Top speed at Olympus  - Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Olympus Rally moved to Pomeroy, Washington, for 2008, and the fastest course in the series.

Some of the speeds recorded by top teams:

Matt Johson - 120 mph
Andrew Comrie-Picard - 127 mph
Tanner Foust - 128 mph
Kyle Sarasin - 129 mph
Travis Pastrana - 133 mph
Ken Block - 134 mph

Unofficial Olympus Rally Results  - Sunday, April 20, 2008
The 2008 Olympus Rally is now in the record books and the unofficial results are as follows:

Overall
43 Block/Gelsomino 1:30:34.8
199 Pastrana/Ringer 1:30.58.7
4 Foust/Beavis 1:31.47.6
20 Comrie-Picard/Goldfarb 1:32:54.8
46 Johnson/Wimpey 1:33.23.7

PGT
429 Verdier/Crouch 1:37:36.5
59 Moro/Rossey 1:40:03.6
116 Conley/Conley 1:42.55.0

G5
56 Szewczyk/Karynski 1:47:03.3
53 Jankowski/Wagner 1:51.48.4

G2
251 Beck/Mizar 1:51:57.7

Production
708 Zedril/Zedril 1:52.22.2

Scores will become provisional at 3 PM.

ACP/Goldfarb looking for a 4th place finish  - Sunday, April 20, 2008
"This rally is an exercise in extreme speed and extreme judgment" stated co-driver Marc Goldfarb prior to the rally.

Early on, the team's goal was to run smooth and take calculated risks. Overall, there biggest concern was surprisingly, not their overall points position, but the weather and the extreme speeds of these roads.

While they had hoped that weather may play in and hopefully, to their favor, due to the team's extensive snow experience; it was not to be.

As the event has played out, Car 20 bumped something with the right rear which caused them enough time to put the lead out of their reach. "We are hoping to maintain our position - we are not going to push to catch Foust - we are just focusing on staying in front of Johnson" a team spokesman stated.

Pastrana hoping to maintain  - Sunday, April 20, 2008
Car 199 Pastrana/Ringer's goal is to stay ahead of Car 4 Foust/Beavis in an effort to secure the second spot. The team is down on points due to an early season DNF and are looking to secure as many points as is possible and reasonable.

Ken Block having a spectacular run  - Sunday, April 20, 2008
Car 43 Block/Gelsomino started the rally in the 1st position this morning. "We are going to battle being first on the road, but we only have to do it for 2 stages" stated team spokesman Clint Fast. With the duplication of stages today, the stages will have pebbles on them for the first running of the stages, but will be "swept" on subsequent stages, thus making the grip more predictable.

Other than a couple of flats and a bent right control arm, the team has really had a great rally with few problems.

Car 43 Block/Gelsomino were reported as spectacular at the spectator area on SS14. From all appearances, he did not lift of the accelerator at all to enter a Right-4 corner; it appeared he entered the corner in excess of 120 MPH. All competitors following him chose to slow before entering the corner.

For another spectular Ken Block moment, please check out our newest video at youtube.com/RallyAmericaSeries

photo courtesy of Pete Kuncis - www.onalimbracing.com

Notes from Team Tabor  - Sunday, April 20, 2008
Car 271 Tabor/Zurschmeide were unable to start the car at ATC5. The car was push started and they did not turn it off after that. They were able to fix the car at service - apparently, it had gone into valet mode.

There are reports that the team had a very high speed off into a field at a R4; however, the team states "there were other tracks in the field"!!!

Car 231 Tabor/Tabor are learning to drive the Acura - "the car drives angry"!

Car 222 - Tabor/Elkin - "we need more power"! The team smashed their exhaust on stage 5, but are unaware how they did it. They tried to fix the problem in service.

Unfortunately, the exhaust issues continued to hamper the Productio class Nissan Sentra. Also, the fuel pump seems to have fallen out of the mount and the car cuts out on hard lefts if the fuel level gets too low.

During the last stage last evening, it was dark and the team could not get the lights to work. At the start line, they were lucky enough to get 2 of the 4 lights to work and were able to continue on.

Car 232 Tabor/Poirier - driver Mark Tabor reports a fairly clean day except for one corner that he took on two wheels.

Unofficial Leaderboard for Gene Nielsen Sou  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
The unofficial leaderboard for the Gene Nielsen Sou'Easter Regional Rally is as follows:

Overall/Open
Car 243 Mark Fox/Jake Blattner 57:41.7
G5
Car 264 John Lane/Jason Grahn 57:47.3
G2
Car 692 Peter Barnes/Jody Olson 1:00:58.3
Production
Car 708 Jan Zedril/Jody Zedril 1:02:50.5
PGT
Car 271 Matthew Tabor/Jeff Zurschmeide 1:04:31.0

Scores will not go provisional until tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM.

Car 70 Duplessis/Headland Struggling Early  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
Through a friendship with the NatuRallly team, Christopher Duplessis was given an opportunity to drive the incredible VW R32.

"We are happy to be moving into a new car - it is really exciting and a great change of pace from the Group 2 car we are accustomed to," stated driver Christopher Duplessis.

The team was concerned early on about Christopher's broken left foot, but Team Manager Forest Duplessis fabricated an aluminum piece to help stabilize his foot and allow him to brake with it; Christopher's foot has been feeling great, but unfortunately, the car has been plagued with power issues all day.

The team incurred a strategic time penalty earlier in an effort to try and get the engine issues solved - with only marginal results.

"The misfire adds great frustration, but we are still so grateful to the NatuRally Team for all their work trying to get the car running right" stated Duplessis.

The team would also like to say hi to everyone back on the East Coast and thanks to Team O'Neil for their sponsorship and making this effort possible.

High-speed Olympus  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
The 2008 running of the Olympus Rally features some of the fastest roads in the series, where drivers are seeing top speeds of over 120 mph on loose gravel and dirt course roads.

It’s an event that favors powerful engines and confident drivers like Subaru Rally Team USA’s Ken Block.

It was no surprise when the driver began to chalk up stage win after stage win early in the day.

“This is very much the kind of event he does well in,” noted Rockstar Energy driver Andy Pinker early on Saturday.

Block typically performs well at events that feature plenty of speed sections. Some say it’s because he’s got more courage than most and that he gains fractions of a second at every corner by braking later than his rivals. Block calls it something else.

“It isn’t bravery,” said Block. “It’s confidence and knowing where you can push and where you can’t.”

But not all drivers enjoy driving flat-out for two sustained days. Rockstar Energy’s Andy Pinker and Mitsubishi Evolution IX driver Andrew Comrie-Picard both say that while they enjoy any contest, they're looking forward to an event that features a different style of roads.

“It’s a super high-speed, drag-racing type of rallying. It’s a horsepower battle,” said Pinker. “I prefer a tighter, more technical challenge.”

The two-day Olympus Rally moved from its traditional location near Olympia, Wash., 300 miles east to Pomeroy, Wash., for 2008. The course crosses wheat and barley fields before dropping into gullies that drain into the Snake River. The event, which once featured on the World Rally calendar, is expected to return to its traditional location in 2009.

Burress/Burress have rolled on SS2  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Fine Tuning Demon Rally Team failed to finish Stage 2of the Olympus Rally after a massive roll. Both Tom and Don are sore yet unhurt. The team has packed up the car and are ready to join the spectators for Day Two.

The team would like to thank Fine Tuning, Bow Wow, Spitfire, Les Schwab, as well as their friends, family and crew for all of their help preparing the car. The team is looking forward to building a new Group 2 Assault Vehicle soon.

Pinker/Durant need to claw their way back  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
Yesterday on the practice stage, Car 2 Pinker/Durant had a scare when they had fire coming out of their exhaust - a bad turbo, engine, or catalytic converter were possible reasons. The best possible option was the cat, and the team lucked out when they realized that is what the cause was; the crew was able to fix the problem quickly and focus of more pressing items such as working with the engine map in an effort to get a little more power.

"We are trying to get every little bit out of the engine that we can" stated co-driver Robbie Durant. "We cannot afford another DNF here, we need a maximum amount of points - we are going to try and get through a few stages and see where we are setting. From there, we can gauge what we need to do."

Pinker has only 2 points as compared to 32 points that the leader, Ken Block, has in overall driver points. The team will indeed need to reckon with, not only the SRT USA cars now, but others as well and will really need to claw their way back if they are to even make it back into the top ten for the season.

Unfortunately, an early day late check-in penalty will not help their cause. The team was stuck behind their teammates Car 429 in the refueling station and incurred a 20 second penalty for checking in late at the next control.

PGT looking to be close  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
The current group of PGT competitors generally trade stage times, but as close as ever - the PGT cars of Verdier, Hanson, Moro are all tied for 9th overall in the points standing.

Car 429 Verdier/Crouch expect the race to be a "drag race" - "there is nothing really technical" stated driver Stephan Verdier "we have no real strategy except to go as fast as we can and see where we sit after SS3."

Car 59 Moro/Rossey - "This rally is going to be about who has the most power and makes the least amount of mistakes will win" stated co-driver Mike Rossey "we will try and keep it clean and see how it plays out. We are looking forward to some great competition against Car 429 and 523 (Stephan and Travis)."

Car 523 Hanson/Hanson - "We are here to have fun and to gain points" stated driver Travis Hanson "we are going to try and keep up with Verdier and keep Pat (Car 59) behind us because we want to try and stay in the top ten." The team will try and be patient and not take too many chances because, with the events so close, there is not time to do repairs should there be major damage.

New car for Matt Johnson  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
Matt Johnson is debuting a new car at the Olympus Rally that should make him a podium threat all season long.

The former Production GT champion has opted to contest the more aggressive Open class in 2008 but, until now, he hasn’t had the equipment to rival the top-tier drivers.

Johnson rented a competition vehicle for the first round, and drove an upgraded Production GT car to third-place at Round 2.

But while neither car had the power or technology of the teams he is hoping to beat, his new Hankook-Rallispec Subaru STi represents a big improvement for the driver.

“It’s vastly more complicated than the car I’m used to driving,” he said. “We have enough adjustments to bring the car into line and do what it takes to be fast.”

Among the improvements are 100 lb/ft more torque, a dog-engagement gearbox, and new tuning and engine management.

Currently a close third overall in the championship, Johnson has adopted a conservative strategy for the early season, hoping to put in consistent in order to earn an entry into the X Games for the first time.

Kenny Bartram flies for fans  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
Now a regular rally competitor, Kenny Bartram is one of the most influential riders in the sport of freestyle motocross.

The rider offered up a show of his two-wheel prowess on Friday night with an FMX demonstration at the fairgrounds in Pomeroy, Washington.

The spectacle drew an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 1,000 – in a town with nearly that many residents – who watched Bartram whip and backflip his way through an impressive routine of ramp tricks.

After the show, Bartram and other top drivers in the series gathered to sign autographs for fans.

The rally organizers and the town of Pomeroy put the show together, with proceeds going to fix up the fairgrounds.

Photo courtesy of Beryl Ann Burton.

Jankowski/Wagner looking for a fun weekend  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
This is the first time that either driver or co-driver has competed at Olympus or together as a team; Jankowski's last event was in 2003 and Wagner recently co-drove with Doug Shepard.

The team went through recce and are looking forward to the smooth, fast roads this weekend and looking to have a fun event. The Dodge SRT4 is ready to go and running well.

"Thanks to Tim Evans for flying out and helping us this weekend", stated co-driver Karen Wagner.

OLYMPUS RALLY BEGINS  - Saturday, April 19, 2008
48 teams are readying to begin the day; of those, 26 will be running the national Olympus Rally and 22 are running Gene Nielsen Sou'Easter Regional Rally.

The first car started at 10 AM on Main Street, Pomeroy in front of a large, enthusiastic group of spectators.

They will run 3 stages - about 21 miles - before service. Descriptions of those stages are as follows:

SS1 - New York Stage - 9.16 miles - loose gravel, very fast. Teams are cautioned that SS1 will be slippery if wet, and that there are drops and ditches on the road edge
SS2 - Willow Stage - 7.17 miles - fast and wide, loose light gravel. Teams are cautioned that SS2 has steep, slippy downhills and deep ditches in the road edge.
SS3 - Heaton Stage - 4.57 miles - fast and wide, loose light gravel with right side drop offs. Teams are cautioned that it will be slippy if wet and about the double caution and chicane at 2.17 miles.

The Olympus Rally is 116.9 miles over 16 stages; the Gene Nielsen Sou'Easter Rally is 9 stages.

OFFICIAL NOTES FOR COMPETITORS  - Friday, April 18, 2008
Competitors have been cautioned through official notices of several different, equally important items, they are:

• that an early season fire danger exists. Teams should do all they can to avoid any possibility of fire.

• they are encouraged to try and avoid (either intentionally or unintentionally) driving through freshly planted wheat fields - apparently the price of wheat is high and a bumper crop is expected (driving through fields will cost farmers money)

• they are encouraged to drive what they see because all the stages are new, and there may be obscure crests that went virtually unnoticed at speeds that the routebook/notes were done, could cause trouble at full rally speed and

• as always, competitors are reminded to mind their speeds between stages and that there will be monitoring of speeds at regular intervals.

DUPLESSIS MAKES OPEN CLASS DEBUT  - Friday, April 18, 2008
Christopher Duplessis, 2007 Group 2 National Champion, will make his open class debut this weekend at the Olympus Rally located in Pomeroy, WA.

21-year-old Christopher, one of the youngest competitors in the Rally America national championship series has long been a force in his two wheel drive VW Golf. The decision to move him into an open class VW R32 came last month after talking with Brian Scott, owner of the Team NatuRally and builder of the R32 rally car.

Open class has traditionally been dominated by Subaru, but Martin Headland, Christopher’s co-driver says, “We need to move to the next level to get into a car that is quick and has more power. This is all a part of Christopher’s development program.” Christopher stated that, “They really have put together a great deal for me to get some experience in a class that I hope to compete at more in the future.”

Team NatuRally is based out of Casper, WY and they have a unique outlook on what a race team should be. They do not just run and own an 'out of the ordinary' car. Aside from covering many of the out of pocket expenses without the help of a major sponsor, this team actually gives back.

“It’s not just about rally racing to us at NatuRally,” says Brian. “The reality is we have been afforded many opportunities in this life that allows to do fun things like run a rally team. Unfortunately, not everyone is that lucky and that’s were the Chande Project comes in.”

The Chande Project is an indigenously developed orphanage in Kitwe, Zambia. The orphanage serves as a school for 500 children, 300 of which are orphans. Mainly these kids have been orphaned by the AIDS/HIV pandemic in Africa. So far through event fundraising the team has been able to give its first scholarship to a Zambian boy interested in attending medical school. “He wants to be a doctor and to start a clinic at the Chande Orphanage. Now there’s a real chance that this can actually happen,” says Brian.

At the Olympus Rally the team will be “raising awareness and hopefully raising the scholarship funds to send two or three teen orphans to Kitwe College making AIDS/poverty-torn Africa a better place, one person at a time. You don’t have to be a celebrity to make a difference. We are just racers we’d like to be more,” says Brian.

For more information on the team and the Olympus rally check out:
www.teamnaturally.com
www.teamoneil.com
and
www.rally-america.com

photo courtesy of www.teamnaturally.com

AREA PROFILE  - Friday, April 18, 2008
Pomeroy, Washington is in the Southeast corner of Washington, 116 miles southwest of Spokane. Pomeroy, in the county of Garfield, has a population of 1425.

Pomeroy is known as a place where you can discover the warmth and charm of a small "home town" environment, where "old friends" and old fashioned hospitality have never been forgotten. It is a slice of true country life that still exists with no stoplights, and a small, quiet town nestled between golden seas of grain in late summer and early fall.

Pomery’s average temperature in the summer is 70 and 42 in the winter; it’s annual rainfall is 16.94 inches; the elevation is 1850 feet.

Wheat and barley are the main crops grown in Garfield County. The Major employer is the state and Federal Government to include the state and county government, schools. A spike in workers occurs during the Dry Seed harvesting.

Fishing, camping, and horseback riding are common summer pastimes; snowmobiling is a popular winter pastime.

Garfield County is rich in history that dates back to the early 1800’s when Lewis and Clark passed through. History buffs will enjoy delving into the county's colorful past that includes bootlegging, murder, cattle rustling, and gangs. More information can be found at www.clickpomeroy.com

OLYMPUS RALLY MOVES TO EASTERN WASHINGTON FOR 2008  - Friday, April 18, 2008
Due to lack of availability of roads to compete on, the 2008 Olympus Rally, round 3 of the Rally America National Championship, has moved from its traditional home in southwest Washington state near Olympia, Wash to the town of Pomeroy in eastern Washington - about 300 miles east to the Washington/Idaho border.

"When we learned that the roads in the Olympia region were unavailable for our use this year, we were obviously disappointed," said Steve McQuaid, chairman of the Olympus Rally. "However, instead of cancelling the rally, we chose to move it to Pomeroy, where we held a very successful event last year."

Last fall, the Wild West regional rallies were held in Pomeroy. The competitors enjoyed the fast, smooth roads and the friendly community. Pomeroy is 116 miles southwest of Spokane. The terrain is comparable to Rally Colorado, with the event stages being held on county roads that cross wheat and barley fields before dropping into gullies that drain into the Snake River.

The local community responded favorably to the professional operation of the rally and good behavior of the competitors.

After it became clear that the road use issue would not be resolved in time for this year's Olympus Rally, Pomeroy stepped forward and made their roads available for the rally.

Moving the Olympus Rally to Pomeroy is only temporary. It is expected that the issues that resulted in this move will be resolved by next year and next year's Olympus Rally will once again run in southwest Washington.