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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sno*Drift 2013: Antoine L’Estage Overhauls David Higgins on the Final Stages, Andrew Comrie-Picard Takes Scion to the Podium in 2WD

Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard celebrate an epic come-from-behind victory at the 2012 Sno*Drift Rally, held this past weekend in Northern Michigan. Despite winning three of the eight special stages on day one, L’Estage, in his Libra Racing / Rockstar Energy sponsored Mitsubishi Evo X, found himself trailing Subaru’s David Higgins after the first day of competition. L’Estage would concede the first three stages on day two to Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew but would pull back over six seconds on the longest stage of the rally SS12 “Camp 30."  After battling through the afternoon stages, swapping stage times along the way, it would be on the second pass of “Camp 30” the penultimate stage of the rally that L’Estage would set a blistering pace on the icy surface to pull ahead of Higgins. With only one short stage left in the rally it only took a clean run from L’Estage and Richard to cap off this outstanding victory over the rival Subaru team. Photo: Neil McDaid

“If you build it they will come.” Despite the blistering cold, hardy rally fans lined the banks of the spectator stage held in a large quarry west of Atlanta, MI.  Pictured here is Subaru Rally Team driver David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew, running first on the road. David looked for the fastest line through this snow covered man made stage. Higgins opened his rally by taking some early stage victories and ,despite making hard contact with a tree on the closing stages on day one, held the overall lead into the closing stages of the rally on the day two. David and his Subaru Team would eventfully have to settle for second overall, but are already vowing revenge at 100AW.  
Photo: Neil McDaid



“Not so Crazy Leo” after a little off during practice we seen a more subdue version of this very popular Canadian/Russian driver.  Leonid Urlichich [aka Crazy Leo] and co-driver Carl Williamson opted to run first on the road, but their pace was drastically off from prior events. Nonetheless this “less crazy” approach netted the team a third overall podium place, which is no small feat at Sno*Drift. Photo Neil McDaid

“He's back!” Without question there was a certain buzz among rally fans with the return of Ken Block to the Rally America Championship. Ken’s newly rebranded “Hoonigan Racing Team” will contest all Rally America events in 2013. 
Photo: Neil McDaid

Ken Block will be the first to tell you that Sno*Drift has been a frustrating rally for him over the years. But he was feeling pretty confident in the car setup when we spoke with him prior to the first stage. After setting the second fasted time to David Higgins on the first stage, Ken’s string of bad luck would continue at Sno*Drift. Electrical gremlins would stall his Fiesta after only two stages. Thankfully, Rally America has adapted the Super Rally rule where Ken was able to return on day two. It was a case of what might have been had the Fiesta not had problems on day one. Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino would set fastest times on several stages throughout day two. Unfortunately, the penalties accumulated on day one would leave a podium finish out of reach. Block would claw his way back to sixth overall.
Photo: Neil McDaid



SP Class: With defending SP Champion Laughlin O Sullivan not able to make it to Sno*Drift due to his new car build not being complete, Evan Cline and his new [again] co-driver Jake Blattner would take full advantage and charged to the class victory. Evan was as high as forth in the overall standing at one point on day one, but with the return of Block and taking the sensible approach for the class victory, Cline would finish 7^th overall.  Mason Moyle / John A Hall would take 2^nd in SP Class and Nick Roberts / Nick Judkins in only their second national rally would take third on the podium.
Photo: Neil McDaid



There is no better feeling when debuting a new car than putting it on the podium in its first rally! Andrew Comrie-Picard [right] and Jeremy Wimpey celebrate their overall victory in 2WD. Andrew and the team took a calculated move to run their Scion XD normally aspirated for Sno*Drift and it paid off big.  The team won an impressive 19 of the 20 stages.  Team Scion Racing was flanked on the podium by a pair of Ford Fiestas; Dillion Van Way in second and "Fast" Eddie McNally in third. Photo: Neil McDaid

With an unconfirmed schedule for multi-time 2WD Rally America Champion Chris Duplessis, the weight of the 2WD battle for Ford will fall on the shoulders of drivers Dillon Van Way and “Fast Eddie” McNally.  For 2013, Van way has recruited the service of Andrew Edwards to call the notes, Edwards, comes with an impressive resume that includes the British Junior Rally Champion co-driver title in 2010 and runner-up in the national championship in 2011. Although Dillon was unable to match the pace of the Scion Racing team at Sno*Drift we are expecting to see a tighter battle at 100AW in late February.
Photo: Neil McDaid




























David Higgins and Subaru Rally Team USA Ready to Launch 2013 Championship Defense at Sno*Drift Rally

Defending Rally America National Champion David Higgins will begin his title defense this weekend on the challenging snow and ice covered roads of the Sno*Drift Rally, round one of the 2013 Rally America National Championship. Higgins will fight for his third-straight Rally America Title in his Vermont SportsCar prepared 2012 Subaru WRX STI rally car with his trusted co-driver Craig Drew at his side.

The title fight begins at the legendary Sno*Drift Rally, now in its 47th year, Jan. 25 - 26 in Atlanta and Lewiston, MI. The challenge of racing on the icy Northern Michigan roads that compose the Sno*Drift Rally are compounded by rules which prohibit studded or spiked competition ice tires, meaning traction is fleeting and driving skill and patience truly shine.
Besides sleek updated graphics on Higgins’ 2012 Subaru STI much of what earned Higgins the 2012 Rally America Driver’s Championship is in place yet again for the Champion.


Higgins is also brimming with confidence after an active “off-season” which saw him competing as a guest driver with Subaru Rally Team China at a few rounds of the hotly contested Chinese Rally Championship, where Higgins won two events outright.
“I'm really looking forward to getting the 2013 season started. The Sno*Drift Rally is sort of a funny event because when you are doing it you hate every minute of it because the icy conditions are so tough and you are always only a few inches away from slipping off the road at any moment,” explains Higgins. “When it goes well it’s a great feeling but it’s a tough mental game and you are always fighting yourself from trying to push too hard. A small mistake at Sno*Drift will find you stuck in a snow bank digging with your shovels!”


Added James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., “Sno*Drift [Rally] is a challenging event as it traditionally features snow and slick ice, conditions unique to the other rounds in the championship.

Constantly driving on the knife-edge of traction as quickly as possible can be very demanding on drivers, many who will likely struggle to develop a sense of rhythm from one corner to the next. David’s rallying experience prepares him well for such conditions, and the all-wheel drive system in his #75 WRX STI will prove crucial in pulling him and [his co-driver] Craig through the rally stages to the finish.”
The 2013 Rally America National Championship will include five of last year’s events plus the revival of two extremely popular events: The Ojibwe Forests Rally in Minnesota and the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – both of which spent the past three seasons as Rally America Central Region Championship events.
The 2013 Rally America National Championship calendar is as follows:


Sno*Drift Rally Atlanta, MI Jan. 25 - 26
Rally in the 100 Acre Wood Salem, MO Feb. 22 – 23
Oregon Trail Rally Portland & The Dalles, OR May 3 - 5
Susquehannock Trail Rally Wellsboro, PA May 31 - June 1
New England Forest Rally Newry, ME July 26 - 27
Ojibwe Forests Rally Detroit Lakes, MN Aug. 23 – 24
Lake Superior Performance Rally Houghton, MI Oct. 18 – 19


About Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA is managed by Vermont SportsCar and proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), PUMA, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, PIAA, Exedy, Race Proven, and MOTUL. For more information on Subaru Rally Team USA, as well as exclusive photo and video galleries, visit subaru.com/rally and for the latest news follow the team on Twitter: @srtusa.
About Subaru of America, Inc.
Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of more than 600 dealers across the United States. All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.

Ken Block Releases His Driving Schedule For 2013, Along with a First Look at Hoonigan Racings New Livery.

 

 

January 23^rd, 2013, Park City, Utah — Kicking off 2013 with a brand new race team and global headquarters, Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block is off to a big start this year. So, to better inform everyone about what he's going to be up to this season and what events he'll be partaking in, Hoonigan Racing Division decided it'd be best to let fans hear it directly from the man himself, the Chief Hoon, Ken Block. Below, Block goes into detail on everything from how he came up with his all-new team look to what he hopes to accomplish in 2013.

The Hoonigan Racing Division 2013 Livery: “I’m stoked on how this livery and overall team aesthetic has turned out this year. With the name change to Hoonigan Racing Division, we wanted to take the look in a slightly different direction, one that has been inspired by my love of 80s and early 90s skateboarding graphics, as well as Miami Vice-era offshore powerboats and a dash of hair metal and old school hip hop mixed in for good measure. Much like we did in our years as MWRT, we’re continuing to try and lead and innovate in the motorsports marketing arena with this livery.” 

2013 overall: “Once again, I’m trying to fit in as much driving as possible for 2013. Unlike most drivers who only compete in one series, I’m very fortunate to be able to race in so many different disciplines. Between competing in X Games, GRC, Rally America, Gymkhana GRID and WRC, It’s going to be an awesome year. I can’t wait to get it started.”

Global X Games: “X Games has always been one of my favorite events of the season, so I’m hyped that this year it is going global with four international stops. Now Los Angeles isn’t my only chance at taking the gold, there will also be Brazil, Spain and Germany. I think the worldwide fans are really going to enjoy the opportunity to go see what X Games is all about up close and personal.”

Global RallyCross: “Last year was my rookie season in GRC. I learned a lot and had some amazing qualifying times. I even managed to dominate the final event of the season until my car caught fire! So, with a season’s worth of experience now under my belt, and a car that has now had a year of rallycross development, I’m feeling really confident about entering the 2013 GRC season and going after the title. I think I’ve got the experience and the car to get it done this year.”

Rally America Championship: “I’m pleased to say that I’ll be campaigning the full Rally America Championship this year. In 2012 I made it out to two events and won both, as well as winning a Canadian rally. I’m confident that my team has built a highly capable car and that the experiences that myself and my co-driver, Alex Gelsomino, have gained doing WRC events the past few seasons really help us when it comes to making our pace notes for the races. My goal for the year is to win the championship, plain and simple.”

WRC: “For me it’s great to continue racing in the World Rally Championship. Last year I competed in three events and in two of them I finished within the top ten and scored points [the third event would have ended with a top 10 finish also, but ended in a mechanical DNF on the final day]. I really enjoy being able to stay somewhat competitive in WRC, despite only competing part-time and not being able to log any testing in the car prior to the actual events. Hopefully I’ll be running a similar amount of WRC events in 2013.”

Gymkhana GRID: “Monster Energy came in last year and got behind my Gymkhana GRID series in a big way. They ran a five-event European series and all of the fans and participants that came out really enjoyed the racing format. In fact, the feedback was so strong that they’re looking to expand it even further this year, so I’m looking forward to going back over and competing in GRID once again. We’re also going to try and investigate the possibility of bringing GRID back to America in 2013 as well.”

Octane Academy 2: “Ford had great success with Octane Academy last year. So much so that the second season has been picked up by NBC Sports for 2013. We’re changing up the format a bit and focusing a lot more on actual driving challenges, getting the contestants more seat time and really showcasing just what the cars can do with the proper training behind the wheel. It’s going to be a lot of fun to make, I can’t wait to get started.”

Gymkhana: “I’m working on a very special Gymkhana project with DC for 2013. I can’t comment too much on it at this point, but we’re taking a very different approach to it for this year. That’s all I’m going to say right now!”

 

Privateer takes victory at Round One of the 2011 Rally America Championship

 

The Privateer team of Travis and Terry Hanson claim victory at Sno*Drift Rally 2011

Atlanta, Michigan. January 30, 2011.  The 2011 U.S. rally season got underway this weekend with Sno*Drift Rally, the opener of the Rally America National Championship. As the rally cars sat at the starting line for the opening stage Antoine L’Estage, David Higgins and Dave Mirra were all tipped as possible favorites for the overall victory.   

But in just a few short stages, the predictions for the overall winner were quickly thrown out the window.  As others retired around them, the father and son team of Travis and Terry Hanson would throw down some remarkable times on the opening stages of day one, thus opening a large margin that they would not concede all the way to the finish line. But no less remarkable was the drive put in by Joseph Burke, who managed to keep Team Subaru driver Dave Mirra at bay right down to the penultimate stage.  Burke showed great maturity for a young driver in salvaging a podium finish rather than throwing it off on the very icy conditions.

With the departure of Higgins, it was all down to Dave Mirra to get Team Subaru to the podium. Photo/© Josh Guzman

Going into Sno*Drift most had expected this to be a battle between the 2010 Rally America Champion Antoine L’Estage and Team Subaru driver David Higgins for the overall title.  L’Estage and his regular co-driver Nathalie Richard would indeed open big.  A string of stage victories put Antoine 20 seconds ahead of Higgins after 3 stages. But a rare misjudgment by L’Estage on SS4 would see him stranding his Rockstar Energy Mitsubishi on a snow bank. Antoine would eventually get back on the road with the help of another competitor but the damage was done.  The car overheated and forced his retirement.

David Higgins, a native of The Isle of Man, would take over the lead of the rally, but it was to be a short lived run for Subaru’s new driver.  Engine failure on SS6 would end his run.

In just his second outing on Snow, Joseph Burke managed to claim his second national podium finish. Photo/© Josh Guzman

With L’Estage and Higgins sidelined, the rally lead was taken up by Travis Hanson who had started fourth on the road.  Travis, who is a native of Michigan, definitely has some mad driving skills on snow and in icy conditions.

At the end of the final stage on day one it was Joseph Burke, Arkadiusz Gruszka, Roman Pakos and Dave Mirra jostling for position behind Hanson in his 2007 SP Class Subaru STI.  Moving into day two and running first on the road Travis Hanson and his co-driver father, Terry, would settle into the groove focused on a clean run towards the podium. 

The chase was on. For Team Subaru USA their hopes of a podium finish now lay in the hands of Dave Mirra and his new co-driver, Marshall Clarke from Enniskillen, Ireland. Arkadiusz Gruszka started the day in third overall, but would crash out on SS8, the opening stage of the day.  The battle for second and third podium positions was clearly going to be between Joseph Burke and Dave Mirra.

This was only the second time rallying on snow and ice for Burke, but the young driver proved his worth and the good judgment to know when he was driving beyond his experience on these tough conditions.

After battling throughout the day, Burke finally conceded the second step on the podium to Mirra on the penultimate stage. “Travis was really untouchable once he opened the gap on Friday, but we pushed hard to not let him get any further away. Dave and I had a great race all day Saturday and I really felt that I might have been able to hold him off on the final few stages, but Dave pushed really hard over stage seventeen. I just had to back off and not risk throwing it all away,” said Burke. “Our goal coming into Sno*Drift was to finish and try to hold our position on the road. Getting onto any position on the podium was just an excellent result for the team. We will find our way to the top eventually.”



Dillon Van Way drives a clean rally to give

Ford its first 2WD U.S. victory for the

2011 Ford Fiesta. Photo/©Nitesh Divecha



The battle for the 2WD title was a case of what could have been for Duplessis. Chris Duplessis, who is back with a 2010 Scion x-D for  2011, had opened a three minute gap over Dillon Van Way in the 2011 Ford Fiesta after just the first six stages.

But SS7, the same stage that caused problems for Burke and Mirra, would slow Duplessis’ charge.  A puncture and a loose light pod would cost him 10 minutes. Heading into day two, despite his loss of time, Duplessis was still in position for a solid third on the podium. Much like Mirra, he could have settled for third, but driving “easy” is not in these guys DNA.  Erasing 10 minutes over some 70 horrendously icy stage miles seemed like an impossible task.

As the clocks stopped at the final time control on the last stage of the 2011 Sno*Drift Rally, Duplessis had come so very close to grabbing the top spot.

Not to take away from Dillon Van Way’s overall 2WD class victory in a bone stock 2011 Ford Fiesta (with the exception of some upgraded suspension bits and a roll cage, and a Quaife LSD of course), but Duplessis had run so hard over the last stages of day two that he had closed to within just over a minute from snatching the overall podium.

Chris Greenhouse rounded out the 2WD class podium in third.



Duplessis proves the Scion will

be the car to beat in 2WD as he makes

a massive comeback on day two.

Photo/© Nitesh Divecha



Erik Zenz and co-driver Dave Parps in an open class, Mazda 323 won the Drift Regional Rally on Saturday, posting a time of 1 hour 17 minutes and 14.2 seconds. Zenz finished 22 seconds ahead of Henry and Cynthia Krolikowski in a Subaru, winners of Friday’s Sno* Regional. Grabbing third place was Matt and Andrew Bushore in the POS VW Jetta, finishing 6 minutes behind Zenz.

Looking forward to Rally of The 100 Acre Wood, round two of the Rally America Championship, we expect the battle at the front to pick up between L’Estage and Higgins.  It will be interesting to see if Hanson can keep  his pace from Sno*Drift on the fast flowing stages in Salem, Missouri, will Mirra and Burke take up where they left off.  Without a WRC event that weekend, will we see the defending champion Ken Block make an appearance to defend his title? Will Ramana Lagemann also get back in the mix?

With both Ford and Scion, now showing some backing in the 2WD class, it will be interesting to see which of their drivers can become “A Star in a reasonably priced car”.  We expect Duplessis will be back on a mission in the Team Scion Racing x-D looking to claim his first overall victory in 2011. Van Way is expected to get an upgrade by possibly adding a Turbo to the Fiesta, it will all be needed to match the pace of Duplessis. We do expect to hear some more exciting 2WD news in the very near future.

The excitement continues February 25-26, 2011. Watch for details on http://www.rally-america.com/