TrueCar Rally America Driver Verena Mei Finishes Top 10 in the 2012 Oregon Trail Rally

Portland, OR, May 9, 2012  -- TrueCar Rally America Driver Verena Mei and her Co-Driver Leanne Junnila finished one of the most technical and demanding events in the Rally America National Championship at the top of the Factory B-Spec Class and top 10 overall in the 2012 Oregon Trail Rally, in a field which included 350 horsepower, AWD Open Class cars and competition from drivers including former British Rally Championship, Winner David Higgins. 

"I’m so proud of my team, that we placed top 10 overall, 4^th in the 2WD Division and 1st in the b-spec class ” said Mei.  “everything I've learned from Team O'Neil and from working with my co-driver, Leanne Junnila, is coming together.” Said Verena Mei.  “I'm fully committed to pushing harder at each stage.”

The battle to finish in the top 10 was hard won as Mei and Junnila finished stage one of the 16-stage, three-day race in 20^th place and by stage four, fell to 21st. By stage 10 they had climbed to 12^th place and went on to finish in the top 10 for the first time in their 2012 Season. The Oregon Trail Rally tests drivers with demanding terrain including tarmac, gravel, mud, sand, grass, water crossings and night driving, all of which present unique hazards and challenges.

Verena drives the TrueCar Ford Fiesta #335 rally car and is a member of TrueCar’s Women Empowered initiative and their sponsorship of the Star Girl Racing Team. The TrueCar Racing “Women Empowered” initiative supports six female athletes encompassing various racing series. TrueCar is paving the way and raising awareness of female racers, like Verena, as viable competitors in a male-dominated sport.

 Mei’s next Rally is the Susquehannock or STPR Rally held in Wellsboro, PA June 1-2. STPR is unique in the series because of it’s shifting terrain and the fact that a large portion of the race is at night in thick forests.

 You can follow Verena Mei on twitter @verenamei and the TrueCar’s Women Empowered Racing Team @TrueCarRacing. For more information on the TrueCar all-female racing team visit www.truecar.com/racing.

2012 Rally America Championship, David Higgins is Untouchable at Round Number Three, Oregon Trail Rally

Portland, OR (May 6, 2012) -- Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and Craig Drew continue their march towards retaining their Rally America overall Champions title. The pair took a total of 12 stage victories out of the 16 on their way to winning the 2012 Oregon Trail Rally.

Higgins was on it from the opening stages of the rally which were held at Portland International Raceway (PIR). After the first 4 stages on day one, Higgins had opened a 9 second gap over his nearest rival, Rockstar Energy’s Antoine L’Estage. One might have to wonder was it a tactical move on Antoine’s part not to push too hard at PIR to avoid running first on the road to start day two. Unfortunately, 9 seconds would be tough to recover from Higgins lead.

On to day 2: “Fir Mountain.” This is a stage that has been run in opposite and different directions over the years. The stage opens with a series of hairpins and unsuspecting crests, before climbing over Fir Mountain, at 14.67 miles.  It is also the longest stage on the rally. Running second on the road, L’Estage was clearly on the attach as he crested Fir Mountain, but his efforts would soon to prove to be in vain as the his newly developed Mitsubishi would stall due to electrical gremlins slowing his pace.  David Higgins would claim Fir Mountain as his first stage victory of the day.

“Ketchum if u can” was the second test of day two.  Despite being only 7.78 miles, this stage offered up some of the most challenging sections of the rally. Heavy rain in the area on the days leading up to the rally left the first mile of an already rough Ketchum stage a slippy sloppy mess. Running first on the road David Higgins would have his biggest moment of the rally while trying to navigate a muddy section and it almost ended his rally.  Higgins would lose control of his Subaru and glanced off a few rocks, before colliding with some of Oregon’s finest firs.  Somehow David managed to power out of the foliage and was able to limp to the finish of the stage with a damaged control arm and a few mangled body panels.   

 "I thought I was done for when I went off," said Higgins, "But my team got me back on the road. I couldn't have done it without them. I 'm so proud to win four Oregon Trail Rallies. I'm getting up there with Ken Block in wins at single events!" said Higgins.

With Higgins off and L’Estage suffering from intermitting electrician problems, “Crazy Leo” Urlichich had a clean run to take the stage victory on Ketchum.

After the first scheduled service, the cars would run a repeat of Fir Mountain and Ketchum stages. Higgins was clearly back on it after his off.  He would take Fir Mountain [2] by a whopping 30 seconds over Crazy Leo. Not to be upstaged, the “crazy” Russian, who now calls Canada home, pushed hard on the second pass on Ketchum to take his second stage victory of the rally.

Higgins would charge on to take the final three stages on day two.  By the end of day, Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew had built a 2.54 minute gap between them and Crazy Leo.  Adam Yeoman rounded out the top three.

In two-wheel drive, Will Orders in the mighty Summit Rally Team Nissan Silvia, held a slight advantage on Team Scion driver Andrew Comrie-Picard [ACP], who despite suffering from a lack of brakes at times manage to claim several stage wins on the mighty Nissan.

Edward McNelly who was left flying the Ford Racing flag in his R2 Fiesta after the departure of Dillon Van Way, was now in a head-to-head battle with the second of the Summit Rally Team cars driven by Ross Allan. By the close of business on day two McNelly had edged ahead of Allan to round out the top three.

Day three would get underway with a meet and greet with the fans in the picturesque town of Dufur before heading out the tackle the final 5 stages of the rally.

Much to the delight of the many fans in attendance, Antoine L’Estage would run a few stages on Sunday morning to ensure that they had got to the bottom of the issues with the Evo.

For Higgins it was really only a matter of driving cleanly throughout the stages to the podium.  Nonetheless, Higgins would claim 3 stage victories of the five available on day three. Antoine posted the fastest time on one of the other stages while Crazy Leo would take victory on the final test of the rally.

With a snow capped Mt. Hood as a backdrop Higgins and Craig popped the champagne on their second overall victory in 2012.  Joining them in second was Crazy Leo who for the most part drove a very controlled race to ensure a podium spot. 2011 Rally America Rookie of the Year Adam Yeoman rounded out the top three with his first overall national podium.

The Super Production (SP) Class was won by Belgium Group N Champ, David Sterckx with co-driver Karen Jankowski for their first SP podium in just three U.S. events. Sterckx edged local Hood River driver, Dave Henderson with co-driver Terrence McDowell, by 30.9 seconds. This was the high jumping Henderson's first 2nd place podium in his SP Class car. Colorado based Chris and Lori O'Driscoll rounded out the SP Class podium finishing 7 minutes 52 seconds from the class leader.

The Two Wheel Drive Class (2WD) would stay unchanged throughout the final day of the rally. In their first American competition, Australians Will Orders and Toni Feaver battled furiously to win the 2WD Class by 1:44.3 over 2WD regulars Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey in the Scion. It was a close competition between Orders and Comrie-Picard until the longer, faster stages on day 3 gave the Nissan-driving Australians an advantage.

 "It's amazing. The Nissan was so fast out here and the roads were incredible," exclaimed Orders, "I can't wait for the next round at the STPR Rally."

Edward McNelly and Ole Holter completed the 2WD podium in their 2011 Ford Fiesta R2 and their first podium this season.

Championship standing after round three–“Unofficial”

Overall:

With this victory and only three rounds remaining it is safe to say that, barring no major unforeseen situations, David Higgins is well on his way to retaining the championship.  

SP class:

The overall point lead is basically unchanged.  Defending SP champion Travis Hanson was a no-show, while Laughlin O’Sullivan would not finish the rally. Nonetheless O’Sullivan will collect a single starting point, putting him up by 1 point on Hanson.

2-Wheel Drive:

With Chris Duplessis missing this round, ACP now moves into the 2wd point lead. With the Australians now in the mix the 2-wheel drive battle is truly going down to the very last round this year. It is truly up in the air at this point.

All three days of the Oregon Trail Rally was broadcast online at www.rally-america.com covering parc expose, service areas and multiple stages for fans not able to attend the event in person.

Get full results here: http://www.rally-america.com/events/2012/OREGON/results/ 

Report and Photos: Neil McDaid

Sources: Rally America

Subaru Team Driver David Higgins Leads Oregon Trail Rally After Day One

May 4, 2012. Portland Oregon, Day-One of three that makes up the 2012 Oregon Trail Rally got underway Friday evening at Portland International Raceway. After the first four super special stages, which were ran on a mix of asphalt, gravel, grass and mud, Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins and Craig Drew lead the event over Rockstar Energy Drink's Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard by 9.1 seconds.

"Crazy Leo" Urlichich took a somewhat uncharacteristic approach on the opening stages, in that he was somewhat reserved driving very clean safe lines, unlike his normal “Crazy self”.   Leo has slotted himself into third, a perfect position with some challenging stages ahead for day-two.

With defending SP Champion Travis Hanson not in attendance, Lauchlin O'Sullivan and Scott Putnum will look to go for maximum points to take advantage of Hanson’s absence.

O’Sullivan heads into day two with a 1.5 second lead over David Sterckx by 1.5 seconds. 19 year-old Mason Moyle with co-driver John Hall are in third place by 2.4 seconds from the class leader.

In the 2WD Class, it’s no surprise to see the Nissan Silvia of Summit Rally Team's Will Orders from Australia jumping out to a 6.1 second lead over Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey. Third place is Will Order's Summit Rally teammates Ross Allan and Scott Allan 9.6 seconds. Although Orders put on a mighty show for the fans around PIR, he had better tame the mighty Nissan for the real stages ahead.

There is some questions regarding the scoring for day-one. Rally America is currently reviewing and will update. I don’t expect that things will change much if any.

Stay tuned to www.rally-america.com for the latest news and live video feed.

Report and images: Neil McDaid  review

Oregon Trail Rally, A Must Win For Antoine L’Estage

Portland, Oregon. With only six rallies making up the 2012 Rally America Championship, it’s already crunch time for Rockstar Energy’s Antoine L’Estage to make his move toward another championship title.  An Oregon Trail Rally victory has been elusive for L’Estage; it’sthe only rally in the current series that the

multi-time Canadian Champion has yet to claim victory on.

 At Sno*Drift, round one of the 2012 Rally America Championship, L’Estage struggled with the icy conditions on the first day of the event and eventually finished second to Subaru driver David Higgins.  L’Estage was back on pace for round two, 100 Acre Woods. Unfortunately, while battling Ken Block and Higgins for the lead on day one, Antoine and co-driver Nathalie Richard would have to retire their Mitsubishi with transmission issues.

 With the second place finish at Sno*Drift, followed by the DNF at 100 Acre Woods, Antoine is already 21 points adrift of Higgins in championship points.

 Despite a record entry at this year’s Oregon Trail Rally the battle for the overall championship and rally victory is down to Higgins and L’Estage. There are very few on the entry list that could truly mix it up with these two when the pressure is on. Nonetheless this is rally and if it can happen it will.  If Carl Williamson can keep his driver “Crazy Leo” Urlichich in check they should be poised to pounce if there is the slightest mistake off the front. Definitely a tough one to call, but I would give the slightest edge to L’Estage.

In SP, Laughlin O’Sullivan seems to be running much better in 2012.  The X-Factory backed driver is back behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi in 2o12 after contesting 2011 in a Subaru.  Laughlin is current locked in a points battle with defending SP champion Travis Hanson. We expect no love to be lost between these two as they tackle the first of two events to be held in the Great Northwest.

In addition to some epic stages, crews and fans alike are treated to the vast beauity of the Great NorthWest. Photo: Neil McDaid

In 2WD, Chris Duplessis is off to yet another commanding lead in the 2011 R2 Ford Fiesta. Nonetheless with only a mere 10 point advantage, Chris and his Irish co-driver Karl Atkinson are definitely finding some pressure from Andrew Comrie Picard [ACP].

Picard, who had long contested in an open class Mitsubishi, has been steadily gaining ground in his 2011 Scion XD.  Ford Racing’s Dillon Van Way, in a G5 2011 Fiesta, really needs to get with the program for the Oregon Train Rally. Dillon has struggled to match the pace of Duplessis who is in the lesser powered R2 Fiesta. Just released onto the national series in 2012, Team O’Neill instructor “Fast Eddie” McNelly already has his sights clearly locked on the podium.

I may have to go out on a limb and say that the boys in the 2WD class could be in for a rude awakening this weekend, coming  in the form of a few blokes from down under. The challenge will come in true Hoonigan style from two Australian drivers from Summit Rally Team.

Will Powers and Ross Allan have just landed with a pair of insane RWD Nissan Silvias. Assuming they can keep these monsters-of-drift on the stage, these cars should be capable of better top speeds on the fast flowing roads that are typical of this event. Of course they will be at a big disadvantage having never raced these stages before, but I will still go with an upset. The battle in 2WD could very well steal the show.

With a whopping 63 cars hoping to start the 2012 running of Oregon Trail Rally it’s the second largest entry in the event’s history matching the 63 entries set in 2010. Oregon Trail's largest field was 76 teams in 2007.

There will be plenty of action and competition right from start on the fast, gravel-pitted roads of the Oregon Trail Rally.  You can see the action begin at Portland International Raceway on May 4th for $10 per person, $5 for children ages 6-12, and children under 6 are free. The event moves to The Dalles and Dufur on May 5-6 for more amazing free spectator viewing areas.

Official Oregon Trail spectator guides are available for download or free at the event's Parcs Expose:  Download Link for Oregon Trail Rally Spectator Guide 

Live online video streaming coverage of rally action and exclusive driver interviews will be available at www.rally-america.com. Online coverage is scheduled to begin Friday at 6:00pm PDT.

Report and Photos: Neil McDaid

Sources: www.rally-america.com

NASA Rally Sport Sends Off Four Racers to the General Tire Mexican 1000

NASA Rally Sport Sends Off Four Racers to the General Tire Mexican 1000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Diego, California April 25, 2012 This weekend is the beginning of the General Tire Mexican 1000, a rally that races over 1200 miles down the length of the Baja peninsula. Sanctioned by NORRA and spanning four days with race stages up to 175 miles long, the rally is one of the most amazing events on the North American continent.

 Four motorcycle riders who began their rally racing career with NASA Rally Sport will be competing over this grueling distance. Mike Gilkey, a former professional flat-track racer, returns to rally after a two year absence. He's bringing with him years of racing experience and plenty of rally titles too: Gilkey is a multiple time overall winner of RallyMoto rallies in the Atlantic Rally Cup series. Not content with simply racing everyone else for the win, Gilkey is also using the race as a fundraiser for a cause dear to him, the Special Olympics.

 Traveling with Gilkey from the eastern US to Mexico is Aaron Gibson. Gibson has been around rally for over a decade. Although he's no stranger to WRC legend John Buffum's garage, it was not until NASA Rally Sport introduced its motorcycle program that he started competing. A formidable rider, he has taken his KTM to several overall wins during the last year. Gibson, deeply touched by his mother's recent battle with cancer, is fundraising for cancer research, and you can donate to his effort here, with 100% of the donations going to research. http://goo.gl/yrXvi

 Doug Chapman's rally resume begins just last year with Rally West Virginia. 'I was a bit tentative signing up for that first rally, because I had never raced before.' recalls Chapman. 'But NASA Rally Sport's training program for new racers is very good. One year later, and now I'm headed off to my first international rally!'

 Michael Gaynor is representing the west coast for NASA Rally Sport. It won't be his first trip to the desert, as in addition to rallies like Ridgecrest and High Desert Trails, he has also raced in pure desert events like the Mint 400. That combination of open desert experience and the knowledge of the stresses particular to a multi-day rally format event will give him an edge over the other purely off road riders.

 'I'm very excited about what NORRA is doing.' says Anders Green of NASA Rally Sport. 'They have put together an amazing rally in Mexico and the organization has grown a great deal in just the last few years. It's great to be part of the rebirth of the most classic off road event. I'm also very proud of our NASA racers that will be riding there. NASA Rally Sport focuses on grassroots riders and growing new racing talent is a big part of our mission.'

 The Mexican 1000 rally takes place over four days, starting Sunday April 29 in Mexicali and finishing over 1200 miles later in San Jose Del Cabo at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. The sanctioning body, NORRA, organized the first off road 1000 mile race in Baja back in the 1960s and has returned triumphantly over the last several years.

Photo: Mark Moore