Josh Keatley and Leanne Junnila win again and take a commanding lead in the Rally West TSD championship! The Northern Loon TSD, organized by the Edmonton Rally Club on June 1, was run under bright sunny skies and dry dusty roads. This year's event went north of Edmonton following roads that were established more than 200 years ago by the Hudson's Bay Company, and overland settlers.

The route book included dialogue describing the various historic sites crews passed, which added a new dimension to TSD rallying: local information... and distractions. Crews soon learned that if they slowed down to examine a group of old buildings at a stopping place, there was likely to be a checkpointer sitting in the grass!

The event attracted 15 entries, including many novice crews from Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer. Grizzled veterans (9 rallies) Cindy and James Alison experienced crew "issues" and finished well down the order. in spite of the relatively high scores, worthy of a true winter rally, everyone had fun and promised to come back for the 2009 Loon. There was also an expression of interest in having the same route book reissued in January for a rerun. A Frostback Loon Rally may indeed be fun, especially with the absence of Jed, sitt'n on his porch play'n his ban-jo and cuss'n at them thar ferr'n cawers.

Photo by Kelly Melvin of the ERC.

View the updated TSD standings at: http://www.rallywest.com/standings/2008/rwtc/overall