Rally

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.

California’s Tough Gorman Ridge Rally

August 25, 2016 by ponycargirl 1 Comment

As the oldest consecutively running rally in California, the Gorman Ridge Rally is also the toughest rally in the United States. All sixteen stages are run on a single day in Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area around the small town of Lebec, in grasslands north of Los Angeles city limits. Stages are run on narrow roads of shifting sand and packed… sand, with high berms, twisting turns, loose rocks, and unexpected washes. The last four stages with the famous jump are run on the “Cliffs of Gorman” as the sun sets. The final two stages are in complete darkness save for the stars above, and nerve-wracking even for the most seasoned driver and co-driver.

For the first time this year, SxS UTVs were allowed to enter in two additional classes – SxS Production (1000cc limit, modified), and SxS Turbo (1000cc limit, modified/turbocharged). The teams consist of a driver and co-driver, just like the rally cars and trucks. Originally three teams entered, but ultimately only one made it to the rally. Still, exciting for the first year. Because the UTVs aren’t road-legal, the team had to take alternate trail routes to transit from stage to stage and stage to service within the park, while the cars used the main park roads.

With 28 total entries, there was a a deep enough field for some hearty competition between the experienced teams, as well as a healthy batch of newer teams and first-timers. The race of attrition started early with four teams out of competition after the fifth of the Condor Stages, including Toyota’s RAV4 team of Ryan Millen Christina Fate. The Cliffs of Gorman stages dashed the hopes of four more teams, including Stephen Benson and Nicolas Renold. They had a great position starting third, but suffered three strikes before they were out: on the fourth and fifth stages had a fuse issue and then an off, respectively. They got back on track timing-wise, but then ultimately suffered complete electrical failure on Stage 14 and were towed off by the sweep.

The UTV Team Cain Smead and Michael Henderson, competing in a Yamaha YXZ 1000R, finished the rally with a time of 1:20.72 – fourth overall. When all stages were completed, the class winners pulled in front of the Holiday Inn in Lebec. After the champagne spray and all of the awards, everyone who was still awake headed out to the dirt lot across the street for for the afterparty. Overall winners:

1. Kris Psara/Andres Bautista 1:15.78

2. Jason Copt/Cameron Meng 1:16.31

3. John Coyne/Douglas Nagy 1:18.36

Complete overall results (from Rallydata.com) and gallery:

Place O.A	Car #	Driver / Co-Driver	Car	Total Score	Diff Prev		Class
1	41	Kris Psara /	subaru sti	1:15.78		1	AWD
		Andres Bautista			0.53
2	142	Jason Copt /	Subaru Impreza WRX	1:16.31		2	AWD
		Cameron Meng			2.05
3	76	John Coyne /	Subaru Impreza	1:18.36		3	AWD
		Douglas Nagy			2.36
4	166	Cain Smead /	Yamaha YXZ1000R	1:20.72		1	Pro Prod
		Michael Henderson			1.05
5	474	Cem Akdeniz /	Subaru Impreza	1:21.77		4	AWD
		Sean McElwain			0.94
6	102	Kurt Smith /	Subaru Impreza	1:22.71		5	AWD
		Steven Snyder			0.80
7	31	Michel Hoche-Mong /	Volkswagen Golf GT	1:23.51		1	2WD
		Marie Boyd			0.51
8	769	Andrew Cowan /	Volkswagon Jetta	1:24.02		2	2WD
		Ryan Dunham			0.92
9	247	Michael Seidman /	Subaru Impreza 2.5	1:24.94		6	AWD
		Thomas Luhrs			0.03
10	768	Eric Poth /	Subaru WRX	1:24.97		7	AWD
		Brent Blakely			0.29
11	15	Chuck Wilson /	Subaru WRX STI	1:25.26		8	AWD
		Rick Wilson			0.86
12	256	Javier Olivares /	Ford Escort	1:26.12		3	2WD
		Brock Heinz			1.11
13	606	Matt Shinnors /	Toyota Corrolla	1:27.23		4	2WD
		Catherine Levis			1.13
14	88	Jesse Babbitz /	Subaru WRX	1:28.36		9	AWD
		John Dillon			1.92
15	808	Richard Burden /	Volkswagen Golf	1:30.28		5	2WD
		Christopher Fine			3.38
16	519	Christian Arboleda /	Mitsubishi EVO X	1:33.66		10	AWD
		Jonathan Correa			3.14
17	405	Susanne Waite /	Subaru WRX STI	1:36.80		11	AWD
		Trent Bateman			8.17
18	272	Ethan Williams /	Ford Focus	1:44.97		6	2WD
		Gleb Serbin			6.28
19	313	Kurt Northrop /	Subaru Impreza	1:51.25		12	AWD
		Will Smith			14.18
20	258	Brian Tullio /	BMW 318i	2:05.43		7	2WD
		Nicholas Roder			34.04
21	302	Daniel Gonzalez /	Volkswagen Golf GT	2:39.47		8	2WD
		Stella Espinoza


11	Bret Robinson /	Volkswagen Golf	DNF	2WD
	Christine Marciniak
312	Stephen Benson /	Subaru Impreza RB2	DNF	AWD
	Nicolas Renold
773	Markus Saarinen /	Ford Focus	DNF	2WD
	Alicia Saarinen
99	Ryan Millen /	Toyota RAV4 SE	DNF	2WD
	Christina Fate
301	Tony Chavez /	Volkswagen Golf GT	DNF	2WD
	Raquel Salas
695	Larry Gross /	Toyota Corolla	DNF	2WD
	Lance Gross
792	Alejandro Perusina /	Subaru Impreza RS	DNF	AWD
	Synnove Wise

STPR 2016

June 10, 2016 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

After a bit of rain on Thursday, recce for the 2016 Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally began on somewhat muddy Waste Management roads. While generally uneventful, many teams made the mistake of speeding on the public roads, throwing in a plot twist before the rally even began. It cost Ryan Millen and Christina Fate 45 seconds and 2015 Rally America Champions David Higgins/Craig Drew were also penalized a crucial 2:15 seconds.

STPR 16 was all about plot twists. Sometimes when the worst that can happen happens, you’re sent on an adventure. Having planned on covering the 2016 Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally since, well, the 2015 Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, everything was set: motel room reserved, credentials tenuously wrangled, gear prepped… until, in the week leading up to the rally dates, I misplaced my driver’s license. The driver’s license I needed to rent a car to drive out to northwest Pennsylvania. The car I needed to drive from stage to stage, chasing rally cars with my cameras.

Rally is nothing if not a big community though, and in the wee hours of Thursday, June 2, I boarded a 30 year-old Susquehanna Trailways bus headed to Mansfield, PA. The press officer, also my roommate for the rally, picked me up from the side of Main Street. Still dressed corporate casual cubicle duds, I was headed out to the muddy practice start to grab a few preliminary shots.

Following parc expose in the Wellsboro town square Friday, I hitched a ride with another photographer over to Waste Management property. The spectator area was packed with people waiting to watch the 60 starting competitors fly over the famous jump – and did not disappoint. Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom started things off catching some spectacular air, followed by Subaru Rally Teammates Higgins and Drew. Car after car headed over the jump until we got word that a red cross had been signaled. News filtered in that popular competitor Gary DeMasi and co-driver Stephen Kurey rolled off course – but everyone was okay. The remaining cars had to drive slowly off to the end of the course.

The second Waste Management stage was no less dramatic, with Pastrana/Edstrom sporting a banged-up door and driving past late in the stage, but finishing.

Friday was capped off back at Tioga Fairgrounds for the Super Special Stage, set up like a rallycross course, with two cars looping twice around a course head-to-head for packed stands. Day 1 results are where Thursday’s time penalties shone the most. Higgins/Drew, after a blistering sweep of the 2015 Rally America season, were .02 of a minute behind just-out-of-retirement Seamus Burke and Martin Brady. Not in insurmountable difference, but it’s rally – anything can happen, and Burke behind the wheel is a formidable competitor.

Stage 5 Asaph started Saturday morning, thirty minutes from Wellsboro town center. Spectators arrived early to claim their spots by the bridge at the spectator area, and the cars soon began speeding through. Four miles into the stage, Pastrana/Edstrom again experienced some difficulties – this time with trees – to an unfortunate DNF. Once again, on the first stage of the day, another team was forced to show the red cross – this time Jack Swayze and Matthew James in an Open Light 1996 Subaru Legacy. After crashing into a tree, the car caught fire. Four-foot flames started to set the trees on fire, and the red cross came out. “What can you do but rebuild?” they said. They rest of the stage was cancelled, and the remaining cars slowly drove out.

My ride to Stage 5 had disappeared but a kindly volunteer named Billy saved the day, and I headed to stages 7 and 10 in his Ford F250. Stage 12 then claimed its final victims: Nick Roberts and Alex Gelsomino’s turbo failed on the last stage for a DNF.

Back at Tioga Fairgrounds, the Super Special stages continued into the night. Bookending his Stage 1 rollover, Gary DiMasi managed to roll his Ford Ranger on his final pass, jumping out of the truck to grab his flag and run to the finish. Ultimately, Higgins/Drew regained first place for their third consecutive overall STPR win in front of Burke and Brady in a 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9, with Troy and Jeremy Miller in third place.

Hanging out with various volunteers all day and relying on the kindness of strangers to get from stage to stage, I met a lot of great people – with a lot of reminiscing more often than not starting out, “One year at STPR, John Buffum…” There is a very dedicated community around STPR, and I also heard a lot of life stories across Saturday’s stages. I met people that have been helping for decades – missing birthdays. Surviving cancers. Coming back year after year for a reunion with people they only see at STPR, watching the competitors go by, keeping the spectators safe, making sure everything runs smoothly. It was an unexpected and welcome adventure among the great people that wear the bright yellow t-shirts , giving up a Friday and Saturday to make STPR happen.

Now the echoes of speeding cars have faded from the trees, the dust has settled, the winners have one, volunteers and competitors have headed home, and the forest is once again left crawling with peaceful spiders and wildlife – until next year.

Rally on, you crazy diamonds.

Full galleries and results follow.

Thursday and Friday gallery:

Saturday Gallery:

O/A	Car #	Class	I/C	Driver / CoDriver	Time	Diff Leader	Diff Previous
1	75	O	1	David Higgins / Craig Drew 2016 Subaru WRX STI	1:41:44.6	0:00.0	0:00.0
2	25	NLO	1	Seamus Burke / Martin Brady 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9	1:51:28.8	9:44.2	9:44.2
3	22	SP	1	Troy Miller / Jeremy Miller 2011 Subaru WRX STI	1:52:14.3	10:29.7	0:45.5
4	824	2WD	1	Cameron Steely / Preston Osborn 2015 Ford Fiesta ST	1:59:49.1	18:04.5	7:34.8
12	73	B	1	Tommy Passemante / Tracey Gardiner 2012 Honda Fit	2:18:22.5	36:37.9	5:29.1
5	99	2WD	2	Ryan Millen / Christina Fate 2016 Toyota RAV4 SE	2:00:20.9	18:36.3	0:31.8
6	370	SP	2	Garry Gill / Steven Harrell 2008 Subaru WRX STI	2:03:56.3	22:11.7	3:35.4
7	121	O	2	Nathan Usher / Aaron Usher 2002 Subaru WRX Wagon	2:04:48.9	23:04.3	0:52.6
13	721	B	2	Keanna Erickson-Chang / Ole Holter 2016 Ford Fiesta	2:19:17.7	37:33.1	0:55.2
8	78	2WD	3	Dave Wallingford / Leanne Junnila 2012 Ford Fiesta	2:08:24.6	26:40.0	3:35.7
9	179	SP	3	Dennis Romero / Jose Rodriguez 2008 Subaru Sti	2:10:47.6	29:03.0	2:23.0
10	59	2WD	4	Marc Feinstein / Meghan Mayo 1991 Porsche 911	2:12:21.7	30:37.1	1:34.1
11	134	2WD	5	Steve LaRoza / Alison LaRoza 2014 Ford Fiesta ST	2:12:53.4	31:08.8	0:31.7
14	348	2WD	6	John Concha / Santiago Alban 2014 Ford Fiesta ST	2:27:01.4	45:16.8	7:43.7

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