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

Pastrana and Gelsomino take third consecutive victory at Olympus Rally

Shelton, Washington, April 25th, Travis Pastrana has maintained his 100% start to the 2021 American Rally Association presented by DirtFish National season by winning round three, the DirtFish Olympus Rally. 

The Subaru Motorsports USA driver, co-driven by Rhianon Gelsomino, won both the Sno*Drift and 100 Acre Wood Rallies before sealing the perfect hat-trick in Washington, triumphing over Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino by 1m07.4s. 

 It was Block’s first rally back in a Subaru since 2009 and his second consecutive second place to Pastrana, having been the 100AW Rally runner-up in a Škoda Fabia R5+. Hyundai Motorsport junior driver Josh McErlean, 21, finished third and top of the RC2 class, winning the notorious Wildcat stage – the first ever overall stage win of his rallying career – to also net his first ever outright podium. Brandon Semenuk had been a major factor in the battle too, pushing his team-mate Pastrana hard to head into the opening day’s final test – the aforementioned Wildcat – just 3.6s behind the five-time US rally champion. 

 But the Candaian was caught out in the treacherous conditions, clipped a bridge and retired his WRX STI from the rally. The damage proved too great for him to play any further part on Sunday. Reigning ARA National Champion Barry McKenna was supposed to contest his second event in his new Ford Fiesta WRC but withdrew on the eve of the rally for personal reasons. 

 These non-scores, coupled to Pastrana’s third victory for as many rounds, give the Subaru driver a commanding lead in the series standings. He won six of the Olympus Rally’s 11 stages with Semenuk scoring three and McErlean and Block both grabbing one apiece. After a run of four straight retirements, Ryan Booth brought his McKenna Motorsports Ford Fiesta Rally2 home in fourth place, albeit over three-and-a-half minutes down on class rival McErlean. 

 Booth was content with his performance though on his first time out in the latest-generation Fiesta, but did profit from the misfortune of his team-mate Callum Devine who, like McErlean, was sampling US rallying for the first time. 

 Devine had been running within 20s of his Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy stablemate on the opening day but was battling with a mechanical issue aboard his Ford. The problem eventually proved to be insurmountable and Devine called it a day after the first of Sunday’s stages, retiring from what was fourth position. 

 Jeff Seehorn was another retiree, exiting the event from seventh place on Saturday’s final test when an outer tie rod broke on his Subaru and pitched him straight off the road and into a tree. All the calamities allowed John Coyne to grab fifth spot in his Ford Fiesta R5, two minutes ahead of two-wheel-drive winner Seamus Burke in his Ford Escort Mk2. Seventh place went to Matthew Brassfield, who was penalized a minute in his Subaru Impreza but still finished over a minute clear of Derik Nelson’s Subaru BRZ. 

Nelson had been leading the 2WD class throughout Saturday but ran into trouble on Sunday. He performed valiantly on the final stage of the rally though to vault up from 11th to eighth, surging past Travis Nease, Ace Robey and André D’Orazio and profiting from George Plsek’s non-apperance in the final stage to claim the position. 

 Nease slid outside of the top 10 but Robey finished just a single second behind Nelson and D’Orazio was only another 3.2s in arrears. 

 The ARA National series now takes a seven-week break with the next round, the Southern Ohio Forest Rally, running on June 11-12.

Source info: ARA 

Picture: Rhianon Gelsomino

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

eSports WRC review 2021 - Round 4 / Rally Argentina

A First for Seehorn in Idaho

|

 

Idaho City, Idaho ~ Five rounds into the 2019 American Rally Association, presented by AMSOIL series; five different winners.

 

Nestled deep in the Sawtooth Mountain range less than an hour outside of Boise, the Idaho Rally International was a showcase for the technical aspect of rallying. Twists and turns, tight roads and quick hairpins littered the scheduled 123-stage miles for the two-day event. Winning would require drivers to be fast, but also clean and steady, which is exactly how it played out for Seehorn Racing’s Jeff Seehorn and Cody Crawford.

 

Seehorn, who won the Overall and the Limited 4WD class, was textbook in his approach to the weekend. He ran consistently fast times on Saturday and was the beneficiary of mistakes and mechanical issues that plagued the top Subaru Motorsports USA teams of David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew, and Oliver Solberg and co-driver Denis Giraudet. At the end of day one, Seehorn and Crawford were atop the leaderboard, more than 53-seconds ahead of Higgins and Drew.

 

“We were just going out and playing it safe,” said Seehorn after day one was completed. “we would only be pushing when we need to but stay on the road.”

 

Six stages awaited the field on Sunday, and the consensus was that Higgins and Drew were going to push hard and would significantly cut into Seehorn’s lead on the Meadow Creek stage. After three stages were completed on Sunday, what was once a 53-second lead for Seehorn and Crawford, was now a 32-second lead for Higgins and Drew. Over the next two stages, runs up Spanish Fork and a shortened Grimes Pass, Higgins and Drew increased that lead up to 1:47, and needed one final run to lock up back-to-back wins.

 

The last stage of the day, however, would tell the story for the weekend. Higgins and Drew were pushing hard across the twisty Meadow Creek road, but with about two miles left to the finish, Higgins was uncharacteristically caught off-guard while trying to change a map, pushing him off the stage road. They were able to get back on-stage, but by the time they dug out, more than 20 minutes were lost, more than enough time for Seehorn to push on to a mistake-free win, the first national overall win of his career.

 

“We are just stoked, to keep it clean, to not have any mechanical issues,” said Seehorn after the podium celebration. “I spent hours prepping this car myself and it’s just amazing to come ​out with the overall. In my six years of doing this, this is an amazing weekend.”

 

 

With the weekend-long struggles for both Higgins and Solberg, the podium would be without at least one of the Subaru Motorsports USA teams for the first time this season at events they’ve competed. Instead, a great battle developed for second place between the Ken Stanick and co-driver Shayne Peterson and Cameron Steely and Preston Osborn. 

 

Competing in the Limited 4WD class, Steely and Osborn held a 13-second lead for third overall entering Sunday. Stanick and Peterson were able to flip the switch on Sunday’s first stage, and despite keeping it close, Steely and Osborn were never able to close the gap on their Open 4WD counterpart, finishing third overall.

 

Blake and Tricia Lind finished the Idaho Rally fourth overall and won the National NA4WD class. Flynn Baglin and Co-driver Alix Hakala rounded out the top five while finishing third in L4WD behind Seehorn and Steely.

 

Chris and Michelle Miller finished sixth overall, and took home the National Open 2WD class win, besting Brad Morris and Doug Nagy by 45-seconds. In Limited 2WD, Robert Sanders and Mickey Mettetal won with a total time of 3:17:11.

 

The stages in Idaho proved positive for the Side-by-Side contenders. Carl Marcum and Phouvanh Sichulailuck actually timed in third fastest for the rally. Their overall time of 2:32:59 was just 27-seconds ahead of Stephane Verdier and Co-driver Erica Sacks. 

In all, 29 cars started the ARA West Championship Idaho Regional Rally, and only 15 cars finished. At the top were Dave and Mike Brown who pushed their 2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS to the overall and NA4WD win. Matt Brassfield and Co-driver Kristi Berg finished second overall while winning the L4WD division. Ryan Booth and Co-driver Alison Laroza finished third in the regional rally and won the L2WD class. Jeff Gamroth and Jason Baird rallied to a fourth overall finish in their 1989 Porsche 964 and won the O2WD. Rounding out the top five, as well as winning the O4WD class was Ryan Bouffioux and co-driver Steven Winnat.

 

Full results of the Idaho Rally International can be found on the ARA website, or on the ARA Mobile App.

 

Round six of the American Rally Association, presented by AMSOIL national schedule will shift back East with the scenic New England Forest Rally July 19-20. More than 120 competition miles will be held around the Newry, Maine and Errol, N.H. areas.