Rhode Island Rally

By Tom Letourneau
Photos by John DeWaele, Chriz Izzo, and Tom

Another successful BMCNE and Alfa Romeo combination gimmick rally and tour is in now in the books. The event was a tremendous success, as have been the last 3 or 4 events of the same nature. It would also seem that having this kind of an event that is a “tour” with a "gimmick rally" element thrown in, in order to add a wee bit of competition, and giving out really nice trophies for the winners to proudly display in their homes, is very popular!

Initially, 32 car owners expressed interest in the event. Six had to cancel before the event for family, personal, and other reasons (e.g. Lucas electrical systems). However, we still wound up with 17 cars, including a Jamestown resident who got wind of the event and showed up with his right-hand-drive 1939 MG-TA. (Maybe Lucas electrics were better in the ‘30s?)

What a beautiful day it was for the June 1st Alfa Romeo vs. British Car Jamestown to Newport Challenge Rally! Participants began arriving a little before 8:30AM and it quickly became obvious, with the number of British cars arriving, that their honor and reputation were at stake after the humiliating loss they had incurred on our last event that ended at Thompson Speedway. At that event, all of the top slots were taken by Alfa drivers and their trusty, experienced navigators.

However, as things turned out, we wound up with just about a 50/50 mix for Saturday's event, and that included Gene and Judy Durso, Alfa Romeo owners competing again in their Lotus Elise. Jim DeWaele and his wife Patty, owning both British cars and Alfas, had to come in Jim’s MGB roadster (which he had painstakingly restored by himself), as he was having ‘an issue’ with his Alfa GTV. (Note: I did not know that Alfa GTVs had Lucas electrical systems!) Anyway, Jimmy decided to compete in the British Motor Cars classification, noting that they could use all the help they could get. (Note: Had Jimmy run in the Alfa class, his score would have garnered him a second-place tie with Vern, but Jim and Patty would have taken 2nd place as they got the tie-breaking question correct.)

We did have a couple of drivers show up whose wives/mates/lovers had abandoned them. As such, I made an attempt to pawn John DeWaele's wife off on one participant who arrived with no navigator, Lauren being one hell of a good navigator and driver in her own right, having won in a joint AONE & JANE event with her son, Sean, a few years back. But, as things turned out, due to some participants arriving with what I guess I could call their "fan clubs", we were able to find some volunteers to ride shotgun.

The first car off was right on time with a 9:30AM departure, with all of the other contestants starting in 1-minute intervals. (I staggered everyone such that every other car was an Alfa driver followed by a British car driver, etc.)

For all intents and purposes, all of the Jamestown route went perfectly. There was one instruction that I really tried hard to word in order make sure no one misunderstood it. But, as Steinbeck pointed out in his "Of Mice and Men", we did have a few who didn’t get it. However, it was not a problem, as the route taken by those got them right back on course.

The course, as was publicized, went along the East Passage and West Passage of Narragansett Bay, ending at Beavertail, the easternmost point of Jamestown Island, facing right out into the Atlantic. Everyone was given a short break to take in the view, photos were taken, and ‘potty stops’ were available for those who had had one cup of coffee too many.

From Beavertail, the tour pretty much bee-lined it toward the Newport Bridge, over it, and into downtown Newport. As I crossed the Newport Bridge and headed for the first exit off of it (the absolutely worst-designed exit in the history of mankind) down onto Route 238, I immediately hit a traffic light. It was in this segment of the tour that yours truly nearly had his fifth heart attack. Having done this route seven times, all on weekdays, I was not prepared for what I encountered. The traffic was all but stopped, backed up a good mile. Our participants, as I was to find out, were great — all grinning and bearing with it. Hey, it was Saturday, and the weather was beautiful. It also was Newport and the annual Newport Chowder Festival was taking place! (Duhhhh! Tom, did you not know this before you picked June 1st?)

Finally clear of the back-up, everyone eventually proceeded onto America’s Cup Way and then along Lower Thames Street, by Newport Harbor, Fort Adams, and finally out onto beautiful and scenic Ocean Drive, one of the most scenic of the Atlantic Oceanside roads in the Northeast.
From Ocean Drive, the tour continued down Bellevue Avenue, by some of the historic mansions, and eventually turning down behind them toward Newport’s historic, ocean-facing ‘Cliff Walk’. Then back on Bellevue Avenue and ending at the La Forge Restaurant, where we had lunch and the awards ceremony, where the ‘real trophies’ were handed out.

As the participants arrived and turned in their answer sheets, John DeWaele and I began scoring them, with John’s wife Lauren double-checking our math after we added up the scores. It was during this timeframe, as I began placing the answer sheets and scores in two separate piles (British & Alfa contestants), highest score to lowest, that it became very obvious that our British car friends had done their homework and came prepared. As the clock was ticking down with only one participant left to arrive, the British contingent was not going to see a repeat of the Thompson debacle. British car owners were holding down 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall!

Finally the last team arrived — Alfa drivers and gimmick rally event extraordinaires (to put it mildly) Debbie and Dan Donovan. John and I began to tally their score.

Let me put it his way: The British car contingent needs to be proud of themselves and their ‘Overall’ showing. To say that they did great would be putting it mildly. Knowing enthusiasm when I see it, I am sure that the BMCNE’s President, Chris Izzo, will be all over his members to be in attendance for our next joint event — the Newport to Little Compton Challenge Rally.

As far as the Alfa Romeo contingent went: Great job … but I think we should all give thanks to Dan and Debbie for upholding the reputation of Alfa Romeo drivers, as they wound up overtaking our British car contingent with an unbelievable almost-perfect score, missing only three questions, thereby claiming First Place in Class and First Place Overall for the event.

Rally results

First Place Overall – Dan & Debbie Donovan [Alfa Spider]

British Car Class

First Place – Susan & Alan Bernard [TR-6] – 93 Points
Second Place – Michael & Mallory Walsh [TR-6] – 87 Points
Third Place – Bob Stahlbush & Audie Osgood [TR-3] – 84 Points

Alfa Romeo Class

First Place – Dan & Debbie Donovan [Alfa Spider] – 121 Points
Second Place – Vern Brown & Wendy Stewart (via remote control) [Alfa Spider] – 81 Points
Third Place – A tie between Joel & Stacy Edinburg competing in the air-conditioned, windows-up comfort of an Audi RS and Kevin & Diane Murphy, also ‘wimping it’ in a BMW 325XI. Using the tie-breaker question did not work, as both teams got it correct. The group then decided Third Place would be determined by the flip of a coin — called “Heads” by Kevin, it came up “Tails”.