Track Chic

• Competitors race one car at a time against the clock, usually at one-minute intervals.
• Flat-out racing is done on limited access roads, block off rom "civilian" traffic, rather on prepared tracks.
• The event roads/courses are kept secret until just prior to event start to prevent pre-running or practicing the course.
• Events can be several hundred miles long, often lasting for several days over several segments called "stages"
• Stages can range from 4 to 25 miles in length - the team that achieves the fastest combined stage times wins.
• Each car has a driver and a co-dirver (or navigator) and additional support crew.
• Each team is given a route book just prior to the start of the event that describes the course in detail with diagrams of turns, notations of water crossings, jumps, and spectators, etc.  The co-driver (navigator) uses this book as well as local maps, odometers, and even computers to keep the driver on couse and on time.
• Transit sections are sections of the events in-beween the competition stages in which the team travels over public roads to get from the finish of one stage to the start of the next stage.  Teams are required to obey all traffic laws.
• Special Stages are where the real competition takes place.  The roads are usually unpaved, logging trails, mountain roads, desert tracks and in general, pretty rough roads.
• Checkpoints and traffic controls close all "civilian" access to the stages.  The cars arrive at the "Arrival Time Control" or "ATC" and leave in one-minute intervals.  Timing is to the second until the competitors reach the "Finish Time Control" or "FTC".  A transit section takes them to the next ATC.  At the end of the rally, all of the stage times are added up and the fastest car wins.

That, in essence, is what Performance Rally is all about!

After a successful rookie year in 2011, Tracey Gardiner and co-driver Maureen Hascher placed 14th overall out of a field of 39, and second in their open light (non-turbo) class. Tracey also had the unique privilege of being the only woman invited to compete in the notorious 2011 Climb to the Clouds event at Mt. Washington.  

The 2012 Rally America Championship Season begins January 27^th and 28^th in Michigan with the Sno*Drift Rally, a popular fan-favorite. “Performance or Stage rallying goes on the premise of “Drive it Straight .. .Sideways” said Tracey, “and at the Sno*Drift Rally we will do that on the ice and snow.”

Track Chic talks with Tracey and Maureen as they prepare for their season opener and the debut of their new rally car, a 2005 Impreza built by Graham Wilcock of Autosport Engineering. Given the treacheries of the roads and weather conditions rally racers compete under, and rally racing’s mantra of “Real cars, Real fast, on Real roads”, you also want to ask … Real crazy?
 
TAG RallySport Driver > TRACEY GARDINER

How did you first get started in Rally Racing?
My husband is from Ireland and we lived there for six years.  Rally racing is huge there and we used to always  go as spectators.

In April 2010, my husband bought me a 4-day Advanced Rally Driving School course at Team O’Neil in New Hampshire. He didn’t really think I was going to like it.  He called me the first day and asked “So … how was it?” I think it surprised him when I said “IT WAS AWESOME!”  That’s how it started!

In May 2010 he found a car for me that was rally-prepped.  Then, I did another 5-day course at Team O’Neil’s Rally School in August 2010 with my son, Rory.  We learned both driving and co-driving skills. My first race was called Black River Stages in upstate New York.  My son was actually my co-driver. 

My first Rally America Series event was January 2011, Sno*Drift in Michigan.  It was really cool, all snow and ice!  It was so much fun!  My co-driver for Sno*Drift was Maureen Hascher.  We were the only “all women team” and we placed first in our class at that event!

How hard is snow racing?
Actually, rally racing is done on closed roads, so they could be logging roads or waste management roads that are closed off.  They vary from 3-4 miles to 15-18 miles long.  You have your car prepped appropriately with snow tires; you can’t use studded tires, you must use correct, approved tires, etc.

It was fun.  I actually had some practice on snow at Team O’Neil’s School.  Plus, I had done a rally cross at Stafford Springs in January which gives you a feel for competing on snow. School gave me a lot of skills to be able to compete in different conditions, so it was helpful to have that experience.
 

How hard was that for a Mom?
A little bit nerve-wracking at first, because I knew it was his first event. But at the same time I knew he had been through the school and I knew he was not a daredevil or risk-taker.  And he did an awesome job! 

He actually lost his brakes in one of the 11-12 mile stages, but he held his own and finished without a problem.
 

It was only a race up the mountain, not down.  On practice days there was pouring rain.  So our practice was limited to the bottom half of the mountain, which was only about four miles or half-way.

On race day the weather cleared and we were able to compete the full course. At Mile 5, the tarmac turned to dirt and gravel, and it was like soup.  That was a little hairy!  
 

TAG RallySport Co-Driver > MAUREEN HASCHER

Tell us a little bit about yourself, Maureen.  What did you do before you became a Human GPS?
Growing up, I have two older brothers and they ruled what we got to watch on TV, so it was always cars, and sports.  Of course I made a little room for more girlie interests, including shoes and handbags!

But I had a well-rounded appreciation for motorsports. I met my husband, Pete, just over nine years ago.  Our second date was actually at a racetrack, Nelson Ledges Road Course in Ohio.  That was really when I fell in love with him, because he was totally in his element.  He taught me a lot about racing.  He races rally cars as well.  Pete took me to my first rally, Sno*Drift in Michigan, I loved it!  To understand the rally family experience, if someone gets stuck in a stage, the cars coming up behind will help pull them out.  What other racing series do you find that?

My husband really sparked my interest in it.  Several years ago he came home, walked into the kitchen with a sewing tape measure and started measuring my head! I asked what he was doing and he told me that he just bought another rally car and I was going to be his co-driver!  He was measuring my head for my new helmet!

I co-drove for Pete at Sno*Drift.  So that’s how it got started.

Any arguments, did your husband listen to his co-driver?
There are a lot of things going on.   A successful driver requires a lot of talent, focus and concentration.   The co-driver has a lot of responsibilities that they must juggle simultaneously.  And you have to get every one of them perfectly right; otherwise it can be pretty bad pretty quickly.

But we didn’t argue.  I was worried about that, especially being husband and wife.  I was concerned that it could get tense or we would argue, but not at all.  We had a blast.  We were laughing and had a great time.  He gave me some pointers and tips, and it was well received. I wanted to learn and I wanted to do well.

Does he ask you for directions when you are traveling together on family trips?
No!  Somehow, I am the one usually driving!  I don’t know how that is!

What is the hardest part about your responsibilities as a co-driver?
I think really making sure you are extremely organized and have everything ready to go.  You have to juggle a lot of things at the same time. It’s critical to have your timing right so that you are checking in at exactly the right minute.  You have to have your maps and books all tabbed off so that you can get exactly where you need to when you need to.

At the end of the stage there is a lot of adrenaline for both the driver and the co-driver. The co-driver has to be the one to steady things and remind the driver of the things she must pay attention to in the next stage, because the driver is ready to go – she’s ready to strap in and go.  So you have to be the one to say “hold on”, and make sure that we are totally prepared before she takes off.

Do you dream about it in your sleep?
No, but I do watch previous years videos and review other co-drivers' notes.  That’s what’s really important for a co-driver, to be able to understand how your driver will react: how quickly should I read the notes, how far in advance should I read the notes, how best to enunciate urgency.  And that’s one of the things Tracey and I have going for us now.  She tells me that I am very even toned, so when she hears me put an exclamation point in my voice, she knows it’s real … like there’s a “CLIFF!” or a “BIG HOLE!” in the road!

Do you ever think you would prefer to be a driver?
I actually prefer co-driving.  I don’t know that I am cut out to be a great driver.  I have had racing experience on a regular race track, but I would want to have considerable more experience to master finding the apex and how to come out of a turn.  I love it and I improved my times each lap.  But there’s something I’m drawn to about being a co-driver.  For me, that’s what I enjoy.  I enjoy managing all the moving parts, and being able to help support the driver and help them to go faster.

You and Tracey had a good rookie season together.
We did!  We got better and better.  I could tell that Tracey was advancing at taking in the notes, because I was able to deliver them differently as we progressed.  We had a couple of off-races, but that’s all part of the learning experience.

How did the two of you get together?
Pete was at the New England Forest Rally.  Tracey and her husband, Allen, were there also and they happened to meet and chat.  Pete convinced Tracey that she needed to run Black River Stages, that we could share a crew and have everything ready to go.

I met Tracey later at the Black River Stages event and we became fast friends.   When Sno*Drift came around she asked me to co-drive.  I said yes in a heartbeat.  I wouldn’t co-drive for just anyone, but knowing Tracey and knowing that she was just starting out, I felt really good about it.  I wasn’t intimidated by the opportunity.  We had a ball together at Sno*Drift and that sealed the deal! 

What have you enjoyed most about your rookie season together?
The experience of being in the car with Tracey. I really feel comfortable encouraging her as a driver.
We may be the only all women team, but there are some very talented women in the sport… Nathalie Richard is a very talented co-driver, as well as Christine Beavis and others.  

I don’t know if this is different because we are both women, but I really feel comfortable encouraging her as a driver.  When she’s setting up for a turn, I’ll tell her “You got this, you go!”  And when she does an amazing job of nose in tail around turn and nails it perfectly, I am in the microphone going “Wow, amazing job!”  I don’t know whether other teams do that. Maybe it’s because we are women, or maybe it’s because we are beginners . . . but we certainly make it fun! 

I think the rally community is very accepting of us.  But it’s important to us to earn their respect through our improvement, not just because we are women.

What are your Goals for 2012?
Our goal is to stay in the class we are in, compete in the national events but at the regional level.  That gives us two opportunities at each event to finish and place.  This gives a lot more opportunity to improve our time.  This will be our second year competing together at Sno*Drift and it will be interesting to compare our time this year versus last year.

Our goal is to continue to improve. Of course we would like to place, but incrementally, we want to get better and better with each event.
 
 

Follow Tracey and Maureen's 2012 Rally America Season!
www.tagrallysport.com

 Learn more about rally racing!
http://rally-america.com