ...

Say, John, didn't your son hug a tree last weekend? }>

http://www.drivingsports.com/gallery/data/522/2ww_d2_srva-1.jpg
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(Photo linked from Driving Sports.Com)
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[Chris Powell]

John N.,

Hear, hear!

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CP​

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[J Nelson]

RE: Sorry, couldn't resist a humorous aside

Hey John,
Yes Mark had a tough time although he set many fastest stage times for N. Unfortunately, his codriver had considerable difficulty with the new notes as they are backwards from the way he and other brits do things. The codriver was part of the deal with prodrive, so there were no options. Mark takes full responsibility for what happened as he was driving, but you especially know how important it is to have a co driver that is competent and can be trusted. When your are going full-tilt boogie, you need to feel confident of what is coming up when you cannot see around the corner or yump.
regards,
john n.

 

[Timo]

The years I raced at Parker we never got to that area. They stopped racing on the California side after 1996 (maybe even before that). The Parker stuff was all a couple of dozen miles north of Quartzite. The race started in downtown Parker and went due east, then south to Bouse and back to Parker. I the old days, they crossed over the river and did a 30-50 mile loop in Kalifornia. I think the loop was straight west of Parker.

Happy Motoring

 

[Widget Codriver]

RE: Sorry, couldn't resist a humorous aside

No offence meant, John, just a bit of humor at your choice of the words "tree hugger".

I saw the Jim Clark Memorial Rally coverage on Motorsport Mundial last night, and see what you mean about the notes being called in reverse of US stage notes. I heard a couple of Left 1s and 2s and they looked pretty much flat out.

Also heard about a codriver's broken pelvis when they sideswiped a wall really hard. That looked like a particularly tricky bit of road.

Mark's a talented driver.... I meant no disrespect. See ya soon!

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[p align=right]John Dillon
John @ WidgetRacing.com
www.WidgetRacing.com

 

[human turtle]

The California loop was actually 110 miles if memory serves correctly (and it usually does). I remember well bombing past Rice and hanging a hard right up Thunder Alley and not lifting much for 30 miles. <insert the song "memories" here> However, in the way olden days of EOI some stages were run in the general vicinty of the western end of the Parker course (California side).

In the last couple of runnings of Indio when the Desert Turtle issue was most looming I seem to remember that one of the rules set forth by landowners was that we would not urinate on the side of the road. I guess urine is harmful to the Desert turtle? Can you imagine a driver or navigator not expelling some nervous energy before a stage start?

John Elkin
"Don't go where the road don't go"... Ringo Starr

 

[haztoys]

OH The Turtles and Parker

At the hight of the "Turtle and Parker" Thing. I was racing Offroad and like a good racer "should" They were looking for someone to go look on the track and look for the little guys. If we find one sit down a speak to the little guy and see if he could hange out up on higher ground on race day and not get run over. "IF" he did not want to move. Just pick him up "NICELY" and hike over the hill and find him a nice place to injoy the race. We got told how to hold him and make him happy.

A happy Turtle makes a happy Tree Hugger ,and that makes a happy Racer. We are all happy!

So of to Parker in the jeep for a Turtle hunt. There EZ to find right! Right! Slow, like the sun,

After three days around and around the race track. Did we find a Turtle, a trace of a Turtle. Turtle do do ...........NO

We could not even find ANY trace that a Turtle had ever lived there. I always thought that was funny. And by day two we looked REEAALLY hard! Hell or high water I was going to find a Turtle!! Are they all gone I hope not!. Or were they ever out there to start with ?