For the first three laps around the RallyCross course at the Interfor Mill Yard on Saturday (May 15), Joe Battrick was blowing away the competition.
Battrick and his souped-up Subaru Impreza WRX consistently clocked the fastest times around the gravel/ asphalt course, and had built up a comfortable lead. But then organizers threw Battrick a curveball when they were forced to make a change in the course. Because the ruts in the soft portion of the track were getting too deep, they didn't want to risk any rollovers and made some slight changes.
Battrick didn't take too well to the change, and ended up with a much-dreaded DNF after his first lap on the changed course because of a navigation error.
"I went right around the cone instead of left," said a disappointed Battrick. "It's pretty sad because I had a good lead going."
According to race regulations, drivers are allowed one throw-away time, which Battrick took advantage of in discarding his fourth lap. Leading by 12 seconds heading into the last lap, all he needed to do was make his way around the course to the finish line and the win was his.
Unfortunately, he went on the wrong side of a directional cone again which resulted in his second DNF of the day.
"I made pretty much the exact same mistake," said Battrick. "We were fast, we had the times to beat everybody - but we just made a mistake."
"He was consistently faster than everyone else," said RallyCross organizer Warwick Patterson. "But he DNF'd twice on the new course which cost him the win. It was a tricky part of the course, you had to remember which way to go around the cone - he just went the wrong way."
The Squamish driver had to settle for a fifth-place finish in the open class division, and tenth place overall.
"The open class division was the most highly contested class," said Patterson. "There was a good battle going on all day."
Organizers were pleased with the event and the location for Squamish's first-ever RallyCross event.
"It was a good turnout," said Patterson. "The Interfor site was a great spot to host the race and everybody had fun - everything went really smoothly."
