Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
New Beginnings and Big White
Nicki has decided to move on and I am very pleased that Krista Skucas will be joining the team to co-drive for the Big White race.
Monday, October 3, 2011
2011 Pacific Forest Rally - National PSP 1st place
- We finished 1st in class - Production Sport
- We finished when the car was doing everything in its powers to not finish
Congratulations to Nicki on her very first rally - she did great!
A great thank you to Richard, Andrew, Graeme and Wendy for their help as our super able crew. They managed to keep the car, Nicki and me going during the race
Lots of pics are being posted on the race and we will post them when we get permission to do so.
Jim
Monday, September 19, 2011
Little Black Dog Racing Making The News!
Nicki Beverley came across the male-dominated sport of rally car racing quite by accident.
Several years ago, the 23-year-old was working atTim Hortons in Merritt and noticed many modified cars sitting in the parking lot of Canadian Tire during one of the Pacific Forest Rally (PFR) events that visit the city every fall.
"These are hot," she told herself about the modified cars as she checked them out. That day, she also got to meet some of the drivers. But after she watched the racers drive a few loops, "That was it," she says. Beverley was hooked on rally car racing, which is road-legal cars racing on public or private roads.
"Male-dominated motorsports can be tough to get into, somewhat intimidating; however, if you are open, work hard, then I don't think it really matters if you are female."
Whether or not she envisioned herself one day actually competing in rally racing, she got in touch with the right people at the West Coast Rally Association, and before she knew it, she was volunteering.
"My dad and my sister competed in a navigational rally that I organized a few years ago," says Beverley, who has worked at rally functions on weekends for seven years while working as a nurse during the week.
"We're still looking for volunteers," she says of this year's PFR event, which runs Sept. 30 – Oct. 1 and will be telecast on national sports station TSN/RDS.
But after spending seven years in rally, Beverley will be doing more than just organizing the PFR this time around. She has moved her way up and will compete as a co-driver alongside Jim Shepherd of North Vancouver. They will compete in their Little Black Dog Racing 2000 Toyota Celica in the production class, which is the competition category for cars less than 200 horsepower.
Beverley says that you need more skills and a lot more money to compete in the open class category, where cars can have unlimited modifications.
"I feel very comfortable in the car," she says, having raced for one complete year with Shepherd.
Beverley and Shepherd will need to be comfortable, as the terrain of the Nicola Valley makes the Pacific Forest Rally one of the most difficult, yet fun, race tracks on the Canadian Rally Championships circuit.
"These are incredibly challenging roads in comparison to the other roads that you see in Canada," admits Beverley.
"I love racing in Merritt," says Shepherd, a 48-year-old husband and loving owner of two black dachshunds, of which his racing team is named after. "The roads are good, the people are great."
Rally participants will spend almost eight hours over the two-day rally in Merritt careening around corners on dirt roads, and launching into the air off small hills on the road. Racing will continue into the night, presenting even more of a challenge to racing teams.
"Cars come over the corner ridiculously fast and over the cattle guard. It's hard not to get excited when you are there," explains Beverley.
Designated spectator areas include Cutoff Road on Highway 97 for Friday's race and Helmer Lake, Dillard, and Active Mountain on Saturday.
"I am so excited. I've been dreaming of racing in Merritt since I saw my first car come around the corner, and we have never had any competitors from Merritt—ever."
"Should be able to get in the top five," predicts Beverley with some confidence.
"She is a great competitor," says Shepherd, who has known Beverley for about four years. "She's learning a lot and making an effort to learn a lot. It's nice working with her…."
But before Beverley and Shepherd can put the petal to the medal and go airborne, the team will have to comb the track.
Little Black Dog Racing will scrutinize the racetrack—every corner, every bump, everything, in what is called the recce event, where co-drivers take notes as their drivers manoeuvre the track at no more than 60 km/h.
"We try to pick out all the hazards ahead of time," explains Shepherd. The team will ride the recce event Thursday and Friday before the race begins.
Shepherd says the purpose of rally is to, "Drive as fast as possible from point A to pint B on some pretty rough roads."
He recalls once being told, "If your brakes are glowing red but your pads aren't on fire, you're not going fast enough."
Beverley and Shepherd will be available to meet with the public during Parc Exposé, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at Canadian Tire Friday, Sept. 30.
For more on the Pacific Forest Rally, see the Merritt News special feature Sept. 29.
To see the full article go to- http://www.merrittnews.net/article/20110910/MERRITT0201/110909865/-1/MERRITT/first-merrittonian-to-race-in-pacific-forest-rally
Monday, June 20, 2011
Schedule Update
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Thoughts about a paint job
Lots of damage to the car ... maybe time for a new paint scheme
Anyone for Arctic / Urban Camouflage? Modification of the classic ST205 WRC paint job of the 1990's?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
New Year for LBD Racing and a number of Changes
Lots of news
New Co-Driver
Christa Monasch has a great new job and is not longer available to Co-Drive for the 2011 Racing Season.
Nicki Beverley will be stepping up and Co-Driving for Little Black Dog Racing for 2011.
Welcome to the team, Nicki
Racing Season
Presently, the plan for racing in 2011 is:
Rocky Mountain Rally - late May
Mountain Trials - early June
PFR - October
Big White - December
And maybe I will tempt fate again and try Kananaskis!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sponsors Wanted ... bit of damage
AAAAAAAAAAAARGH! We had a bit of a flip on the second from last stage and got our first DNF (and a lot of damage to the vehicle)
Need to replace:
- Hatch
- Driver's side rear quarter panel
- Driver's side door
- Driver's side front fender
- Roof Panel
- Radiator
- Front bumper cover
- Rear bumper cover
With the damage to the car, I really now have a clean slate and can change it!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Pacific Forest Rally
PFR is now complete - 11th overall, 1st in Class and 2nd Novice in the National event
One almost off and a couple of spins dropped us down in the standings - could have hit the top ten in regional on both days if I was a bit smoother.
Ran all of Princeton Cutoff with a flat tire - lost only 36 seconds on the stage but trashed the tire.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
July update
Friday, June 18, 2010
Mountain Trials 2010 - 8th place overall!
8th place overall (out of 13)
2nd in class ... out of 2 :)
Going in the Rally Cross race in Hope on the 19th then PFR in October
A bit of car work needs to be done - not much
- revised computer mount
- camera mount
- revised fire extinguisher mount
Monday, May 31, 2010
Two weeks + 5 days to go
A couple of teething problems but everything should be wrapped up and ready to go before race day (actually, before this weekend)
Computer - waiting for one part - should be here soon
Motor - need to install the drive belt - need a 19 mm 6 point wrench (not easy to find)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Co-Driver on Board for 2010
Great to have am experienced Co-Driver for the F10 season!
Car in middle of work - need to remove exhaust camshaft to properly time the cam (versus the intake). For some reason, it was out a tooth.
Lift bolts replaced on the weekend and the remainder will be completed this week.
LOOKING FORWARD TO MTN TRIALS HAPPENING IN EARLY JUNE!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Racing and fixing stuff
4th in class - out of 17 cars
Very fast course - top speed was close to 100 km/hr in the straight stretch
I managed to finish the HID rally pod - thank goodness as I have to diagnose a problem with the car at high RPM's (cutting out during the afternoon session so we packed it in early)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Bits of work left
Rally Cross in Parksville on the April 18th weekend. Hopefully my new driving seat shows up before the event so I can install and check to see if it works.
No real work to go on the car until later on this month / next month.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Rally Cross Race - 20 March
The race went well - 2nd overall in the 2WD for a shake down race
Lots of great pictures were taken of the event
Photos are courtesy of West Coast Rally Association
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wiring almost done
- finished all of the wiring changes that I wanted to make
- finished most of the tie down / strengthening of the interior wiring and parts that I wanted to make
Tomorrow & Tuesday - put the interior back together and get ready for my first RallyCross Race on Saturday
