Ottawa-area snowcross racers and fans were treated to a visit from the Rick Mercer show this past weekend, when Rick and his crew were onsite at Capital City Speedway to shoot for his January 20, 2009, installment of The Mercer Report, which airs on CBC (Rogers Channel 8).
In a recent RANT, Rick asked how someone intelligent enough to have a job that allows him to afford a $59,000 car can’t be smart enough to admit he needs snow tires when his car is wrapped around a telephone pole (a question for the ages). Seeing the RANT, an MCO member contacted the show and invited Rick to one of the MCO’s now famous, Winter Driving Schools.
Not only did Rick and crew come, but they did some drills and even had a fun race around the snowcross track. Of course, Rick got the all-wheel drive, snow-tired car while his adversary drove the Toyota Corolla rental that Rick had earlier driven into a snow bank.
It was a blast, with a great spectator turn-out, and great weather (cold and sunny). We even had some of the OMC crowd mingling with MCOers — amazing how many autocrossers are also snowcrossers.
Some pics for your enjoyment…
PS – Rick doesn’t know how to work a clutch and manual gearbox.
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I’ve always liked Rick Mercer. He has tried so many different things – I would have thought he could drive a stick shift. I didn’t hear his rant about people not being smart enough to buy snow tires, but I’ve always thought a smart driver can avoid a telephone pole regardless of what kind of tires are on the vehicle.
Rick is great. I believe he has the best job this side of Formula 1 driver. It was great having him out. As for snow tires… Like you said, a smart driver would drive within the capabilities of the vehicle and the driver, but it’s really nice to have the right tires when the unforeseen inevitably rears its ugly head.