On the last full weekend in the month of June
most US Amateur Radio operators are found engaged
in a three day emergency practice contact-a-thon known as
Field Day,
the rest of us (and some Canadians too)
are found somewhere on the Mount Washington
Auto Road (near Gorham, New Hampshire, USA)
readying for the annual auto race to the clouds.
In the second sunday run we had an
unscheduled visit by car #36.
The driver had some serious engine problems and
ended up coasting to station #6.
Once a practice or race run is complete,
the race cars are "paraded" down the auto road as a group.
Here are some "parade" highlights.
Other highlights from this year's race include...
After the race, the race cars are put on display around
the large event canopy.
Here are photos of the cars and the awards ceremony.
See the
Climb to the Clouds Home Page
for the list of winners by car classification.
The race is run on logging roads north of Rumford, Maine,
where the racers cover 20 stages
as fast as they can drive.
The rally stages are on closed timber land roads and
are 5 to 20 miles in length.
See
Brad Emery (N1OXB),
or
the Maine Forest Rally Home Page
if you would like to help out.
Also see...
Background
The Auto Road Race is a timed event for both cars and trucks
(there are separate races for runners (held 1-2 weekends before
the auto race, and for bikers (in August)).
Each entrant tries to best his/her time on the
course,
progressing from the base
to the mountain's summit.
The average time for a car is in the neighborhood of 7 minutes.
The race length is 7.4 miles with various steep grades.
The road surface varies from paved to gravel with numerous
rocks hiding at the road edges.
The race event is over a three day period.
There are two mornings of practice runs (friday and saturday),
and sunday is race day.
Typically, there are two runs on both practice and race
days.
Bad weather can shorten the course, or cancel one of the runs.
A crew of
ham radio operators and
SCCA race volunteers
are used to monitor and control the flow of the race cars
on the course.
A ham radio operator and a SCCA flager are paired up at each
monitoring station.
The ham radio volunteer reports the vehicle progress on the
course, and any problems that may occur (car breakdowns, etc).
The bulk of the SCCA race volunteers
at the monitoring stations
(see the
course map
) are responsible for flagging the drivers.
The flagger has a yellow flag to caution drivers of an
problem above the current point,
and a red flag to stop the current driver because of
some serious situation further up the course.
The flagger also investigates any car breakdowns/problems
and he/she also carries a CO2 bottle to the breakdown
location if the situtation has a possibility of fire.
SCCA volunteers are also involved with the race timing and
spectator monitoring.
This Year's Practice Sessions
Friday's practice run was half the race course.
I missed friday's run since I was out trying to recover
from a bad head cold.
The saturday practice run was in rain (this has been
a very rainy June for New Hampshire).
On saturday only half the course was ran
due to visibility conditions above the halfway point.
I was at
station #20
along with two hams, the SCCA flagger
and the SCCA spectator guardians.
Station #20 is about the scrub line on Mount Washington.
On a clear day there are views of the auto road, the Great
Gulf wilderness area, and the northern presidentials.
In the rain, we could see between 1/8 and 1/4 mile of the
race course.
At times the rain was wind driven
(on the positive side, there were no bugs to speak of).
Many race cars
skidded around the "S" curve at station #20
on their way to the finish just above.
This Year's Race Sessions
Sunday was a much better day weatherwise.
With the clouds cleared (for the most part),
the race ran from the base to the summit.
70 entries were registered for the race,
60-some vehicles participated in the Hill-Climb.
Each run consists of running the entries from slowest
to fastest with a 1 or 2 minute spacing.
At any given time there can be up to 4 cars on
the course.
The racers are spread out so we can deal with any problems
that may force a car out of the uphill run and minimize
the chance of stopping the race and sending all of
the cars on the course back to the base for a restart.
Long before the race starts (6:30 am),
the SCCA participants and the ham radio
volunteers amass at the base for instructions
and station posting.
Each of the various officials goes over the rules
to follow - from when and how to flag a problem
to what and how to deal with a fire.
Ian MacLannan (AF1R) goes over the station assignments.
We pick up the race packet, red and yellow
flags, and the fire extinguisher,
and head up the course.
I was at station #6 which is in the trees about
a mile and a half up the auto road.
There is a parking area below the station (just out of
eye view).
The race cars come into view as they
round the curve
just below us.
Each is pushing the car as fast as possible to
handle the incline and slight curves
above station 6.
The course then curves to the right toward
station 7.
Here are several autos zipping past station #6
during the first run on sunday.
Both ESPN and Speedvision covered the race.
Check your local listings for time and day.
Other NER-SCCA (New England Region - Sports Car Club of America) races:
July 31-August 2, 1998 -- The Maine Forest Rally
Next year's Mount Washington Auto Road Race is
scheduled for June 25-27, 1999.
1999 will mark the tenth anniversary of the
auto road race.
The Climb to the Clouds logo on this page is Copyright © 1996-8, Mount Washington Auto Road, All Rights Reserved.
The Audi logo on this page is Copyright © 1996-8, Audi, All Rights Reserved.
All photo images on this page are Copyright © 1996-8, James Seagraves, All Rights Reserved.
All text on this page is Copyright © 1998, James Seagraves, All Rights Reserved.
