Cain’s Quest Day 4 News
The spotlight was on Cartwright, Checkpoint 8, on day four of the race. It was a hub of activity late into day three and into wee hours of day four as teams started checking in at 11:31 p.m. with Team #7 SnoXcapes.com leading the pack and Teams 17, 73, 99 and 5 just minutes behind.
Cartwright was also the scene of an unfortunate accident which resulted in an injury to racer Lloyd Rex Rich of Team 30 Manteu. His snowmobile collided with a motor vehicle at a road crossing while the team was leaving town. The racer is in stable condition and has been airlifted to Happy Valley-Goose Bay for further examination. It meant a scratch for the team but they remained in good spirits.
“We are out for 2014,” said John Nui, Lloyd’s racing partner. “Lloyd’s okay though. He still smiles every now and then.”
Fans (including family members) were puzzled as Team #30’s tracker continued to travel at fast speeds long after they scratched. The elderly father of John Nui, Joachim Nui Sr., was especially concerned, thinking they were headed out towards the open ice. According to James Nui, John’s brother, his dad wanted him to find out what was going on saying “hurry, hurry, they might not catch him…he’s going pretty fast.” They had quite the laugh when they realized that the team’s tracker was on a helicopter to be returned to the Cain’s Quest office. Thanks for the great story James!
Team #5 Goose Bay made great time into Rigolet, Checkpoint 9, arriving at 7:26 a.m. Teams #7, 73, 17 and 99 were right on their heels and all checked in within eight minutes of Team #5. Fans watching the Yellowbrick tracker grew concerned for Team #8 Northern Lights Racing as it appeared they were headed for bad ice while en route to Checkpoint 9. They eventually veered into safer territory and ended up checking into Rigolet at 17:00. Volunteers there eagerly awaited the arrival of five more teams: Teams 6, 32, 88, 91 and 98. Although it is suspected that Team #91 Chatmans are out of the race, they have not officially called into headquarters to scratch.
It was Team #7 snoXcapes.com checking into Checkpoint #10 North West River first at a time of 12:21, followed closely by Team #5 Goose Bay and Team #73 Watkins-Willmott. Eight teams are still making their way to North West River. Teams will express through North West River, and are onto Postville. Team #99 The Great Ones and Team #7 snowXcapes.com are leading the pack into their first of four flexible checkpoints.
Teams #18 (Labrador Adventure Racing), #72 (Makkovik) and #82 (Premium Business Solutions) were unfortunately added to the scratched list today due to mechanical issues, leaving only 19 teams to tackle the majestic fiords and mountains of the North coast.
What checkpoints will teams take their flexible layover times at? Will some carry on and take all 16 hours in Nain? Only time will tell.
Be sure to track the race online at cainsquest.com and get the latest information by liking our Facebook page Cain’s Quest Inc., joining the Facebook group Cain’s Quest Snowmobile Endurance Race or following us on Twitter @cainsquest.
