Saturday’s SVR rallycross at Crystal Speedway was a great opener to the 2007 season. As it wasn’t part of the Detroit Region Championship there was no points pressure on the Alba Rallysport team of one (the co-driver took the day off!). The goal was to test tires and suspension setup for the following event. The large site with fast sweeping turns was fantastic and the deep snow proved a challenge to many of the 2WD entries early on. With a field of 7 in the Rally Prepared class it quickly became evident that the #75 Alba Rallysport WRX was going to have a battle with the #77 & #177 WRX Sti, again.
After the second run I was already in 3rd place but the third run was flawless, 2nd fastest, and I was back up with the times run by the WRX Sti. On the forth and final run of the morning I was joined by a fellow countryman; the owner of Team Illuminata Motorsports. This didn’t prove at all helpful as I spun on turn three resulting in a time of 67.31. This would be impossible to gain back with only four runs remaining. It was clear after the morning session that a new face to the rallycross scene was one to be reckoned with; car #42.
The afternoon session again consisted of four runs. The course was run in reverse and the conditions had changed dramatically. Grass was now visible but after walking the course we all discovered that the surface was variable. Some areas were wet and soft, some areas s
heet ice. It was going to be an unpredictable afternoon. Run five was not a good start, 5th. I had to pick the pace up considerably and runs six and seven showed that. Run eight was flawless and I posted the fastest time in class for the day, 46.084 but it was just too late. With the final positions declared, The Alba Rallysport team finished in 4th place in PA class behind the #77 WRX Sti, #177 WRX Sti and #42 Impreza RS.
I walked away with lessons learnt. The goal for the 2007 season is to build on consistency and repeatability. On such short courses with only 6-8 runs in a day it’s the only way to be competitive. The car has proved that it can compete with the WRX Sti, now the driver just has to prove it!
See you at the Detroit Region SCCA season opener when the Alba Rallysport team will be two again!
Bob’s Family Raceway, Clarksville
February 17th
The afternoon session again consisted of four runs. The course was run in reverse and the conditions had changed dramatically. Grass was now visible but after walking the course we all discovered that the surface was variable. Some areas were wet and soft, some areas s
heet ice. It was going to be an unpredictable afternoon. Run five was not a good start, 5th. I had to pick the pace up considerably and runs six and seven showed that. Run eight was flawless and I posted the fastest time in class for the day, 46.084 but it was just too late. With the final positions declared, The Alba Rallysport team finished in 4th place in PA class behind the #77 WRX Sti, #177 WRX Sti and #42 Impreza RS.I walked away with lessons learnt. The goal for the 2007 season is to build on consistency and repeatability. On such short courses with only 6-8 runs in a day it’s the only way to be competitive. The car has proved that it can compete with the WRX Sti, now the driver just has to prove it!
See you at the Detroit Region SCCA season opener when the Alba Rallysport team will be two again!
Bob’s Family Raceway, Clarksville
February 17th
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