Block steps down while Higgins and L’Estage seek redemption, @ Rally in the 100 Acre Wood

The 2010 100AW overall podium, [left] Antoine L’Estage 2^nd, [center] Ken Block 1^st, and Billy Bacon 3^rd. Photo/Neil McDaid

Salem MO, February 25th; Round #2 of the 2011 Rally America Championship.
Rally in the 100 Acre Wood [100AW] has  been a round of the RA National Championship for just five years, and in each of these years Ken Block has claimed the overall victory.  Block had made 100AW his own, although many had come close, no one had ever managed to knock Block off the top step of the podium. Due to his commitments on the WRC, Ken Block will not return to defend his title this year.

For the defending 2010 Rally America Champion, Antoine L’Estage, his 2011 RA campaign got off to a disastrous start with an uncharacteristic off at Sno*Drift resulting in a DNF, L’Estage will be looking to erase that memory with a victory at 100AW. But we expect that Antoine will have his hands full with Subaru’s David Higgins, who is also out for redemption after been forced to retire at Sno*Drift with engine failure.

With only a few stages completed between them at Sno*Drift, it’s hard for us to gauge Higgins pace against L’Estage.

Although the stages at 100aw suit the driving style of both Higgins and L'Estage,  one would have to give the edge to L’Estage based on his prior knowledge. Antoine finished 2^nd behind Ken Block in 2010 after charging  back from problems on day one, for Higgins this is his first visit to the Ozarks and his first proper outing for Team Subaru USA on gravel .

Coming off his first national podium at Sno*Drift, privateer Travis Hanson will be hard pressed to repeat his victory in an SP car on the fast flowing gravel stages of the Mark Twain National  Forest, but as we seen at Sno*Drift anything is possible.   Expect the second  Team Subaru driver, Dave Mirra to continue to improve his pace with new co-driver Marschall Clark, as they try to keep privateers  Burke, Hanson and  Lagemann at bay.

Ramana Lagemann who withdrew from Sno*Drift prior to the event will return to competition at 100AW with a current body style, SP Class Subaru STI. While Lagemann is very capable of an overall podium finish, we expect his main focus will be to secure the attractive $7,000 price offered by Subaru for the top SP Class Subaru to finish. L'Estage, Higgins and Mirra will go into a seated draw on the 24th to determin road position.



Pictured driving his Ford Focus at 100aw 2010, Dillon Van Way will be looking for another top 2WD podium finish in his 2011 Fiesta this weekend. Photo/Neil McDaid



Ford Racing will be looking for a repeat performance in 2WD from Dillon Van Way. Dillon claimed the overall 2WD podium at Sno*Drift, giving Ford their first U.S. victory for the 2011 Fiesta. As we file this preview we are somewhat surprised not to see Chris Duplessis and team Scion Racing on the entry list, obviously there is still time, so we live in hope. Challenging Van Way for the 2WD Podium at 100aw will be Team O’Neil driver, Wyatt Knox in a Mazda Speed 3, and  Chris Greenhouse in his Neon.

Although we have lost the likes of Pastrana and Block among others from the 100aw entry list, the entry for 2011 is still up over 20% on 2010.

The rally organizers have done their part to make the event a more fan friendly experience. Taking a page from the WRC, the Rally will get underway Friday afternoon in Potosi with a short spectator Super Special. Teams will then head out to tackle the first of the forest stages, before returning to Potosi from a second assault at the super special. There will be a total of 6 stages on day-one which will run into the night.

Day two will open with back to back passes of the “Southern loop” stage SS-7-8; this is one of the most technician stages of the rally @10.85 miles in length.

As in 2010, spectators will  have access to a great location on “Scotia North” stage-SS9,[Spectator point-E] but be warned! arrive early. From this officially designated spectator area the rally cars will be visible for a long distance as the approach at speed before navigating a tight square right turn, this is a very popular and exciting location, the access road to the  spectator area gets filled quickly with parked cars, so again get there early.

Rally fans will be treated to a third pass on Super Special "SS-10" in Potosi on Saturday afternoon, before the teams head out to tackle the final 6 stages of the rally, 3 of which will run in darkness.

The Rally will conclude with a podium celebration in Salem.

Stay tuned for updates throughout the rally.

Additional OFFICIAL spectator maps and schedule can be found here.

Follow along on TWITTER #ra2 #usrally #100aw

Extra Cash in the Jar for VW crews at 100 Acre Wood Rally

Inaugural 2011 Honey Jar Challenge takes place at 100AW

The Rally in the 100 Acre Wood hosts its inaugural Honey Jar Challenge this February 25th and 26th, 2011. This event will run concurrently with the rally and is open to any Volkswagen rally team. The top 5 overall finishers of the two-day challenge have a chance at splitting $1,500 in prize money and merchandise. The goal of the Honey Jar Challenge is to raise the awareness of the featured rally teams in a meaningful shootout style event. Sanctioned by RallyCar, the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood will cover over 120 racing miles that will test rally teams from all across the country on a variety of gravel road surfaces. It's set in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and contains some of the most scenic roads on the RallyCar calendar.

A diverse field of Volkswagen rally cars is expected to enter, including Matt Bushore, from Ann Arbor Michigan, and his brother Andrew in their VW Jetta. Local crowd favorites Mark and John Huebbe, from St. Louis, in their historic 1970 VW Beetle. Lastly, Colorado native Roger Matthews look to capture the Honey Jar trophy in his 1984 VW Rabbit GTI.

Rally action begins at the Lions' Park in Potosi on Friday, February 25th at the 1:00pm Parc Expose. That's essentially a car show before the competition day starts. Fans can meet drivers one-on-one and collect a spectator guide providing driving instructions to nearby viewing areas. It is a perfect starting place for a day full of rally action and an adventure in the beautiful Mark Twain national forest. The Saturday action begins in downtown Salem at 8:00am, February 26th with another Parc Expose. Guides and event schedules can also be found at the event website http://www.100aw.org/.

Photo ©Neil McDaid

KEN BLOCK SURVIVES HIS FIRST-EVER VISIT TO WRC SWEDEN, TAKING HOME THE COLIN’S CREST AWARD IN THE PROCESS.



February 14, 2011, Karlstad, Sweden – Behind the wheel of the all-new 2011 Monster Energy Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino persevered over Rally Sweden's 351 slippery and treacherous stage miles to finish a formidable 14th overall and score two manufacturer points along the way. Not only was this Block's maiden voyage in Ford's new turbo 1.6-liter rally car, but also his foray into racing on snow with studded tires.

"This was an extremely tough rally for me," says Block. "On Friday, we were farther off the pace of the top drivers than we have ever been in our WRC career. But slowly and surely we lessened the gap. We knew coming to Sweden it was going to be one of our biggest challenges this year. I just don't have the experience on snow these other drivers do. After all, I am just a kid who grew up in Southern California."

With the early portion of the rally being sacked by heavy snowfall, course conditions proved to cause difficulties for even the most experienced competitors in the field during the first leg of the race. Even 7-time champion Sébastien Loeb found himself as far back as 9th overall on day 1, and only managed to climb his way up to a 6th overall finish.

On the early stages of leg 1, Block and Gelsomino's times were just shy of 4-seconds per kilometer off the leading pace—the farthest off the lead that Block has ever been in the WRC. However, as conditions improved, and Block became more confident in the new Fiesta, the pair made massive improvements and went on to a best pace of 1.9-seconds per kilometer off of the lead by the final stage of the rally.

"Our goal for Sweden was to come here and learn it the best we could," says Monster team manager Derek Dauncey. "We knew we weren’t going to just show up and match our gravel and tarmac pace here on the snow. That said, I am quite pleased with Ken’s performance. From the first to last stage of the rally Ken continued to improve his pace, eventually finding himself less than 2 seconds off the lead, which is very impressive for a Rally Sweden debut."

But for Block, the highlight of the weekend was taking the Colin’s Crest Award, bestowed upon the driver who leaps the furthest over the infamous jump on stage 2 that’s named after the late, great Colin McRae.

“Colin was not only a good friend to me, but a huge inspiration and a big reason that I’m rally racing, so I couldn't be more stoked to have won this award,” says Block. "It proves that even on one of my worst days in a rally car, I can still try to have fun and earn an award for hooning. I would imagine that would have made Colin proud.”

The next WRC round for MWRT will be Corona Rally Mexico, March 4-6. Until then, follow the team at monsterworldrallyteam.com, facebook.com/KenBlockRacing and facebook.com/MonsterWorldRallyTeam.

2011 WRC Rally Sweden Day 3 part 2

2011 WRC Rally Sweden Day 3 part 1