The Rally America Championship Returns to the Northwest for the 2011 Olympus Rally



Dave Mirra will be hoping to keep his streak of podium finishes alive at Olympus Rally this weekend.
Photo Neil McDaid /OLY 2010



April 30, 2011: Ocean Shores WA.  Round #3 of the 2011 Rally America Championship gets underway today in South Bend WA. This is a change over previous years where the southern loops of stages were run on day two of the Rally.

Team Subaru USA will debut their latest car at Olympus, and will as always be on a mission to capture the top step on the podium, getting them there lays firmly on the shoulders of David Higgins.

Off the front in AWD, we expect to see Higgins set the early pace; he cannot let the Canadians Antoine L’Estage or Pat Richard open any gap before the rally turns to the more technical stages in the afternoon and on day two.

The opening stages today, Palix, Smith Creek and of course the infamous Brooklyn stage are all very fast smooth flowing tests, and should suit the more powerfully car of Team Subaru USA. 

As with Higgins, Antoine L’Estage will no doubt be on the early pace, but we expect Antoine may not be at 10 tenth on the opening stages and may make his move later in the day over the more technical twisty Pico stage.  Despite running first on the road we would not rule Antoine out for a stage victory on say, the second pass on Palix or on Brooklyn West. 
Making his annual pilgrimage across the border from Canada Pat Richard is always the wild card at Olympus, and he can never be ruled out as a contender for the overall podium. Running third on the road Richard is in perfect position to be the spoiler for the Championship contenders.

We feel that dispite the introduction of the new car from Subaru, and his gravel clearing duties on day one, we still  give the edge to L’Estage for the overall victory.

The second of the two Team Subaru USA cars will be driven by Dave Mirra, who’s just coming off a few epic rounds at The Global RallyCross Championship; Mirra will need to quickly adjust back to taking instruction from his navigator Marshall Clarke to be in the hunt.  We expect that Mirra will be felling the heat from some of the SP cars running behind him in the top ten.  

In SP Class, look for Ramana Lagemann to charge hard right from the get go, Ramana has some good history at this rally, he took the overall victory at Olympus in 2007.  We expect to see a more conservative run from the current overall Rally America and SP Class point’s leader Travis Hanson as he sets his focused on the 2011 SP championship.

It’s shaping up to be a great 2WD battle, both on the national level and also in the chase for those precious Max Attack dollars.

Point’s leader Dillon Van Way finally gets some more grunt under the hood of his 2011 2WD Ford Fiesta. The Van Way Racing Team added a turbo since their last outing at 100aw. Fitted with a front mounted intercooler, the car will also be popping with the tune of it new  anti lag system.  The Fiesta is now reported to be putting out somewhere in the ballpark of 260 bhp, a lot of power from a  1.6 Motor, let’s hope it holds. In addition the car has been fitted with a new sequential 6 speed box; assuming  everything performs as planned, we expect to see big things from Van Way this weekend.

Canadian Andrew Comrie-Picard makes a return to stage rally in above all things, a 2WD Scion XD. Andrew [ACP] has called on the services of English co-driver Robbie Durant to call the notes, ACP and Durant have teamed up many times in the past, and have seen some great results. The Scion that ACP will drive is the same car that Chris Duplessis drove in 2010 with the addition of few go faster bits, it will be interesting to see what ACP can do with the Scion, if it holds up?.

Last but not least, we expect to see Wyatt Knox in the Team O’ Neil - MazdaSpeed3 running in the front 2WD pack.  Both Dillon Van Way and ACP have past experience at Olympus which will work to their advantage.   For Knox this is his first visit to Olympus, Wyatt will have to put a lot of trust in the experience of his co-driver Ole Holter to stay in the hunt. Wyatt may be best advised to ease into this unfamiliar rally as the reliability of both the Fiesta and the Scion is still in question.

The Rally will move north of Ocean Shores for day two.

Check back for updates and you can also check in with www.rally-america.com for the latest updates.

STRONG START TO EUROPEAN SEASON FOR TANNER FOUST

LONDON, England (April 26, 2011) -- Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust had a strong start to the European Rallycross Championship season this weekend in southeast England at the 2011 season opener.
"I think our times this weekend show how well the team and the car can work," said Foust, who is contesting his full season in the championship after making a successful series debut in select events in 2010. "It shows great promise for the championship this year."
Foust was competitive from the start in the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta, consistently setting top times on the challenging Lydden Hill rallycross track. He achieved the second-fastest overall time during the official timed practice session on Saturday, finishing only one-tenth of a second off of defending champion Sverre Isachsen.
But while Foust demonstrated that he had the speed on the track, some bad luck knocked him out of podium contention. After two days of competitive, door-to-door action, he finished in eighth place overall.
"Sometimes luck just isn't with you on the track," said Foust. "When everything was working 100 per cent, we were consistently in the top three. Unfortunately, that doesn't get you championship points, but it does show that the potential is there."
The Ford Fiesta rallycross car, prepared by the Olsbergs MSE team, is running a new engine set-up for 2011. While the vehicle performed well at the start of the weekend, an issue emerged that saw both team vehicles sporadically down on power as the racing progressed.
Even so, there was no question that newcomer Foust and veteran teammate Andreas Eriksson won the hearts and minds of the thousands of spectators that packed the race circuit under warm and sunny skies Sunday and Monday. The two battled through several races door-to-door in their nearly identical, top-spec cars, delighting fans with tandem slides through corners and multiple passes.
The event was Foust's second rallycross competition this month. He took the win a week earlier in the nascent Global RallyCross Championship series in the United States - even after dislocating his shoulder during tough racing.
Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as six drivers line up to start at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel. Foust is the first American to compete in the European Rallycross Championship.
In addition to rallycross competition in Europe and the United States, Foust's 2011 competition schedule also includes a return to X Games Rally Car Racing events this July. His next contest takes place May 14 and 15 at the Pista Automóvel de Montalegre, in Montalegre, Portugal.
ABOUT TANNER FOUST Tanner Foust is a versatile and multi-talented driver known for his supreme car control and a proven track record of podium placements and national championships.
He is a three-time X Games gold medalist (2007, 2010), and two-time Formula Drift champion (2007, 2008). He has twice represented Team USA in the annual Race of Champions, teaming with NASCAR star Carl Edwards in 2008 and Travis Pastrana in 2009. He returned to the event in 2010 as teammate to Mick Doohan on the All Star Team.
His varied race experience also includes multiple years of open wheel competition, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, rally racing, various types of sports car racing and the SCORE Baja.
When he isn't racing, the professional driver also performs in films and on television. He is an on-air host for the US version of the seminal BBC auto show, Top Gear, on HISTORY.
His stunt driving includes performing as a lead driver in the Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Bourne Ultimatum, Dukes of Hazzard, Red Dawn and Iron Man 2 movies, and also handles stunt driving in numerous popular TV shows and commercials.
TANNER FOUST'S RALLYCROSS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Rockstar Energy Drink (www.rockstar69.com); Ford Racing (www.ford.com); Etnies (www.etnies.com) and Motegi (www.motegiracing.com)
FOR MORE INFORMATION visit http://www.tannerfoust.com/.

Photo/ Neil McDaid

In-car video of Irish Junior Rally Sensation Amy Cox on The 2011 Circuit of Ireland Rally

17 Year old Amy Cox with co-driver Emmet Sherry - Circuit of Ireland 2011 - Stage 12 - Ford Escort G3

Hanson and Hanson Head West for Round Three of the Rally America Championship

Hanson focused on Super Production title in Washington

Littleton, NH, 26th April 2011 - Travis Hanson will begin next weekend's Olympus Rally holding the lead in

both the overall standings, and the Super Production class standings, yet his feet remain firmly on the ground
as his aim is the Super Production championship.

As usual, Travis will be co-driven by his father Terry. The pair are looking to deliver a good result, after last

 years disappointment on the Washington based Olympus Rally.

To-date in 2011, the Hansons have enjoyed an unprecedented level of success, which began in the first round

of the championship when they steered their Super Production specification 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

to outright victory at the Sno*Drift rally.

In claiming the overall win they became the first ever Super Production class competitors to win a

Rally America National event outright, and in-turn assumed their deserved place in the Rally America history.

Following up the victory at Sno*Drift, the T. Hanson Motorsports' pairing delivered another good

performance at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in Missouri, as they claimed fourth overall, and first

in their class.

The long break between the second and third rounds of the Championship left Travis longing to get back

behind the wheel. "I am excited to get back in the car after a long break in the schedule. Some of the roads

at Olympus are my favorites because of the beautiful scenery and because of their fast flowing nature,"

said Travis.

Speaking of the challenge they face in keeping ahead of the manufacturer backed entries,

Travis said "It will be hard to stay in front of the charging open class cars of SRT USA and L’Estage,

 if we have another strong finish, it is still possible for us to continue to lead the overall championship."

Even though Travis is more than happy to sit at the top of the outright championship standings, he has

made it clear that his focus is on the Super Production title. "This however is not our main goal” he says.

The next three rounds of the championship comprise the Olympus Rally (April 30 - May 1), Oregon

Trail Rally (May 13 - 15) and Susquehannock Trail Rally (June 3 - 4), and with all in fairly close succession,

Travis believes consistency is the key.

"The next events are all within 5 weeks time, and stretch cross-country 3000 miles one way. I believe the

drivers that are the most consistent at these events will have the upper hand in the championship,” said Travis,

adding "It is our goal to be a consistent team and one that is always there fighting for a spot on the podium".

Concluding, Travis spoke of the close nature of the Super Production class, and it's ever increasing speed.

"The competition of this class is really good with ex-factory Subaru and Mitsubishi drivers pushing the class

 faster. We’ve had a great start to the season and we are excited for the next event.”

The T. Hanson Motorsports setup is propelled by a small group of highly motivated and dedicated people,

whose commitment to the cause is second to none.

The vital contributions of each and every team member,

along with the support from Team O’Neil Rally School, Olson’s Auto Body, OSLV, Exedy Clutches,

Big Boulder Park and Broken Motorsports is the reason behind the great success the team has enjoyed

to-date in 2011.

Photo/ Neil McDaid

Battle of the Brands, Ford Continues to hold off the Competition at Round Two of The Global RallyCross Championship

Report and Images By Neil McDaid

Snoqualmie, WA. Round two of the 2011 Global RallyCross Championship, Andreas Eriksson who was filling in for Marcus Gronholm in the Best Buy/Ford Fiesta took top honors in the Super Rally on day one, while his Ford teammate Tanner Foust in the Rockstar Energy Ford Fiesta made it a 1-2 for Ford Racing as he claimed victory on day-two in RallyCross. The winning weekend for Ford has moved them to the top of the manufactures points in the GRC Championship.

For round number two of the Global RallyCross Championship, [GRC] teams headed northwest to Snoqualmie Washington. The second event on the GRC calendar would be held on the grounds of the historic Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Co., which is now the home of DirtFish Rally School.

Converting the open grounds of the old mill to a RallyCross park for the weekend posed some challenges for the organizers in how they would accommodate an unknown number of fans.

GRC organizers setup several large spectator grand stands at one side of the course, but it soon became apparent they didn’t come close to accommodating the large numbers of fans that showed up for this rapidly growing form of motorsport.

It’s critical to the success of this sport to have great vantage points and facilities for the fans, so they can get up close to the action. The large multilevel grand stands were located near the jump giving those lucky enough to get there early a great viewing location. For others left viewing from the ground level the k-rail that lined out the course blocked some of the action as the cars raced around the flat track layout. There is no question that spectator seating can be improved should the GRC return to DirtFish in 2012.

With the exception of the gap jump the course layout was a drastic contrast from what driver’s tackled at round one in Irwindale Speedway.

The course was a 60/40 split, give or take, between tar [60] and gravel.

Drivers would launch from a standing start from one of the tarred sections followed by a short straight into a tight right hander and then onto the first gravel section.

After they completed the first gravel section, they would then charge down through a large warehouse, a very unique feature of this facility. After exiting the warehouse on the other side, drivers would have another short tarred section before facing the mandatory gravel jump. AWD cars had to take the jump at least once, and only once per heat. We figured by taking the Joker / jump section drivers had about a thirteen second advantage over the twisty maze of concrete K-rail that lined out the rest of the track.

The 2WD cars were not required to take the jump, their joker lap ran alongside the jump which was also on gravel. Their joker advantage was about the same as taking the jump, about 13 seconds.

The joker section on most RallyCross tracks is normally the longer way around, but in this particular layout it was definitely the expressway. .

Day One:

For some unknown reason the jump set up dimensions/angle were not the same as Irwindale, and it took several passes and a hard landing from the “jump tester” Tanner Foust to get it all dialed in. As we have seen several times in the past, all cars do not fly over gap the same, over the two days of racing the jump would claim yet another car and a few parts from others.

Organizers would eventfully get things underway with the Super Rally event. Now, in my humble opinion GRC should just ditch the Super Rally portion and concentrate on running two days of RallyCross. These events are so similar that I feel fans really don’t see any difference, with the exceptions of the finals.

For Subaru Team driver Dave Mirra, his weekend was set to get off to an awful start, Dave would clip the edge of the gap ramp and roll his Subaru. The car did a full roll and landed back on all fours, Dave was able to get it fired up again and limped back to the pits where the factory team made some record fast repairs, the first of many on this weekend.

The carnage did not stop with Mirra; Joseph Burke who lost his speedometer due to an electronic dash malfunction had to take a “best guess” at his approach speed to the jump. The correct approach speed is absolutely critical, too slow and its head first into the landing ramp, too fast and it’s a long flight with an unpredictable landing, the approach speed also seems to vary greatly depending on the car.

Carrying just a little too much speed, Burke launched like a scene from Smokey and the Bandit, clearing the front edge of the landing ramp by a good 30 feet, then landing nose down into the gravel, Burke had the nerve to stay on the power and somehow avoided total disaster, nonetheless the car sustained heavy front end damage and his day was done.

We would also see the departure of one of the two Team Hyundai Veloster cars entered, Marcus Dodd contacted the wall while battling door to door on the gravel and damaged the steering, Surprisingly Marcus would not return to competition on day two.

Working through the qualifying rounds in AWD we would see Tanner Foust edge out a victory over Steven Verdier to move Foust to the Super Rally final.

One of the best battles in the AWD on day one would come to us courtesy of two of Europe’s top RallyCross drivers. Andreas Eriksson, who we mentioned earlier, was filling in for Marcus Gronholm in the Best Buy Fiesta, would go head to head with Mikael Jernberg in the Skoda Fabia.

These guys left nothing on the track, Eriksson throw down his classic sideways blocking move into the first transition onto the gravel and took the early lead, Jernberg hung tough swapping the lead back and forth, before Andreas finally opened a slight gap and took the victory.

The AWD Super Rally final was now set to be an all Ford affair with teammates Foust and Eriksson on the line.

But it was to be a short lived final, fighting for position into the first turn, Foust would make contact with a course barrier, jolting the steering wheel in such a way that he dislocated his shoulder; the race was over as quickly as it started. With Foust unable to continue, Andreas Eriksson would take the overall victory, the injured Foust would have to settle for second with Steven Verdier taking the final spot podium.

Day One – 2WD

After missing round one in Irwindale due to issues with the importation of his car Mikael Eriksson’s mighty Porsche 911 was finally here and set free to run riot over 2WD.

This Porsche is a far cry from anything we have seen competing in 2WD in the GRC to-date, putting out somewhere in the region 360-400hp [??] it easily had 150-200hp on its nearest rival.

We were somewhat surprised to see several of the returning podium finisher from round one getting eliminated in the 2WD Super Rally Quarter finals.

Matthew Johnson in the Mazda RX-8 would fall to Dillon Van Way in the Ford Focus.

Kris Dahl in a Honda Civic would take out Randy Zimmer in the Miata.

Onto the semi finals, local 2WD legend Cody Crane in his little green Honda CRX, would go head to head with Dillon Van Way in the Focus.

Cody is without question one of the fastest and most exciting 2WD drivers currently competing in U.S. rally, unfortunately due to lack of budget he rarely competes outside of his local northwest events.

The semi final battle between Van Way and Crane was neck and neck until Crane made an unbelievable pass on Van Way on the closing lap and snatched the victory.

Crane was now paired up against Mikael Eriksson’s Porsche in the 2WD Super Rally final. Watching the Porsche rip up the track throughout the day may have left many thinking that this was a no win situation for Crane in the CRX, but apparently no one told Cody.

Although, Eriksson’s Porsche never gave up the lead to Crane, he seemed to have a lot of trouble shaking the little green Honda especially throughout the technical gravel section. Down through the warehouse the Porsche would power ahead, but Crane just kept the Honda matted, never lifting trying to keep in touch. In the end Eriksson would claim victory, but just barely as the little CRX was stuck to his rear bumper. Cody may have lost this battle but to the fans in the stands he was the hero as they cheered loudly as he took his place on the 2WD podium.

Day two

Day two would see even more fans  showing up to check out the RallyCross action at the Dirt Fish facility, and we would witness yet another spectacular wreck on the gap jump.

Polish driver Andi Mancin, who has competed in the Rally America Championship in recent years, would lose a turbo pipe as he approached the jump. Andi barely made it across the gap; the car would land on the edge of the landing ramp and was then flung into the air with front end parts flying everywhere. After pile driving the nose into the landing ramp, the car would come to rest with a hard landing on it’s roof.

Rescue crews were quickly on scene and Andi was extracted from the wreckage. Andi was sore from the belts but otherwise fine.

After the qualifying rounds we would move directly to the heats. In 2WD it was total domination by the by Mikael Eriksson in the Porsche setting the fastest times throughout.

Most fans were unaware that both Super AWD and Limited AWD cars were mixed together during the heats, as they have no distinctive markings to identify the classes.

As the series grows, organizers will most likely break out these classes into their own heats and finals. In the AWD unlimited class Andreas Eriksson would set the pace in his Ford Fiesta, and just seemed untouchable throughout the heats. In the AWD limited class, despite having another run in with the jump Joseph Burke in his Mitsubishi would manage to win his heat and take max points in class.

With the heats completed it was onto the 2WD finals, as with AWD both the Super and Limited classes of 2WD cars were mixed together. To no-one’s surprise, it was Mikael Eriksson’s Porsche that tore off the line and had the lead into the first turn, Eriksson never looked back.

Matthew Johnson slotted into second, Johnson who had just acquired his Mazda RX-8 before the last round in Irwindale spend most of the weekend tweaking the car to extract every last bit of power from the high revving rotary mill. In the final, Johnson definitely found some extra grunt in the Mazda as he seemed to hold off Dillon Van Way in the Focus with ease. Positions would stay unchanged throughout the race, in the end it was Eriksson, claiming the victory over Johnson, and Van Way taking third.

With the 2WD final in the bag, it was onto the grand finale, the AWD A-Main.

On the line, Ford team mates, Tanner Foust and Andreas Eriksson, were joined by Michael Jernberg in the Skoda, Hyundai team driver Rhys Millen, and Privateer Stephen Verdier in his Subaru STI. Lining up behind the main field was Subaru team driver Dave Mirra. Despite showing some great speed, Mirra had a challenging weekend, with his roll on day one, and then followed by a hard lick off the concrete k-rail on day two; Mirra was brought into the final as an organizers option.

As they launched from the line it was Andreas Eriksson with the edge, and off in to the first corner making his Best Buy Fiesta as wide as possible flicking the rear out while blocking the inside line with the nose. Foust and Jernberg were door to door jockeying for position, with Verdier and Millen in tow. As Eriksson began to open a slight gap on Foust and Jernberg it seemed that he was set to sweep the weekend, but a puncture on the penultimate lap would see Foust move to first. Andreas would also concede second to the Skoda of Michael Jernberg, Andreas barely held off Stephen Verdier who was also slowed by a puncture for third.

With Tanner on the podium it capped off a great weekend for Ford, privateers Michael Jernberg and Stephen Verdier proved it is possible to hang with the factory teams. Hyundai drivers Rhys Millen and Marcus Dodd despite not yet making it to the podium showed great promise for the Veloster.

Foust’s win in Seattle moves him to the top of the point’s standings after two rounds. A single point separated Michael Jernberg and Stephen Verdier for second and third.

Jimmy Kenney leads Joseph Burke in AWD limited class, with the current standings Keeney has unofficially qualified for XGAMES, while Burke just needs to secure a few points in round three to clinch the remaining spot for AWD limited drivers. In 2WD it’s neck and neck between Matthew Johnson and Dillon Van Way, Johnson holds a mere four point advantage on DVW.

We take a break from RallyCross for a few months, and turn our focus back to stage rally. Round #3 of the Rally America Championship, Olympus Rally gets underway on April 29th in Ocean Shores Washington. Check back for updates and also check in with http://www.rally-america.com/ for more info and the official spectator guide.