Bill Holmes & Sean Gallagher who won overall last year will be competing with a new engine and they will have their work cut out for them as the 2006 USRC Champions Wolfgang Hoeck & Piers O’Hanlon showed up early on the entry list. Expect this event to be a launchpad for their 2010 championship battle. Other returning teams include production entries Alex Rademacher & John Stewart (pictured) and John Black & Brent Ellzey. Expect these guys to be trading stage times. Last year’s winning GT class Subaru Impreza driven by Kevin Welker & Nolan Sambrano will again be out on the course, this year with some new competition from Katianna Pihakari and national championship winning co-driver John Dillon. Chuck Wilson, who won G5 last year has switched to his new G2 Ford Escort with a new but very experienced co-driver Jonathan Schiller. Look for Wilson to put down consistent times all day.

In RallyMoto, Andrew Sutherland and Roger Eggers are both back this year to defend their 2009 titles against 4 new riders: Chris Martin, Les Martin, Ken Wahlster, and Raphael Bertolus.The High Desert Trails kicks off the 2010 California Rally Series Moto Championship!

Over 50 volunteers will be out on the stages this year helping to make this event run. The rally would like to thank those who have signed up as volunteers, the South Orange Amateur Radio Association, Checkpoint Racing, and Rally-Tire.com for their support. Without the support and donations from these organizations, this rally would not run.

Spectators will see tons of action from the Palapa this year and are encouraged to download the spectator guide from our website. http://highdeserttrails.com/spectators/

The stages are in great shape after grading and rains. The teams are all ready to go. Please join us for a great day of rally action in the High Desert!

SpringHill Suites Marriott
113 E. Sydnor Avenue
Ridgecrest, CA 93555
(760) 446-1630
Website for the SpringHill Suites

When making reservations mention:

The High Desert Trails Rally Group Rate!
The Queen Suite sleeps 6 -$99*
The King Suite sleeps 4 – $99*
* plus tax

There are many additional hotels in Ridgecrest to choose from with rates ranging from $50-$150 per night.

The updates mostly pertain to the fact that we are starting 30 minutes earlier in the day, and are going to be using 1 minute intervals. This is directly due to the amazing competitor turnout for the rally! We chose getting up a little earlier and running short intervals in a typically windy location (no lingering dust) over dropping stage miles.

Any competitors wishing to take advantage of late registration are HIGHLY encouraged to scan and email copies of the required entry information to the registrars PRIOR to the event. We also ask that if you need to apply for or renew any membership or license that you bring the completed paperwork with you to registration. Copies of all applications can be found on the competitors page.

Other changes include an addition to Friday evening: Christine will be giving a stage notes orientation & recce class (open to all competitors), just before the NCO (Novice Competitor Orientation). The NCO will be led by our CRO (Competitor Relations Officer), Michel Hoche-Mong. Both classes will take place at the Heritage Inn & Suites, with the exact room number to be announced at registration.

The new schedule can be found here: HDT Schedule 2009v2.pdf
The new stage schedule can be found here: HDT Stage Schedule.pdf
Spectator Information: HDT Spectator Guide.pdf
High Desert Trails Stage Map: Satellite Version / Printable Version

All currently published HDT documents can be found in /downloads/
You have now been so informed!

We want to remind Moto riders that our offer to lower the early entry moto fee to $100 for ADV riders (from $175) will also expire on Monday (and go up to $200). At that point, the early entry fee and all moto fees will stay at the previously published amounts.

The $25 discount for all CRS Rally School participants will continue apply through the end of late entry.

Finally, a reminder to all competitors, volunteers, and spectators: the lowered rate and reserved block of rooms at the host hotel (the Heritage Inn and Suites) will also expire on Monday, and the rooms will be released. So if you have not made your reservations already, please do so as soon as possible!

FYI: We just talked to the property owners, and the roads were just worked on – freshly graded and a brand new section cut JUST for HDT.  So come out and play on a new course!

Google Map of the High Desert Trails Rally 2009

RallyMoto riders – you might want to check this out. *nudge
If you have any questions, please email rally@highdeserttrails.com

UPDATE: A problem was fixed with the competitor page. Added a separate RallyMoto sign-up. http://highdeserttrails.com/competitors/

The Heritage Inn and Suites
1050 N. Norma Street
Ridgecrest, CA 93555

Please call (800) 843-0693 or (760) 446-7951 for reservations.

Be sure to mention “The High Desert Trails Rally” to receive the reduced rate of $75 (plus 10% room tax) per night.  This rate is based on double occupancy (additional guests ages 16 and older will be charged at $8 additional per person).  50 rooms have been set aside for our group for Friday and Saturday nights (February 20-22, 2009).  Reservations must by made by Monday, February 9th, 2009 – after this date the rooms will be released and the rate will go up to the regular price. Note that this date concurs with the end of early entry.

Check-in time is 3:00pm and Check-out time is 12 noon. Cancellations must be made 24 hours in advance to avoid a penalty of one night’s room charge plus tax.

There are many additional hotels in town to choose from. However, no hotel has great parking for trailers. We are working to secure the empty supermarket parking lot next to the Heritage Inn and Suites for overnight trailer parking and technical inspection. Please keep this in mind when selecting your hotel.

Sign up is available through the rallydata.com volunteer log-in.