By Susan Monteleone
MONTICELLO — March 11, 2005 – On Sunday, March 6, the snow-packed land surrounding the Concord Hotel in Monticello was transformed into a Rally Cross event in which numerous drivers tested their skills behind the wheel in a quest to post the fastest time.
The event, which consisted of six to eight timed runs over a twisty course marked with red plastic cones, turned out to be challenging to the rally cars, which took to the course at one-minute intervals. Scoring for the event was based on a competitor’s cumulative time from all runs. However, each driver’s worst time was discarded. In addition, any driver that hit a pylon while maneuvering through the course was given a five-second penalty.
The event was open to any driver with a valid driver’s license and a helmet, which had to be a Snell 90 SA of M labeled helmet.
Car classes for the event included: two-wheel drive road cars, four-wheel drive road cars, two-wheel drive rally cars and four-wheel drive rally cars.
The event was overseen by organizer Ivan Orisek, who was happy with the number of drivers that participated.
“Today’s event is one of the most entries we have had for such an event,” he said. “When we started this, we only had eight cars and today we have over 50. It is a fun event and it is great to watch.
“We have a Rally New York event scheduled again for April 16th that will take place from Monticello to the Town of Tusten and that will be a great event too,” Orisek continued. “I am really happy with today.”
Ed Jackson, a resident of the Town of Tusten, is helping Orisek organize next month’s event.
“This road rally event is great and when they were in Tusten last year it was awesome,” Jackson said. “To see these cars come around the roads is great and I look forward to the spring event. It brings a lot of people into the county and it is just fun to watch.”
The top drivers at Sunday’s event at the Concord Hotel, all of whom recorded total times of just over 4 minutes, were as follows:
Overall Winners – First Dimiters, a professional company of four drivers, driving a Subaru Impreza, 4:01.
Second Place – Team Petrow, Subaru Impreza, 4:05.
Third Place – C. Kearney, an individual driver, Subaru Impreza, 4:10.