ricochet
07-17-2007, 05:33 PM
http://www.subiesport.com/mag/images/nasioc/kenny_neforest07.jpg
2007 New England Forest Rally
Round 6 of the Rally America 2007 Championship
By Jeff Zurschmeide, Subiesport Magazine (http://www.subiesport.com)
Throughout most of the year, rally teams keep their eyes on the Rally America national championship while simultaneously working for an invitation to the prestigious X-Games rally racing event in August. But at the New England Forest Rally, the championship fight took a back seat to an all-out effort to win the last remaining invitation to the X Games.
The X Games is a huge prize because of the extensive television coverage lavished on the teams participating in the Rally Racing competition. Current and potential sponsors will be very interested in the teams that win these coveted spots. Heading into the New England Forest rally weekend, invitations had been issued to Travis Pastrana, Colin McRae, Ken Block, Andy Pinker, Tanner Foust, Paul Choiniere, Matt Iorio, Andrew Comrie-Picard, and Ramana Lagemann.
Click image to view this gallery!
But there was one spot remaining to be filled, and the prize was set to go to the highest-finishing team that had not already been invited. The prospect of glory brought teams from all over to the northeast to take their best shot. Several teams that normally compete in the lower-cost Production GT class took a points hit for the year by upgrading to more powerful Open class cars for this event – all in search of the last invitation to the X Games.
Defending Production GT champions Matt Johnson and Jeremy Wimpey turned up in an Open class STI, as did “Cowboy” Kenny Bartram and Dennis Hotson. Wimpey commented, “We need to get up to speed to have a fighting chance." Also in the game is New Hampshire rally school owner Tim O’Neil, also running an Open class STI.
This year’s championship season has been anyone’s game – a stark change from the 2006 SRTUSA juggernaut that delivered the championship to Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom, closely followed by Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino. With 5 of the 9 events down, STI pilot Andrew Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant were leading in points, and had two overall wins to their credit. Block/Gelsomino were in second position, and Pastrana/Edstrom found themselves in a tie for third with Tanner Foust and Chrissie Beavis.
But on this weekend, it was just like old times as Pastrana grabbed the lead and held onto it all weekend – though at times the #17 Hyundai Tiburon of Antoine L’Estage of Quebec and Mark Williams of Delaware came dangerously close to stealing Pastrana’s thunder. After 8 of the 10 stages had been run, the gap separating Pastrana from L’Estage was a razor-thin 0.6 seconds. Block/Gelsomino remained stolidly in third place throughout the event.
In the end, Pastrana/Edstrom won 5 stages, L’Estage won 3, and Block took top honors on 2 stages. But L’Estage was in second position on 5 more stages, to Pastrana’s 3 and one each for Otis Dimiters/Alan Ockwell and Tim O’Neil/Howard Davies. After suffering a devastating rock hit, Pinker/Durant dropped to 8th place after Stage 3, but fought back to a fourth place finish.
When the podium was announced, it was Pastrana/Edstrom in first, L’Estage/Williams in second just 7.2 seconds behind, and Block/Gelsomino in third place with a 1:13 gap.
But even though they finished second to Pastrana/Edstrom, L’Estage and Williams had ample cause to celebrate, because they came away from the New England Forest Rally holding the final ticket to the X Games.
The X Games will go off on Thursday, August 2 near Los Angeles, with rally teams competing for both TV glory and a $110,000 purse. Subiesport Magazine will be on-site to cover the action.
More pics available: Click Here (http://mag.subiesport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113&Itemid=57)
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2007 New England Forest Rally
Round 6 of the Rally America 2007 Championship
By Jeff Zurschmeide, Subiesport Magazine (http://www.subiesport.com)
Throughout most of the year, rally teams keep their eyes on the Rally America national championship while simultaneously working for an invitation to the prestigious X-Games rally racing event in August. But at the New England Forest Rally, the championship fight took a back seat to an all-out effort to win the last remaining invitation to the X Games.
The X Games is a huge prize because of the extensive television coverage lavished on the teams participating in the Rally Racing competition. Current and potential sponsors will be very interested in the teams that win these coveted spots. Heading into the New England Forest rally weekend, invitations had been issued to Travis Pastrana, Colin McRae, Ken Block, Andy Pinker, Tanner Foust, Paul Choiniere, Matt Iorio, Andrew Comrie-Picard, and Ramana Lagemann.
Click image to view this gallery!
But there was one spot remaining to be filled, and the prize was set to go to the highest-finishing team that had not already been invited. The prospect of glory brought teams from all over to the northeast to take their best shot. Several teams that normally compete in the lower-cost Production GT class took a points hit for the year by upgrading to more powerful Open class cars for this event – all in search of the last invitation to the X Games.
Defending Production GT champions Matt Johnson and Jeremy Wimpey turned up in an Open class STI, as did “Cowboy” Kenny Bartram and Dennis Hotson. Wimpey commented, “We need to get up to speed to have a fighting chance." Also in the game is New Hampshire rally school owner Tim O’Neil, also running an Open class STI.
This year’s championship season has been anyone’s game – a stark change from the 2006 SRTUSA juggernaut that delivered the championship to Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom, closely followed by Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino. With 5 of the 9 events down, STI pilot Andrew Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant were leading in points, and had two overall wins to their credit. Block/Gelsomino were in second position, and Pastrana/Edstrom found themselves in a tie for third with Tanner Foust and Chrissie Beavis.
But on this weekend, it was just like old times as Pastrana grabbed the lead and held onto it all weekend – though at times the #17 Hyundai Tiburon of Antoine L’Estage of Quebec and Mark Williams of Delaware came dangerously close to stealing Pastrana’s thunder. After 8 of the 10 stages had been run, the gap separating Pastrana from L’Estage was a razor-thin 0.6 seconds. Block/Gelsomino remained stolidly in third place throughout the event.
In the end, Pastrana/Edstrom won 5 stages, L’Estage won 3, and Block took top honors on 2 stages. But L’Estage was in second position on 5 more stages, to Pastrana’s 3 and one each for Otis Dimiters/Alan Ockwell and Tim O’Neil/Howard Davies. After suffering a devastating rock hit, Pinker/Durant dropped to 8th place after Stage 3, but fought back to a fourth place finish.
When the podium was announced, it was Pastrana/Edstrom in first, L’Estage/Williams in second just 7.2 seconds behind, and Block/Gelsomino in third place with a 1:13 gap.
But even though they finished second to Pastrana/Edstrom, L’Estage and Williams had ample cause to celebrate, because they came away from the New England Forest Rally holding the final ticket to the X Games.
The X Games will go off on Thursday, August 2 near Los Angeles, with rally teams competing for both TV glory and a $110,000 purse. Subiesport Magazine will be on-site to cover the action.
More pics available: Click Here (http://mag.subiesport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113&Itemid=57)
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