Soon after a successful event at International Rally NY, rally organizer Ivan Orisek announced that the USRC would be sanctioning a NY Winter Rally for the first time.  The rally was to take place on some of the same roads in Narrowsburg NY.  With two an a half months to go we dove into re-prepping the car for the 2010 season with improvements to suspension and in car ergonomics.  Fortunately the car was finished with a week left to the rally which gave me the opportunity to spend a day up at Team O’Neils for a little testing.

With the car adjusted for slick conditions, we packed up on Friday morning and headed to NY. Experienced co-driver Aaron Crecenti signed on to ride with me and would be meeting us down there. Conor and I were amongst the first teams to arrive and immediately took to the task of having our studded snow tires mounted by Tread Zone who were providing tire support for the weekend.  Unfortunately we ran into a snag when we discovered that the wheels I had recently purchased did not have the proper bolt pattern as promised and once the tires were mounted we were not able to bolt them on.  Fortunately we had a spare set of wheels with gravel tires and Joe from Tread Zone was kind enough to disassemble and remount the tires once more at no additional cost (thanks Joe!).

With the tire situation straightened out we breezed through tech., met up with Aaron and made our way to the Western Hotel for a home style dinner and much neede rest.

The next morning we were up before dawn, temperatures were in the teens and the sky was clear.  Because of a recent warm spell most of the snow had melted and now the roads of the course were glare ice.  To make things worse temperatures were supposed to rise into the 40s which would form a film of water on the ice surface and would be polished and frozen again by day two.  Our 2 pass recce confirmed the concerns and it became clear that this was going to be a slower and more technical course than expected.

After a brief parc expose we headed out to the first special stage with the goal of setting a conservative baseline time to feel out road conditions.  By this time it was already after noon and the temperatures had climbed quite a bit, offering probably the best conditions of the weekend.  Our conservative time would cost us at least one place in the overall by the end of the weekend but set the tone of driving to finish.

By the second service stop we had run 4 stages and improved times significantly on secondary passes.  Now it was time to mount our lights as temperatures plummeted back below freezing and we headed out onto the icy night stages.  With only a few minutes to time control out I attempted to start the car only to discover we had developed an electrical problem.  With Conor and Rick wiggling ground wires we were finally able to jolt the car to life though a six minute late check out cost us a minute in penalties.  On our transit to the stage I tested our lights and found the extra load was causing the whole electrical system to crash.  We were forced to run the first night stage with only our DOT headlights and try and fix the problem during the next transit.  The lowered visibility  and re-frozen surface did cost us a bit of time but we hoped to make up for it on the next stage.

We had a 50 minute transit for a 3 mile trip so we had time to remove and re-crimp our engine ground strap which we believed to be our problem (thanks to Tom Barton for lending us a couple of tools).  This adjustment allowed us to keep out lights on and we hoped to make some time on Mike Reilly who by now had a couple of minutes on us.  Unfortunately since we had been six minutes late out of service with our electrical problem we found ourselves seeded behind a few of the less confident drivers and in the 9 mile stage came up on two of them.  Because of the narrow course we were stuck behind each car for some time before we had enough room to pass. Both encounters added up to an additional loss of about 1 minute on our stage time which meant we would be going into day to with a margin of more that 3 minutes behind Rielly, but a lot can happen in day two.

Sunday started early while the temperatures were still low and only got worse as the day went on and drizzling rain fell on the ice.  Several cars had met their end on day one wrapping themselves around trees and the carnage was to continue.  When we attempted to start the car and take it out of overnight parc firme we found that our electrical problem had reared it’s ugly head again as the starter would not turn.  We were able to roll start the car and decided to keep it running as much as possible (this proved to be a challenge with no parking brake).

The first two stages were a bit disappointing but were consistent with our slower times of the previous day.  By the second run however I modified my driving technique to minimize wheel spin and we were able to shave over 40 seconds off of our best time from the previous day’s long stage though we were on the very edge of comfortable car control.  Unfortunately we also sustained a significant undercarriage blow on that same stage that tweaked our alignment and caused a slow leak in our oil pan.  At service we topped up the oil and stashed a jug of spare oil in the back to run the last two stages of the day.  By this time it was clear that though we had made up some time Rielly remained quick and consistent and there would be no way to close the margin by more than a minute or two which would be risky in the deteriorated conditions which had taken 4 more cars out of the competition in the last 4 stages.  Since we had a safe margin between us and the closest runner up we chose to take it easy for a safe finish, this cost us one place in the overall but we maintained a 3rd position in 2WD for a podium finish.

After the ceremonial finish final scores and penalties were calculated bumping us down a spot to 5th overall with our 1 minute late penalty and up one position in 2WD do to an unfortunate DQ for Rielly on a time control error.

With the early ending of the rally we were able to pack up and be home for Sunday dinner.

There are two rallys Feb. 6th Sandblast Rally in South Carolina (14hr trip) and Perce Neige in Quebec (8.5hr trip) then a blank calender until April.  Though I would rather travel somewhere warm Perce is closer and considered a world class rally and since the car is currently prepped for snow and ice I hope to make the trek, unfortunately at this time I am lacking a co-driver so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

As usual big thanks to Pete Kunis and Rally Addict for the great photos check out their full galleries at www.onalimbracing.com and www.rallyaddict.com .

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

International Rally New York was the final round of the USRC Championship and the Rally New York annual series.  Set in Sullivan county NY this gravel event is made up of roads on the Ten Mile River Scout Camp which covers over 10,000 acres in Narrowsburg NY.  The 2WD competition this year was stiff and included long standing champs like Josh and Jeremy Wimpey, Greg Healy and the US 2WD debut of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino in the Monster sponsored MK II Ford Escort.

Once again Robbie Baker would be co-driving with me and we hoped to carry forward our momentum from a 3rd place win at BRS and 1st at the NY Rallysprint earlier that month.  The weather forecast was grim and called for heavy rain on Saturday which would had the potential to destroy some of the newly created roads.  We knew that we would have to try and make some good times on Friday while the conditions were better while maintaining a strategy of driving to finish if we had any hope of a podium.  With a number of strong competitors in the class we had little chance of consistently winning stage times and a better chance of climbing through attrition by staying in the race.

We arrived around noon on Thursday and rushed from rally HQ over to the Scout Camp for recce. Recce had started a few hours earlier but Rich Otis the clerk of the course encouraged us to drive some of the roads that were scheduled earlier in the day which meant we would be driving against the regular recce traffic (of course, not everyone was happy about this).  After a good look at the roads we headed back to HQ for tech inspection while most of the others did a shakedown run.  Back at HQ we ran into some of our regular friends including Ozgur Simsek, Brian and Tom Barton and Matt Gottlieb and Austin Gager who have been having awful mechanical luck and were installing their second transmission of the week out in the parking lot .

The weather on Friday was perfect, warm, dry and a bit overcast keeping the light very even.  Our first heats would be made up of a run of “Davis Pond North” a short, narrow and twisty stage followed by “Mortimer Schiff Long” a nine mile stage with wide fast sections as well as a very tight and rough section that was newly constructed for the event.  Earlier in the summer I had bought a used set of Michelin tires that had been in storage for a few years, they had a bit of cracking in the rubber but I didn’t think much of it since the treads were fresh.  I had run another set of tires for the last three events so I though it was time for an upgrade.

We treated our first Davis lake run as a warm up since we had missed shake down the day before.  We worked out the initial jitters and tried to get our heads straight for what was known to be the hardest stage of the race. The first few miles of the stage are wide and fast with a series of long up and down hill sections then the road narrows and kicks into a right 3 where the tight new road starts.  Our plan had been to make up as much time as we could through the open stuff then play it safe in the new tight section.  We had a strong start but within the first mile the rear end started feeling real loose and the familiar smell of a high speed flat came into the cabin.  Even though this was a long stage there was no point trying to change a flat especially since we were already behind due to our conservative start so we decided to just keep going.  We plowed through the whole stage an probably lost at least a minute due to the flat but far better than what it would have if we had stopped to change it.  We transited to service with the shredded rag on the rear and threw one of my spare Silerstones on.

Our second pass at Davis was stronger but a late call on a left three cost us a few seconds fortunately we avoided a major off.  This time we were determined to really make up some time on Mortimer.  Blasting through the first six miles we were confident that we could make up for the bit of time lost on the first run until we made it to about mile 5 and the steering got real funny, then that smell again.  Driving at speed with a rear flat is one thing but with only one driving and steering tire is a whole other experience.  As we continued into the loose clay and gravel it felt as though we may have lost both fronts and in the spirit of our “driving to finish” strategy I felt like I needed to check the car before causing any permanent damage. Since there was nowhere to pull of in the tight section we pushed on through at a snails pace until we made it to an opening at the spectator area.  I hopped out and found that it was only the driver’s front that was flat and decided to finish out the stage. We completed our second 3 wheel stage of the morning then changed our second flat on our transit back to service.

At service we pulled off the last two Michelins and threw the second rag on the pile.  at this point it was clear that our rear beam had been significantly bent and the front end had taken some abuse but nothing to keep us from staying in the game.  We also found out that Ken Block and the Wimpeys were both out due to mechanical failures.  We called Jesse Whitsell who was heading up that night and asked him to bring a set of rear struts for the Wimpeys in hopes that they could continue the next day but they had left by the time he arrived with the parts.

With our second set of tires mounted we headed back down to Davis Lake where we made a clean run then headed back to Mortimer Schiff determined to finish it our at speed this time.  We roared through the first 3/4 of the stage into the treacherous tight section which was really starting to get torn up.  Robbie and I were having a bit of a hard time keeping on the notes at this new pace and a combination of a late call and my jerk reaction on the brakes sent us right off the road into a soggy ditch as we stood on the side of the road with our tow strap getting passed by the rest of the 2WD Field unable to pull us out I knew we were out of the running for a podium.  We finally were pulled out by heavy sweep and allowed to continue through “Super Rally Rules” but our 40 minute stage time would not help us out too much. We continued the rest of the day without incident knowing we were out of the running for the day but were able to improve our times significantly on later stages towards the overall scoring.

Day two was looking pretty grim, it had been raining all night and promised to rain all day.  The stages had been ripped up pretty well the day before and mow looked more like a series of small ponds than gravel roads.  In addition to the condition of the roads our heater fan was fried meaning that we had no defrost.  Fortunately Dan Brosnan came to our rescue with a spare 12v heater/de-froster he had in his truck.  We quickly mounted it then lined up for transit to the first stage of the day, Davis Lake South.  We would be running the same series as the day before but all the stages would be in reverse.  With the weather conditions involved and most of our heavy competition out of the race the stakes were much higher.  WE made it through Davis lake and headed to the reversed Mortimer Schiff or “Crystal Lake Long”.  About a half mile into the stage we blew the fuse to the defroster but continued on as our visibility grew less and less along with my patience but still achieved a decent time.  At service we replaced the fuse and removed everything else from the circuit which solved that problem for the rest of the day. Michael Reilly and Josh Benthien were now our major competition as they laid down some scorching times in their Ford Focus, unfortunately an off on Crystal Lake and an incident in which their hood flew open cost them a win for the event but they still took first in USRC and RNY 2WD Championships.

Despite the conditions we ran a strong and steady day placing 1st in 2WD for the day and 5th in class for the weekend.  Almost every competitor suffered handicaps through offs, mechanical issues and penalties which just goes to show that it isn’t always the one with the fasted stage times that wins the race and you never know where you’ll place until the scoring is over.

A bit worse for wear we packed up the car and headed home Sunday after awards.  This race would finish off the 2009 season in which we placed 3rd in class in the Rally NY Championship and learned a hell of a lot about what to do and what not to do.  Next year we’ll run a nice full season and accumulate points for USRC, Rally America Regional Championship, Max Attack and Rally New York.  There’s a lot of work to do before the season starts up again in January and the word on the street is that we are going to be seeing a bit more TDI competition….

Thanks again to Pete Kunis from Onalimbracing.com as well as Dave and Luke at Rallyaddict.com check out their websites for more more photos of this and other events.

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

After having a blast at Black River the next rally opportunity was a more laid back one day Rally Sprint put on by Rally New York.  The event was only three hours away, a single day with morning recce and a chance to pre-view some of the roads that would be used in International Rally New York at the end of the month which would be the final round of the USRC. After the disappointment of the Rally sprint in June we hoped to make up for the event this weekend.

My sister Kerry had been asking me for the chance to co-drive and a rally sprint seemed like the perfect opportunity to try things out.  The weather was great and the roads recently re-surfaced and because the event format offered multiple passes in each direction the opportunity for improving times was great.

We showed up late in the evening on Friday and tracked down our cabin on the Ten Mile River Scout Camp which was rustic to say the least.  After being woken up in the middle of the night by a busy community of mice that called the cabin home we were able to catch a few hours sleep.

Kerry did a great job figuring out the notes and after a clean initial run we were ready to start making some time.  As usual some of our primary competition suffered some mechanical and impact related DNFs early on and our strategy of running safe in a few trouble spots then making up for time on clean sections paid off.  We made up time on almost every run with our best time under five minutes giving us first in class and 5th overall out of 17 starters.  Can’t wait for International Rally NY in three weeks!

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

Black River Stages is a long standing rally known for amongst other things, it’s Goose Pond stage jumps and smooth, windey gravel roads.  Located in the Northwest corner of New York state, Harrisville is a bit off the beaten path and offered limited lodging and amenities but we were fortunate to find a couple rooms at a motel about a 1/2 hour away.

We showed up to rally headquarters for registration, orientation and tech on Friday evening after a 5 plus hour drive.  Many of the teams wouldn’t show until late that night or early the next morning but a number of the usual suspects were on site including our friends Tom and Brian Barton, Luke Sorenson and Josh Jenny and the Simseks to name a few.  Robbie Baker would be co-driving for team Greasecar and it was his first stage rally event.  With no recce we would be driving the stages with only our route book to show the way and since half of the stages on the first day were night stages the stakes were high.

After finishing tech and orientation we headed back to the motel to grab a bite to eat and get familiar with the notes before the next morning.

Saturday started slowly as teams who showed up overnight registered and passed through tech.  Parc Expose took place at the local Maple Museum around mid day before the start.

We set up between the Saab Rally team and Team Barton.

For the first time in Greasecar Motorsports history we were competing in a class with another diesel that also happened to be a 1.9L VW TDI.  This Golf has been in rally for about 7 or 8 years now having changed hands a few times and really set the bar for diesels in U.S. rally.

From the Expose we headed out on our first transit stage, seeded at the back of the pack with a few other rookie teams.  Our strategy was to run the first few stages conservatively to get in a rythm and familiurize ourselves with the roads before we had to run them in the dark.  With unfamiliar roads an a new co-driver our strategy was; drive to finish.

Our first couple of stages were slow but we quickly found our niche and began to feel more comfortable but an unfortunate crash of the Olson Subaru lead to a couple hours of delay and cancellation of 4 stages.  Olson and his co-driver were both injured but fortunately they were not too serious and have since recovered.

As a result of the delays we were only able to run a couple practice stages in the daylight before going back to service and heading out for night stages.  With our confidence nocked down a few notched we did not set any records and ended the day at the back of the pack.

Due to the delays the day ended late even with the cancelled stages so we headed back with enough time to grab a sandwich at the local gas station  and have a quick debriefing before heading off to bed.  Disappointed with the days times we made a commitment to pick up the pace on day two.

On Sunday we started the morning with some heavy breakfast sandwiches from the local diner knowing that we had a full day of racing ahead.  The weather was beautiful and after a short expose in Harrisville headed right out to the notorious Goose Pond.  We had been warned that Goose Pond offered serious air time opportunities and knowing that our suspension was not prepared for such maneuvers we tried hard to avoid the launching, however we were caught off guard a couple of times.

Both Ozgar Simsek and Mike Hordijk sent their VWs flying and unfortunately one of the hard landings was enough to break Ozgars distributor and take him out of the race while Mike lost a few body parts and at least one rear strut mount.

On each stage of the day we ran our first pass conservatively and improved our times on the subsequent passes.  Mechanical issues plagued much of the field causing a number of DNFs and causing some of the fastest teams their lead.  In the end our strategy paid off as we were able too keep our car on the road all the way through the finish and pick up enough time to take third in class.

Unfortunately since I had to head to D.C. for work the following morning we had to pack up and head out before the awards ceremony.  Thanks to everyone who made the event happen and to the Simseks and Rally Addict for all the great photos! and here is a video that Ozgar took from one of the spectating areas.

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

Earlier in the year Sherm Baumann, president of the Killington Sports Car Club and Greasecar customer decided he wanted to have a bio fueled class for the Okemo II Hillclimb. As part of this event he generously offered Greasecar a display space in the parking lot and encouraged us to bring a few cars and drivers.  Unfortunately since the rally car sustained some significant damages at the Forest Rally a few weeks earlier the Motorsports stable had very few competitive options ready to run.

Since I though this could be a great team building event I worked on prepping a few cars to the best of my ability in the given time frame so that several of the Greasecar staff could have a go.  I found a set of competition seats for the Mini then added some lowered suspension and a turbo upgrade to the maroon Rabbit planned on bringing my daily driver Golf. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks before the event it turned out that Conor was the only one interested in participating. With limited bodies we had to choose two cars for the event and settled on the maroon Rabbit which had done well in Rally-X and the Mini to see what it could do and since it draws so much attention.

After a long day of final preparations, Conor and I packed up and headed north.  Conor drove the truck with the Mini loaded in the trailer and I drove the Rabbit with it’s newly added turbo controller.   It only took a few miles for me to realize that the controller was set too high and was allowing the turbo to consistently produce between 10-24 psi. A few more miles down the road came a loud pop and whistle as one of the intercooler pipes blew off from the pressure.  Since Conor had left a head of me to make up time and I was tool-less I had to call him from the breakdown lane and wait about twenty minutes for him to get to me.  While I was waiting a State Trooper stopped by to check on me and turned out to own a Greasecar Mercedes that he was very happy with.  After Conor arrived I was able to back off the turbo actuator tighten up the boost hose and we were back on the road.

When we made it to the mountain things were pretty damp from the rain that had rolled through earlier but the weather promised to improve.  Since there were only two of us, we planned on running just the Rabbit but ran the Mini through tech as a backup. Both passed inspection but neither looked like much competition next to the usual crew of high powered cars in the lot.

Mark Penta was there with his Audi 4000K Rally-x car to run his first hillclimb. We ended up splitting a condo right on the mountain and grabbed dinner next door at the mountain lodge that had just opened.

The next morning we went through the usual rituals; drivers meeting and checking tire pressures. The sun had come out and the course was pretty well dried out.  Ralph showed up to support the team and help out on the hill, it was great to see him out there.

We lined up for the Group A fam. run with me behind the wheel and Conor riding shotgun. Within 5 seconds of crossing the start it was clear that fast on the street does not equal fast on the hill. Even though the little 1.6L engine was giving all it could with the VNT turbo blowing hard the power and response can not even compare to what the rally car delivers.  I knew then that we would be asking a bit more from the car than it may be willing to offer.

After fam I put in one timed run then handed the car off to Conor.  It was clear that the engine was running hot so we hot wired the fan just in time for Conors fam..  When he got back to the bottom of the hill it was clear that the coolant was a bit low and the engine was still running pretty hot.  I topped up the water and tried to keep the engine off until the last minute.

On my second run it was clear that the head gasket was starting to leak. We tried to let the car cool off as much as possible so that Conor could get in at least one more run.  Unfortunately when he got to the start line the exhaust leaking by the gasket was forcing water out of the reservoir and he was not allowed to start.

In an attempt to salvage the weekend I took the Mini for a run after lunch but found it was far too underpowered for the job and since I knew I’d need to drive it home I decided to throw in the towel. We spent the rest of the weekend working checkpoints on the hill and headed home early on Sunday due to rain.  Hopefully I can get something together for Burke II coming up in three weeks.

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

More great action shots at On-A-Limb .

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

The New England Forest Rally is one of the longest standing rally events on the East coast and is made up of a number of long sand and gravel access and logging roads.  The two day event sanctioned by Rally America takes place in Maine and NH and includes several spectator Super Special stages.

Les and I headed up to Maine on Wednesday evening to register for Recce (a day long drive through of the course) which would take place on Thursday.  Recce is run at conservative speeds in in non-race prepped cars since the roads are still open to the public.  We all traveled in convoy and were allowed to run the course in 30 sec increments to take notes. The variety of vehicles in recce was pretty funny ranging from a Chevy Aveo, a Chrystler 300 to a pit service truck.  We were driving Les’s Passat which fared quite well considering though he cringed every time I hit a bump.

After Recce we met up with Rick and Conor at rally headquarters for technical scrutineering which we failed the first time around due to missing a second fire extinguisher and some safety wear.  Thankfully Chris Duplessis who is a vetran of the event and lives up the street was in front of us at tech and was able to make a few calls to get us the gear we needed.

Friday morning didn’t start very well, we were giving the car a final once over before heading to the rookie drivers meeting when we discovered our transmission mount had sheared off.  Since Les and I were required to attend the meeting to compete we left the challange of getting the mount fixed to Conor and Rick.  After removing the mount the guys ran around the pit trying to find someone with a welder when they came across… you guessed it Chris Duplessis again who quickly welded and re-enforced the mount so that Conor was able to install it minutes before we headed to the first Super Special.

Friday’s event was to be made up of 2 Super Specials and three proper Special Stages broken up a by a couple of Parc Exposes and long transit stages.

Super Specials are basically short stages in a confined area set up for local spectators to see the competitors and are preceded and followed by Parc Expose (displaying the rally cars). From a competitor’s point of view Supers aren’t real racing since they generally last less than a minute and are not very much like a true stage but they do help spectators get a sense for the sport and be involved.  Unfortunately two of the special stages on Friday were canceled after the long transit to the start meaning that only one real stage remained after a long day of waiting and transiting.  This was a bit of a disappointment but we finally hit our fist stage of the event under the cover of darkness …….

To be continued……

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized

Since Rally NY didn’t go quite as planned NEFR will be our first official event.  Though we are entered as regional competitors we will be sharing the course with all of the big national teams including drivers such as Ken Block, Travis Pastrana and Tanner Foust and regional 2WD heros Chris Duplessis and Luke Sorensen.

Because Rally NY lasted less than one stage most of our car prep can be carried over to Maine.  Unfortunately it only took a mile to crack our windshield so that will need replacement, but otherwise I was able to use our prep time for more detail oriented work including: building a light bar and wiring the driving lights, re-painting our racing stripes on the fenders, adding more storage and a rear-view mirror to the cockpit and making adjustments/modifications to the injection system for a bit more pep.

As an avid recycler and general cheap skate, I fashioned my light bar out of the 1″ tubing that I cut out of my cage when I updated it last month.  I’m pretty happy with how it came out as it’s pretty sturdy and allows for several different light configurations. I plan on adding an additional diagonal bolt-in support in the center.

These lights are super bright, luckily I have a 120 amp alternator.

I painted the light bar with bed liner for stone protection and put the signature stripes back on the fenders. Rally America rules would not permit the cool wing on the back of the car so that was removed for the event but honestly I don’t think it detracts from the look of the car and I really don’t know that it served much purpose.

The cockpit is still a bit cluttered with the stage notes and some other junk from NY but I finally added a cup/bottle holder.

Since the car is mostly straightened out I turned my attention to the trailer where I fashioned a coule of cabinets to keep clutter out of the way and made room for a tool cart. The cabinets proved to be harder to deal with than expected since nothing is square or plumb in the trailer.  My plan was to build everything modularly in the shop then install the units but quickly realized nothing fit against the curved walls even though I tried compensating for them.  In the end I had to just build them in place piece by piece.  Not my finest joinery but it’ll do the job for now and is an improvement over what I started with.

I’m headed out of town for a wedding tomorrow and will be getting back the day before having to head up to Maine so I hope I’m not forgetting anything.  Starting the day after the rally my work schedule gets real hectic so I’ll have to see how many other events can fit in this summer.  Greasefest is on July 25th at the shop in Holyoke

• Posted by: Justin
• Category: Uncategorized

There was much preparation and anticipation leading up the the Rally NY Rally sprint.  This would be Les and my first stage event and the perfect 1 day low key event to get some practice before the New England Forest Rally next month.  The two weeks leading up to the event were filled with long days and evenings getting the cage up to current spec, installing the intercom and rally computer as well as fabricating skid protection, mud flaps and the required identification decals.  The humble Rabbit is finally starting to look like a proper race car again.

Les pop riveting the belly pan into place.  We used a sheet of polyethylene to make the skidplates and flaps, we’ll have to wait and see how they hold up.

Finally in her race drag.

Posed in front of Greasecar Headquarters.

After all of our preparation was complete we packed up and headed to Rally HQ in Kerhonkson NY, about 2.5 hours drive.  The plan was to make it in time to register, pass tech and complete our orientation at 6:30.  When we arrived we found that things were not very well organized in the pit area.  There was a classic car show going on at the same hotel and no one was sure what to do with the rally’s race car trailers.  One trailer was already stuck in the mud across the street.  Luckily we were early and had enough room to off load the car by the pit area and park the trailer on the side of the road before the clutter really began.

After unloading we registered and picked up our race packet.  The Polish organizers argued with Les about the proper pronunciation of his name but otherwise we made it through without a hitch.  At tech Walt Clark threatened to not pass us as he was still sore from me taking the class win from him at Burke a couple weeks earlier, but in the end decided to be a true professional ;).

Once all our paperwork was in order we met up with Bernie who gave us our orientation and had some useful co-driving tips for Les. With a long day of logistics behind us we had just enough time for a late dinner before heading off for some rest.

Saturday morning I met up with Les at breakfast and he told me he had been up for hours shaking out his nerves.  We had a light breakfast and made our way to the stage start to get a few recce runs in before the 10:00 start time.  I don’t think either of us were prepared for how closed, narrow and loose the stage was.  The idea of a 4 mile single road rally sounded as though it was going to be a bit of a let down but it was quickly clear that there were some challenges ahead and our original idea of saving the good tires for NEFR immediately went out the window.

Many of the turns looked the same and visibility was limited in the overgrowth under overcast skies. There were a number of very large pot holes and trenches that spanned the entire width of the road and marbley sections of gravel runs over crest.

Back at the pits we had just enough time to swap tires before the race then lined up for our transit stage.  The newly installed intercom was acting up and Les and I could barely hear each other, fortunately we already knew the route to the special stage.  Driving up to the stage start was when the butterflies really started to flutter and we both took a few deep breathes before strapping in and pulling up to the start light. The count came down and we were off.  Immediately I could feel the torque of the diesel breaking traction and knew this was going to be a game of weight shifting rather than steering.  My plan was to use this first stage to feel out my traction breakaway and gather up confidence to push my times as the stages moved on. After the first mile I was just starting to dig in a but when we came around a blind right that tightened over a bridge into a loose left 3.  As we made our way around the right turn we had to a slippery halt as a co-driver holding his emergency sign came into view.  The injured parties were being attended to and one other team had already been sent ahead to the radio checkpoint so we were told to keep going.  As we drove over the bridge we saw Eamon Sweeny trapped in his co-drivers seat as the door had been caved in after sliding into a tree on the loose left turn after the bridge. Not the type of scene best witnessed in the midst of your first stage of your first rally.

The initial shock lasted a few moments as we slowly drove away from the scene and remembered that technically we were still in a race.  Lester was completely off the notes at this time and told me I’d just have to drive it.  I started picking up the pace just as we approached the clearing where the road transitioned to tarmac for an uphill hairpin right.  Les was able to get back on the notes and we gingerly yet cautiously finished the course knowing that our time was blown anyway.

At the turn around we joined all of the other competitors who were lined up and waited for a couple of hours to hear the status of the racers and plan for the event. Eventually we learned that the racers had been sent to the hospital and emergency crews were stuck on the stage road so the mornings runs were cancelled and we were sent back to service and lunch at HQ.

Bach at HQ a drivers meeting was held and the competitors were asked to vote as to whether the race should continue.  Tom Lawless spoke up to say that no decision should be made until the condition of the injured racers was known and so we all worked on servicing our cars and awaited news.  Once another couple of hours had passed and no new news was received it was decided that the race was canceled.

Disappointed and deflated we packed up and headed home, looks like NEFR will be our maiden event.

Fortunately both injured parties ended up with only minor injuries limited to a sprained knee and fractured collar bone.

Our one moment of glory.

Fire truck stuck in the mud.

Heading back to service after cancellation of morning stages.

At least we look the part.

• Posted by: admin
• Category: Uncategorized