Rally

Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc 2018 North American Teams

February 24, 2018 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

March 2018 is approaching and four teams of women in the United States are getting ready to head to France and Morocco for the 28^th Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc. More casually known in North America as “Gazelles”, the rally was started in 1990 as an adventure for all-female teams. As in stage rally, each team of two – a driver and a navigator – drive off-road from checkpoint to checkpoint over 6 legs in Morocco for a total of nine days of competition. GPS is not allowed – traditional navigational tools of a compass and maps are used, although all teams are tracked by the organizers via satellite. Unlike stage rally, the teams can choose their routes between checkpoints and the winning team isn’t the team with the fastest time, but the team that accumulates the most checkpoint check-ins with the least amount of kilometers traveled. All legs are 100% off-road – there are no public transits between legs. No special license is needed, either – just a simple driver’s license for the vehicle the team chooses to drive.

Team members from North America gathered at MAMO in New York City ‘s SOHO February 20^th to chat with media. First-timers Elana Sorre and teammate Martine Capalbo of Team Atomic will be competing in the 4×4 class in a “brand new” Jeep Rubicon. When asked if she’s done any previous competitions Sorre, a tv producer from New York, said “We’ve definitely done some off-roading and we’ve experience some of that, but not in any form of a competition. [RAG] is our virgin voyage, but we are so excited to do it. There are elements that we are nervous about but nothing that we are fearful about.” She added that they will most likely stick to Martine driving and herself navigating – while they can do both, they just think it’s a better idea that each stick to their jobs for the duration of the event.

Another rookie team, Jazmin Grimaldi and Kiera Chaplin will be competing as E-Gazelles, driving a Citroën E-MEHARI in the RAG electric vehicle category, which will be Jazmin’s first time driving an electric vehicle for this long of a duration. Grimaldi, an actress and singer from California, says that she and Chaplin plan on switching between driving and navigating duties. She’s competing in RAG for the eponymous Jazmin Fund, which is helping to rebuild a community hall in Naidi Village, Fiji after the town was devastated by the 2016 cyclone.

One of the more experienced teams heading to West Africa to tackle the desert is the newly minted Over-Hyphenated team of rally driver Keanna Erickson-Chang and co-driver Claudia Barbera-Pullen. Keanna and Claudia are veterans of U.S. rallies, having completed six together in 2017. Claudia has been co-driving for around ten years, while Keanna’s first rally was Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) 2015. They have both earned their way to the podium at New England Forest Rally – most recently at NEFR 2017, Barbera-Pullen navigated her way to 1st place 2wd Production with driver Erik Potts (in a Subaru BRZ, in case you were curious). Talking to Keanna at the team’s launch party in NYC several weeks ago, Keanna said that she had done some training for RAG out in Moab, and that they both have a full competition schedule in the month before RAG; they will both leave for Morocco directly after finishing 100 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri March 16-17. They will be driving in the 4×4 class in a new Toyota Land Cruiser.

While women over 18 years both new to motorsports as well as experienced teams are all eligible to compete in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, it’s not purely a vanity adventure. The core mission of RAG is the non-profit Coeur de Gazelles, bringing job training for women as well as medical care and education. The rally has ISO 14001:2004 certification – with an emphasis on eco-driving and not speed, RAG maintains low CO2 emissions. No waste is left in the rally’s wake, and recycled material from the event are used to build houses. To keep tabs on the 2018 Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, follow on Instagram or Twitter.

: Keanna Erickson-Chang at the Over-Hyphenated Racing Team party

: Keanna Erickson-Chang, STPR 2016

: Claudia Barbera-Pullen on podium, NEFR 2017

: Claudia Barbera-Pullen on podium, NEFR 2017

New England Forest Rally 2017

July 30, 2017 by ponycargirl 1 Comment

The New England Forest Rally (NEFR) is the fifth of six rallies on the American Rally Association (ARA) in the organization’s first year. As in previous years, the stages are run over two days on forest roads from Bethel, Maine and Errol, New Hampshire. Started in 1991, previous winners include Patrick Richard/Nathalie Richard, Travis Pastrana/Christian Edstrom, Antoine L’Estage/Nathalie Richard, Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino, and David Higgins/Craig Drew.

With a list of 45 entries, the first two stages of the rally kicked off at Concord Pond after Parc Expose at Sunday River Resort, and the race of attrition began. After service and Stage 3, Stage 4 was cancelled; first there was a bit of miscommunication about an injury to Robbie Durant, Travis Pastrana’s co-driver, but after it was resolved communication was lost and the stage was cancelled. Durant suffered an impacted spine and couldn’t continue after Stage 4, then Pastrana put in a formal request to switch co-drivers. Rule books were consulted, and the race steward approved Pastrana continuing the rally on Saturday with a new co-driver. An available, licensed co-driver was found in Greg Dorman, also SRT USA’s Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator. An unusual situation to say the least, but ultimately within the rules.

Saturday started off dramatically when car 111 – Luis Teixeira and Kadence Verge – had an off requiring medical attention and Stage 5 was cancelled. Laughlin O’Sullivan and Scott Putnam had an off on Stage 8 – Sturtevant Long and had to leave the stage with the car on the back of a tow. By the end of Stage 12, both Pastrana and Higgins had damaged right rear suspension, but both were repaired enough in service to continue to the final stage on North Road.

Pastrana won overall with Dorman, Higgins and Drew in second, and Jeff Seehorn and Karen Jankowski in third in only their second time competing at NEFR. Pastrana, ever the sportsman and good-guy, jumped off the podium after the champagne spray and gave his trophy to a young girl in front. Completely speechless, he told the girl to come back next year and he would autograph the trophy for her.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey drove an all new Ford Focus RS rally car to first place in Production 4WD, and frequent regional competitors Alvin Fong and William Machin had their first ARA national podium in second in the 2006 Mitsubshi Evo 9. Sumit Panjabi and Matt James rounded out the podium in 3rd.

Clinching the Open 2WD Championship was Ryan Millen and co-driver Rhianon Gelsomino in the Toyota RAV4.

There was a noticeable increase in spectators since 2015, boding well for rally in North America. NEFR efforts have paid off and the VIP bus has gone from a bus ride on a school bus to a spectator areas on a couple of stages to a VIP experience offering food and drink in addition to the transportation.

ARA has one more rally in its 2017 – Ojibwe Forests Rally August 25-26. While there were some growing pains with the controversy over Pastrana’s co-driver switch and questions over Higgins’ car being underweight at the end of NEFR, the non-profit organization is addressing the issues for future rallies.

…and still no mooses.

Racecars at New York International Auto Show

April 21, 2017 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

New York International Auto Show has once again rolled into town with automakers bringing their shiniest, most innovative cars to to dramatically pull cover from and show off. Scattered amongst the concept, halo, and current production vehicles are the unattainable to many of us – the race cars.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum has a display of some classic and curious cars, and brought a few classic race cars from their collection. Included in their display are a Midget Racer from the 50’s, a 1909 Alco-6 Racer, 1950 Allard, and the 2009 Miller Lite Dodge driven by Kurt Busch.

Fresh from winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship BUBBA Burger SportsCar Grand Prix at Long Beach, the Cadillac V-Performance racing team Konica Minolta DPi-V.R drew admiration on the show floor, still with grit from the race on the wheels.

The Ford GT was the NYIAS poster car, and is front and center in the Ford booth on a rotating palette.

Formula e will race in Brooklyn this summer and there are two Formula e cars at the show. Jaguar now has an electric vehicle in the series, and Formula e also has a booth with champion Nelson Piquet’s car. Not to be outdone, BMW recently announced entry into the series with Andretti Formula e in 2018.

Subaru Rally Team USA has two new drivers in Red Bull Global Rallycross this year, having poached the Patrik Sandell from Ford and bringing on Chris Atkinson after he raced a limited schedule in the series last year. Atkinson’s GRC car is shown in the booth.

Alexander Rossi was the first rookie winner of the Indy 500 in 16 years, winning the 100th running of the race in 2016 in this Honda-powered Indycar.

Probably the dirtiest race car on the show floor is, of course, a rally car. This 1990 Audi 80 Quattro, 5 in line 10v 2.3 turbo has been raced in rallies in the US and Canada such as Tall Pines and Snow Drift since the 90’s, and is currently being restored to rally shape.

There are a lot of racing as well as classic gems on the show floor – here’s a full gallery of some of my favorites.

: 1909 Alco-6 Racer (Alco Black Beast)

: 1950 Allard

: 1950 Allard

: Midget Racer from Saratoga Automobile Museum

: Kurt Busch 2009 Miller Lite Dodge

: Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: onica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: onica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: onica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R

: Acura NSX

: Ford GT

: Jaguar Formula e

: Jaguar Formula e

: Jaguar Formula e

: BMW i8 Safety Car

: BMW

: 2018 Camry – Kyle Busch

: Subaru Rally Team

: Honda Indycar

: Lexus

: Mazda

: Venturi

: NASCAR

: 1990 Audi 80 Quattro rally car

: 1990 Audi 80 Quattro rally car

: 1990 Audi 80 Quattro rally car

: Audi

: Classic Volvos

: Classic Subaru

: Nissan Rogue One with Death Star

Crerar moves up the ranks at Monte Carlo

January 21, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Ontario driver Ian Crerar described the roads on the morning of day 3 at Monte Carlo as absolutely treacherous. By stage two, the ice began to soften and the drive became “less diabolical”. By the time stage three began, the team made the switch from worn out studded tires to tarmac slicks!

As I write this, Special Stage 13 has come to a finish and Crerar and Levesque have moved up to 48th place overall, a 21 spot improvement from their starting position!

Clearwater Design Racing supporter Derek Perry is at the rally and grabbed these shots of the Canadians in action on SS7, saying “This car produces a very pleasing exhaust note, and Pat and Ian put on an impressive display as they rocketed past. Spectators on the hillside were quite selective with their applause but they screamed and clapped loudly as the boys showed more aggression than most with their driving.”

There is drama at the top of the leaderboard, as the Hyundai of Thierry Neuville has dropped back to 15th position on SS13. Ford driver Sebastian Ogier is on maximum attack, reportedly taking big risks which have paid off, putting him ahead of Neuville on SS12. Ogier retained his lead on SS13.

Day 2 update from Monte Carlo

January 20, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Day one at the 2017 Rallye Monte Carlo began with tragedy, as an errant spectator was killed when hit by Hayden Padden’s crashing Hyundai. Padden has been withdrawn from the event.

The driver’s Hyundai team mate, Thierry Neuville, however is leading the rally at the mid point of stage 6.

Our great Canadian hope, Ian Crerar and Pat Levesque are doing us proud, having moved up from their starting spot of 69th overall to 59th. That puts the #113 Peugeot in 10th spot in the R4 class.

Crerar has been taking some time out to shoot some Facebook live clips along the way, including this one from the finish of stage 5, where the driver talks about the fan installed “gotchas” that teams are having to navigate.

image credit: WRC

Monte Carlo: First stage cancelled due to crash involving spectator

January 19, 2017 by Gary Grant 2 Comments

“First stage scrubbed… Must have been a big accident”

This observation from Canadian WRC competitor Ian Crerar shows just how little information filters back to the entrants during an event.

The accident in itself wasn’t too bad. On a tight mountain pass, Hayden Padden lost the back end of the Hyundai entry at the exit of a sharp left turn and smacked the rock face. The impact threw the car into the air and onto its side. When the car comes to a rest, a spectator can be seen pinned underneath the car.

Hyundai verified that it was indeed their man and that a spectator was involved, on Twitter:

SS1 UPDATE: it’s reported that a person was involved in Paddon’s accident. We are liaising with the organisers to have more news.

— Hyundai Motorsport (@HMSGOfficial) January 19, 2017

Update: The spectator has died.

As a motorsport photographer, this kind of stupidity drives me absolutely insane. Why on earth is there a human standing at the exit of a turn, with no protection and no place to escape. Every single time something like this happens, it makes my job as a shooter more difficult.

2017 WRC season kicks of in Monte Carlo with live stream and a Canadian competitor

January 19, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Rally fans have been more excited than usual for the start of the new WRC season since Red Bull announced that they would be live streaming every round of the series. For North American fans who are used to seeing little or no coverage outside of clips on social media, this is huge.

Canadian fans have an extra reason to be excited, as “one of us” is competing in the first round, the Rallye Monte Carlo, which begins this evening. Long time racer/rally driver Ian Crerar and co-driver Pat Levesque are checking off one of my own bucket list items by taking on the historic event. This is Crerar’s Clearwater Design Racing’s second event in the WRC, having scored a podium finish in Corsica in 2016. The duo are once again driving a Peugeot 208 R2 in the RC4 category.

Clearwater Design Racing’s view from above the clouds during recce

This year’s Monte Carlo is more than 85 per cent new and promises to be grueling. 382 km of stages are book ended by an exhausting 1,029 km of transit sections.

Live streaming begins at 4 pm tomorrow, here.

Be sure to follow Clearwater Design Racing as they post photos and Facebook live updates.

Subaru Announces Two New Drivers

January 5, 2017 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

Teams are wasting no time with their driver changes in the new year – on day four of 2017, it was time to hastily update the Rallycross Silly Season Spreadsheet! Subaru announced a big change in their Red Bull GRC team, bringing in one big surprise and one a little more anticipated. First the surprise – Subaru has managed to spirit the seasoned Patrik Sandell from driving a Ford with Bryan Herta Rallysport to the Subie side. A competitor in GRC since 2013, the Swede is no stranger to the champagne spray with one win and five podiums in 2016 alone. Additionally, Australian rally driver Chris Atkinson who competed for the team in select GRC events last season has also been brought onto the team for the full 2017 season in the Vermont SportsCar WRX STI.

“I enjoyed my first taste of rallycross last year with the team, and it’s clear to see the potential both the team and the car have,” explains Atkinson. “I’m excited to come on board full-time with the squad, and I can’t wait to get started. The guys are working so hard in Vermont in the off-season now to really give Patrik and I something very special to drive in 2017.”

Rally driver David Higgins has also driven in a few GRC events for Subaru, and will continue to compete in rally for the USA team. In 2016, the new non-profit ARA (American Rally Association) was formed, headed by Tim O’Neil. Subaru has put their faith in the new sanctioning body and will be a national sponsor for the first year, while fielding Higgins and teammate Travis Pastrana. Sandell and Atkinson are both competitive rally drivers as well, so perhaps we can look forward to some more cross-over between rally and rallycross in the coming year.

Seed 9 Rally 2016 Edition

November 11, 2016 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

November means a return to the Mojave desert for the last rally of the year, Seed 9 Rally Presented by Gold Strike Hotel & Gambling Hall. In what seems to be a new trend, at least in West Coast rally, is the inclusion of UTV’s – and the Seed 9 entry list had two. One driven by third place on last year’s podium, Brent Lee with co-driver Ericka Sacks, and the second was Mihai Gologan – whose co-driver was MIA, but he braved the rough desert stages alone. While there are mixed feelings about including off-road vehicles in traditional rally, there’s no denying that it brings more participants as well as a whole new audience and fan base to the rally scene.

This year’s entry list shrunk considerably from last year’s, mostly due to many of the usual teams having had a rough time at Prescott the previous month and not being able to get the car back into rally shape for Seed 9. The convention of Elvis impersonators were also sadly missing. Still, coinciding with SEMA week works in its favor with teams in town that may not normally run a car in this regional rally, and All Fours Rally Team signed on with Agatino Fortunato and Randy Biehl in Super Pro (Subaru WRX STI) as well as Cameron Steely and Preston Osborn (Ford Fiesta ST). There was even an international driver – ZiYong Xu arrived with a large cheering posse that perhaps for the first time ever gave Seed 9 actual spectators other than of the region’s wild horses. Seed 9 organizers had found him a co-driver in John Dillon who not only has a deep rally resume, but also speaks a bit of Mandarin.

Eight is enough for the rally to be run so the cars drove out of the Gold Strike parking lot, past the suddenly famous Pioneer Saloon under the watchful eye Goodpsring’s patrol car, and onto the dirt and gravel of Wilson Pass Road. All teams survived the four stages – one or two almost-offs, but everyone was able to re-start and continue.

After service, teams drove out to the two night stages – Ivanpah Valley West and East – right by the casino. It was here where one team’s luck ran out. Watching from downstage a quarter mile away, the headlights of Steely’s Ford Fiesta ST started making their way on the road. Suddenly, the headlights were pointing up in the air, then red taillights whipped around way higher than taillights ever should. A few minutes later, the next car came through – fortunately, everyone was fine.

Congratulations to overall winner Matt Coffman of Formula D with co-driver Blake Lind for the second year in a row, Xu/Dillon in second and Fortunato/Biehl third.

: O

A Day in the Life Of A Tall Pines Rally Volunteer

September 3, 2016 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

One of the most common questions I am asked by new motorsport enthusiasts is “How do I start racing or rallying?” There are so many different types of motorsport that my first answer is to get out and spectate. Visit as many events as you can to figure out which form of the sport is the best one for you. Next step is to get out and volunteer. It may not sound glamourous, but every form of motorsport is so dependent on volunteers that the show would not go on without them.

You don’t even need any special skills, just a willingness to work and follow some basic directions. Volunteering allows you to see behind the scenes and meet the people who are in the know. Once you are ready to explore a bit of competition yourself, these people you meet along the way will be your biggest supporters and will usually help you out too.

So what does a volunteer do? It can be anything from organizing events to shuttling lunch around and pretty much anything in between. Canadian rally volunteer Justin Cohen put together a great video at the 2015 running of the Rally of the Tall Pines, to show how his day went.

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