Each year, organizers convene in Shelton to deliver the action-packed Olympus Rally, a rally racing event that typically spans more than 100 miles of logging roads and what was once a must-pass event on drivers journeys to the culmination of the sport, the FIA World Rally Championship.
This year’s event — which takes place April 17-19 — is the largest iteration of the event in recent years and has been expanded to include 200 miles of gravel track.
When Washington-born Steve McQuaid, who has been entwined with the event for more than 40 years, opened this year’s slots for drivers, the first 80 were almost immediately filled. McQuaid then decided to expand this year’s allotment to include a total of 100 drivers.
“Oh, it was just incredible,” McQuaid, the chairman of the event, said. “As of right now, we’re at our top limit of drivers.”
Conversation is already buzzing as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the rally’s infamous 1986 event when Markku Alén won the Olympus title in Washington, only to lose it 11 days later at Italy’s WRC due to a controversial rounds’ annulment. That year also marked the last time that the most powerful and fast rally cars — albeit built with limited safety measures that led to several deaths — were allowed to compete, the Group B car.
For the uninitiated, picture being blindfolded and told to sprint through a forest — the only thing keeping you from crashing is someone shouting directions on where to turn, slow down, and speed up. Now, instead of running, place yourself in the driver’s seat at more than 100 miles per hour and your guide is your co-driver seated next to you. In summation, this is the sport of rally racing.
In addition to the excitement surrounding the anniversary event, several eye-catching contestants will be vying for their spots on the podium, such as Travis Pastrana of “Nitro Circus” and Def Leppard’s Vivian Campbell. But perhaps most eyes will be on Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland, who has taken home 18 event victories at the WRC, and Canada’s Brandon Semenuk, who’s widely considered to be Latvala’s most direct opponent.
Semenuk, who has taken the crown of the Olympus Rally for the last four years, wasn’t originally planning to race but snagged a last minute spot at the rally in late March, DirtFish (also the presenting sponsor of the event) reported.
Now, with Semenuk leaving just weeks to plan for the yet-to-be-claimed title as a consecutive five-time winner of the rally — the tension is palpable and stakes are high.
“There’s so many people that could win when there’s usually only one or two people maybe (that could win) — this year, there’s probably ten cars that have a chance,” McQuaid said.
To kick off the free-to-attend event, drivers will depart from Toyota of Olympia on Friday to head to the woods to run a fan-favorite stage called WildCat with cars departing around 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.
More than 400 volunteers and 80 ham radio operators will be in attendance to ensure spectators are kept safe and cars are on time.
“I think people will be shocked just to see how fast these cars really go,” the chairman said. “This will be the most exciting year that we’ve had in a long time.”
Find the spectator guide to the event here.