Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Was up at the Rally of the Tall Pines this past weekend and went to my usual spot for the jump, which is noted as "caution - big jump" in the codriver's rally notes.

Here's Pat Richard getting really good air and distance at that spot in his STI:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tanm/5195163596/" title="20101120-115716 by Tanner., on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/5195163596_1fae300492.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="20101120-115716"></a>

Going full out, too much actually, to keep up with Antoine L'Estage in the Evo. Talked to a worker before the stage started, fast guys can hit this jump at ~150km/h. Not sure how fast Pat was going but it was fast.

Now those with credentials sign the usual disclaimer about getting hurt, killed, etc. before you get the media pass.

Richard landed HARD. Right front rim I think went bust on him, along with his suspension. I immediately grabbed a buddy of mine who was with me and quickly turned around and stepped back a few steps, so the last thing I seen was the initial landing. I knew he came close by us as we got sprayed with gravel and seen the tracks left on the road.

Found a video of the jump...

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That's me on the left edge of the video. This really puts things into perspective, and seeing it for the first time, my heart rate went up again. I wouldn't be surprised if they mark off that area as off limits next year.

That's the second close call this year for me.

Yikes!

Good to hear that you didn't get hurt. Awesome shot!

Here's a video I made after the Iron Bridge stage.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vkhamphi/5195843265/

One is always one to many.

I used to compete in rallies, including the Tall Pines back in the late seventies/early eighties. I organized the Pines in 1994.

There is a very popular saying in rallying, and that is, "that it is tough to turn in mid air". Hot Dogging it frequently resulted in dnf's.

Mind you, we didn't use pace notes back then like they do now. We ran the course blind.

Yeah I really don't know why Pat was pushing that hard (sure it was exciting to watch for spectators), given that it was only the fourth stage of the day. Subaru was two points behind Mitsubishi, pushed too hard, and threw it all away. And Pat wasn't too far behind L'Estage in time IIRC.

Subaru Canada posted a "choose your own cam" from Pat Richard's car for stage A4, which was the big jump stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyIxoCzOG08

Change to the side-cam view, I see myself just taking a few steps back by the time it passed by me at 5:29 but the guy at 5:30, now that was way too close!

Ya, definately getting a little close for comfort.

I love rallys but this is way to close for my taste.
There is a very nice set from Dakar Rally on Big Picture http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/0 ... _2011.html