Notes from the SouthWest Region  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
Team O'Neil Rally School and the Southwest Region have come together to offer a new competitor the "tools" (driving school, budgeting, car setup) he/she needs to have a successful and sustainable program in the sport of rally.

Southwest Region Rookie of the Year, John Rea, won a Team O’Neil Gift Certificate this year. Jon attended the Team O'Neil Rally School with two friends, Eddie Fiorelli, and Eric Christensen this past week.

"We are really proud to be able to give these gift certificates to new competitors like Jon Rea," stated Tim O'Neil, owner of the Team O'Neil Rally School, "we really feel that the new guys, the grassroots efforts of the sport, is where we can help the most and where want to offer our knowledge and resources."

Southwest Region's Denise McMahon stated "We are so proud to be associated with Team O'Neil on this. I really feel this is progress...we have three smiling faces who went to the Team O'Neil Rally School this past week...all three from the Southwest region...to see regional competitors having a good time learning more about how to drive a rally car is such as pleasure."

For more information, please check out the CRS forum on www.specialstage.com/

Car 40 Mirra/Kihurani have stuck throttle  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
Car 40 Mirra/Kihurani came in on a tow rope in front on Car 444 Moyle/Putnam. The problem was not with the Aaron’s Dream Machine of Moyle, but with the Vermont SportsCar Subaru of Mirra. The problem started with a stuck throttle – not stuck in the traditional sense, but having gotten stuck behind a bent piece of metal. After having run a stage with a stuck throttle and thus, maximum brakes applied, the brakes finally failed and they needed to finish the stage with no brakes. By being on the front end of a tow rope, Moyle’s machine was braking for both cars.

In standard Vermont SportsCar fashion, the crew performed their synchronous work and quickly got Car 40 back in great working order once again.

Mirra finished in the 7th position overall in his first full rally with his new car.

Winners of the Bethel Regional Rally  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
The second of the two regional rallies has ended. The winners overall and in class in the Bethel Regional Rally are as follows:

Open Class and Overall
110 Cassidy/Getchell 1:12:34.5
878 Downs/Lee 1:15:24.7
779 Przybysz/Chute 1:17:08.1

PGT
125 Wilburn/Crescenti 1:18:40.3

G2
325 Burke/Sweeney 1:27:22.5

Production
95 Hansen/DeMotte 1:32:57.6

Car 110 Cassidy/Getchell won both regional events and also finished 5th overall in the New England Forest Rally. "On the fast sections, we were using the whole road. The event was great as always, and smoother than in prior years. We would like to thank Ted, John, and the rest of the committee as well as the workers and Rally America for another great event" stated winning driver John Cassidy.

First Rally for Hansen  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
This is the first rally for Car 95 driver Eric Hansen. Hansen is a prior rallyXer and has learned some car control skills that should serve him well in rally. He also took the advice of seasoned ralliers and found a veteran co-driver to ride alongside him.

Hansen contacted Kim DeMotte, and the two decided to ride together. With Kim’s experience level, both with new drivers and young hotshoes alike, the two seemed destined for success in Hansen’s first rally. Additionally, because of DeMotte’s experience, the team would be able run Stage Notes. The running of notes for a young, unvetted driver has both pros and cons, such as giving a false sense of security. As such, of the few teams that are even qualified to run notes on the driver’s first event, even fewer choose to run them.

Given Kim’s DeMotte experience, he was confident in his ability to gauge Eric’s judgment, and collectively, they decided to run notes. “I am comfortable with Eric’s judgment and experience, and am cautiously optimistic that they are giving him the appropriate level of confidence.”

Hansen is having a great time and would like to thank his Mom, Dad, and family, that are all here.

Giving Back to the Sport – Rally Tradition, Not just a new buzz word  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
There is a lot of major rally influence here on east coast; New England is home to Vermont SportsCar, Libra Racing and Team O’Neil Rally School – three of the most successful businesses in the rally industry. These businesses are big proponents of giving back to the sport that has made them each successful and takes the opportunity that the New England Forest Rally provides to give back, each in their own way.

But this story is not just about them giving back at local home event or just a micro level concept, or a new buzz about corporate responsibility. This story is about a long-standing tradition within the sport of rally, about individuals and about businesses – a story that that repeats itself at each and every rally across the country.

Rally is a sport where not only businesses like VtCar, Libra, and Team O’Neil, but individuals such as driver Paul Choiniere, 5-time US Champion and X Games participant as well as his equally talented co-driver, Jeff Becker, know that they are beholden to the workers that come out in rain, sleet, snow, or ice. Choiniere, Becker, and throngs of other past and present competitors such as Walter Clark, Travis Hanson, Vittorio Bares all know that it is the worker that makes the course safe, so that competitors can be assured that it is clear to drive no-holds-barred through stages at breakneck speeds. Their way of saying thanks to those workers and giving back to the sport they love (and that has made each successful in their own right), is to come out and work so that others may experience the same joy and success.

While most people that look at rally, see the excitement of driving a car at insanely fast speeds, there are many more behind-the-scenes aspects that are not as obvious, but just as integral to the sport. Many a business, many individuals, as well as many past, present, and future drivers, co-drivers and crew have worked events; this is what makes our sport unique and successful.

Notes after SS7  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
After SS7, the leaderboard is as follows:

Car 45 McShea/Clarke 45:34.4
Car 43 Block/Gelsomino 45:53.6
Car 17 L'Estage/Richard 45:59.2
Car 2 Pinker/Durant 46:33.9
Car 199 Pastrana/Ringer 47:04.8

Block, Pastrana, Mirra, and Moro all came in on a flat tire. Pastrana and Mirra also had left rear suspension and exhaust damage as well.

McShea was replacing the exhaust system due to unknown problems.

Johnson blew the motor after SS6. He is being listed as a DNF.

O'Neil has DNF'd due to development issues.

ACP has damage to the front end of his car and also came in with a flat tire as well.

Recap of last night’s stages  - Saturday, July 12, 2008
The normal drama that has come to be expected from and South Arm South and North stages was not to be last night. There is little drama to be reported. Short snippets, with more details to follow, is listed below.

Despite being fastest on SS3, Car 2 Pinker/Durant lost 30 seconds on SS4 due to a broken gear shifter.

Car 29 O’Neil/Headland are struggling with niggling new car problems which were exacerbated by a fire at the end of SS3. They have put it out and continued.

Another local favorite and multiple time Champion, Paul Choiniere, was seen on stage. In a rally tradition, he is giving back to the sport by working this event as a marshall. When asked about how he felt about not being in the car, he said “it has been okay until now” as he looked longingly at cars going by at speed.

Car 724 McLelland/Price are back in Action  - Friday, July 11, 2008
After a significant "t-bone" crash at STPR that caused extensive damage to the car, "the MR2 is back" stated driver Jim McClelland.

McClelland/Price had a good running Friday night in the Mexico Regional Rally; the team finished 2nd in Group 2 and are in top running shape and ready to attack the Berlin Regional Rally today.

The Washpa team would like to say hi to all of their family, friends, and fans. They would also like to thank Andrew Havas and the team at Havspeed Engineering for all of their hard work getting the car together on such short notice. The teamas well as to thank our new team manager Darlene Jones and crewman, Matt Dewees for all their work in getting us to the NEFR.

Washpa Racing is sponsored by: Hitchcock Insurance of Washington, PA.

Will Niall McShea be a spoiler?  - Friday, July 11, 2008
Niall McShea, the 2004 FIA WRC Production Cup World Champion, is running his first event in the US this weekend.

Despite repeated protestations by the team, their arrival is coincidentally timed with the last chance qualifier event for the X Games. "While the speculation may be there, we are not so presumptuous to think that we can come over here and surpass all the talented competitors here" repeated co-driver Marshall Clarke.

According to the the team, they will take the rally as it comes. "We are new to the Jemba note system here, so we want to try and adjust to that" Clark went on to say. "We want to have a good time and we feel lucky to be here."

The team would like to thank Martin Donnelly, Gerry Coffe, and Enda McCormick for making this possible for them.

So far, Mcshea is keeping pace with the leaders in a tight battle at the front of the pack.

ACP returns to service from transit, penalty TBA  - Friday, July 11, 2008
ACP broke a right front half shaft prior to the start of the transit to stage 3; after mixing and matching three half shafts to complete a whole, the team has continued on.

Unfortunately, the team had to return to service after beginning the transit. That move will likely cost the team a penalty.

Early notes from the Rally  - Friday, July 11, 2008
Car 25 Burke/Fries are being listed as a DNS for the event. Early speculation is a blown engine. More concrete notes to follow.

Car 878 Downs/Lee had been hoping to finish well in this, their home event, broke an axle (half shaft) on the parade lap and were not able to complete the super special stage; the car came over the practice jump without the drivers side rear tire moving at all. Prior to the rally, the organizers established that any DNF's on SS1 or SS2, would be able to continue on; however they would be given a time equal to one minute slower than the slowest time. Downs and Lee have repaired it and are continuing on.

Car 325 Burke/Sweeney DNF'd due to a broke a half shaft and were planning to continue after having fixed it; unfortunately, it seems they now have a bad differential and are unable to continue.