December 24, 2004

CARS is pleased to announce the continuation of the special travel program designed to help national licence holders who will be competing in the 2005 Canadian Rally Championship. The program has been put together by L Hansen’s Forwarding and Canadian Pacific Railroad. The travel program is open to all CARS licenced competitors in order to help promote participation in the events of the Canadian Rally Championship. The program will be in effect for 2005 and details of the program are as outlined below.

Basic Outline:
CARS have made arrangements with Hansen’s and CP to transport competitors’ small service vans, rally cars and, if small enough, trailers from Toronto to Calgary and from Calgary to Toronto before and after each of the six events in the 2005 CRC. The program allots us fifty (50) spaces in enclosed rail cars for our use. If there are more registrations than the allotment provides, additional spaces will be available at a discounted rate. (Example: If competitor A ships a van and small trailer with a rally car on it from Toronto to Calgary for the Rocky Mountain Rally and back to Toronto again, then four spaces are used. If competitor B ships a rally car from Calgary to Toronto for the Rallye Baie des Chaleurs, leaves the car in the east and returns to Calgary after Rallye Defi Ste-Agathe/Duhamel, then two spaces are used.)

Damage Liability:
Since there will be no charges from either Hansen’s or CP for the service, neither company will be responsible for loss or damage during transport. Competitors wishing to take part in the program will have to sign a waiver when leaving their vehicles with Hansen’s.

Size Restrictions:
The maximum height that will fit in the enclosed rail cars is 7 feet (84 inches) while the maximum width they can take is 7 feet 8 inches (92 inches). If your rig is less than 7 feet tall and the trailer is a maximum of 92 inches at its widest point, then your rig can be shipped. The tow vehicle and rally car can go separately without the trailer if your trailer is too wide.

Time Lines:
Normal transit time for a trip between Calgary and Toronto is about 10 days however time of year, weather and traffic demands can either increase or decrease the length of time normally required. In order to allow for contingencies in the transport of the vehicles, the rally car and service van will have to be delivered to the Hansen’s facilities in either Toronto or Calgary according to the timetable provided. (Information on Hansen’s yard locations can be accessed through their web site: www.lhf.com.)

Registration:
Space is limited for each train trip, so registration through the CARS’s office is required immediately^. If you are seriously considering taking advantage of this offer, please send in your registration today. In order to secure your spot(s), there will be a registration fee of $100 per spot per event. (For competitor A earlier, the fee would be $200 and for competitor B, $100.) While $50 of each $100 fee will be retained by CARS to cover program administration costs, $50 of the fee will be returned to the competitor if the registered vehicles go on the train. None of the fee will be returned if the registration is cancelled by the competitor for any reason.

Required Details:
When registering, you will need to provide the overall length, width and height of equipment (in feet and inches). Please use the attached form.

Timetable:
 

	Event	Location	Drop Off Date
1.	Perce Neige	Calgary (to Toronto)	Jan 13
		Toronto (to Calgary)	Feb 6
2.	Rocky Mountain	Toronto (to Calgary)	May 5
		Calgary (to Toronto)	May 29
3.	Baie des Chaleurs	Calgary (to Toronto)	June 9
		Toronto (to Calgary)	July 3
4.	Defi Ste-Agathe	Calgary (to Toronto)	Aug 18
		Toronto (to Calgary)	Sept 11
5.	Pacific Forest	Toronto (to Calgary)	Sept 22
		Calgary (to Toronto)	Oct 16
6.	Tall Pines	Calgary (to Toronto)	Nov 3
		Toronto (to Calgary)	Nov 27

This is the fourth year for the transportation program and the changes outlined above are exciting and should enable more teams to compete in the entire series. In order to maximize the number of teams able to take part, CARS would like competitors to consider grouping together and shipping only one group service van and trailer (with car) and shipping either one or two other cars separately so that four spaces may account for three teams. Another plan that would work would be to drive a larger service truck and trailer (with car) to the event and ship up to four other cars by train. The economies of scale would reduce the costs for all while increasing the number of teams competing in each event.