Pause for the Cause

First: thanks to all of the crews and volunteers who made the recent Bluenose Rally such a success. Pidge always coordinates a great event (those decades of experience stand him in good stead) and the 2026 event was no different. Add in the excellent meal and camaraderie at the Windsor Curling Club finish control as well as breezy but pleasant spring weather, and we couldn’t have asked for more. But it’s time to look ahead!

Chris is looking closely at the format for the Lost in Lunenburg Rally on October 17, and rumour has it the start control may be back in Indian Point. And again, as in all things in rally – time will tell.

But “Lil” is still 140-odd days away. Why the gap, and what to do until then?

While road rally can be held anytime (and experience shows us that winter rallies can be some of the most exciting and rewarding of all), our pavement-based friends need warmer weather and relatively good conditions to hold their racing or autoslalom events. Our season in Atlantic Canada is relatively short, and so pavement events are concentrated in that period between late May and October.

Every year at the AGM, the calendar is set for the following year. We try to avoid event conflicts and we all realize the road racing and autoslalom organizers need those weekends during the summer to hold their events. Therefore, there’s an engineered gap in road rally events during the summer months. It’s not ideal, but with the greater motorsports community in mind (and many of our participants and volunteers are cross-multi-discipline) it’s the best thing to do. So, what to do until we restart our rally program in October?

Get involved! If you’re new to the road rally game, come to a club meeting and volunteer at a road race, autoslalom or performance rally. Timing and scoring, grid duties, stage controls, road blockers – there’s always something to do and you can get up close to the action. Both the ASCC and BAC can point you in the right direction, and you’ll get to meet some great people, gain an insight into other aspects of our local motorsports scene, and arrive at the LiL with a greater appreciation of what our region offers for enthusiasts. Of course, you can always reach out to us at the RRDG for some advice, and we’d love to have you consider organizing a road rally for 2027! There are lots of options.

Keep in touch and look at the various club websites to see what’s on the go. We hope to see you at Atlantic Motorsport Park, at an autoslalom or another regional event throughout the summer!