NWTuner.com » rally

Olympus Rally 2011: A humbling day.

administrator — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:29:57 +0000

Rally racing is an extreme sport with many obstacles ranging from mechanical failure, driver mistakes, weather conditions, stage conditions, all the way to intoxicated spectators. One thing that really hit home after the Olympus Rally was realizing how close knit the community surrounding it is; the drivers, their families, the communities where these events take place, the fans who drive for hundreds of miles. The drivers who compete come from all over the United States, and Canada with one thing in common; to compete against the conditions for the best time. With this determination and adrenaline we can sometimes forget about the danger involved. The Olympus Rally takes place on the Washington coast in the hills, mountains and valleys that line it. It is such a gorgeous place to experience. However, these roads are filled with large gravel and rock, mud, and stumps, and even creeks and are extremely treacherous. During the event on Smith Creek Road (Stage 6), Matthew Marker “#65″ of Elk Rapids, MI and his co-driver went off the course. Matthew was taken from the rally community during that stage. This is the first fatality in rally in the United States since 2003 when a driver and co-driver died. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Matthew’s family and friends and those who were close to him. NWTuner.com has made a donation to his family and we encourage you to purchase a bracelet and/or vinyl decal in his remembrance. Amanda Skelly is organizing this and you can see the event and contact her through Facebook or via email.

Matthew Marker coming down Smith Creek Road into the sun.

Saturday was a full house at the Parc Expose which was located at the Ocean Shores Convention Center for the Olympus Rally, with over 50 cars entered, drivers and fans gathered. David Higgins and Dave Mirra seemed to be of the most crowded around drivers (Who finished first and fourth overall at the conclusion of the rally at Stage 6).

Stage 6 uphill/downhill was full of 3-4 inch gravel. Leaving the few spectators in these areas ducking for cover after cars sprayed them.

Antoine L’Estage has no fear down the mountain and into the sun.

Fans at the Parc Expose.

Dave and Richard Hintz and their 1999 BMW M3.

Global RallyCross: Twin Peaks Day 2

administrator — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:08:21 +0000

The second day of the Global RallyCross: Twin Peaks event sponsored by BestBuy was wet, the clouds squeezed out their last drop before mid-day as the weather turned for the better. The track was wet and muddy for the heats to start running as spectators filled the stands and lined the fences of the entire facility. The fans proved the Northwest has a passion for motorsports no matter the weather or venue. The stands had over 1000 fans not including however many were walking around the pits or inside the Old Mill watching cars fly through the only dry part of the track.

You can see the starting conditions of the corner out of the Old Mill on Day 2 at Twin Peaks.

The Dirt Fish guys took their car for a fun run on the track with the media, they took a couple of laps before more practice commenced.

Dave Mirra signs some posters for young fans.

Tanner Foust signs some posters at the autograph session in the Cooper Tires trailer.

Inside view of the Old Mill, they told us this building was close to or over 100 years old.

Stephan Verdier washes the dirt off of his Subaru.

We had the chance to catch Dave Mirra skipping out on the autograph session and walked the corner out of the Old Mill with him. He was worried that it was extremely slick because of the weather but after closer inspection felt that he could really take the corner sideways and take off out of the corner, which later that day left him with another damaged car as he had to be towed back to the pits.

While walking the track with Mirra he had some comments on Foust’s words after he overshot the jump the previous day while jumping over the blue Ford Fiesta, from Mirra’s own experience he says that you never blame the builder of the jump if you take the jump too fast and launch your own car 120 feet instead of 70 feet, the problem isn’t with the jump he said. Mirra felt very confident on the part of the course that we walked with him.

Richard Burton takes the joker with a car approaching underneath him.

Michael Jernberg takes the corner hard in his Skoda Fabia in “The Link” as 2 cars trail him.

Andi Mancin loses boost as he attempts to go over the joker and flips his car.

Andi Mancin appears from the rubble unharmed and waves to the crowd as they cheer him on.

Ultimately, Tanner Foust came away with the first place win on Day 2. We hope to see this event continue to come back to the Northwest for years to come and we have a feeling this track will be a hit with the folks in the Pacific Northwest. Until next time.

Global RallyCross: Twin Peaks Day 1

administrator — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:57:25 +0000

The Twin Peaks Global RallyCross event in Snoqualmie, Washington this past Friday saw great attendance on Day 1 despite the thirty percent chance of rain that realistically turned into a day with thirty percent of no precipitation. The rain showers made for slick conditions as the drivers forged through mud that formed in the dirt areas of the course. The part of the course known as “The Link” quickly turned into a slew of cement like mud as the 2WD and 4WD cars struggled through to cross the finish line and complete laps. The 70-foot jump was the centerpiece for fans who showed up as the 4WD cars took their joker laps, sometimes even two cars jumping at once which made for some intense action. Andreas Eriksson took first place for Ford Racing in the 4WD class, beating out Tanner Foust on an action packed last lap where Foust ultimately injured his shoulder putting him out of the race in what is known as “The Boneyard.” The Boneyard is a high speed dirt corner that drivers take after the jump. For the 2WD class Mikael Eriksson won in his Porsche beating out Cody Crane in his Honda CRX by seconds.

Andreas Eriksson jumps his Best Buy Ford Fiesta.

Tanner Foust lands the jump in his Ford Fiesta at Old Mill Adventure Park.

Stephen Verdier takes the corner wide into “The Boneyard.”

Safety official watches the action closely, awaits to alert drivers with yellow caution flags.

Dave Mirra takes the 70-foot jump and loses his back bumper.

The slew of mud the drivers had to navigate through.

Dave Mirra takes the corner in the switch-back by-passing the joker. Earlier in the day he had some back luck going around the jump and rolled his car and landed back on the wheels.

Mirra leaves the course for the Subaru Rally Team to repair the car.

Foust flies through The Boneyard in his Rockstar Ford Fiesta.

Cody Crane catches some air screaming around the jump in his Honda CRX.

Dylan Van Way powers through laps with smoke barreling out of the back.

Marcus Dodd powering through flinging up mud and rocks.

Stay tuned for tomorrow when we post coverage from Day 2 action at Global RallyCross Twin Peaks, you won’t want to miss the photos and commentary.

Oregon Trail Rally 2010

administrator — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:25:26 +0000

Round four of the Rally America National Championship series has come and gone and with it a new winner and record; the NOS Energy Mitsubishi team of Andrew Comrie-Picard took first place. It was an all Mitsubishi podium finish as Bacon Motorsports very own Bill Bacon finished second and Monster’s L’Estage finished third. This was the first ever all Mitsubishi finish in Rally America history. The event had 61 teams entered and of them only 47 teams remained at the start of the last day. A whopping 24 teams did not finish; included in that was Dave Mirra and Ken Block. Travis Pastrana was racing in Australia for this event and did not enter.

The terrain Oregon offered these drivers was everything that the Northwest has to offer; miles of hills and straight stretches and treacherous mountain roads littered with obstacles. The weather for the event was perfect; besides all of the dust. At times there was a dust window for the drivers. From the results you can tell that the drivers were put to the test and only the best finished.

The next rally in the Northwest is July 15-17 which is the Idaho Rally down in Boise. For more information: Idaho Rally. We will be sure to report back with pictures and results.

Wild West Rally 2008

erik — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:21:00 +0000