2004 Alcan Winter Rally Regulations

Final, 1-25-2004

ENTRY & FEES

  1. The entry fee is $2600 for one vehicle & two drivers. Make checks payable to the Alcan Rally or Rainier Auto Sports Club, Inc. (Mastercard and VISA also accepted).
  2. The additional fee for a third driver is $500. (If there is space in an official car, rides for the press may be available for this cost).
  3. Organizers reserve the right to impose an advertising waiver fee of $500 per vehicle to display decals conflicting with an event sponsor.  (Like batteries, for example.  This fee is not retroactive, and would NOT apply to any team declaring a sponsor before organizers announce a conflicting sponsor).
  4. Entry will open August 24, 2002 and close January 10, 2004.
  5. A maximum of 30 entries will be accepted. The organizers reserve the right to refuse any entry without providing a reason, and to assign vehicle numbers as they see fit.
  6. Lodging on route has been arranged in advance.  The entry fee includes 9 nights prepaid accommodation for two people (double occupancy).

DOCUMENTATION & ELIGIBILITY

  1. The rally is open to the general public. Minimum age is 21 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
  2. Entrants must attend the February 17 driver orientation, and sign an event liability release before participation is allowed.
  3. Entrants must present valid driver's licenses, vehicle registration, and proof of vehicle liability insurance. NOTE: Canadian law requires that proof of insurance be carried  at all times. Entrants should also carry a passport or birth certificate for border crossings.
  4. Drivers may be changed or added during the event, but this must be prearranged and documented with event organizers. Trading drivers among vehicles is freely allowed on transit sections, but any such trade on a TSD section must be approved in advance by the organizers.  (i.e.: This could be allowed for press purposes, but not allowed if it appeared to give a scoring advantage.)
  5. No passengers are allowed in a rally vehicle (except in an emergency) unless they have registered.

SCRUTINEERING & VEHICLE ELIGIBILITY

  1. All vehicles shall be road legal and licensed in strict compliance with their own state or country's regulations.
  2. Vehicles must be equipped with OEM seat belts for all as a minimum.
  3. A VHF 2-way radio is required (see RADIO & COMMUNICATIONS below).
  4. A roll bar is required in soft top vehicles.
  5. A tow strap, 5BC minimum fire extinguisher, and highway flares or DOT triangles are required, plus tire chains for 2 wheel drive vehicles.
  6. A maximum of six forward facing lights are allowed, all must dip to low beam with a single switch. Forward-facing roof mounted lights are prohibited.
  7. Studded tires are allowed, but with standard road-legal studs only. Tire modification is prohibited, and teams are limited to the use of six tires except to replace a failure.
  8. No fuel cans are allowed inside the vehicle, and any additional fuel tank must be an OEM type installation.  NOTE: Fuel cans are allowed in the bed of a truck,or secured to the rear bumper or roof of any vehicle.
  9. Each vehicle must carry emergency supplies including water, food, and a sleeping bag or heavy clothing for each occupant.
  10. Vehicle modifications are discouraged, and any increase from OEM tire width and suspension height is strongly discouraged. NOTE: Narrower tires are better in winter!
  11. A vehicle may be excluded from the rally at any point due to unsafe condition or the actions of the occupants.  (This includes violations of these rules, citations, reckless driving, and acts that endanger the general public or discredit the event).
  12. A "buddy system" of 2 or 3 teams will be required.  "Buddies" must declare partners before the event start, and keep track of each other throughout each day.  NOTE: A buddy doesn't have to stay behind for a vehicle problem, just pass such information to an event official before leaving the scene.

CLASSES

There will be 5 classes:
     Class I - Passenger cars, using unlimited navigational equipment and computers.
     Class II - Trucks and sport/utility vehicles (SUV's), using unlimited navigational equipment and computers.
     Class III - Any type vehicle, limited to SOP mileage input.  This will be defined as original equipment odometers in the stock location, plus a slide rule, Stevens wheel, and/or electronic calculator. A GPS unit is also acceptable, laptop computers and Curta calculators are NOT (a laptop may be carried, just not accessible during TSD sections).
    Class IV - Two wheel drive vehicles, with unlimited navigational equipment and computers.
    Touring Class - Will not be scored, but will adhere to the same primary route and schedule as other teams.  Also eligible for the "Arctic Award" (see below).

AWARDS

SERVICE & VEHICLE REPAIRS

Absolutely no service crews or pre-arranged help is allowed at any location except the start and finish.  With this exception, help by outside parties is allowed.

STARTING ORDER

Vehicles will be started at 1 minute intervals in numerical order. As the event uses a "perfect time" format cars will be due in this sequence and interval throughought: The route instructions include the perfect time for car #0 at the start and finish of every section. Each car is in turn due at this time plus the number of minutes given by their car number.

ROUTE INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Most instructions are supplemented by an official mileage, which will take precedence. If a sign or reference is missing, use the mileage.
  2. In the absence of a route instruction, the obvious main road should be followed. Redundant instructions may be used to clarify the main road.
  3. All roads used are public, through roads unless otherwise specifically indicated in the route book.
  4. There are no course following traps on this rally!

DEFINITION OF SECTIONS

TRANSIT: A time and mileage will be given for the start and finish of a Transit, and controls will be located only at the finish or designated passage controls. These are touring sections, and competitors may proceed at their own pace as long as they enter these controls at the correct time.

TSD: In these sections teams must maintain average speeds shown in the route book. A time and mileage will be given for the start and finish of a TSD and controls may be located at any point within the section. Practice is not allowed and vehicles may not enter before controls are open.

DIY: In these sections teams will use average speeds shown in the route book to calculate their arrival times. A time and mileage will be given for the start and finish of a DIY and controls may be located at any point within the section. Practice is not allowed and vehicles may not enter before the section is open. (Announced 11/27/2003, see www.alcan5000.com/04WB archive)

ICE RACE:  One-car-at a-time "solo" sections on a closed course. A Snell-approved helmet must be worn and no passengers are allowed.

CONTROLS & TIMING

TSD CONTROL: May be visible or hidden, and located at any point within a TSD section. Do not stop at these controls, as the exact passing time of each vehicle will be recorded. TSD controls will open 5 minutes before the ideal passing time for car #1 and close 5 minutes after the last car is due.

DIY CONTROL: Will be visible, and located at any point within a DIY section. Do not stop, but at the appropriate reference record your time (as HH:MM:SS) on the scorecard provided. DIY's will open at the time designated in the route book and close 5 minutes after the last car is due at the final control.  The route book will designate a scoring location just after the end of a DIY: you have 5 minutes to turn in a completed scorecard to officials there, and no communication with other teams is allowed during this time.

PASSAGE CONTROL: Control location plus opening & closing times will be designated in the route book, and cars may enter at any time while the control is open. The organizers may extend control closing time at their discretion.  Some Passage Controls may be noted in the route book as "Extreme" - these are considered optional but have a small penalty associated.

MTC (Main Time Control):  A passage control used at overnight halts.  Location, time, and other info will appear in the route book.  Attendance is important as the MTC's purpose is to account for all teams, disseminate new information, and address questions or concerns.

ICE RACE: Locations and time will be clearly designated in the route book, and cars will be started at the direction of event officials. Each team will be allowed four timed runs (no more than two per driver), and the fastest two runs for the vehicle will be scored. Vehicles will be timed from a standing start to flying finish, with at least a 2-minute interval between vehicles.

PENALTIES

TSD & DIY CONTROLS: 1 point per second early or late, maximum penalty of 60 per control or 200 per TSD or DIY. 200 points for entering a section before it's open, or driving in the reverse direction of rally traffic.

ICE RACE:  Each vehicle will receive .1 point per tenth of a second slower than the fastest in it's category. (Used for ICE RACE scoring purposes only, these categories are 2WD, 4WD without studded tires, and 4WD with studded tires. If there is only one entry in a category, for successfully completing all events they will receive an ice race score equal to the overall ice race winner).  Maximum penalty is 5 points per run (10 points per venue).

ALL CONTROLS:  200 penalty points for missing any scored control, except "Extreme" controls which are 10 points.

ASSISTANCE (requiring fuel, extraction, or towing from event officials): 10 penalty points or a $20 fine (payable to the sweep crew). Any team which has needed excessive assistance may not be allowed to take the Inuvik or Tuktoyaktuk side trip.

UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT (including illegal service): First offense 50 penalty points, a second offense is cause for disqualification.

NO FAULT SCORING

No scoring queries will be considered unless there is an obvious control log error or they describe a situation common to a number of vehicles. Instead each entry will have their worst TSD control score subtracted at the end of day #1, day #4, and at the finish (from score accumulated during each interval).

FORCE MAJEURE & FORCE HOMME

* Once the first official car has passed through a section it is considered open and will be scored barring an accident or safety problem. No control will be scored, however, if less than 20% of the vehicles still competing are able to reach that control within 30 seconds of the ideal time.
* In order to eliminate any pressure for illegal behavior, an additional allowance will be made for delay due to official action such as construction or road closure. If less than 80% of the vehicles still competing are able to arrive within 30 seconds of the ideal time at a subsequent control due to such delay that control will not be scored.

QUERIES & PROTESTS

The organizers will attempt to deal promptly and fairly with any query received. These must be presented in writing to the next MTC after the incident in question and will be answered in writing before the next morning restart unless a meeting must be arranged to investigate details.

RADIOS & COMMUNICATIONS

  1. A VHF business band 2-way radio operating on 151.625 MHz is required in all vehicles for safety. (Organizers have an FCC license for this frequency, teams who add a second private frequency are expected to have a license for it).
  2. VHF radios are available for rent through the organizers if arranged in advance.
  3. CB radios are encouraged but are not a substitute for the required VHF equipment.  Officials will monitor VHF, not CB
  4. Many official vehicles will include amateur radio operators. Licensed Hams are encouraged to bring their equipment.
  5. NO two-way radio transmission is allowed during any TSD section except in an emergency.  (Monitoring 151.625 is encouraged at all times).

GENERAL

  1. Maximum planned distance between fuel halts is 250 miles, but a range of over 300 miles is recommended for safety and peace of mind.
  2. Fuel is the final responsibility of the entrant and the failure of any advance arrangements will be considered force majeure.
  3. The rally was measured with an AlfaPro odometer using steel belted radial tires.
  4. Any situation not covered by these regulations will be ruled on at the discretion of the organizing committee.
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