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06-08-2010, 05:43 PM | #1 |
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Rally America Round 5: STPR
Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally
Rally America Round 5 Lagemann's Super Production STI carries the Subaru flag to class victory. Pastrana hands Championship to Mitsubishi by missing two rounds of the six event series. Block scores a DNF... again. Video coverage from DSTV! Transcript: (Aaron) This past weekend, the penultimate round of the 2010 Rally America series had teams duking it out in the Pennsylvania forest. Noticeably absent at Round 5, was privateer Andrew Comrie-Picard, who was busy getting his Formula Drift on in nearby New Jersey. Not only that, the reigning champion was also a no-show. This is the second event in a row Travis Pastrana has missed due to "prior engagements" elsewhere on the planet, effectively eliminating any chance for retaining his championship crown. Taking third place overall was Ramana Lagemann, who was driving a Super Production Subaru STI. This finish also secured his team a first place Super Production win. Second place was Bill Bacon, who is continuing his ongoing streak of bridesmaids finishes in a Mitsubishi EVO. Overall victory was the seemingly unstoppable Antoine L'Estage with co-driver Nathalie Richard in a Mitsubishi EVO X. The win was a decisive feat, finishing the final stage a full minute and a half faster than the Bacon Motorsports team. After a flat tire shunted Chris Duplessis' GTI all the way back to 30th Place on day one, the O'Neil instructor pulled comeback worthy of Sebastian Loeb, clawing his way to first in 2wd class and 9th overall by the end of the rally. Dave Mirra crashed his STI again and Ken Block's Ford Fiesta succumbed to technical issues for the second time, effectively eliminating either of their chances for podium finishes this year. Pastrana MIA, Block not able to mount a competitive bid, what's going on?! For some perspective on this, we turn to our in-house rally expert Ryan Douthit. (Ryan) First off, I can't overstate the amount of respect I have for Antoine L'Estage and Bill Bacon. Their performances this year have been truly inspiring. But lets look at the big picture. Subaru is going to loose it's Championship crown in the States, and, we're looking at the potential for an all-Mitsubishi sweep. We just need ACP to win the New England Forest Rally, Travis to Crash and Dave Mirra to be outside of the podium: an unlikely, but possible scenario. In spite of Subaru's commitment to the series they're going to loose the trophy simply because their star driver, Pastrana, made a choice full knowing it would loose him any chance of retaining the Championship. Then there's Ken Block. Ford has spent, what I expect is, a tremendous amount of money developing this new program. And, though it is a "building year" for the new team, I don't think one win, and four DNF's was exactly what they were hoping for. When it comes down to it, neither Block nor Pastrana really offered any competition this year. Mirra simply doesn't have the necessary seat required to pose any real threat yet to a seasoned competitor like L'Estage. In the end, Subaru and Ford are paying the bill for what is, this year, shaping up to be Mitsubishi's party. A party that Mitsubishi has had little, if any, involvement with. It's too early to say yet, but if the upcoming Rally America European Rallycross series finds an audience and if Ford and Subaru factory teams take victories, the manufacturers could end up asking if the stage events are really worth it versus the packaged and predictable world of stadium racing. Heck, even Rally America may ask if stage events are worth it once they start adding up stadium tickets sales and counting the additional advertising dollars. Granted, that's a lot of speculation on my part. But the rally community has been through upheavals like this before. Promises of greater things ultimately leading back to obscurity. ### Note: Driving Sports TV (and our complete 2010 Rally America video coverage) is available at drivingsports.com, iTunes, Apple App Store, DiVX TV, YouTube, Streetfire, Boxee, Roku, many Internet-connected television systems, FiOS on-demand (soon), blip.tv, Blinx and many other syndicated sources. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite system.
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Last edited by ricochet; 06-22-2010 at 01:05 AM. |
06-09-2010, 02:20 AM | #2 |
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nice info, thanks for keeping us posted
Last edited by canucks23; 06-11-2010 at 11:42 AM. |
06-09-2010, 08:14 AM | #3 | |
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06-09-2010, 10:39 AM | #4 |
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I'd be glad to drive pastrana's car, if not Mirra's. At least I wouldn't crash as much as Mirra.
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06-09-2010, 11:31 AM | #5 |
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I hope RA does not completely drop the staged rally too. The unfortunate part is the dollar talks and if the stadium events prove to be successful, this may be the path RA goes. RA sees the success the X Games Rally events. Plus it brings the sport to the masses since many staged rallies are in remote locations.
I think a combination of staged rally and stadium events would help boost the sport and keep things exciting. I would like for RA to return to Colorado in the future. Staged or stadium. |
06-09-2010, 11:36 AM | #6 |
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edit lol
Last edited by poserskaterboy; 06-09-2010 at 11:41 AM. |
06-09-2010, 02:02 PM | #7 |
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I thought I would be the last to admit it, and I don't like it, but it seems that the recent popularity of rally in America was a full on bro fueled fad.
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06-09-2010, 05:00 PM | #8 |
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I wouldn't mind if rally in America stayed exactly where it is....except without celeb's crashing our cars for the hell of it.
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06-10-2010, 07:49 AM | #9 |
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06-10-2010, 02:37 PM | #10 |
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I would have to say I think there will be a rise in stadium events due to the fact of earning potential. But it would be a huge shame if the staged events go by the way side because this is where rally started so if the forget about the roots it would be a sad day for the sport. I also would like to see more RA events in the us with a longer season. As far as Pastrana, Mirra, and Block they have done great things for the plublicity of rally in America but the Bro Bra band wagon can only go so far. Also are these stars really commited to the sport? I would have to say no from the preformance they have had and need to spend more time in the seats of their cars or else they will have to watch out for the enthusiest who dedicated them selves.
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06-11-2010, 11:58 PM | #11 |
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The one thing though about these "stars" is that they have all the access in the world to be however good they want to be. They have the capital to go to training, on a personal one to one basis. Watch film, practice with the real deal half million dollar car, something that maybe 100 out of the 200k members on NASIOC could do. Even if I were dedicated to the sport and tried my hardest to be the best rally driver I could, I would still only be making wages of an engineer. It's a tough pill to swallow, but it is cheaper to be dropped on nice wheels and look good than it is to practice your driving on a "closed course" where one false attempt at a swedish flick could send you into a bank of rocks or worse.
Having said that, if the brobandwagon leaves rally, I wouldn't be sad to see it go. I just hope that a few real enthusiasts emerge from it as I did, Started watching Rally in 07 just before it exploded... Don't like the competition in the UP of michigan to get a seat. Long live rally. |
06-12-2010, 04:26 AM | #12 |
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At least Pastrana got a little dirt action this week at the Prelude to the Dream in Eldora.
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06-15-2010, 11:17 AM | #13 |
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I have to agree with Ryan. I've been worried about subaru pulling out of USA Rally for a while. I just don't think their heart is in it anymore. Just look at their flagship "rally" car now. Its lower, stiffer, and definitely more of a tarmac car then ever before. Every iteration goes further from the rally roots and harder to get it back there. This is a great thing if you never plan on taking your car off the pavement but it is a problem if your looking into stage.
Subaru vastly lowered the payouts for a win with anything older then the new body style 08 models. Yet most every Rally driver I've spoken with that drives a Subaru say's the 07- cars are just better setup for dirt/gravel/stage then the new cars (and the new cars cost much more to make competitive). Idk. I hope Subaru doesn't drop it like they did WRC, though they are in IRC this year, just not much coverage of that sadly. And I'm not sure its an actual "factory" team like they ran in WRC. I *really* hope RA doesn't further reduce the # of stage events. And if they do hopefully NASA or another governing body steps in and snaps up these great events. Stadium events might be money makers but they are not "Rally" like most of us see it and enjoy it. |
06-15-2010, 03:06 PM | #14 |
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It shouldn't be called rally if it is in a stadium.
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06-19-2010, 10:04 AM | #15 | |
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06-29-2010, 05:42 PM | #16 |
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Subaru's selling out. Its the new automotive thing to do. I blame honda, they were the first to sell out (canned F1, ended performance oriented cars), in order to build more fuel efficient camry-accord-hybrid soccer mom cars, as the performance oriented market is a sliver of what the family sedan market is. Now Subaru is following this trend (they even turned the FT-86 into a ****ing RWD solara...), and are moving away from their AWD offroad rally routes. As they move away from performance oriented demographic (rallying), they will care less about maintaining this image and sponsor less and less. It really sucks though, because subaru made their name through WRC and rally cars. I don't think the impreza would have had half the momentum it does now if it hadn't gained such a reputation through WRC. Look at the Volvo S60R, how many ppl drive those lol.
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07-22-2010, 01:10 PM | #17 |
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X2
If we can't root for the brobandwagon that is popular rally in America today at least we can vote for the small-town hero: Team O'Neil and Chris Duplessis! I can say that Team O'Neil has the true rally spirit in its blood: drive the car to it's limits. Chris took me on a 'full-attack' lap around their track in one of the Audi 1000's they have, that is something awesome to experience first-hand! I highly suggest a trip up to Dalton, NH to check it out if anybody's ever in the area. Back to topic: I would enjoy watching a crossover, but I agree with everyone else here that rally's roots (and true appeal) are in staged events. Are you listening SOA? We want RALLY CARS! |
07-26-2010, 08:47 AM | #18 |
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09-01-2010, 12:32 PM | #19 |
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Thanx for the info, Props.
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