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Automotive and Motorsports.
Trunk Monkey #6 – Chaperone Director’s Cut – Suburban Auto Group
WRC in the US for 2008
It looks like the FIA may be bringing WRC to the US for 2008!
The Sullivan County Visitors Association and Rally New York, Ltd. have reached an agreement to pursue a bid for a future round of the World Rally Championship. Rally New York, Ltd. is seeking approval to submit a bid to the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) to host a World Rally Championship here in the Sullivan County Catskills. The FIA is interested in expanding the World Rally series especially with a location in the United States. The observation year would be slated for early 2007 with the actual event held from 2008 on an annual basis.
Rally New York, Ltd. has already received approval from the Town Supervisors of the towns where the championship would be held and legislative approval from Sullivan County. “We are very interested in bringing an automobile race of this importance to Sullivan County and fully support the efforts of this experienced promoter†stated Chris Cunningham, the Sullivan County Legislative Chairman. The Sullivan County Visitors Association is working hand in hand with Rally New York seeking public and private partnerships to sponsor the event. “A World Championship event of this caliber will give Sullivan County world recognition and a substantial boost to the economy of Sullivan County, the region and the entire State of New York†said Roberta Byron-Lockwood, President & CEO of the Sullivan County Visitors Association.
Ivan Orisek, President of Rally New York, Ltd. stated that the process is a two year venture with the first year being an observation event in which observers from the FIA would evaluate the rally to see if it meets specifications to be included into the World Rally Championship. The next year would be the actual event seen on TV by hundreds of millions of rally fans around the world. The economic effects of an event of this magnitude are millions of dollars during the event and residual millions due to the extreme exposure of the race.
Ed Jackson, Deputy Clerk of the Course added: “This is a culmination of our five-year effort to bring rallying in the United States out of distant wilderness inaccessible to spectators and to the vicinity of New York City.†Sullivan County Catskills is a resort area located only 90 miles northwest of New York City with excellent highway access.
Rally New York, Ltd. is already the promoter of Rally New York USA and International Rally New York, two of the eight events being held in the 2006 United States Rally Championship. Rally New York will seek support of ACCUS, the United States Affiliate of FIA, the United States Auto Club (USAC) and National Auto Sport Association (NASA) for the bid to the FIA.
Herb Clark
Vice President of Marketing & Sales
Sullivan County Visitors Association
(800) 882-CATS
Maine Winter Rally 2005 is a go!
Maine Winter Rally 2005 is definitely on this year! We’re not yet sure if the Trunkmonkey Pink Impreza will be running but the good news is the entry fee includes licenses for the 2006 Rally America season! We’ll have to see if we have the budget and can borrow a trailer for the event.
Subaru contingency cash for all Impreza drivers at all Rally America National events!
Subaru and Rally America have tentatively announced $500 contingency sponsorship for all new-gen Impreza National drivers and $200 contingency sponsorship for all Impreza Regional drivers driving at National events! Looks like Maine Forest Rally will cost us $200 less next year!
Rally America announces 2006 season
The premiere national rally series in the United States has grown to nine events, with two new additions. The 2006 Rally America calendar will include Missouri’s 100 Acre Wood early in the year and Nevada’s Reno Rally will close the series, extending the season into December.
The 100 Acre Wood rally now stands as the second event of the year, taking place in February as early spring ripples through the Ozark foothills of Missouri. “The roads at this event are fantastic,” says Rally America spokesman J.B. Niday.
Series organizers says they were looking to add a race to close a long gap between races at the beginning of the season and this flagship regional rally was an obvious choice. Previously, there were nearly four months between the winter season opener in Michigan, Sno*Drift, and the next event, Oregon Trail.
The other welcome addition to the series is the Reno Rally, which takes place on the high desert roads of Nevada in early December. “Reno is one of those events that has been just sitting there waiting to happen for several years,” Niday says.
The championship will also bid farewell to Pikes Peak, an event that hasn’t been a good fit with the rally series. Organizers working with the famed hill climb have tried to expand the event into rally with the addition of traditional stage miles, but it has not been a success. “Pikes Peak just isn’t a rally. Period,” says Niday. “The truth of the matter is all any of us really want to do is drive up the mountain.”
Although the hill climb won’t count for points in the series, Niday says he expects some rally competitors will continue to take on the challenge.
2006 Rally America Championship:
- Sno*Drift: January 27-28
- 100 Acre Wood: February 24-25
- Oregon Trail: April 21-23
- Susquehannock Trail Rally: June 3
- Maine Forest Rally: July 28-29
- Ojibwe Forests Rally: August 25-26
- Colorado Cog: September 23-24
- Lake Superior Rally: October 20-21
- Reno Rally: December 1-2
Axles are consumable items
I blew up an axle at Union Rallycross this past weekend. Chalk one up for a learning experience—axles are consumable items. I did a conservative ~3000 RPM launch, heard a nasty pop followed by grinding, and limped the Trunkmonkey Pink Impreza halfway through the course and back to service. After initially thinking the problem was with the clutch or rear diff we quickly found a twisted CV boot on the driver rear that made it obvious that the CV joint had shredded.
After a few hours of fighting with frozen bolts and removing the DMS 50 and lateral links we got the axle out, counted the splines, and raided Dave Getchell’s service truck for a spare. About an hour later the car was reassembled and back out on course for afternoon runs and came back to compete on the second day. I’m just glad the axle blew up at a $50 Rallycross and not on SS2 at an $800 ProRally.
Many thanks to the dozen or so guys who stepped up to the plate to help get the car back up and running!
Trunkmonkey Racing at Union Rallycross
This weekend Trunkmonkey Racing will be running at Union Rallycross, a two-day event at Union Fairgrounds in Maine. We’ll be heading up Friday evening to help with logistics and to set up the course, running for championship points on Saturday, and then running shakedown on Sunday. Hopefully the gorgeous weather will hold its course and we’ll get a few crisp sunny days before Hurricane Wilma moves in.
WRC rally news
Next year is looking pretty interesting. The short of what is going on with the WRC:
Some logistic issues for the event in two weeks. Cars may be let into Corsica but not back out again. Guess there is a problem with the ferry workers. This is a serious enough problem that the event could be canceled as the next event is in Spain the following weekend. A delay getting off the island could cause major problems as Corsica & Spain are tied together via the “engines must be used for two events” rule.
FIA is trying *really* hard to screw up rally as we know it. The 5 minute rule now applies to the last day so you don’t have to actually finish a rally receive points. There is also talk of changing the 5 minute rule to the 10 minute rule as its mathematically possible (and leverage once by Citroen with Duval) to gain better points by leaving the rally. Not a lot of support for changing it to 10 minutes at this time.
Ford has signed Gronholm as a driver for 06 & 07. Sure the new RS is suppose to be a killer car, but its still an untested ride. Doesn’t Gronholm remember what he went through with Peugeot last year??? Wondering if the guy enjoys the abuse. 😉
Speaking for Ford, they have requested a rule change to have all events end in a super special where the outcome will have a greater impact on the final finish order. In other words, a driver that wins the event could end up in second if someone beats them in the final super special. Huhhh??? they claim its to get better TV coverage of events, but I’m guessing it has more to do with the fact that Ford is sucking wind in the last half of this season and they know the super specials are Loeb’s only real weak spot.
Speaking of Loeb, he is still not signed for 06. He is hoping to get a private ride through Citroen, and that the manufacturer will officially return in 07. This could be a problem as the FIA is banning certain drivers (like Loeb) from driving old style rally cars in 06 as the old cars will be faster than the new spec models. From what I hear Citroen still does not have parent company approval to return in 07, so who knows what will happen at this point. Would be kind of interesting if a privateer grabbed the driver’s title.
Martin is out of the WRC for the rest of the season. Rumor mill is that he is no longer trying to find a ride for 06, so he may be out of rally completely. Can’t say I blame him in the least.
Trunkmonkey Run For The Border 2005
The weather was warm and clear, the views were breathtaking, but in the end the “Trunkmonkey Run For The Border” road rally was all about the driving. The event took place over 160 miles of Vermont’s best driving roads. Approximately 80% of the course was dirt, but there were some twisty tarmac sections thrown in just to keep participants on their toes. CAS was a little higher than the average NER event, challenging each driver’s ability to stay on time.
While the rally took place by the New Hampshire/Vermont border, the rally got its name from the fact that contestants followed a portion of the route used by some of the booze runners in the 1930’s. Prohibition spawned a new job opportunity, namely transporting alcohol down from Canada to major cities such as Boston and New York. It was not uncommon for booze runners to stick to the back roads in order to avoid detection by law enforcement. The rally passed through one of the major hubs where alcohol would be transferred from one transport vehicle to another.
Competition on the rally was extremely fierce. The teams of Alan and Kathy Moody, as well as Cara and Alan Dennis both made strong showing in novice class. Their Rallycross skills obviously got a workout on this extended course. In the end however, John Parsons and Andrej Gaspari would edge out the team of Don Grant and George Harding to take the top podium spot by a slim 16 point margin. All the novice teams did an excellent job following the course and none of them maxed out a single checkpoint score. Each team could easily be competitive in stock class.
Speaking of stock class, the competition here was even closer. The team of Ramon Gonzalez and Greg Viscomi edged out the team of Lisa and Howie Lyhte by a mere eight points. That’s less than five seconds over the entire length of the course using a watch and stock odo gear!
Both teams running in class C were formed just days before the event. While each participant was seasoned at road rally, it was their first time out with their respective driver or co-driver. The team of Brett Rudolf and Hal Denham made a strong showing, especially when you calculate in the need to fix a flat tire on course. In the end however it was the team of Tim Chevalier and Steve McKelvie that took the top podium spot in lucky car number 13. Chevalier and McKelvie had an amazing run, pulling single digit scores at 70% of the checkpoints.
There was only a single team competing in class B. This was the team of Mike White and Andrew Steere. Despite the lack of competition they still hit it hard and pulled a respectable score.
Finally, the biggest competition was in class A. The team of Daren Jones and David Schickedarz make the trip all the way down from Ontario and made a strong showing. The team of Scott and Jamie Beliveau also did well, especially when you take into consideration that this is Jamie’s first year out. Just edging them out was the team of Pego Mack and Mark Ziburis. Not only did Mack and Ziburis take the third podium position, but they also won the drawing at the end of the event for the two lamp auxiliary light bar donated by Rally Ho! Racing. This will certainly come in handy on their next night rally.
The top two spots in class A could not have been closer. Mike Friedman and Marc Goldfarb took second with a mere 19 points. Top spot went to none other than Stephanie Gosselin and Fred Mapplebeck with 18 points. That’s just over .5 seconds worth of error separating these two teams. Talk about tight competition!
Other highlights of the rally included a swimming hole at the break area, numerous covered bridges, and free food at the end of the event. By the end of the event, everyone seemed to be grinning from ear to ear, which is what really matters in road rally.
Team Trunkmonkey would like to thank our two generous sponsors for helping to make this event such a success. Thanks to Rally Ho! Racing for raffling off the beautifully made auxiliary light bar. Rally Ho! makes an awesome two or four lamp light-bar for the Subaru Impreza that requires no drilling that can easily be installed or removed as needed. For more info, drop a note to [email protected].
Finally, we would like to thank Finer Touch Auto Body of Manchester, NH. They have been big supporters of both the Trunkmonkey team, as well as multiple SCCA events within the region. Without generous financial supporters like Finer Touch, our sport would be far more cost prohibitive. More information can be found at www.finertouchautobody.com.