Oregon Trail 2007 is in the books
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
The scores have been posted for the 2007 running of Oregon Trail Rally; they
were made official at 6:00 pm. Andy Pinker is thrilled to have had a good event
and his first win of the season, “I think these roads are my kind of roads, I
hope they’re just like this at Olympus.”
The Rally America National Champion continues next month in Olympus, Washington
on May 19th and 20th. Make sure to check back for the latest news in the
National championship and the quest for an X Games spot.
Eklund wins Trails End Regional Rally
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Today’s Regional winners, Eklund and Price, dropped some updates to the
truck.
“We rebuilt the rear struts last night as the water wreaked havoc on them.
Thanks to the crew for yesterday: Ron, Stephanie, Nate, Zack, Greg, Jesse, and
especially Meghan! The roads are great, kudos to the organizers! We were good
with the soft compound Silverstones; but we wish we could have been a bit
quicker. We lost time with a spin on stage 14. Primitive Racing is glad to
finish another Oregon Trail Rally. This was the 29th event for the Primitive
Subaru…still going well! We’re glad to hear Rockrohr and Jacobs finished their
first rally, congrats! Thanks to the fans for coming out, it looked like there
was a good number of spectators!”
The #233 Primitive Subaru is sponsored by PDX Tuning, Royal Moore Subaru, and
Exedy Performance Clutches.
Verdier and Crouch take PGT victory
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
The newly formed Flatirons Subaru team of Stephan Verdier and Scott Crouch made
it two for two this weekend at the Oregon Trail Rally, taking home their second
PGT victory of the season.
Verdier said his prior experience on the Oregon roads gave him the edge. "I knew
coming in to this race how to drive it," he said. "You just had to go slow to
win."
He also noted drivers had to commit to ditch-hooking -- a rally technique that
sees the driver deliberately drop the inside wheel into the ditch during
cornering.
The PGT battle is expected to be hard fought this season. There were several
high-profile retirements, including Matt Johnson and Kenny Bartram.
Hoche-Mong wins Group 2
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
With a consistent performance and focus throughout the weekend, Hoche-Mong and
Parekh, #316, win Group 2. The team had a solid lead leaving the last service
of the day, so, they were able to take it a little easy on the last two stages
and keep things together for the group win.
Looking forward to Olympus
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
With a first and third place finish, it was a great weekend for the Syms
teammates of Pinker and Foust. The “Pinky and Foxy” camp are enjoying the new
partnership and look forward the Olympus Rally next month.
Thompson 2nd in Group 2
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
#49, Thompson and Secor had a blast this weekend despite being out of tires and
brakes, and having “concern” for their gearbox. The team did have a scare on
stage 11 when the car understeered into a ditch on the right, then into the
ditch on the left; they lucked out and escaped with no damage. They were able
to bring the car home to a second place finish in Group 2.
Picture from: www.jaggededgemotorsport.com/.
Preliminary results are in!
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
With only a few cars in at the finish, it appears that #5 Pinker and Walsh have
won Oregon trail. #43, Block and Gelsomino, took second place, while #34 Foust
and Beavis earned third.
The results are provisional at this time, nothing will be official until all of
the cars have arrived and the scores have been posted.
Subaru Rally Support Program not just for Subaru’s
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
The problems for Car 473 Wolfe/Langford started on SS11 when “the skid plat
removed itself – we were going hard, but we did not have any mishaps – I guess
it is just standard rally wear and tear!” stated co-driver Langford.
On SS12, the dragging skid plate caused a rear brake line puncture. The
puncture created a situation where Wolfe only had front brakes for the last half
of SS12.
“This is the first time we have run since we made some changes to the car. We
changed to a turbo engine, put on new suspension, and upgraded the brakes –
unfortunately, we have not yet changed the stock in the service truck, and we
are left without anything to plug the brake line. Thankfully, we were able to
get a brake line plug from the Subaru Rally Support Truck and as a result, will
be able to continue on. Thanks to Subaru and Vermont Sportscar for that,”
stated driver Lars Wolfe.
Despite the time they lost on stage and the subsequent positions, the teams
motto is “never say die. It is not over yet – we are still looking to finish
well enough to place in the MaxAttack! Triple Crown Series.” Wolfe goes on to
say.
Car 297 Greer/Greer looking to have fun and finish
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
The father/daughter team of car 297 Greer/Greer generally run the Subaru
Northwest regional events. Their goal is not to win it, but to spend some time
with each other and others from the rally community, have fun, and finish.
They have been running for 3-4 years as a team – in fact, Kelly co-drove for the
first time 3 days before she turned 16 – a feat only possible by waiver and the
fact, that she was riding with a parent. In that rally, they tasted success by
winning P class and topped the year off by winning the Pacific Rally Group
Production Championship; but again, while success is nice, they are most proud
of the fact that they continue to have fun and have finished every rally since
they have begun – an impressive feat when the average attrition rate per rally
is about 50%.
During an early rally interview, the team said they were looking forward to
running the press stage (where teams give rides to registered media) – something
they have always wanted to do, but have not to date.
The team has made some changes to their Subaru. “We made enough changes to the
car to be considered in Open class, but we still have a naturally aspirated
motor, which is not as competitive, but we still usually finish in the top 10 in
the regionals – that’s not bad for an engine that does not make the same
horsepower” driver Steve Greer went on to say.
Currently, the team is sitting in 9th position overall in the Oregon or Bust
regional rally.
Car 103 Gubelmann/Richard winning Group N
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Car 103 is currently sitting in the 6th position overall and 1st in class (GN).
“It has been a good run with Nathalie (Richard) as my co-driver, stated driver
Wyeth Gubelmann, “we have had some really good stages, and with a car that is
prepped so well (by Cascade Motorsports), we are having a lot of fun.”
Gubelmann is planning on running the Olympus Rally, Ojibwe Forests Rally, and
Colorado Cog. “I am not running for a specific championship this year, I am
choosing to compete in the rallies that are closer to my home (Colorado), and
the ones that that I like,” Gubelmann went on to state.
Picture from: www.morgansegal.com/.
Current DNF's
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Car 57 Kishkarev/Obry have withdrawn from Oregon Trail Rally citing electrical
issues. “The car was intermittently cutting out on stage and from a safety
point of view, we feel we need to withdraw,” stated co-driver Benard Obry.
Car 459 – rear hub exploded on transit between SS14 and service.
Problems for Pritchard
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Pritchard and DeMotte, #28, finished last nights stages, but not unscathed.
Their problems cost them over eight minutes on stage 12. Fellow competitors
joined in to help the #28 team change three broken drive shafts and the gearbox.
Matthew Johnson, who DNF’d earlier in the day with his own transmission
problems, and his crew joined in to help, as did Otis Dimiters and crew, who
also DNF’d early in the day due to a bad clutch.
Pritchard was able to start the final day of the rally because of the great
support of the rally community. Unfortunately, the team’s day would end on
stage 14, where they rolled their 2002 Subaru WRX. To add insult, the car had a
small fire from the engine compartment when Sarasin and Johansson, #55, came
across them. #55 gave the team one of their spare fire extinguishers to help.
The team is reported OK; we will try and get more information.
Choinere in fourth
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Choinere and Becker are just crossing their fingers that the gearbox will
survive the last two stages (and transit) of the rally. They started to have
problems near the end of stage 13; they were able to complete 14 and return to
service. The team will be pressing on with out changing the gearbox; they do
have a spare, but they are saving it for Olypmus next month.
Depth of battle in G5 intensifies
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Since a 3 minute penalty was assessed on Friday, Car 188 Havas/Morin has been at
an obvious deficit to Car 26 Kendall/Friberg and even Car 55 Sarasin/Johansson
despite swapping stage times.
"We have been running our own rally and hoping that if the penalty was
rescinded, that would leave us in a position to secure the G5 win and possibly,
a top 10 finish" stated driver Andrew Havas.
It seems the rally gods were smiling on Havas/Morin as their penalty was
recently rescinded. All of the penalties from Friday evening's stages were
rescinded, but the Havas/Morin penalty was clearly the one that would impact the
standings the most.
With the rescission, Car 188 Havas/Morin is currently in 12th overall and 1st in
class (G5). Car 26 Kendall/Friberg is in 13th overall and 2nd in class, 28
seconds behind Havas. Car 55 Sarasin/Johannson is 3rd in class, nearly 2
minutes behind Havas.
From Car 26 Kendall/Friberg, "the car is really good, and our plan early on was
to drive with a little caution due to the fact that the Olympus Rally is only
three weeks away, but with Havas' penalty being rescinded, we will need to drive
harder and smarter" stated co-driver Scott Friberg.
From Car 55 Sarasin/Johansson, "we made a rookie mistake on SS13 - we followed
tracks and made a wrong turn on course - it threw off Kyle's concentration on
SS13, but by SS14, Kyle's focus was back and our times were good, we were close
to Havas and beat Kendall, despite stopping for 20 seconds to render assistance
to Car 28 (Pritchard/DeMotte)."
Weather is a challenge, but MaxAttack! competitors press on!
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
A steady rain, high winds, and foggy conditions in the higher elevations made
for some of the most difficult rally conditions imaginable for the second day of
the Oregon Trail Rally. The competitors in the MaxAttack!™ Triple Crown Rally
Series at times felt like they were racing on ice as the mud collected on the
roads. Teams had to improvise when windshield wipers broke and foggy
windshields were unable to defrost due to humidity. It was truly a difficult
task for teams to maintain the focus needed to drive the challenging forest
roads at a pace quick enough to stay in the race for the cash payouts.
Nevertheless the MaxAttack! drivers did not fail to impress spectators that
waited for hours in the rain and the cold with spectacular driving. Rallycars
fought through the mud and the fog to put on a great show, drifting their cars
around corners exhibiting top notch car control in conditions that would make
many people think twice about just venturing out. The commitment to drive a
quick pace did not come without incident for some drivers. Said local favorite
Tom Burress, “Rallycars and weeds are a bad combination.” The tough conditions
had gotten the better of him as he slid off the road. The Burress team is
continuing on however. Things can change quickly in a rally like this and no
competitors are immune to bad luck.
The MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Series will pay the top six two-wheel-drive
finishing positions. Currently, the top six position holders are as follows:
188 Havas/Morin
26 Kendall/Friberg
55 Sarasin/Johansson
316 Hoche-Mong/Parekh
188 Havas/Morin
42 Burmeister/Shindle
295 Buren/Buren
Pinker leads the way at Oregon Trail
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Andy Pinker and his #5 Subaru lead the way for the last four stages of the
rally. The team leads by nearly 40 seconds over second place #43 Ken Block, and
#34 Tanner Foust, who is another 35 seconds down. The roads here in Oregon are
very well suited to Pinker; they are said to be very much like the roads in New
Zealand where he has quite a bit of experience. Pinker was the winner of the
2006 Oregon Trail Rally; they hope to maintain their pace, drive cleanly, and
repeat their performance.
Sunday, the final day of the rally, will consist of four stages and just over 30
stage miles. The teams will run two stages, then arrive in Vernonia for the
final 40 minute service of the rally at 11:45 am. After service, the final two
stages will be run and the cars will head back to Hillsboro for the finish.
Block in second at the end of day two
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
After a fogged windshield on SS9 and an issue with the “motor cutting out” on
SS10, #43, Block and Gelsomino, hung on to second place overall today. “Ken is
driving very well, he salvaged a very good time on stage ten despite our
trouble” said Gelsomino. The team left service and promptly set the fastest
time on stage 11 by more than six seconds. At the end of the day, the crew was
changing the motor in Block’s car; the engine swap is purely a precautionary
measure. The crew was also fitting the car with new door seals to help prevent
water from entering the car; in the true nature of rally ingenuity, the seals
were stolen from the service truck! With a 40 second deficit to the leaders ,
#5 Pinker and Walsh, the #43 team is looking to maintain their second place
position.
Will new car problems spell trouble for Iorio/Holter?
- Sunday, April 22, 2007
Car 18 Iorio/Holter have had a challenging day.
They are dealing with niggling new car problems, and while none of the initial
problems seem major early on, they were annoying as a whole. These problems,
combined with a spin on SS8, caused the team some time.
"You will probably hear it from a lot of other competitors, but we had water in
the car which was causing the windshield to fog up, and this caused us to lose
time" stated co-driver Ole Holter.
Apparently, on the later stages, the niggling new car problems have become more
major. The team needed a push on the later stages for unknown reasons and on
top of that, the team believes they may need to change a head gasket overnight.
After SS12, Iorio/Holter are now almost 6 minutes off the lead in 5th position.
Verdier leads PGT
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
Verdier and Crouch lead the PGT battle in their #429 Flatirons Subaru. The team
was a little worried last night, “I was not driving well and Matthew Johnson
(#46) was driving perfectly” said Verdier. They were able to “pull it together”
for today’s stages and lead second place, #616 LeBlanc and Morison by over a
minute. After their main rival, #46, Johnson and Wimpey, went out on stage 8
with transmission failure, they made the decision to take it easy. Their plan
for tomorrow is to keep it clean and on the road; “there were lots of cars on
the side of the road today, we need to make sure we’re not one of them!” said
Verdier.
Eklund having fun at Oregon Trail
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
#233, Eklund and Price, dropped off an update to the truck. “The weather
conditions are wet and getting more wet. This is Oregon sunshine! The stages
are wet, but appear to be holing up rather well. Water is puddling and the
sides of the road all have standing water. The organizers did well yesterday,
it was a fun evening! Primitive is doing well, but we’re bummed that we passed
#288, Cavett and Perry, who were out with fuel pump delivery issues 4.6 miles
into stage seven. On stage nine it was very wet and slippy; the downhill,
slippy conditions made everyone work very hard! Verdier (#429) left his muffler
in the middle of a right 3….oops, after we hit it, it will not be usable.”
The Primitive Racing team is supported by PDX Tuning, Royal Moore Subaru, and
Exedy Performance Clutches. More information on the team can be found at
www.get-primitive.com.
Final two stages of the day underway
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
The cars have left service to run the final two stages of the day. We will be
heading to the final check in at the rally headquarters, the Red Lion Hotel.
The first car is scheduled to arrive to the days finish shortly after 7:00 pm.
Please check back for the days results and latest news.
More retirements at Oregon Trail
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
The retirements are growing at Oregon Trail. The stages have claimed a minimum
of 11 competitors today.
#76 – Richard/Headland, brake failure
#74 – Lagemann/Williams, possible mechanical
#46 – Johnson/Wimpey, possible mechanical
#22 – Kosmides/Dillon, roll
#10 – Anton/Jozwiak, off road
#285 – Goodwin/Wenzara, roll onto side
#206 – Milos/Milos, roll
#774 – Dimiters/Ockwell, possible clutch
#690 – Bartram/Hotson, off road
#91 – Bottoms/Bosley, overheating related to impact with a bank
#144 – Christensen/Christensen
#652 – Logue/Beers
We will do our best to get more information on these teams.
Richard out with brake problems
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
#76, Richard and Headland, have retired after SS9 with brake failure. They
tried to make roadside repairs, but the team didn't feel that it was safe to
continue.
Pinker/Walsh now leading
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
The cars are starting to come in from running SS8, SS9, and SS10. Right now,
Car 5 Pinker/Walsh has now overtaken the lead from Car 43 Block/Gelsomino.
From driver Andrew Pinker, "our new partnership with Syms is going to be great
for us. With the partnership and these roads, that are similar to the roads in
New Zealand, I think we will run strong here."
From co-driver Alex Gelsomino, "I cannot believe it, we are now 38 seconds down
from Pinker, we were having a great rally, but that amount of time will be hard
to overcome." On SS9, a 16 mile stage, the team had a steamed windshield from 2
miles into the stage and all the way to the end. Additionally, they had low
fuel pressure on SS10.
Tricky conditions for Foust
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
#5, Foust and Beavis, are having a hard time adjusting to the very crowned roads
here in Oregon. Foust explained that it is a very different driving style than
he is used to in order to be fast on these types of roads. “You have to break
earlier when the crown is this high; I found myself on the wrong side of the
crown a number of times on that stage” said Foust. With new tires and some
advice from his Syms teammate, #5 Andy Pinker, the team hopes to move up from
their current third position.
Lagemann looking to move up
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
Currently in fifth is #74, Lagemann and Williams. The team have limited gravel
tires, so the tires they used last night on SS5 and SS6, were not ideal. “We
went off on five and had trouble on six, one through four were OK. We
definitely didn’t do ourselves any favors last night” said Lagemann. Today
didn’t start off quite as well as they’d hoped; three miles from the finish of
SS7 they lost the brakes. They continued and are hoping to be closer to the
leaders on the next set of stages. When asked about their X Games chances,
Lagemann replied “It’s hard to think about X Games right now, we’ll worry about
that once we finish this rally and see where we stand.”
Bottoms retires on SS7
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
#91, Bottoms and Bosley, have returned to service. They spun on SS7 and hit a
bank with the front end of the car. They were initally able to continue, but
they damaged their radiator and the car started to overheat and they were forced
to retire.
Picture from: www.gnmrally.com/.
Bartram out on SS7
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
#690, Bartram and Hotson, have retired after they went off the road on stage
seven. The team was caught off guard when the road tightened in a left hand
corner. The car left the road, avoiding all of the trees, and landed on it's
roof at the bottom of an embankment. The team is OK, but they were waiting
until the stage was run again (as SS10) before trying to extract it.
Picture from: www.onalimbracing.com/.
Choiniere fights for X Games spot
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
#11, Choiniere and Becker, hope to make a return appearance at the X Games; this
is the biggest motivating factor for the Vermont based team to head to Oregon
Trail. The team lost time on SS2 last night, but hope to make that time up
today. “We’re in Paul’s element now” said Becker referring to the gravel roads.
They hope to find a rhythm today and move up in the field; they are currently
fourth, almost 40 seconds behind the leader.
Block leads after stage seven
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
After stage seven, #43, Block and Gelsomino have taken the rally lead, but only
by 0.9 seconds over #5 Pinker and Walsh. “We were fairly conservative on that
stage, but everyone else must have been a little more conservative I guess” said
Block. He said that the roads were tricky; the conditions were constantly
changing, they went from clay, to gravel, to a mix. They hope to extend their
lead on the next set of stages.
MaxAttack!™ Triple Crown Rally Debuts at Portland International Raceway
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
The first event in MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Series got underway last night
at the Portland International Raceway. The Series boasts an $8000 cash purse to
be divided at each event amongst the top six finishing two wheel drive rallycars
in the three day Oregon Trail Rally. Fifteen rally teams in the MaxAttack!
Triple Crown Rally Series were eager to attack the 6 short special stages that
ran around the track and the infield at the raceway. Roaring engines and
burning rubber added to an atmosphere was already buzzing with excitement.
MaxAttack!™ drivers really put on a show for the fans at PIR. Current leaders
Cary Kendall and Scott Friberg saw speeds as high as 135 miles per hour in their
Dodge SRT4. The Burress brothers, Tom and Don, made it clear what their mission
was. “We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t going to attack every corner as hard as
we could.”, said driver Tom Burress with a confident smile. Indeed he did as he
thrilled the crowd with spectacular sideways driving through the hairpin
corners. Unfortunately mechanical troubles have put the team a little more than
seven minutes off the lead. With payouts down to sixth place, however, a strong
drive over the next two days could reward them with a cash prize.
Some drivers chose to play it safe and take minimal risk as they quickly but
safely negotiated the course. The team of Michel Hoche-Mong and Sameer Parekh
attacked the stages in his Volkswagen Golf hard enough to keep within 29 seconds
of the rally leaders but made sure to avoid costly mistakes. This gave
Hoche-Mong and Parek the chance to make a strong push to stay in the top six
with a cash prize in mind as the stages move to the forest roads around the city
of Vernonia today.
Currently, the team of Cary Kendall and Scott Friberg are currently leading by
eleven seconds over Kyle Sarasin and Mikael Johansson. In third place are Eric
Burmeister and Dave Shindle in their Mazdaspeed 3, which is a huge crowd
favorite. The rest of the points scoring positions are occupied by the hard
driving Canadians Aaron Neumann and Graham Coates, locals Michel Hoche-Mong and
Sameer Parek and another local team of Mark Tabor and Ben Bradley in their high
reving Acura RSX Type S.
The twisty, technical forest roads around the city of Vernonia will play host to
the spectacular sideways driving styles of the MaxAttack! competitors today.
Its sure to be nothing but excitement in the forest as the courageous MaxAttack!
drivers push their cars to the limit for bragging rights and the chance at a
share of the $8000 prize fund. The race for the MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally
Series is on.
After Oregon Trail, the MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Series moves east to Rally
West Virginia, which will take place on Aug. 4 in Elkins, W. Va. The series
concludes at the well-known Lake Superior Rally in Houghton, Mich. on the
weekend of Oct. 26-27.
For more information about the MaxAttack! Triple Challenge and the Rallysports
Group of America, please visit www.max-attack.com.
Thompson completes day one
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
The #49 team of Sans Thompson and guest codriver Jeff Secor is thrilled to have
finished day one of this rally. Last year, Sans and his regular codriver Craig
Marr, DNF’d on stage two when they hit a telephone pole. Jeff made it known
before the rally started that if Sans drove like he did last year he would “put
the donut down and the beatings would commence!”
Picture from: www.jaggededgemotorsport.com/.
Notes from Special Stage Seven
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
Car 91 Bottoms/Bosley and Car 774 Dimiters/Ockwell are reported as stopped on
SS7. It appears that Car 91 had an "off", but that Car 774 has mechanical
problems.
Car 692 Barnes/Crawford came into service with heavy damage to the front and
rear of the car.
Car 240 Blakely/Pinter has retired due to electrical problems.
More details to come as they become available.
Picture from: www.onalimbracing.com/.
Cars are running stage seven
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
Cars are expected to arrive at the Vernonia School for their first 30 minute
service at about 11:45. They will have completed only one of todays six stages
when they arrive here. Times will be posted shortly after their arrival. The
course opening car reports that that the roads are slippery, they expect that
there will be some cars off by the end of the stage.
Day two of Oregon Trail underway
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
Rain is falling over the parc expose on day two of the Oregon Trail Rally. A 72
car field will start from Hillsboro Stadium at 10:00 am ready to contest the six
stages that will be held today. Unlike the partially paved Friday stages at the
Portland International Raceway, the stages today will be held on gravel roads in
the Clatsop Forest of Western Oregon. Even with the early retirements of some of
the front runners, the competition is expected to be fierce as teams vie for a
spot in X Games 2007.
First Rally America National Rally of the year for Eklund/Price
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
This is the first Rally America Championship Rally this year for the team of Car
233 Eklund/Price. Generally, the team runs combination of 6 regional and
national events per year. “There is a strong regional rally series out here
that is great to run in and I am glad that we have two national events this
year,” stated driver Paul Eklund.
The team’s goal for the weekend is to have a strong running and represent the
Subaru Northwest Regional well and to see other competitors, such as Jamie
Thomas do well; additionally, they would like to beat all of the regional
entrants and stay within sight of the national entrants. Prior to the rally
starting, Eklund jokingly stated “the goal is always to beat Travis (Pastrana),
but sometimes that means he finishes 35th and we finish 34th. That is not what
we want to see happen”; unfortunately for Car 199, who retired after only one
stage, Eklund foretold his fate unintentionally.
In a live update form, the team states ”it was a good day on the tarmac for
Primitive Racing, no mistakes! Our Subaru ran strong again. (We are) looking
forward to the gravel stages. Dick Rockrohr had a fun evening and finished his
first day of rally in the Primitive Racing 2.5 RS Subaru rental – good job.”
The team would like to thank their supporters – PDX Tuning, Royal Moore Subaru,
and Exedy Performance Clutches - with a special thanks to Royal Moore Subaru for
10 years of continued support.
Foust leads at the end of day one
- Saturday, April 21, 2007
Day one of the Oregon Trail Rally is complete. After six stages, #34, Foust and
Beavis, lead #43, Block and Gelsomino, by less than three seconds. In third is
#5, Pinker and Walsh, followed by #18, Iorio and Holter in fourth. The rally
will resume Saturday morning with a Parc Expose in Hillsboro at 9:00 am, and six
stages to follow in the Vernonia area.
Please check back for all the latest news and scores!
Sarasin ready for competition
- Friday, April 20, 2007
After having DNF’d at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood for mechanical reasons, the
team of Car 55 Sarasin/Johansson used the short break between races to change
the engine and fine tune the car.
When asked how the DNF affects his desire to finish here, Sarasin stated “we
definitely want to finish here. We need to get some points in order to get back
up into the fight for the G5 Championship. We want to make a run for the G5
Championship and we need some points to do that, so a finish is very important
to us here.”
As an up and coming driver in G5, which is a fast two wheel drive class, Sarasin
is very excited about the newly introduced Max Attack Triple Crown Series. “The
field here is packed with grassroots two wheel drive competitors and I think it
is a result of the prize fund offered from the Max Attack Triple Crown Series.
The competition should be phenomenal.”
About MaxAttack!
The goal of the MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Series is to fulfill the mission
of the RSGA by raising the level and awareness of meaningful two-wheel-drive
competition in North America. The Rally Sports Group of America will pay out a
total cash purse of $24,000 USD to be divided amongst the fastest teams
competing in the MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Championship in 2007. RSGA seeks
to provide an attainable and sustainable entry point into performance rally,
resulting in broader awareness and increased participation in the sport.
Picture from: www.onalimbracing.com/.
Car 18 Iorio/Holter looking to have a good rally
- Friday, April 20, 2007
Matt Iorio has become a force to be reckoned with throughout the last couple of
years. In 2005, he secured the Rally America National Championship; in 2006, he
placed 3rd in the Championship. Once again, it appears that Car 18 Iorio/Holter
will be running the full season of the 2007 Rally America National Championship
and the team is hoping for similar results as the have enjoyed previously.
In the off-season, the Paladin Rally Team has been busy developing a new car.
“Right now, everything is fair game, we are developing the motor, suspension,
and gearing” stated Matt Iorio.
The team feels that the normal, niggling problems that are frequently associated
with development have been worked out. “We are going to go out and see what we
can do this weekend and hopefully, we have a really good rally” stated Iorio.
Early retirements in Oregon
- Friday, April 20, 2007
The first two stages of Oregon Trail have been inexplicably hard on motors. #20
Comrie-Picard and Goldfarb suffered mechanical problems on the practice stage,
they did "start" the event by pushing the car across the start line earning
their one championship starting point. #199 Pastrana and Edstrom were the
second to retire, their motor failed on SS1. Also retired on SS1 were #90
O’Sullivan and Putnam with motor failure, #30 Plsek and Burmeister with ECU
failure and on SS2 #205 Lengacher and Kovalik with motor failure.
Car #30 and car #205 hope to be able to fix their problems and continue in the
rally tomorrow, the rest appear to be finished for the event.
Combined Effort leads to new beginnings
- Friday, April 20, 2007
After having a large off that resulted in a totaled car at Rally in the 100 Acre
Wood National Rally in late February, Matthew Johnson had some dark days. He
was beat physically, emotionally, and monetarily.
As the reigning Production GT Champion, he knew he wanted to accomplish a repeat
this year; however, with a totaled car, and only 6 weeks between events, he had
no idea how he was going to pull it off.
With the same tenacity and determination that he applies to everything he does,
he set to doing the nearly impossible – rebuilding a wrecked car from the ground
up in record time.
“I was not willing to miss even one event because I want to win PGT class again
this year” stated Johnson. “I believe in myself and in the sport and I was not
willing to have a crash keep me out.”
Despite being tenacious, Matthew is but one man and a finite resource – in
short, there are only so many hours in one day in which any one person can work.
Matthew knew this was going to be a problem – “being a rally driver without
support would have meant I would not be able to make it here to Oregon Trail
Rally. I am so lucky and blessed, because so many great people supported me and
are the reason I am here – they really allowed me to make something positive out
of a bad situation and allowed me to have a new beginning” stated Johnson.
Some of the people Johnson is referring to are:
1) Hankook for continued support as well as new paint and tires
2) Lance Smith of Vermont Sports Car for finding a cage in record time
3) John Groo for going to Vermont to get the new shell and cage
4) Andrew Havas for all his hard work installing the cage
5) Andrew and Dan at ElitePro for much needed new parts
6) Peak Restoration in Apex, NC for quick work on the paint
7) Brad and Bobby at Syntech for the new graphics
8) Travis Benzing at Steamboat Detailing for the vinyl and use of the shop
9) Bob Wall for use of the shop and support
10) Dave Anton of Rallispec for getting spare parts
11) Chase Cam for the new camera equipment
“I just cannot believe the outpouring of help I received, it just would not have
been possible without them” states Johnson.
Johnson did make it here to Oregon Trail Rally and will be starting 12th in the
76 car field sporting the new Hankook-themed Subaru, but this story isn’t just
about the car, it is about a new outlook and mindset. It really is about new
beginnings for the entire Johnson camp.
They are sporting a new box truck, enclosed trailer, and a closer bonding of
driver and co-driver.
“The truck and trailer are a great addition for the team, but above all, I am
excited about the trust that Jeremy and I have and continue to build as a team.
I have had good relationships with my co-drivers, and I feel that Jeremy and I
have a good relationship as well and will do even better going forward. Trust
in a co-driver is essential to ‘pushing it’ and letting go of your safety
margins – that is what I feel that I have accomplished with Jeremy,” stated
Johnson.
As a final note, Jeremy is a graduate student as Virginia Tech, and Matthew
would like to encourage people to keep Virginia Tech in their thoughts and
prayers.
Oregon Trail 2007!
- Friday, April 20, 2007
Welcome to round three of the 2007 Rally America National Championship. The top
four drivers, based on speed factor, drew to establish their initial start
positions: Pat Richard chose to be first on the road, he will be followed by Ken
Block, Matt Iorio, and Travis Pastrana.
The teams will run six stages tonight at the Portland International Raceway
complex. Stages one and three are a straight forward single pass of the PIR
road course. Because it is a completely tarmac stage, tarmac tires are allowed;
teams will also be allowed to change tires after each paved stage. Stages two
and four start paved, but quickly turn to gravel; the 2.6 mile stage follows
roads around the perimeter of the raceway. Following stage four, the teams will
have their last service of the evening before heading to the infield of the
racetrack. Stage five is a three mile stage that makes a loop down the front
straight of the track before heading off onto the gravel perimeter roads. We
will finish the night with stage six where the spectators, from one location,
can view the entire stage.
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