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The Great American Mountain Rally Revival 2022 is in the History Books!

On October 17th, 18th, and 19th, the fourth running of the Great American Mountain Rally Revival (GAMRR), presented by the New England Vintage Road Rally LLC, took place. This would be the eighth running when you combine the four years of the original event, known as The Great American Mountain Rallye (GAMR), from the ’50s. Twenty-four cars (48 contestants) met in Meredith, New Hampshire, at The Inn at Mills Falls on Lake Winnipesaukee.

Half of this year’s field was new entrants, which is great for the event as it brings new blood to  Regularity-style rallying. I attributed this to the terrific New York Times article that freelance writer, and GAMRR participant Chris Jensen, wrote this summer.

After final registration matters on Monday, famed rallyist John Buffum led a Rally School and answered questions.

DAY 1 • Monday, October 17th

The morning started with cool temperatures and clear skies as cars left for the Prologue run to Club Motorsports, a Country Club for motorsport enthusiasts in Tamworth, NH. While timed, the Prologue results would not count toward the GAMRR standings, yet it gave competitors some experience at course following, maintaining speeds, and exposure to the Richta GPS App. 

When we arrived at the track around noon, we had lunch in one of the newly constructed garages, where Buffum answered questions about the Richta GPS timing app and our Routebook format.

To say the track is impressive, yet that doesn’t do it justice. The web page describes it: “Club Motorsports is a premiere country club for enthusiasts of vintage and performance cars and motorcycles at the edge of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. On hundreds of rolling wooded acres with breathtaking views, we’ve built a heart-pounding ribbon through the woods: 15 turns over 2.5 miles with an elevation change of 250 feet.”

Cars were lined up in groups of eight by class, and after their Safety Talk, a Driving Instructor led them onto the track for parade laps. Each group got to run 4-5 controlled laps and afterward drive to the top of the property to view the spectacular fall color.

Major kudos to Pat Curran and the group at Club Motorsport for sharing their fantastic facility!

Just as the first car had departed for the afternoon “timed” rally section, it started to shower; perfect timing!

Later that evening, we had a welcome reception for the participants where the group made more formal introductions, and we got to speak about the upcoming day’s itinerary.

DAY 2 • Tuesday, October 18th 

I already saw the camaraderie forming at breakfast, and I knew this would be a great event!

Day 2 was the longest of the three days at approximately 200 miles and brought us into the White Mountains with more elevation changes. The day started cool and damp, with forecasts for rain most of the day. Twenty-four cars headed off for our run north into New Hampshire’s White Mountains towards Franconia Notch, where most of the foliage had peaked, as we were in higher elevations than the run in NH on Day 1.

The route went north past Perch Pond, thru two covered bridges, and into Lincoln, NH. A quick break preceded a twisty, uphill asphalt section on Rt 118 thru the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Then the rolling countryside of western NH led the group to Woodsville and a run along the Connecticut River into Littleton for a lunch break.

Buffum had entirely laid out the route as it was the closest in proximity to his home in Vermont. I had run the entire day with John in September, so I had a flavor for his routes. We made a few adjustments based on the joint recce.

As we approached Littleton for our lunch break, the sky got quite dark, and finally, the wind kicked up at our lunch break, and a squall moved in with high winds and driving rain. By the time our lunch was over, the weather had moved through, and as we headed back south, we ran out of the front, and the sky cleared.

The afternoon section featured a Map Section (one of Buffum’s favorites). This section proved quite challenging for several of the competitors. Since I no longer needed to be working a control (thanks, Rich Bireta!), I was running as a chase and camera car, so I was running ahead of the group, sometimes on alternate routes to get onto the course at a good vantage point for photos. At one point along the way, there was an intersection with several rally cars heading in different directions or stopped on the side of the roads scratching their heads. I intentionally departed off course as I didn’t want to give the route away, and more than one car thought about following me!

As we headed south, the roads became curvier, with elevation changes over the rolling hills. We passed the Wentworth Baptist Church and then on past Rumney, the home of rock-climbing enthusiasts. As we entered the Lakes Region in New Hampshire, we passed through Holderness and past Little Squam and Squam Lakes just outside Meredith.

Day 2 was not only the longest; but as Buffum likes to say, the competitors needed to “roll up their sleeves” and pay attention!

Tuesday night, people explored the local establishments to have a fine dinner and drinks with old and new friends.

Day 3 • Wednesday, October 19th

The final day of the GAMRR had us heading east through New Hampshire and into Maine toward Sebago Lake. We again passed through a covered bridge as we ran the morning section and over parts of the original 1956 GAMR route.

As we got further into Maine, the terrain changed considerably, with much more rural roads and some great gravel sections. The original layout of Day 3 had us running up and over some mountain passes (specifically Peaked Mountain). Although shown on Google Maps as “roads,” they turned into nothing more than goat paths! Several detours around these areas challenged keeping the days’ mileage reasonable. After 2-3 recces, we finally devised a route that supported the event’s flavor, yet within 170 miles for the day.

Lunch took us to Sebago Lake; the name comes from the Abenaki, “sobagoo,” meaning “it is the sea” or “it resembles the sea.” The surrounding area is known for its erratic and sudden changes in weather during all seasons, likely due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and Mt. Washington, a notorious extreme weather hotspot. The weather had been cool and clear most of the morning, but when we reached the park and unpacked our box lunches, a cold wind came off the lake such that we all donned sweatshirts and vests to stay warm. Only a few people sat at the picnic tables next to the lake. Instead, many hung out in the parking lot by our cars and discussed the morning run. 

The afternoon section ran westerly but to the south of the morning run. In Baldwin, ME, we had a small section that had the cars circling back in an oblong loop, such that they passed each other in a different direction of some small side roads; often, an excellent way to cause them to think that they are heading in the wrong direction!

In Cornish, we had the group cross the Ossipee River and head north and west to Hiram. As we approached the NH border in Porter, Maine, we came to a road under construction for its entire length just a few weeks before the event. It was passable, but they were grading the roadbed and paving it, so any ongoing construction during the event would have wreaked havoc with this section of the course. We laid out a bypass road “just in case,” but fortunately, the construction was completed just before our event. Those 2-3 miles along that section were a perfectly smooth black ribbon that ran through some beautiful Maine countryside.

We entered New Hampshire in the quaint little town of Freedom and continued westerly through Ossipee, Tamworth, Sandwich, and Center Harbor back to Rally Headquarters in Meredith.

The cars arrived by 4:30. As I arrived at the parking lot, most people were milling around the cars, talking about the three days of fantastic roads and scenery they traversed. 

Six o’clock was cocktails and then the awards ceremony. I presented the history of the GAMR from 1953-1956 and then the revival from 2018-2022. I have amassed a few hundred original documents and photos I shared with the group. I am sure they appreciated the rigors that the original entrants went through every year over the Thanksgiving weekend, usually on snow-covered roads in cars from the early-mid 50s for upwards of 1100 miles in 4 days. 

We covered approximately 450 miles in three days, ran fantastic roads, included track laps at Club Motorsports, and explored a new region of New England for a future GAMRR. 

I’ve been involved with the organizing side of the GAMRR since its inception; we use lessons learned each year to make the event more enjoyable. Thanks and my appreciation to Clerk of the Course John Buffum, Scott Sislane and Joe Salvato for their assistance during the recces, Tom Marantz for herding the cats every morning to get them going, and Mike Collier for running route pre-checks.

The GAMRR is not a drive in the country. There were approximately 200 miles timed to the second, which included a total of 62 controls. The sections between the regularities required staying on course within a prescribed time, but it allowed the teams to relax and enjoy the countryside.

Every year there are fantastic cars, and certain teams stand out, usually for enduring adversity. This year it was the father and son team of Alan and Nathan Dupes who entered their 1955 MG TF 1500. As we got ready for Day 2, the temperature was 40° and misting; I had a pair of hand warmers I gave to them to try and keep the dampness off. They got a kick out of that. 

Several MG’s ran those first few years and seeing one at GAMRR was great. I remember following them from a ways back up a gravel road in New Hampshire full of hills and curves. Just hearing Alan shifting and accelerating made me envision what it must have been like with fifty or sixty vintage sports cars rolling through the mountains. 

I want to add that they drove almost 200 miles each way to the event and back; and that this was their first rally! Alan is already planning on returning next year with the possible addition of a supercharger and some more MGs friends joining in the adventure!

 On the way out of the awards ceremony, Buffum and I were packing our cars, and he said, “I know some really good roads in Vermont.”

Stay tuned and keep your eye on our Great American Mountain Rally Revival Facebook page.

Photo credits for those with SFD were from Joshua Sweeney and we encourage you to checkout his other images from the GAMRR and other motorsporting events. The balance are from me, Gary.

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