Dust and Diagrams: Easter Weekend Thrills at the RallyCross Test Day!

Last Saturday, April 19th the peace was shattered by the glorious growl of RallyCross engines! Despite a rather ominous weather forecast looming over the Easter long weekend, twenty-eight drivers ventured out to the Kitchener Waterloo Rally Club's RallyCross track outside Ohsweken for a highly anticipated test day. Mother Nature, it seems, is a rally fan at heart holding off on the rain and allowing for a full day of sideways action.

The dedicated crew at KWRC had been hard at work prepping the track which had endured a tough winter due to the onslaught of spring rains, leaving it heavily rutted. Even though the track was deemed ready for the test day the battle scars of winter weren't entirely forgiving. The marshals were busy retrieving stray pieces of bodywork and the occasional exhaust pipe became temporary track-side souvenirs. For one unfortunate team, the rough terrain offered a rather extreme, early end to their day, leaving them with a distinctly tilted view of the horizon.

The sun shone down with unexpected strength, drying the track out more than anticipated, leading to conditions that lived up to the "Dust" in Dust and Diagrams! The airborne earth added to the atmosphere and the day was a resounding success, with many teams clocking in an impressive ten laps. Leading the charge in terms of seat time was Simon Bauman, who wrung out his 2006 Lancer for a whopping nineteen laps! Simon was among several competitors who brought out their full-fledged stage rally machines, seizing the opportunity to get valuable wheel time with the delayed Voyageurs Rally on the horizon. This extra practice will undoubtedly serve their crews well as they continue to gel with their cars.

Also spotted carving up the loose surface were stage rally stalwarts Jim Morton in his stunning '04 WRX and Mark Toufanov in his agile GT-86. Mark even took the time to bring a lucky fan along for a thrilling hot lap, showcasing the fantastic camaraderie that defines the KWRC events. You truly can't say enough about the good-natured spirit of the teams that come out!

Switching gears back to the dedicated RallyCross machines, Hack Motorsports made a strong showing with their t(rusty) '04 Sentra. With Brandon Pace and Storme Wroblewski taking turns behind the wheel, they put on an absolute clinic in cornering on two wheels! If you squint at just the right photo, you might even swear there was only a single tire kissing the dirt!

Below are just a few snapshots from my collection capturing the sideways action from Saturday. For those craving a deeper dive into the numbers, a full breakdown of the lap times can be found on the KWRC website.  https://www.kwrc.on.ca/2025-rallycross-test-day-results/

But the rally excitement doesn't end there! Mark your calendars, because the season opener for the KWRC RallyCross Championship is just around the corner on May 3rd. If Saturday's test day was anything to go by, it's shaping up to be an absolutely electrifying start to the season! And for those who simply can't get enough rally in their lives, make the trek up to Catchacoma on May 10th to witness the thrilling stage action of the Voyageurs Rally!  https://www.kwrc.on.ca/kw_events/gcfr-voyageurs-oprc/