In the
shadow of Oregon’s majestic snow capped Mount Hood a grouping of
North
Americas fastest and most fearless rally competitors gathered to
tackle 3
days and over 300 miles of fast flowing foothills and winding ridges
in the
surrounding farmlands of the city of Portland.
The
reigning series champion David Higgins led the field into the battle closely
flanked by le patron of Canadian rallying Antoine L'Estage, and right in their
wheel tracks
came
Chinese driver Tingwu Song.
Known for
his time in the China Rally Championship with the prestigious GuiZhou BaiLing
Rally Team this is Tingwu’s first season in the Rally America Championship and
he is using a proven car of ex champion L’Estage from the Libra Racing team of
another
multiple
champion John Buffum.
Tingwu has
based himself in the USA for the season in an effort to focus on his primary
goal of attaining success and speed in the Rally America 2012 series.
Added to
the guidance and knowhow of the Libra Racing Team he then recruited Irishman
Martin Brady to assist him from the passenger seat of the Mitsubishi Evo 10.
Martin has
had much mileage attained in the North American rally scene with many drivers
and his accolades include second overall in the Canadian Rally Championship in
2011, the first Irishman to do so.
The goal
of this pairing for 2012 was to do similar in the Rally America series and set
personal bests for both Chinese and Irish competitors as they tour the United
States on the geographically diverse 6 round championship.
In Oregon
it all started reasonably well on the first day’s stages which were
based
along the track complex and access roads of the Portland
International
Raceway. After 4 stages at PIR Tingwu
had overcome
intercom
failure which left the notes coming from Martin to be less
vocalized
than normal and an unfamiliarity with tarmac driving on gravel
tyres to
hold 2nd in the regional portion of the rally missing first place by
only 0.4
of a second.
This gave
the Song/Brady partnership a solid start to begin leg 2 of the
event
which moved to The Dalles and the mountainous stages of Fir Mountain
and
Ketchum lowlands.
Stages
that demand respect and Tingwu drove them
with that
attitude. Yet it was the repeat visit on ss7 to the arduous
mountain
stage that sadly saw Tingwu and Martin pass their stricken Libra
racing
team mates L’Estage and codriver Nathalie Richard who were forced
to retire
with mechanical issues. Shortly
thereafter Tingwu would make contact with a
large
boulder, resulting in suspension and
steering damage, the yellow
Evo would limp
back to service. Libra Racing Mechanics did an
express
renovation to the front corner of the car and sent Tingwu back on
the stages
in fighting form.
Over the
afternoon loop of 3 stages including the blast over the Starveout Ranch
farmland ridge pass it was to be a fightback for Song and Brady to second place
in the regional event 1 minute behind XGAMES athlete Carl Decker
The final
leg of the rally took the crews to the ultra fast roads close to the
picturesque
town of Dufur Oregon. Fast blasts over wide crests and jumps
and not so
gentle declines down from the rolling often cambered hills with
breath
taking valley and mountain views should you be going slowly enough to
take them
all in.
Now as
idyllic as that sounds it was not the plan for Tingwu
Song and
Martin Brady, they left the start line of the opening stage of the
day very
much with the head down and faced into battle.
Tingwu and Brady would first go head to head with a very committed
Mark Fox in his Subaru, swapping times and only half a second ahead of Fox when
he succumbed to misfortune and retired from the event on the 3rd
stage of the day. Decker was still pushing hard and Song could
not
relax as
he had only an 18 second cushion over Decker with two stages to go.
The hot
temperatures were beginning to bring strain on the engine and it was
a nervous
push that took them to the finish which despite the unfounded
worries
that the engine could succumb to the stresses of the battle.
In the end it was
with a 44 second lead that Song took the
rally to claim his first regional win on
USA soil
and attain the honor of the first Chinese driver to stand on the top
step of a
Rally America podium.
Beaming at
the finish Tingwu commented this has been a great rally for our team, we came
to compete and gain experience and as the weekend unfolded we became faster and
finished the rally as the fourth fastest car in a very prestigious field behind
drivers I
hugely
respect such as David Higgins.
Martin commented “Tingwu built up his pace and experience all weekend and
this shows
with the winning of the regional rally today but also in how fast
we are in
overall terms of the entire 3 legs of the event, I am proud to have
sat with
him this weekend and see firsthand such an improvement and solid
result
thanks to him and our team and it gives us a lot to look forward to for
the rest of the season”
Words: By Martin Brady
Photos/ Neil McDaid / Rally World News
