Dust, Drama, and Razor-Thin Margins: KWRC Rallycross and the Rally of the Voyageurs

Kicking Off the Season: KWRC Rallycross #1

Welcome back to another edition of Dust and Diagrams! We have a jam-packed episode today as we catch up on a thrilling month of rally action, with photos from the grass-roots slides of rallycross to the heart-pounding stages of the performance rally championship featuring RalliTurk's coverage of the Voyageurs Rally.  There's lots to cover so buckle up and hang on!

Anticipation was sky-high for the first event of the season, and as always, the Kitchener-Waterloo Rally Club put together an absolutely amazing event. The Eagles Nest track was well-groomed and ready for the impending action.

True to form, the track surface degraded with each consecutive pass, tossing up plenty of classic Eagles Nest dust. However, mother nature decided to throw her own curveball into the mix. The day started out barely above freezing, treating teams to an unpredictable weather cocktail of bright sun, heavy cloud, chilly winds, and even a touch of snow to boot!

Despite the erratic weather, the drivers quickly shook off the winter rust. As driver skills were scrubbed clean, the stage times steadily decreased throughout the afternoon.  Full results found by clicking here: Results

The action was intense with the SxS up on two wheels through this corner!

Did I mention the weather was nuts?!

We even had a CrossKart piloted by Satyan Kochhar

Batman returns...

Adding to the excitement, KWRC was visited by several members of the Maple Leaf Rally Club (MLRC). The two clubs are officially collaborating to provide an epic double-header rallycross weekend on June 13th and 14th! KWRC will be running the track on Saturday the 13th, followed by MLRC on Sunday the 14th. Mark your calendars—you won't want to miss it.

Blistering Pace at the Rally of the Voyageurs

While a family event took priority and kept me from attending the KWRC Rally of the Voyageurs in person, our fellow collaborator, Murat Gunarslan of RalliTurk TV, provided incredible coverage of the event!

The 2026 Rally of the Voyageurs delivered an epic battle on the legendary, high-speed Quarry Road stage in Catchacoma, pushing 18 teams through 68 kilometers of unforgiving gravel warfare. The action-packed broadcast captures every thrilling angle of the fierce class battles, mechanical heartbreak, and driver determination that defined this spectacular weekend. 

Full highlights are available on YouTube, and you absolutely must not miss this video! 

Check it out here: 2026 Rally of the Voyageurs Highlights.

A massive congratulations to Michael Dimkovski and Simon Lévac on taking the overall victory! In what will go down as one of the closest finishes in recent Ontario Performance Rally Championship (OPRC) memory, they fought right down to the final heartbeat of the final stage to secure the win by a razor-thin margin of just 0.2 seconds over Jonathan Drake and Ian Lantz. What a spectacular drive!

2026 Rally of the Voyageurs results

Get Your Feet Wet: Blossom ORRC (May 30th)

Looking to get into the sport yourself? KWRC will be running the Blossom ORRC navigation event on May 30th.

This event doubles as a SNATR (Saturday Night At The Rallies), meaning part of it is completely beginner-friendly and requires no specialized stage-car hardware. If you’ve ever been interested in starting out in rally, this is the absolute perfect event to get your feet wet and learn the ropes of rally navigation. In rally navigation its all about showing up at the right place at the right time. On May 30th, the right place and time is Dutton Ontario at 1:30pm

Full details and registration information can be found at www.kwrc.on.ca. See you out there!