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Red Bull GRC Silly Season News

March 1, 2017 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

Red Bull Global Rallycross’s Silly Season hasn’t been as tumultuous as previous years, but there still have been some interesting announcements since Patrik Sandell was snapped up to join Chris Atkinson for a new Subaru Rally Team USA lineup:

  • 2016 Season champion Scott Speed has a new sponsor for 2017, teaming up with Oberto and Circle K.
  • Loenbro has launched a multi-car team for 2017, with seasoned competitor Steve Arpin and another driver to be announced.

Steve Arpin

The GRC Lites program, conceived to be a feeder series and give young drivers rallycross experience, has been successful in doing just that. Cabot Bigham, the 2016 GRC Lites season champion, will try to fill Sandell’s racing shoes piloting the Ford Fiesta ST for Bryan Herta Rallysport. Looking at the field of 2017 SuperCar drivers, there are a several other familiar faces from GRC Lites – Mitchell DeJong was the 2014 GRC Lites champion and made his SuperCar debut in the 2016 season finale in Los Angeles and Kevin Eriksson is back with OMSE after driving the Honda Civic in SuperCars for the first time in Atlantic City in 2016.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will continue to field a three-car team in GRC Lites; Alex Keyes will stay with them for a third season, while Christian Brooks and Travis Pecoy join him after competing with AF Racing last year.

Keyes

More announcements will be coming soon – and we’re looking forward to more information on the Canadian double-header. That nosey little bird has intoned that the location will be in Ottawa and while unconfirmed, TGB certainly hopes that this is true. Meanwhile, tickets are already on sale for the season opener at Memphis International Raceway in Tennessee April 28-29. Say hi to Elvis for me if you go.

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Red Bull GRC – DC Las Vegas – The 2015 Red Bull GRC Championship Racer Jackie Returns to GRC Lites, Formula D Back in Irwindale Jeff Ward is SH Rallycross’s New GRC Driver GRC Makes a Bet on Atlantic City

Crazy Leo wins first round of 2017 Canadian Rally Championship

February 5, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

The intention was to shoot for a win in the production class, but when it came time to perform, returning Canadian rally star “Crazy Leo” Urlichich pulled it all together in spectacular fashion to win the Canadian Rally Championship portion of the 2017 Rallye Perce Neige.

In the early morning stages, Subaru Canada Rally Team ace Antoine L’Estage, paired with returning co-driver Alan Ockwell, was fastest on the road, with Urlichich hanging out in the top five, just a handful of seconds behind L’Estage’s open class machine. Canadian rally legend Frank Sprongl assured me via Facebook that Antoine’s style was more suited to the fast and open forest stages which were to follow. Unfortunately for L’Estage, that was not to happen, as technical gremlins left him wrestling with a mostly rear wheel drive Subaru.

By Special Stage 6, Urlichich had won his first stage and not long after was running in third position overall behind American Rally Association entries David Higgins and Travis Pastrana.

Always a fan favourite thanks to his flamboyant driving style, Urlichich commented through the day that the addition of studded tires, which are legal at Quebec events, made all the difference, offering a consistent level of grip at all times.

By the completion of the final stage, Higgins had won the overall event and the ARA portion, followed by teammate Pastrana. Urlichich took third spot in both, while claiming the overall win in the Canadian championship.

Teams now have until May to prepare their machines for the Rocky Mountain Rally in B.C.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Image credit: Maciej Janiak

Related posts:

Crazy Leo returns to competition at Rallye Perce Neige this weekend Win a the Ultimate Rally Experience with Crazy Leo at Tall Pines Default ThumbnailPastrana leads SnoDrift Rally while Block is on the trailer Default ThumbnailOn Board with Travis Pastrana at 100 Acre Wood Default Thumbnail4 camera onboard view of Pat Richard attacking Tall Pines

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.

01_STPR16_practice

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.

02_STPR16_practice

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.

03_STPR16_parcespose

04_STPR16_parcexpose

04_STPR16_drivers meeting

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.

05_STPR16_jump

06_STPR16_patrana

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.

07_STPR16_special

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.

08_STPR16_asaph

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.

09_STPR16_crash

10_STPR16_crash

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.

11_STPR16_special

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.

12_STPR16_demasi

13_STPR16_podium

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.

14_STPR16_rallyon

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
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
18:36.3 0:31.8
6 370 SP 2 Garry Gill / Steven Harrell
2008 Subaru WRX STI
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
37:33.1 0:55.2
8 78 2WD 3 Dave Wallingford / Leanne Junnila
2012 Ford Fiesta
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
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
45:16.8 7:43.7

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Bucky Lasek To Make Rally Debut in 2016

January 14, 2016 by ponycargirl 1 Comment

Speculation confirmed! The 2016 announcements just keep on coming. After spotting Bucky Lasek chasing the Subaru Rally Team across Maine and New Hampshire at the New England Forest Rally in June 2015, it was announced today that Lasek will make his rally debut at Sno*Drift Rally. His co-driver will be Craig Drew, who teamed with David Higgins in 2015 for their sensational Rally America winning sweep.

“Rally has always been one of the gnarliest forms of racing to me and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I can’t express how grateful I am for this opportunity and experience,” explained Lasek. “Sno*Drift will be a bit of a challenge for me as I have very little experience driving in the snow and with pace notes. Luckily I’ll have champion co-driver Craig Drew along my side to guide me and help me get me to the finish.” Higgins will be at the winter rally to coach Lasek in his first rally.

Lasek has driven for Subaru in Red Bull Global Rallycross since 2012, earning three podiums and a “Sportsman of the Year” award for the 2014 season. He will enter Sno*Drift in Super Production class with a Subaru WRX STI.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Sno*Drift will take place January 29-30 in northern Michigan’s Montmorency County, covering 130 miles in 17 snowy, icy rally stages – without studded tires. The first event on the Rally America calendar, the rally attracts a deep field of top national and international teams. Previous years overall winners have included Travis Pastrana / Christian Edstrom (2010), Antoine L’Estage / Nathalie Richard (2013), and repeat wins by Higgins/Drew in 2012, 2014, and 2015. More event information can be found on the Sno*Drift Rally site and Rally America.
Red Bull Global Rallycross in New York

_DSC0958 copy

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Higgins and Drew Dominate at New England Forest Rally Red Bull Global Rallycross Mid-Season Update Shaking It Up at the Red Bull GRC Double Header in L.A. Default ThumbnailSno*Drift Rally Pics by Andrew Harvey Higgins-Drew Undefeated in Rally America Series

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