Third overall, one first in class, and one second in class. That's how the Iron Mountain Racing team stacked up against the competition in the ALCAN 5000 as of Saturday night.
Oliver Andrews and Kacee Callahan in their Subaru Impreza were third overall. Dan Watt on his BMW GS Paris Dakar was second in the Seat of the Pants (SOP) division. In that division, competitors do not use the rally computers that others use, depending instead on their watch and speedometer, a driving the speed indicated for the test, or section.
"He's doing very well that way," said John Isenberg, the team manager, who is in first place in his division, by one point. "I'm 1 point ahead of second place, who had been in first place prior to today, so I just, as of today, have taken the lead in my class. With a 1-point separation we've got a battle going here."
John is in the over-700cc unlimited class.
Dan has also had some issues.
"Dan had a pretty significant off," said John. He broke a 2-inch hole in his valve cover, but with assistance from numerous competitors from other teams, a cold weld using a Coke can sealed the break so that he can continue.
The weather has not been kind to the racers.
"The weather has been all over the place," said John. "We've had hail, it snowed in Whitehorse Thursday night, we've had lots of rain. It's been a pretty wet event."
And what has it been like?
"It is fun," said John. "It's a significant endurance test. We've had 600-mile transits. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a 400-mile transit, you have to be there before 2 o'clock, and if you're late to your start then you start racking up seconds."
The event is divided into transits and tests. The tests are where points are levied but the transits must be covered in order to compete on the tests. Every second off the mark, either high or low, adds a point. The goal is to rack up the fewest points.
The competitors are headed for Fairbanks tonight, and then to Valdez tomorrow (Monday). The race will conclude in Anchorage on Tuesday.
Related articles:
Iron Mountain Racing tackles the ALCAN 5000
First Update from Iron Mountain Racing on ALCAN 5000
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Iron Mountain Racing takes 3rd in ALCAN 5000
Comments
It's great that they can say "It's been fun" even after the weather they have had.
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