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THE NIGHT OF
THE LONG BONNET EDITION 2001
A GREAT SUCCESS AGAIN
by Bob
Forest (your roving reporter)
June 20th, 2001, a Wednesday, also being
the longest day of the year. Paul mentioned to me, that he
found the day very, very long, I told him why.
This years Rally, I wanted to finish it. As last year it lasted
20 minutes, as my son Robert and I got lost within the first
20 minutes. Robert flew in from Hong Kong for this event,
with his special calculator and would you believe, we got
lost.
For this event I needed a change. My decision was to try my
second son, Jason, as Robert is in England, which was tempting
to fly him in, England being a great country for Rallies.
My great disappointment and embarrassment of our placement
had to change for 2001. This was the first time that I put
a great amount of pressure on Jason, bigger than anything
he has ever done, even the pressure of having a good report
card, that is when he was very young.
So with great excitement, Jay was ready, with his pad and
paper, calculator, water bottles, (which by the way created
two unnecessary stops created by bladder pressure, which was
created by the super smooth suspension of the MGA).
We arrived at "Le Rustik" restaurant on route 132 West in
Chateauguay at 6:25 PM; already 8 cars had arrived. At 7:10
the first car took off, and we were third in line for departure.
Jean-Jacques and his wife Isabelle, explained all the rules
to us, and handed out the legal size envelopes with all the
instructions inside, plus the special sealed (in case of getting
lost) envelope, also the first check in point ticket and other
goodies. Jay, was impressed with this package, and realized
all the work that must of gone in by Jean-Jacques and Isabelle.
A good time to thank you both and your crew, which consisted
of Richard.
The weather was perfect for our antique cars, not warm, and
not cool, just perfect. They sure know how to pick their days.
So off we went at 7:14 PM, a right turn right off from the
start and then Jay gave me instructions on what to do. I was
very impressed with his calculations, as we are in miles,
and the instructions in Kilometers. Right away, I saw that
Jean Jacques and Isabelle had done a little tricky instruction
on one of the first turns. Again, Jay saw that, and we took
the right one.
Here is where I was hoping that Marc and his navigator from
Saudi Arabia would miss this one. I pointed him out to Jay
at the Rustik parking lot, and told him the money and time
this man has spent to win this rally. It was very discouraging
for us with no sponsorship to bring in these professionals.
I could see the stress lines on my son's face. He had to beat
this man in his little red Porsche.
The scenery this year was spectacular, areas that I had never
seen, a sunset that was just out of this world, it is what
we in the antique car hobby dream of. Beautiful winding roads,
through tunnels of trees, driving along a river that is surrounded
by trees and green, green grass, the smell of nature, and
speaking of smells, there was a few areas where the farmers
had laid that special manure with that special aroma.
After two hours, to my surprise we arrived at the finish line,
and Richard and Isabelle were there to greet the arrivals.
The owner of the Le Nautique Marina Restaurant that was located
right on the river asked that all the cars be parked in front
of his location. As more and more arrived, talk of how nice
the rally was and now all looking forward to a wonderful meal.
The owner had a special set up for us all on the outside deck.
Within our envelope we had a complementary drink, and hors
d'oeuvres were served to us all.
Jean-Jacques then announced all the places starting with the
9th place on down to the first.
Jay and I ended up 5th as you can see from the winners list,
guess who won again? Yes, yes, Mark and his Saudi navigator.
Mark was instructed that on account of this second win, that
now he is a professional and that next year he will rally
in that class. Because he will be the only professional in
that class, he will be guaranteed a win. This he appreciated,
and he did mention to me that the book he was writing on "How
to win a Rally" was still in the works. He wanted to know
if his theory worked a second time, which it did, so now he
promised me a personally signed first edition copy for review
by me, to be written up for the "Autosiaste". He also stated,
that it will give a chance to us amateurs to place higher
in the ranks next year. He also, he said, based on how the
sales go of his book, that he would personally give a copy
to the winner next year. Now members of the VEA this is a
fantastic reason for more of you to show up at the 2002 Long
Bonnet Night.
Congratulations to all of you. Here is a small list of the
lost but found.
Got a phone call from Tom around 11pm, sounded like he was
in the Lafontaine Tunnel, Bernardo, ended up in Little Italy,
the smell of all that pasta kept him there.
See you all next year for what I think is one of the best-run
events of the year.
©VEA
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