Alcan 5000 winter rally -- Feb 17-26th

[Hans]

On Sunday morning, Dan Comden and I will be competing in the Alcan 5000 winter rally, a 5000-mile TSD rally that includes several autocross events on ice.

Basically, we are driving from Seattle to the Arctic Ocean, then to Jasper, AB (map), in nine days (itinerary), in February (weather), in a 1985 Saab 900 Turbo with 260,000 miles on it. We are, incidentally, the only 2WD entry.



Dan and I are on a team called, well, TeamD, which comprises mostly tech geeks, so there will be much blogging here at the TeamD website. We'll surely have photos and video, too, as well as links to unofficial results as they come up.

It won't be as fast as stage rally, but it will sure as hell be colder!!

[Geoff]

good luck!

[saab90089]

Wow, that sounds like it will be really fun! Keep us posted. I wouldn't worry too much about being 2WD; as long as you have descent tires and know what you are doing you should be ok.

Ian

[Jordan]

[Luke]

Awesome! Make us all proud. I'd like to try to do that event someday.

[max]

Let's hope your heated seats still work.

[Geoff]

There was an article in an old Nines I saw once (the issue was probably a few years old when I saw it in '97) about some SAABs that did the Alcan. One was a C900T with an Airflow kit (which appeared to have been destroyed during the event) and the other was a 9000 (I'm guessing also a turbo).

FWD will be all good!

In the past few years Seth and I have run a pretty tough, fast-paced rally at night in the VT/NH backcountry. We've run an '86 900S automatic and an '85 900T. We have trophies from each year, showing we can keep better time than 4WD guys. The event is this weekend so we'll see how we do in a newer car ('98 900SE).

[paulh]

very cool! good luck, and have fun!

Paul

[aireeca]

This is totally what I want to do when I grow up!!!! Good luck guys!

[saab90089]

I just spent some time catching up on the past 5 days of their blog. Really cool stuff! I would love to do this rally at some point.

I really like some of the pictures of the saab with the sun-set or 'blank' road in the background. Nothing else really looks likes them; guess one of the things I always liked about the styling of the C900. Any owner who sees some of the pictures that you have with it on the ice/snow covered roads would say "ya, they can do that....quite well actually".

Ian

[Hans]

Hello from Dawson Creek, BC! We've driven over 4,000 miles and have one more day to go. It's been an amazing trip so far, and we are currently in 5th place overall. The c900 has done exceptionally well, with nothing worse than some squeaky belts and a little front end damage (plastic & lights) when I stuffed the car into a snow bank on the ice road to the Arctic Ocean:



Geoff -- I said hello to Gary Webb for you. He is in the 1st place car, and they are kicking everyone's butts pretty handily. Those guys have several decades of rally experience; my one year of TSD'ing pales in comparison.

Word has it that the organizer will not put together another winter Alcan. I am confident that someone will pick up where he leaves off. I HIGHLY recommend doing this event. It's a ton of driving, and it's sometimes hard to stop and take in what you see, but it is still worth it to travel through one of the most extreme, beautiful places I have ever been to.

-Hans

[Geoff]

I stuffed my 2dr in a snowbank turning into my road, two nights in a row. It looked exactly like that! No damage though..

5th place is a great finish considering. Good job! 79 points over 8 days is amazing. Seth and I recently did three TSDs in one night on VT back roads, we won our class (stock ODO) in the events (they were combined into two rallies with the second TSD counting for both rallies) but we finished with 916 points in the first (could have been around 420 if we didn't miss a control!) and 532 in the second. We were third place overall in both events, the winning team (with a computer) was 79 points for the first event and 246 for the second event. You guys are too precise!

[max]

I want to drive on that road. Just looks so damn cool. I am envious. I think sometime in my life when I can afford to take off work and I have a vehicle suitable for it, I will do something like this.

[Hans]

We're back home in Seattle. It was an amazing trip, though I blew our 5th place overall position on the last TSD and nearly doubled our points. There was a pause that I must have incorrectly entered into the computer.

Earlier I had heard that this was going to be the last winter Alcan; however, the word now is that organizer Jerry Hines will do at least one more. You East Coasters who know how to TSD and spend time ice racing would do really well!!

[Jordan]

Glad you made it home will all of your digits intact. It's always nice to do well, but I'm sure you had a hell of a time.