David Higgins set to shake things up at New England Forest Rally.

After departing from his long term commitment with Subaru in 2019, Higgins has been chomping at the bite to make his return. This weekend Higgins returns to tackle New England Forest Rally in a McKenna Motorsports Ford Fiesta, with his sights locked firmly on his old team mate Travis Pastrana.  

Newry Maine: So many scenarios so little time, with the breaking news yesterday that David Higgins will make a return to the ARA Rally Championship this weekend in McKenna Motorsports Ford Fiesta, so many questions come to mind, mainly how his entry will factor in the drivers championship. Theres no question that David is here to help Barry in his quest for win back to back championships, to achieve this Barry has to win every rally from here out. 

 Yes, in case you missed it last year, Barry McKenna a privateer, is the defending 2020 ARA Rally Champion, McKenna managed to better the 2 car Subaru Factory team to take the title in 2020. 

So, scenario 1, road position, road position, road position, especially on day one, dust is nearly always a factor in Maine, much more than loose gravel, there’s currently rain in the forecast for day one, so best case for McKenna would be second on the road that’s assuming we get rain and no dust on day one. 

The Block factor, what role if any will Block play this weekend in Subaru strategy. 

Its not yet clear how many drivers will be in the seated draw, but I expect that Irish driver Marty McCormack who’s also here for a one off drive in Maine in yet another McKenna car has to the speed factor to be in the draw, so there’s no question he will also play a role for McKenna this weekend. 

Scenario 2, the Ken Block factor, so Ken is for the most part running as a privateer, but he is in a Vermont Sports car Subaru Factory spec car, of course Ken is out for the win, he knows no other way, he has vast experience in Maine, but if push comes to shove will Ken play into Subaru’s Championship strategy this weekend, no I did not say “team orders” just strategy. 

 It always Concord Pond this, Concord Pond that, yes of course its one of the most exciting stages in American rally, but its such a short fast stage, theres very little advantage that can be gained. Onto SS3, South Arm, a flat out stage from start to finish, apart from a few pesky chicanes, this is where things will get and have always gotten interesting, winning South Arm and more so the return on Icicle Brook [SS5] often sets a driver up for Saturday and ultimately the overall podium. 

This year the rally organizers have thrown in a little twist between South Arm and Icicle Brook which was always a turnaround stage. They have added Beaver Pond as SS4, this is an old stage that has not been used in years, it’s a fairly short stage with no major challenges but is new to most all drivers, so who knows. So at this time its all eyes on the seeded draw, when we hear the results of the seeded draw then we might take a stab at throwing out a prediction.. or 3

Best of Safari Rally Kenya 2021 | Crashes, Action, Max Attack | Day 2

MATTON DOUBLES DOWN ON HIS COMMITMENT, THAT THE WRC HYBRID PROJECT IS ON COURSE FOR 2022

M-Sport's Rally 1 Fiesta during recent testing - Photo M-Sport

Both the FIA, along with WRC manufacturers Hyundai, M-Sport Ford and Toyota, are fully committed to the implementation of Rally1 hybrid for 2022 and Matton said measures to counteract issues caused by the pandemic had been implemented.

“The Rally1 hybrid project is a major landmark in the development of rallying and underlines the FIA’s commitment to sustainability and advanced technology,” he said.

“Of course, any new product that is being developed encounters challenges. During the current test phase there is strong collaboration between the FIA, the manufacturers and our technical partners. We are working as one to complete tasks that are synonymous with a development cycle of this nature.

“At present we are operating an accelerated process due to delivery delays brought about by the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, but with eight months remaining to the start of the 2022 season, we are on course,” he added.

In line with the sport’s drive towards new technology and sustainable energy, the next-generation of top category WRC cars will feature a state-of-the-art plug-in hybrid unit, developed by Compact Dynamics.

Paddon Rallysport’s Hyundai Kona EV Photo: Graeme Murray Photography

The FIA and the manufacturers have made a significant investment in the programme. The three-year agreement includes a shared contribution to the development costs of the innovative hybrid technology, which will have a strong focus on sustainability, cost management and safety.

The Rally1 category will also showcase major safety breakthroughs with a new safety cage design, developed in collaboration with the manufacturers following an exhaustive analysis and crash test programme.

Together with Compact Dynamics, some of the key project milestones include:

• Design and prototype manufacture of the hybrid units
• Bench testing of the prototype units is in progress
• Initial units supplied to teams for integration into their safety cell designs
• Analysis of assimilation of turbocharged petrol engine with hybrid units along with dyno testing
• Selected private testing of Rally1 development cars

Ken Block Attempts an 8th Win at The Rally in The 100 Acre Wood

Ken Block "The Fastest, The Biggest Wreck That I've Ever Had In My Career"

February 17th, 2014 Park City, UT: 2013 was a hugely successful race season for Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block, a driver who happened to have the most diverse and interesting racing schedule of last year.
Now, in preparation for the start of his 2014 race season, Block has released a video that shows and explains how he ended up 2nd overall in the Rally America Championship, after his chase at the title came to an abrupt, and brutal, end back in October at the final event, the Lake Superior Performance Rally.

Due to two simple letters (“in”) missing in his pace notes on one of the final stages of the event, Block and Gelsomino ended up cart wheeling down one of the final stages of the season, end over end, before coming to a stop against a tree.

The missing “in” allowed Block to go slightly wide around a very safe looking corner where his rear wheel went into the weeds and got caught up on a small clump of dirt, sending the Ford Fiesta HFHV into the air. While the crash was violent, the pair were fortunate to walk away from the championship-ending incident with minimal injury.

“This video is a tough one for me to watch,” said Block. “On the one hand, I’m proud of the fact that even after going through such a brutal crash, my first instinct was to try and get the car started again and press on. On the other, I’m still bummed that we were so close to winning the championship and that we lost it in such a spectacular fashion.

At the end of the day though, I’m grateful that the car did the job it was supposed to do and that I get to continue racing.” Block and Gelsomino’s run at the Rally America championship will have to wait another year however.

While the duo will be making their first competitive appearance of 2014 together at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Salem, Missouri—an event they’ve won six times previously—they’re unable to contest the entire season due to schedule conflicts with other race events. For details on Block’s race schedule for 2014, as well as seeing the debut of his all-new livery, stay tuned, as he’ll be dropping both on February 17th.

Source ; Hoonigan Racing

Subaru Rally Team USA Takes Overall Victory at Sno*Drift

Snow, nor wind nor freezing temperatures would stop the Subaru Rally Team mechanics from keeping their driver on the road. Photo Subaru Rally Team 

Hillman Michigan, David Higgins and Craig Drew of the Subaru Rally Team USA, take the victory at Sno*Drift, the opening round of the 2014 Rally America Championship. They were joined in second place by last year’s winner Antoine L’Estage in the Rockstar Energy Mitsubishi Evo, Antoine’s co-driver for Sno*Drift was Marshal Clarke,  rounding out the podium in third in their SP class Subaru was Laughlin O’ Sullivan and Scott Putman.

This year teams would be faced with blowing snow and some extreme cold temps that dipped to minus 20 c with the wind chill at the Park Expose on Friday, day one of this grueling two day rally.  Although the rally has utilized the same stages for many years, organizers will switch directions from year to year to keep teams on their toes.  This year we would see some better snow banks over prior years, which can be an advantage to slow the cars by hooking a wheel into them but also be disastrous if you hook too deep.

Antoine L’Estage would draw the short straw sending him out first on the road, a difficult position to say the least with the blinding snow and unknown icy conditions.

Higgins and Drew took full advantage of Antoine’s line over the first two stages giving them a pair of stage victories on SS1 and SS2 building a gap on 20 seconds on L’Estage.

Peter Fetela / Grzegorz Dorman were one of the first teams
to fall victim to the icy conditions. They would go off on
the first stage of the rally. Photo Greg Dorman/FB

Heading into SS3 “Eberly-Soden” Higgins and Drew would lose time due to overheating and a drop in power in their Subaru.  

 

Between stages 3 and 4  they would try to diagnose the issue  without success. With only one stage before service, Higgins would charge into SS4 “McCormick Lake”, apparently they did not properly insert the hood clips resulting in the hood blowing open and cracking the windshield halfway through the 7.2 mile stage.

 

With the hood now sitting on the windshield blocking his vision, Higgins could do nothing but peer out through the tiny gap at the bottom of the hood or out the side window, “I would just pitch the car a little sideways to see out my side” explained Higgins.

By the end of SS4 as the cars pulled into the first service of the rally, Higgins has erased the advantage he had on L’Estage on the opening stages, due to his problems on SS3 and 4 he was now down 39 seconds to the Canadian.

Any driver who has competed at Sno*drift in the past knows all too well what to expect as they head out for a second pass of any stage, glare ice! and this year would be no exception!.

Still running first on the road, Antoine L’Estage left the service in Lewiston with what would be consider a comfortable lead on Higgins given the conditions.  But on the second pass of “Shoreline” SS5, Antoine would suffer a puncture, rather than changing the wheel within the stage and losing minutes to Higgins, L’Estage pushed on through. Despite his best efforts to keep pace Antoine dropped 31 seconds to Higgins.

Higgins and Drew would continue to pile the pressure on L’Estage over the final stages of day one, heading into the overnight halt they were now up 26 seconds over L’Estage and Clarke.

We had expected to see FY Racings Adam Yeoman in the hunt for an overall podium finish here in his native Michigan, but his rally would get off to a tough start when he got stuck on a snow bank on the very first stage. Adam and co driver Jordan Schulze were eventually able to dig themselves out and get back on the road, but any hopes of a podium finish at Sno*Drift would require divine intervention.

At the end of day one it was rally veteran Laughlin O’Sullivan slotting his SP Subaru into the third overall position. By doing so Laughlin would also lead the hotly contested SP class ahead of Dillon Van Way and 2013 Rookie of the Year Nick Roberts in third, both in Subaru’s.

In 2wd we would see some changes in the Scion and Ford camps for 2014, Andrew Comrie-Picard [ACP] made the switch from Scion Racing to a Team O’Neil /Ford Racing R2 Fiesta.  With Andrews’s departure from Scion it opened the door for Matthew Johnson to make a return to the driver’s seat after a four year hiatus from the sport.  

ACP would get off to a strong start in the R2 Fiesta setting the fast time in 2WD over Johnson in his old Scion on the first 3 stages, but ACP would run aground on a snow bank on SS4 “McCormick Lake”.  Going into the overnight halt ACP had dropped almost 35 minutes to Johnston in the Scion, basically erasing any chance of repeating his 2WD Sno*Drift victory of 2013.  A pair of R2 Fiesta’s driven by Troy Miller and Panos Karpidas would round out the top three in 2WD.

L’Estage would open day two by clipping Higgins by .05 seconds on the opening stage, Higgins would answer the call by taking victories on the next two stages before service.

Coming into the first service on day two; Higgins has increased his lead on L’Estage to 43 seconds. Laughlin O’Sullivan was still holding off Dillon Van Way for third.  Matthew Johnson was holding a commanding overall position at the front of the two wheel drive pack.

Looking back to last year, L’Estage was sitting in much the same position behind Higgins and Drew at the midpoint service on day two, L’Estage and then co-driver Nathalie Richard would start a vicious attack on the closing stages of the rally to snatch victory from Higgins.

 

With the memories of that crushing defeat in 2013 as fresh as the resent snow fall, Higgins was not going to let history repeat itself this time around.  David Higgins and Craig Drew would not give up a single second to L’Estage over the closing stages of this year’s rally; Higgins would take victory on 10 of the 11 stages on day two to seal his victory on the 2014 Sno*Drift Rally.

Antoine L’Estage and Marshal Clarke would coast home in second with Laughlin O’Sullivan taking the final place on the overall podium.  

"Last year Antoine hurt us really bad when he beat us on the last stage at Sno*Drift," said Higgins, "These difficult conditions can change so quickly and you never know what you are going to get.  That just makes me pleased to set the year off and get the points in the bag. Now I am looking forward to getting on the gravel at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood."

The win at Sno*Drift will be significant in Higgins bid for yet another Championship title in 2014, taking all things into consideration, another title for Higgins is highly likely in 2014.  

 With Ken Block only contesting three rounds of the Rally America Championship in 2014, he will not factor into Championship contention, regardless if he were to win all of the three rounds that he enters.

Rally America fans will also see the return of Travis Pastrana in 2014, but it’s unlikely he will be on pace with either Higgins or L’Estage for that matter in his first few outings.

It’s also unlikely that Subaru will let Pastrana and Higgins go head to head.  

 

 

Although Antoine L’Estage has proven his worth; it has been apparent for some time that his Mitsubishi is no match for the ongoing development budget of the Subaru STI and the Ford Fiesta of Block. Nonetheless, with all that been said, we really do expect to see some great action at each rally this year, regardless of a true challenge on Higgins for the Championship.

In the SP Class, along with his overall podium finish, Lauchlin O’Sullivan took away the victory in SP at Sno*Drift, but he will be feeling the pressure throughout the year from young  guns Dillon Van Way and Nick Roberts who finished respectively in second and third behind Lauchlin.

"It's great to make a comeback after such a difficult 2013 season," said O'Sullivan, "To come out and get this was a work in discipline, especially when there are four up-and-coming SP drivers to compete against. I had to drive in these icy conditions not too fast or too slow. I just had to keep doing my thing and not worry about what the others are doing. I just avoided that one 'gotcha' that could end it."

The return of #46, after a 4 year hiatus, Matt Johnson makes a return to Rally America with a victory at Sno*Drift 2014. Photo Matt Johnson /FB  

In 2WD, Scion Racing Rally xD's new driver, Matthew Johnson, paired with co-driver Jeremy Wimpey took his first victory after spending four seasons away from the sport. Johnson was expecting a challenge from Ford Racing's Andrew Comrie-Picard, but the anticipated battle never materialized following Comrie-Picard losing 35 minutes from getting stuck in a snow bank.

"I'm really happy with this result," commented Johnson, "I've been mentally preparing myself to get back in the driver seat for a couple of years and I'm really fortunate to have this opportunity by Scion Racing. They prepared a great car with a special engine for Sno*Drift, and it really paid off for the team. I couldn't be more excited for the rest of this year!"

James Robinson and Jordan Guitar grab third in
2wd in their B-SPEC Honda. Photo Alex Haugen

Comrie-Picard's misfortune helped move brothers Troy Miller and co-driver Jeremy Miller into second place for their first ever national podium. Troy Miller is in the hunt for the 2014 Rookie of the Year. Honda Performance Development's James Robinson and Jordan Guitar took third for their second 2WD category podium and also took the B-SPEC Class victory in the process. Robinson is the reigning 2013 B-SPEC Champion and he took an important first step in defending his title.

We expect to see ACP come charging back at 100AW next month,  Andrew and Team O’Neil are also expected to debut the new Ford Fiesta R3, which is a turbo charged version.

As mentioned the 100AW rally is next up on the Rally America calendar, although we do not have confirmation yet, we fully expect to see Ken Block and Alex Gelsomeno  on the start line. Travis Pastrana is already on the entry list. Hopefully we will not see the snowy conditions we had in 2013, so drivers can go all out on the fast flowing stages.

 

For more information check in with www.rally-america.com

 

Sources: Rally America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Déjà vu, Toomas Heikkinen, Unchallenged as he claimed his Fifth Consecutive GRC Victory

 

Report By: Neil McDaid

Atlanta, Ga., August 10, 2013 – Finland’s Toomas Heikkinen continues to be untouchable in the 2013 Global RallyCross Championship, as he runs out front unchallenged in his Bluebeam OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST for the entire final. Toomas has now unofficially clinched the 2013 Drivers Championship, which we expect will be made official at Charlotte in September thus capping off a fantastic year for Heikkinen and Ford Racing.

Heikkinen who had cruised to victory in his heat race earlier in the day lined out on the front row for the final where he was flanked by fellow Fiesta drivers Ken Block to his right and Tanner Foust to his left. With the track configuration for Atlanta, it seemed that the middle lane was working best for most in the heat races in an effort to avoid the first turn shenanigans, as always Heikkinen made good use of his lane choice.  

 

Foust and Heikkinen launched hard off the line and were neck to neck heading into the first right hander and onto the gravel section, once again Topi would shine taking the perfect line and gaining the advantage on Foust.

Foust and Heikkinen would come together again going though the first left hander, but again the Finn would prevail and maintain the lead.

Although there are few that can question the speed and ability of Ken Block on the Global RallyCross tracks, Ken himself can’t seem to get the monkey off his back when it comes to the finals. Ken set fastest times in both qualifying sessions, and posted second fastest to Heikkinen in qualifying, after recovering from a spectacular roll I might add. Ken’s lack of luck in the final continued, Block would stall on the starting line, Ken would eventually get the Hoonigan Racing RX43 Fiesta going but he retired shortly thereafter. Although Ken has yet to take an outright victory in the GRC, he has medaled at XGames Munich and has also made the podium in Bristol.  

Back to the front and  it was all Heikkinen, chased by Foust then Brian Deegan, both Heikkinen and Foust opted to get the joker out of the way on the first lap, while Deegan took the long way around. From there it was Déjà vu as Heikkinen sailed off the front, although Foust keep pushing and closed the gap on a few occasions, he never at any time had Heikkinen on the ropes and under pressure.

Heikkinen, Foust, Deegan, Speed and Sandell are all run out of the OlsbergsMSE shop in California. One would assume that all the Ford Fiesta ST’s are equal, but if I recall correctly, Marcus Grönholm’s Fiesta always seemed to have a little more than the rest last year.

Again not to taking anything from Topi, but his car seems to have that extra little sprinkling of fairy dust, Topi was able to pull away from Tanner with ease on the front straight, and why not, Heikkinen is after all the official OlsbergsMSE team driver.

Subaru who had seen more downs than ups in Global RallyCross in 2013, have finally found their “a” game, the cars are much quicker than in prior events and the drivers are embracing the change.

Dave Mirra, who has qualified for his first GRC final in 2013, was all over Brian Deegan in his heat race, and won the LCQ with a last lap pass. Mirra was taking names on the first lap of the final until he was barged off the track by Scott Speed while sitting in fourth place, thus ending what could have been a podium finish. Speed was issued a black flag for his actions while Mirra slid though the grass to scramble back onto the track.

Dave Mirra’s teammate Sverre Isachsen would overhaul Scott Speed for forth before the end of the second lap. Brian Deegan who had been running strongly in third place, pulled to the side of the track on lap 6 with engine problems, therefore conceding third to the Subaru’s Isachsen.

Off the front it was business as usual for the young Finn Heikkinen, who has taking the Global RallyCross scene by storm in 2013. Tanner Foust, who had little or no answer for the speed of Hekkinen, would get a left front puncture on the closing laps; Foust had to turn his attention to protecting his position from the hard charging Sverre Isachsen who was closing the gap for second.

It really hard to take anything away from Tomas Hekkinen, his dominance over the rest of the field in the Global RallyCross has been remarkable. Yes he has had a lot of luck in the first turn, but I have so say his lines are razor sharp and he stays committed no matter what’s going on around him.

 “It was quite a different race for me since I am now trying to win the championship,” said Heikkinen,. “I had a really great start in my Ford Fiesta ST in the final race, took the joker on the first lap, and was able to keep the lead.”

 “I have come such a long way from last season,” said Heikkinen, “I am confidant once again in the race car and think that I have the best car out there. It is always a battle, but I am very happy to be on top right now.”

 The runner-up finish was the second straight for Foust in the Rockstar Energy OlsbergsMSE Ford Fiesta ST and third podium appearance this season.

 “This track was really a difficult track and it once again came down to how you did on the start and avoiding collisions in the first corner,” said Foust, “Second never feels great, but I am glad to be on the podium again.

 “Topi had a great start. I thought I was gaining on him, but with three laps to go I got a puncture on the front left tire,” continued Foust. “I didn’t realize I had a puncture until I went through the water and was instantly sideways at the top of fifth gear going 100 mph.  That’s when I knew there was something wrong and from then on it was a matter of managing the position in second and keeping ahead of the rest of the field.”

For the Subaru Puma team, their hard fought battles throughout the earlier rounds of the 2013 GRC have finally started to pay off, the teams number one driver Sverre Isachsen has now finished on the podium in the last two rounds.  “I’m really happy right now. Today was extra good, because we had to go through the LCQ, and in the final I was completely last on the grid” said an elated Isachsen after the final.  “So it was even better for me personally to fight, and it was really a hard fight the whole way, of course. Third place this weekend as well is perfect. If you come to the final, everything can happen.”

 Dave Mirra was able to overcome been barged off the track on the first lap and clawed his PUMA sponsored Subaru back to forth overall. Mirra spoke regarding his final, “I got spun in the corner after the jump, but I fought back. Things happen in rallycross. I was very, very happy with my pace—I know in the LCQ I was reeling people in the that section, the whole dirt section, so I felt like I showed that I could drive at a fast pace. The crew really, really work hard to get that car dialed, and I’ve been sitting back waiting. Now that it’s here, it’s fun to go out and drive a car that you know is reliable and fast, and you know that you can put some times down. I’m very excited. The Subaru PUMA Rallycross Team did really well. They’re awesome, they work hard, and they get the credit—then I get the car and get to drive it. It’s pretty awesome.”

I for one had some high hopes for the Pastrana/ Dodge Team coming into Atlanta, the team has been going through many of the challenges with the car that like Subaru had been experiencing, were looking for a turnaround at Atlanta.  They had called on the services of WRC driver Henning Solberg to team up with Russia RX Champion Timur Timerzyanov to fill in for Pastrana and Bryce Menzies who both had conflicting commitments this weekend.  Unfortunately the cars was not on the same plan, booth Solberg’s and Timerzyanov cars gave trouble throughout the day, yielding yet another disastrous outing for the Dodge camp.

For the teams coming off back to back racing weekends, three weekends for Ken Blocks crew [New England Forest Rally] they will be looking forward to a little breather before heading to Charlotte Motor speedway in September. From what we understand, GRC will not utilize the actual speedway this year, but will use the dirt track which is adjacent. For more information and tickets, check out www.global-rallycross.com

 

GRC ROUND 7 FINAL RESULTS

1.       Toomas Heikkinen

2.       Tanner Foust

3.       Sverre Isachsen

4.       Dave Mirra

5.       Timur Timerzyanov

6.       Brian Deegan

7.       Scott Speed

8.       Ken Block

9.       Steve Arpin

10.    Henning Solberg

11.    Patrik Sandell Sandell

12.    Bucky Lasek


Sources: Global RallyCross / Ford Racing

Photos/

Matthew Kalish- GRC /

Ford Racing

 

"XGAMES Gold on Sunday, Sell on Monday" - Subaru needs to Grab Gold at XGAMES

Subaru's STI is one of the only Cars at XGAMES Rallycross today that you can buy tomorrow, well minus a few safety bits and pieces that is. Subaru's core cult following will be looking for a win at XGAMES to keep the dream alive. Photo Lars Grange/Subaru Rally. 

Los Angeles CA, August 4^th 2013, Subaru will have their work cut out for them going up against a stacked lineup in the Ford Camp. But an XGAMES RallyCross Gold medal for any of the 3 Subaru drivers, over all of the 7 Ford Fiestas will most definitely have a greater gain for their brand in renewing the faith among the Subaru’s  cult following. To date Subaru has had a dismal showing in GRC RallyCross.

Despite Fords longtime standing in the WRC and rallying around the work, and their ever increasing strong sales, they have lost a lot of the rally cult following they once enjoyed in bygone days with the likes of the Mk1 and Mk2 Escort.  

You will be hard pressed to find anything in a Ford dealership that remotely resembles any of the Fiestas that will fly through the air at XGAMES this weekend; Rally fans hold out a little hope for the soon to be released Fiesta ST, but the launch is not getting big Air, as you can't actually purchase the three door version in the USA, obviously there were too many accountants in that decision process!.

Yes without question winning is winning, and it transmits across the brand to all racing fans, but Ford has yet to bring a truly race/rally/rallycross inspired sport compact style car” in the current era” to the showroom floor; unlike what they what they did with the Mk1 and Mk2 escorts, 1600 Sport, RS 1800, RS 2000, Mexico, to name a few.

Subaru gladly took a lot of Ford’s rally fans and their car buying desires when they began winning with the Impreza platform. Rally fans could walk into dealers and purchase a rally blue Impreza that was visually identical, with rally inspired AWD to what Colin McRae had just put on the podium or spectacularly wrecked the prior weekend.  Ford recruited Colin, but never really delivered a Focus to the Showroom to unseat the Impreza. Yes, no question< Ford sold hundreds of thousands of Focus’s over the Impreza, but not to the core cult they lost to Subaru.

Fast forward to today, and little has changed, although Subaru’s sales are improving yearly, they pail in comparison to Ford. Despite struggling against Block’s Fiesta on the Rally America’s stages, Subaru still holds that core cult following among Rally fans in the USA when it comes to car sales, it’s so very evident by the number of WRX’s and STI’s lining the roads at Rally America events.

Yes this is RallyCross and not rally, and Subaru has no heritage in RallyCross, but Manufactures would have their heads in the sand if they thought for a second that the majority of the people in the stands or tuning in were are not the same fans from stage rally.

Although there is a great upside for Subaru grabbing the Gold, I strongly feel that if they continue to have poor finishes or mechanical failures in RallyCross it will ultimately trickle down to buyers losing confidence in the reliability of Subaru.  Of course Dodge and Mini are also in the RallyCross battle today, with Liam Doran’s performance to date in the ProDrive Mini, he’s definitely a contender to upset the show. But it’s really hard to know if Mini really cares to have us Rally types driving their cars with their half hearted effort in the WRC.  Should Team Dodge/Pastrana shine, finding something on the showroom floor in the Dart lineup that makes the heart skip a beat is highly unlikely.  

 

 

 

Let the battle of the brands commence,

TUNE IN: GLOBAL RALLYCROSS AT X GAMES LOS ANGELES

Sunday, August 4; 5pm ET on ESPN & ESPN3

 

 

Brendan Reeves takes the Victory for Ford over International podium at New England Forest Rally

 

Brendan Reeves and Co-driver Rhianon Smyth [center] celebrate victory over fellow Australians  Will Orders and co-driver Toni Feaver  [left] who finished second, with Canadian driver Andrew Comrie-Picard  and his American co-driver Jeremy Wimpey rounding  out the podium in third. Photo: Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews

 

Newry, Maine, July 27th: Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth have won the two-wheel drive category of the New England Forest Rally in Maine, USA, taking an incredible fifth outright in the process.

Driving their Team O'Neil Ford Fiesta R2, it is the Australian pairing's third consecutive category win from the three events they have contested in the Rally America series.
Heading into the second day, Reeves was second in two-wheel drive, trailing fellow Australian, Will Orders, but ahead of all the Rally America title contenders.

With a consistent run over the second day's stages, he was able to move into the lead, and jumped from an overnight 10th outright, to finish fifth."I'm really stoked to get another win," Reeves said at the finish of the event."The day was kind to us. We had a great drive through SS8 in the roughest road of the event, pulling lots of time back, and then Will had some issues and penalties later on.

"We bent a rear beam and damaged our exhaust, but the car kept pushing on and came out on top once again.
"Rhi did and awesome job and Team O'Neil were fantastic to work with."
Reeves and Smyth have now closed the gap to two-wheel drive championship leader, Andrew Comrie-Picard, with two events still to run in the series.

The next round of the Rally America series is the Ojibwe Forests Rally in Michigan on August 23 and 24.

Final 2WD standings - New England Forest Rally
1. Brendan Reeves / Rhianon Smyth, Ford Fiesta R2, 1h48m26.2s
2. Will Orders / Toni Feaver, Toyota GT86, +1h50m46.6s
3. Andrew Comrie-Picard / Jeremy Wimpey, Scion xD, 1h52m40.3s

Rally America: Ken Block keeps Championship hopes alive with his victory at the 2013 New England Forest Rally

Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino power through the last stage to take victory by a narrow margin. Photo Neil McDaid/RallyWorldNews

Newry, ME (July 28, 2013) --Hoonigan Racing's Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino won their first New England Forest Rally (NEFR), round 5 of the Rally America National Championship, on July 26-27^th headquartered in Newry, Maine after a closely fought battle with Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and Craig Drew. The margins between the two teams were incredibly thin and either could have snatched victory. Subaru Rally Team USA drove a nearly flawless event and pushed the Hoonigan camp hard all weekend, but Block and Gelsomino persevered with a 6.5 second buffer at the end.

 

Block and Gelsomino's NEFR nearly came to an end when their Ford Fiesta H.F.H.V. experienced electrical problems on stage 11. They had no intercom communications for nearly 13 miles before the alternator quit on the transit back to service. Open Class rivals Rifat Sungkar and Steve Lancaster, who were in fourth place overall at the time, graciously towed the Hoonigan Racing Team back to the service area so Hoonigan Racing Team could complete repairs and continue their race.

"It took a bit of good luck, it was a great battle with Subaru," said Block, "I know a couple of these stages, so I put the hammer down and built a bit of a lead. I had some small problems and then a big problem with the alternator going out. What a struggle, I put everything into it, and drove my heart out."

Subaru Rally Team Driver David Higgins piled on the pressure to try and close the gap on Ken Block, he would come up just a little short, nonetheless Higgins still holds a firm grip on the championship points lead. Photo Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews

 

 

The New England Forest Rally marks Ken Block's second consecutive Rally America National Championship victory having won the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally last June. David Higgins currently leads the Championship Standings, but Block still has a mathematical chance at the title if he outright wins the final two rounds of the season.

 

Rifat Sungkar and Steve Lancaster were able to climb from fourth place to third overall to complete the NEFR podium with a little luck. Over the course of the weekend Sungkar saw a few competitors ahead of him fail to finish. The Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team of Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard ultimately broke their wheel bolts on stage 11, and privateers Joseph Burke and Alex Kihurani went off on stage 6 and were unable to continue. That left Sungkar alone in third place.

 

The pace and the tough stages at the 2013 New England Forest Rally was just a little much for the Tiburon that Antoine L'Estage took out of retirement for this rally. Photo Joel Sanford / RallyWorldNews

 

Notably L'Estage and Richard have won the New England Forest Rally the last three years in a Mitsubishi EVO X and looked to add their fourth overall victory to keep their streak alive. This time they competed with a Tiburon rally car that has seen plenty of rally action in the past, but the team experienced problems that effectively ended their event on the second day.

David Sterckx and Karen Jankowski get their rally off to a flying start with a hard charge down the opening stage of the rally, the infamous "Concord Pond" Photo; Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews

 

 

In the Super Production Class, David Sterckx and Karen Jankowski notched a third consecutive class win and also placed fourth overall in the event. This is their fourth podium finish since failing to finish the Rally America season opener Sno*Drift Rally in January. This NEFR win extends their SP Class standings total while keeping third place in the overall Championship standings.

"The New England Forest Rally was hard because of all the sharp rocks," added Sterckx, "We broke some things, but we fixed it all in service and it was good enough to win."

Super Production's Mason Moyle and John Hall took second in the class after an exciting battle with Rookie of the Year contenders Nick Roberts and Nick Judkins. Over the course of the weekend Moyle lost second place to Roberts, yet later snatched the position back when Roberts suffered a strut failure on stage 11. Moyle had suspension damage as well; only he was able to carry enough speed to overtake Roberts and win by 6.1 seconds. This is Moyle's third podium finish this year and Robert's first in his rally career.

 

Keeping the streak alive, Australians Rhianon Smyth and Brendan Reeves celebrate yet another overall podium finish in two wheel drive in their Team O'Neil /Ford Racing R2 Fiesta. Photo: Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews

 

The Two-Wheel Drive category was an absolute knockdown fight won when Australia's Brendan Reeves and Rhianon Smyth finally overtook fellow Australian rivals Will Orders and Toni Feaver on stage 11. Orders jumped into the lead on stage 1 and fended off Reeves until Orders overheated his brakes on the more technical stages of the event. Reeves seized this opportunity to take the lead with his Ford Fiesta R2. The 2WD win is Reeves and Smyth's third top podium finish since joining the Championship at the Oregon Trail Rally.

Said Reeves, "We've been driving these (Ford Fiesta R2's) for a few years, so we have the experience to win. Car is driving great, we have three wins now, next... we'll try for four."

 

Will Orders made a return to the New England Rally in his newly developed Toyota GT86, despite leading for most of the rally, problems slowed Orders on day two, he would eventually finish 2nd in 2WD. Photo : Neil McDaid / RallyWorldNews 

 

 

Will Orders had won the 2WD Class at the 2012 New England Forest Rally. This time he takes another podium with a newly built Nameless Performance Toyota GT86, the first of its kind in America.

Current 2WD national standings leader Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey were able to preserve their points lead by taking third place in class. The team overcame early gearbox problems in their Scion xD and drove a fantastic race to come back as far down as 7^th in class to the podium. Comrie-Picard and Wimpey have made the podium every event this year and just needs to keep that trend going in order to finish the season with their first 2WD national title.

 

Team Honda Research's James Robinson and Ross Forde won Rally America's B-Spec category. Tracy Gardiner and Nigel McGinn took second place. Robinson was a one man show driving and crewing for his Honda Fit, and squeaked out the win running his Honda with a broken engine mount and limited power on the last two stages of the day.

Mark Piatkowski on his way to the regional rally victory. Photo: Joel Sanford /RallyWorldNews

 

The Maine Regional Rally and the New Hampshire Regional were both won by MAP Rally Team's Mark Piatkowski and Robert Maciejski in their Open Light Class 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS.

 

Report By: Neil McDaid