PASTRANA WINS RALLY AMERICA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The driver championships goes to:
Overall and Open
1. Travis Pastrana
2. Ken Block
3. Kyle Sarasin
PGT
Patrick Moro
G2
Michel Hoche-Mong
Production
Jan Zedril
2 Wheel Drive - Woodner Cup
Chris Duplessis
G5
Jon Conley
Despite not winning overall, young Kyle Sarasin has really displayed maturity
throughout this year. Throughout the opening events of the season, Sarasin
could not enjoy the X Games "invited" status of Pastrana and Block and had to
consciously run for "points", this is a very hard thing for a seasoned
competitor, even tougher for everyone else. Sarasin was impressive in his
tenacity, and got invited to the X Games. Since then, he has had 3 2nd place
finishes in a row; he is clearly running more aggressively than prior to the X
Games. Sarasin will surely be a force to be reckoned with for many years and
fans are already looking forward to his performance next year.
The Rally America co-driver championships are as follows:
Overall and Open
1. Ringer
2. Gelsomino
3. Johansson
PGT
Mike Rossey
G5
Karen Wagner
G2
Jimmy Brandt
honorable mention: -1 point - Ben Slocum
P
Jody Zedril
OTTAWA AND KEEWANAW REGIONAL RALLY WINNERS
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The winners of the Ottawa Regional Rally are:
1. Utecht/Bohn 1:27:35.7 (G5 and overall)
2. Woodside/Woodside 1:31:15.0
3. Wimpey/Wimpey 1:31:33.8 (G2)
4. Gruszka/Chodan 1:32:44.6 (Open)
5. Krolikowski/Krolikowski 1:35:26.8
10.Marker/Slocum 1:40:13.2 (PGT)
17.Chiodo/Neisen1:59:38.2 (Production)
The Winners of the Keewanaw Regional Rally:
1. Krolikowski/Krolikowski 29:15.7 (Open/Overall)
2. Utecht/Bohn 29:50.1 (G5)
3. Wimpey/Wimpey 30:26.0 (G2)
4. Gruszka/Chodan 30:30.6
5. Woodside/Woodside 31:20.2
10.Marker/Slocum 33:43.7 (PGT)
BLOCK WINS LSPR
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Winners of the Lake Superior Performance Rally are:
1. Block/Gelsomino 1:44:01.6
2. Sarasin/Johansson 1:45:05.1
3. Pastrana/Buffum 1:46:30.7
4. Mancin/Wislawski 1:49:47.2
5. Shepherd/Wagner 1:56:15.9 (winner G5/MaxAttack)
6. Moro/Rossey 1:56:54.6 (winner PGT)
14. Hoche-Mong/Brandt 2:11:49.2 (winner G2)
Car 43 Block/Gelsomino had a goal of getting through last evening as clean as
possible; their hope was that they would be sitting in a favorable spot today
and would be able to gain time on today's stages - "today's stages are Ken's
type of stages". Ken needed to stay in front of Sarasin in order to secure 2nd
place in the Overall Driver Championship.
CAR 328 KEEPING IT CLEAN
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The only "moments" last evening for car 328 was when they broke a wheel stud and
when they had an intermittent computer malfunction.
Despite only looking for a finish, Car 328 is finding themselves getting faster
against the competition. While fighting a competitive streak, the team is clear
on their need to finish in order to gain co-efficients.
Driver, Mychal, has done mud-dragging and demolition derby, but really loves
rally and the adrenaline that it offers. While this is his first event as a
driver, he went to his first rally at a very young age.
Mychal and his co-driver Ryan would like to thank their crew – Lee, Jason,
Jason, Tyler, Dave, Roger, and John. These guys have been friends for years and
are a very organized bunch that have been integral for getting and keeping the
car together. Thanks also to Mom Lori and all their family that was here for
moral support.
The team is planning on running local rally events, about 3 per year, at least
until Mychal graduates MTU, which he hopes to do in June 2009 with a mechanical
engineering degree.
In a sport where the finish rate is only 50%, they have succeeded in finishing
their very first rally. Congratulations!
That will buff out...
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Photo courtesy of: Ben Bradley.
Follow-up from ACP rollover...
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Picture courtesy of: Bed Bradley.
Need We Say more...
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Picture courtesy of: Tara McMann.
Enthusiastic Fans - the next generation of rally
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The co-driver...very poised and unflappable - good traits in a co-driver.
The driver (below) Peyton and Jari (co-driver) were two very enthusiastic fans
at the Parc Expose in Calumet, MI this morning.
The brave Pat Moro allowed the young "team" to "pilot" his car.
Picture courtesy of: Tara McMann.
Enthusiastic Fans - the next generation of rally
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The driver...
All ready to go, and just waiting for instructions from his co-driver...
Picture courtesy of: Tara McMann.
RALLY LUCK SHINES ON CAR 319 GREENHOUSE/DEROSE
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Car 319 Greenhouse/DeRose had a moment on the Brockway 1 stage. About 1.61
miles into the stage at a right 5 over jump, the team had “Wild” 75 mph
360-degree spin. The best news is that they did not hit anything!
We are looking forward to the second running of Brockway – hopefully, with
limited drama and no mistakes – we cannot afford another mistake and are NOT
going to get that lucky twice” stated driver Chris Greenhouse.
The team still beat bunch of their competition even with the spin, “we have been
working good together and the car holding up well” Greenhouse went on to say.
The team’s goal is looking for a good Group 2 finish. They had hoped to finish
well in the MaxAttack ranks, but that is out of their control now; “another team
would have to befall bad luck, otherwise, we have no chance.”
Picture courtesy of Ben Bradley.
2008 MaxAttack!™ Triple Crown Rally Series to Conclude at the Lake Superior Rally
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The third and Final Round of the championship for two-wheel-drive rally cars
pays another visit to the Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; the Jake Himes Cup is up
for grabs!
The finale the 2008 MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally series is taking place here at
the Lake Superior Performance Rally.
An excellent field of more than twenty two-wheel-drive rally cars will make the
concluding event equally exciting and competitive as the first two rounds of the
season in Oregon and West Virginia.
The MaxAttack! teams are excited about returning to Houghton. The rally is
always a true test of man and machine, with weather often being a big factor.
LSPR, formerly known as Press On Regardless, is billed as the “Oldest, Toughest,
Meanest Rally on the Circuit,” will cover over 120 racing miles that will test
rally teams, especially with the variable weather conditions and the slippery
fall leaves.
It can be sunny, it can be rainy, it can be foggy, and it can be snowy… And this
sometimes happens on the same day! Road surfaces are usually fairly firm dirt
and gravel, although they can be very slippery if it rains (especially with
autumn’s fallen leaves). The rally also includes the famous Brockway Mountain
stage, a short hillclimb up a paved road that is run twice on the rally’s second
day.
The event entry list shows several drivers who are capable of winning the season
finale. Obviously series leader Eric Burmeister, teamed once again with Dave
Shindle, will be the man to beat. But will Burmeister push the MazdaSpeed3 for
the event win, or play it conservatively to ensure the series title and his name
on the Jake Himes Cup? With light problems yesterday, Burmeister will not be
able to make up the 4 minutes he lacks on the formidable and legendary Doug
Shepherd, who has won many rallies overall as both a driver and as a co-driver.
Sheperd, in a Dodge Neon SRT-4, with Karen Wagner reading the stage notes,
started the day in the fifth overall position with has an overall time of
1:38:33.1.
Even the thunderous Ford Mustang of Minnesota’s Mark Utecht who is always a
crowd favorite for spectacular rear-wheel-drive, dirt-flinging action has not
been able to catch Sheperd; he and co-driver Rob Bohn are a force to be reckoned
with and should not be discounted. They won last evening’s Ottawa Regional
Rally.
After the disappointment of his West Virginia DNF, Josh Wimpey (teamed with
brother Jeremy)
had hoped to be able to top the MaxAttack! Leaderboard; unfortunately, a time
penalty looks like it has taken them out of the running. In typical Worm
fashion, Jeremy looked at the positive side “at least the time penalty happened
here and not when I was running for the championship”.
IS THAT A HONDA CIVIC? IN RALLY?
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
As surprising and rare as it is to see a Honda Civic (sedan, no less) in rally,
there is indeed one here this weekend. AND, it is winning Production class.
The driver and co-driver, both Honda employees, are quick to note that Honda has
a rich history in motorsports, albeit mostly road racing.
This car could well be the one parked next to you at the grocery store, it is
virtually indistinguishable from any other silver Honda sedan, but this is not
your standard grocery getter. Upon closer review while look inside the car, it
becomes evident that this car was built for racing.
The car has performed well on it's maiden voyage as well. "The only problem we
have had is a suspension issue - a non-Honda part, of course" stated driver
Justin Chiodo.
WASHPA RACING UPDATE
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Car 724 was scheduled to be here and running this weekend. Rally luck seemed to
shining on the team recently when they announced a new sponsor in SlowBoy
Racing. Rally luck seems to be still shining on them; unfortunately, rally luck
has two sides - good and bad!
Jim McClellan of Washpa Racing was kind enough to let us know the details of his
harrowing week.
“Here's an update to let everyone know that we are ok, just not racing this
weekend at LSPR.
The 724 Car (our 1987 MR2) was 100% rockin' and ready to run.
Mike Huml had to stay in Indiana, PA for business.
Darlene Jones was promoted from Team Manager to Co-Driver for the event.
We left Indiana, PA on Wednesday in the "Big-White Rig"
Drove as far as mile marker 90 on Hwy 80 when one of the trailer tires actually
came off the left side.... before we could stop one of the right side trailer
tires blew.
Pulled off - stole lug nuts from each tire to re-attach the "loose" tire and put
the spare on the right side.... Made it as far as Ann Arbor and saw sparks in
the right side mirror. The center trailer tire was gone... just gone... all of
the studs had sheared off - the tire in front of that was flat and we had a lot
of weight riding on one tire...
We made it off the hwy, got the trailer towed to a service spot, lost a day of
travel getting someone to even begin repairs on the trailer
At the end of Thursday Darlene and I had to call it... It wasn't meant to
happen.... depression set in...
We decided Thursday night while staying in the rig to make the trip the rest of
the way to Houghton to at least watch the race, see our friends, meet the crew
that volunteered to help us, deliver a SlowBoy Racing turbo to one of the
teams.
The trailer is being repaired (had to rebuild part of the leaf spring
suspension)
It will be ready for us to pick up on our way back through Detroit on Monday
morning...
So we're now getting ready to leave the hotel and head out to the stages... I
heard cars going up and down the road last night and…it was despressing.
But we are here to have fun, lend a hand, help where we can and still have more
fun than any other group at the rally!!!
As my friend Jimmy (Brandt) says - Press On Regardless !!! This weekend, that
statement has never rung more true for the WASHPA Team....
Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to get us this far.”
QUICK NOTES FROM OVERNIGHT
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
The crew of Car 55 Sarasin/Johansson believe the problem previously reported as
an engine issue was likely an electrical issue that became prominent when they
were on stage; likely exacerbated by the power drawn by the driving lights.
Sarasin lost over one minute of time and described the issue as feeling like
fuel starvation. The team is confident they fixed the problem and Sarasin is
continuing on.
Car 42 Burmeister/Schindle are continuing to have electrical issues of an
undetermined nature - this causing them to lose all of their lights. While the
team believes they have narrowed the possibilities, they will not know until the
reprep after the event if they have solved it. Luckily, there should be no more
night stages to contend with and thus will no longer be a problem. The team is
now also having problems with the oil pump for the gearbox; they believe it is
only a bad fuse.
While leading G2 and a leading contender for MaxAttack, Car 591 Cizmas/Himes
blew a cv joint on SS8 and were unable to continue. They planned to enter the
Keweenaw Regional Rally today.
Car 507 Wiitala/Takkunen withdrew from Ottawa Regional Rally last evening due to
low power issues; they are planning to continue. Jason would like to say hi to
his lovely wife, Danielle, who is in the Dominican Republic currently.
LSPR BACK UNDERWAY
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Following a long competition day yesterday and a short night of sleep, the teams
are back at it it again today.
Lake Superior Performance Rally has started its second and final day; the
Keweenaw Regional Rally will run concurrently. The day started at 9:30 AM with
a parc expose (public viewing) in the lovely town on Calumet, MI.
39 teams started this morning and will run approximately 40 stage miles today.
BLOCK TAKES COMMANDING LEAD
- Saturday, October 18, 2008
Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block has a commanding lead at the Rally
America season ender this weekend in Michigan’s upper peninsula and is in line
to capture second place in the championship.
“These guys have given me this great lead,” said Block, who had more than a
minute over second-place Kyle Sarasin after seven stages. “I’m just going to try
and maintain it.”
Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino had a strong start to the season, winning
four events early in the year. But a string of DNFs dropped them back in the
standings and they entered the Lake Superior Performance Rally in third place
overall.
Heading into this event, Block’s teammate Travis Pastrana has already secured
the Rally America drivers’ title. However, with three drivers separated by just
four points in the championship standings, second-place remains very much up for
grabs.
After a strong drive at Rally Colorado last month, young driver Sarasin moved
into second-place overall in the title hunt and said he is hoping for the
home-field advantage this weekend. The student at Northern Michigan University
in nearby Marquette has run this event twice before.
The early stages saw Sarasin and co-driver Mikael Johansson in a tight fight for
the rally lead, but car trouble late in the evening saw the team fall behind.
The service crew said it appeared the powerful auxiliary lights were putting too
much of a strain on the car's electric system and began affecting
performance.
“We’ll just try and keep it on the road and hope Ken makes a mistake,” Sarasin
said late Friday.
Also in the hunt for championship runner-up at the start of the contest were
Andrew Comrie-Picard and co-driver Marc Goldfarb.
The duo led the
championship early this season but dropped back to fourth after missing two
consecutive events following a spectacular X Games front-flip. But the team
suffered engine trouble early in the contest and rolled their Mitsubishi Lancer
Evolution IX while pushing to make up time. There were no injuries, but
Comrie-Picard said the car is done for the season.
“We only had about 150 horsepower and we were setting decent times, but there
just wasn’t enough power to get us out of that corner.”
Blinding dust became an issue for teams as night fell, with drivers reporting
near-zero visibility in some areas.
“When it’s that dusty, you just
have to trust the notes,” said Pastrana.
In the Production GT Class, Pat Moro holds a commanding 74-point lead over
Ropert Borowicz in the championship. Barring any significant penalty points,
Moro and co-driver Mike Rossey should be spraying champagne as the class
champion at LSPR. After seven stages, Moro and co-driver Mike Rossey were
leading the class charge and sitting in sixth overall.
The event also plays host to the final round of the three-event MaxAttack!
Triple Crown Rally series. The series consists of three events across the
country, featuring a $5,000 prize fund to be distributed among the top
two-wheel-drive teams, as well as a season championship.
More than
20 two-wheel drive rally cars have made the trip to the upper peninsula to vie
for the top prize, including series leader Eric Burmeister and Dave Shindle in
their MazdaSpeed3, and the legendary Doug Shepherd and Karen Wagner in their
Dodge Neon SRT-4
Sarasins hopes for 2nd place dashed?
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Car 55 Sarasin/Johansson have come in on the end of a tow rope. The interesting
part is he is being towed by Travis Pastrana, teammate of Ken Block. Block has
been deeply embroiled in the tight race for 2nd place in the championship.
The speculation is that Sarasin has engine problems.
QUICK NOTES FROM THE STAGES
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Car 20 ACP/Goldfarb had engine troubles over the first three stages.
Apparently, they had holed a piston and were busily searching out a garage for
the evening so that they could replace the engine - their chance at a podium
finish depended on it. Unfortunately, they are being reported as having rolled
6.5 miles into SS6. Their podium dream is officially over.
Car 12 Babcock/Miller had left rear damage and a broken rear window. It appears
they have slid into a tree. The team is busily working on the car.
Car 573 Chiodo/Neisen in their brand new 2008 Honda Civic have taken some minor
damage and are continuing on.
Car 42 Burmeister/Schindle are having electrical trouble. At times, they have
lost all of their lights. Burmeister's team was busy trying to fix it - if they
were unable to diagnose it in the short service, they planned to rewire quickly
so they will at least have the driving lights.
TROUBLE FOR KROLIKOWSKI
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Car 44 Krolikowski/Krolikowski had a flat tire just after the start of SS4
(Passmore Stage). The common adage for a flat tire is "less than five (miles),
drive"; unfortunately, the stage was more than seventeen miles, so the team had
to stop and change it, thus losing more than 4 minutes. They have subsequently
lost the lead in the Ottawa Regional Rally.
2009 RALLY AMERICA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DATES SET
- Friday, October 17, 2008
The 2009 Rally Americal National Championship schedule is now set. It is as
follows:
Sno*Drift Rally January 30-31
Rally in the 100 Acre Wood February 27-28
Olympus Rally April 25-26
Oregon Trail Rally May 15-17
Susquehannock Trail Rally June 5-6
New England Forest Rally July 17-18
Ojibwe Forests Rally August 28-29
Rally Colorado September 19-20
Lake Superior Rally October 16-17
HOCHE-MONG WILL WIN GROUP 2 CHAMPIONSHIP
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Car 31 Hoche-Mong/Brandt is here to try and secure the Group 2 drivers
championship.
Hoche-Mong came into this event tied with Silvio Alva; with Alva not here,
Hoche-Mong just needed to start to secure the championship.
In addition to the Group 2 Championship, the team is looking for a good finish.
JEFF MOYLE REMEMBERED
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Jeff Moyle was listed as the first car starting today as our way to show how
much we appreciated Jeff and his wonderful attitude.
Additionally, Jeff’s company, Moyle construction gave their employees the
afternoon off to attend a barbeque in Jeff’s honor. Moyle Construction allowed
LSPR to run a stage through a company owned gravel pit where the barbeque was
taking place. The combination of the two, his work and his play, a fitting
tribute to Jeff.
LSPR REMEMBERS PAUL CHRISTENSEN and JEFF MOYLE
- Friday, October 17, 2008
PAUL M. CHRISTENSEN, 58, passed away on September 19, 2008. Paul was a big fan
of rallying and a regular volunteer at LSPR every year, working tirelessly to
help organize and run the event. Known as “Service Paul”, he was a fixture at
service areas, keeping rally service crews informed if their teams had problems
on the course.
JEFF MOYLE, 30, passed away on September 14, 2008. Jeff worked hard and played
hard too. He raced snowmobiles, jet skis, shifter karts and most recently,
rally cars. His rally career started just over one year ago and he progressed
very quickly through the regional and into the national rankings, securing a
spot in the pinnacle event, the X Games. Despite an engine fire that dashed his
hopes of a good finish at the X Games, Jeff was still his signature self,
smiling. Despite having been competing in rally for just a short time, Jeff
fully embraced the rallyist ideals of friendly competition. Whether it was by
risking his own rally and acting as Dave Mirra’s brakes on transit at New
England Forest Rally or by letting other local rally teams use his shop, Jeff
was always glad to help.
TEAMS CAUTIONED OF NEW, FAST STAGES AND REMINDED OF OLD FRIENDS
- Friday, October 17, 2008
LSPR and its predecessor POR are known for unpredictable weather conditions.
Very rarely does an event take place in the Upper Peninsula when it does not
rain or snow. This happens with such regularity that chairman Scott Carlborn
stated at the drivers meeting earlier today that he would normally say how slick
the roads are in wet conditions; despite the lack of rain predicted this
weekend, he felt the need to state it anyway. Carlborn warned the teams that
the roads would be fast. Additionally, teams were advised that there were new
“old” stages being used here, some, like Camp 18 Stage, have not been used in as
much as 15 years.
Carlborn led the drivers meeting in a moment of silence for the those
individuals we have lost this year, namely Jeff Moyle and Paul Christensen.
CAR 44 LOOKING FOR A FINISH
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Car 44 Krolikowski/Krolikowski running as a dual entered team this weekend -
meaning they will be running the national LSPR event, but are also entered in
the Ottawa Regional Rally as well. Their goal is to finish.
Lake Superior Performance Rally is Cindy’s 25th consecutive event – “I started
when I was five” Cindy joked.
FIRST EVENT FOR SUMMERS/DESLAURIER
- Friday, October 17, 2008
This is the very first event for car 328 Summers/DesLaurier. If looking
organized is the key to a successful event, this team would surely win; they
have a large service crew and supporting family.
Mychal Summers, an MTU student, appeared visibly nervous and when asked. He
stated a concern about finishing as well as the car staying together; despite
being new to the right seat, co-driver DesLaurier is seemingly unflappable, a
very good co-driver trait to have.
When asked of their desire to rally vice another sport, Summers stated “nothing
else has the adrenaline rush that rally has!”
The team’s sole goal for the weekend is to finish.
Picture courtesy of Ben Bradley.
LAKE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE RALLY SET TO BEGIN
- Friday, October 17, 2008
Lake Superior Performance Rally is about to begin here in Houghton, Mi. Running
concurrently with LSPR are two regional events, the Ottawa Rally and the
Keweenaw Rally on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Competitors will start the event with a public viewing of the cars at 1 PM,
followed by a drivers meeting at 1:50 PM; LSPR will begin at 2:15 PM from the
Country Inn and Suites in Houghton. Teams will then transit to Kenton, Mi for
the entirety of the evening. 38 teams will begin the rally today, and 92.05
stage miles are planned for this evening; another 31.39 are planned for
tomorrow.
LSPR is Round #9 of the Rally America National Rally Championship.
This year marks the 14th Anniversary of a Lake Superior Performance Rally. The
event replaced the legendary Press On Regardless rally when The Lake Superior
Region officially assumed production of this premiere event in 1994.
