RE: Stories and Gravel Tires
LACHINE, QUE. (Nov. 25/2002) - Jon Nichols, four-time Canadian rally driving
champion in the two-wheel-drive class, finished third in his return to that
division at the season-ending Tall Pines event in central Ontario.
The Yokohama-backed driver from Lachine, Que., was beset by various niggling
problems on his Volkswagen Golf - which he was driving for only the second
time this season - but made the best of the situation.
"My goal was to finish the rally, which we did," said Nichols, who ended up
four minutes, 24 seconds behind Group 2 class winner Gord Olsen, also in a
VW Golf, but just 51 seconds behind the Ford Focus of second-placed Peter
Reilly. He was ninth overall among competitors from all classes.
"It was an enjoyable rally. It was exciting, competitive, fast - everything
a rally is supposed to be - and we had some good moments," he added. Despite
his problems, he was the quickest Group 2 driver on seven of 12 special
stages and among the top five overall on five of the tests.
Nichols was returning to his rallying roots at the Rally of the Tall Pines,
held on ice and snow-covered forest gravel roads around Bancroft, Ont.
He has mostly been driving a four-wheel-drive Subaru Impreza WRX since
taking his fourth Group 2 championship crown in 1999, but was back in his VW
for this final event of the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship, presented by
Yokohama.
From the outset, though, he was playing catch-up. Throughout the event, his
VW lacked grunt, producing only about 160 horsepower instead of the usual
200. He thought the problem stemmed from a newly-installed engine management
system.
He was also given bad information at the start of the event about the state
of the roads. Having been told they were clear of snow and ice, he put on
tires suited for regular gravel conditions - only to discover the roads were
indeed icy. He lost a lot of time before he finally got the chance to change
rubber.
"Once we got off the gravel tires and put on our Yokohama F720s [designed
for slippery conditions], it became a lot easier," he said. "We should have
put them on earlier, but we were told the first three stages were gravel."
Then, just as he and his American co-driver Dave Shindle were mounting an
impressive comeback - climbing from 19th to eighth place overall - they lost
about four minutes as a result of a spin on stage eight, Mayo Lake.
Nichols felt that his car's lack of power contributed to his spin. Usually,
in a front-wheel-drive car, it is possible to accelerate out of trouble if
the back end begins to slide. "If the back comes out too far, you give it
more power and it pulls around," he said. "But we had no power."
The spin dropped him to 10th overall, but he was able to make up one
position by the finish. He completed the 175 kilometres of special stages in
2 hours, 13 minutes, 24 seconds, for an average speed of 78.71 kph.
The Tall Pines marked Nichols' ninth anniversary in rallying. The former
Quebec ice-racing champion made his rally debut on this event in 1993.
In addition to Yokohama, Nichols is backed by Volkswagen des Sources, RMR
Autosport, Bosch, Cam & Leon and FCP Mags and Tires.