Astonishing Appalachian Success

NASA Rally West Virginia, August 1st -2nd, was the first gravel rally for the TIM/Alba Rallysport crew in their Super Stock WRX.
In the weeks running up to the 2 day event the team prepared the car for the 19 twisty, rocky stages throughout the hills above the town of Elkins. The prep time paid dividends with many cars literally being torn apart by rocks and trees that lined the narrow stages. There was no room for error and of the 33 entries only 21 finished the event, many cars succumbed to the unpredictable, sharp turns and endless drop offs. Despite the carnage and starting 13th on the road (unlucky for some) TIM/Alba Rallysport achieved a remarkable 1st in class and 5th overall. “Our goal was simply to finish the rally by driving cautiously along the middle of the road” stated co-driver Tammy at the end of two long days in the car. “I can’t believe it!” exclaimed driver David when he heard the final result early Sunday morning, “It’s a shame our class competitors Scott Wilburn and Jimmy Brandt went out so early with mechanical failure. We were really looking forward to seeing how our times compared on gravel. Next time…”

During day 1 the husband and wife crew traded times with car #10 but the #28 car of Eixenberger/Slocum was snapping at the WRX’s rear bumper until an unfortunate puncture moved them back down the order. “We had great fun swapping seconds with the O’Leary lads in the #10 Evo but they were consistently faster than us on Saturday.” said David. Following heavy rain on Saturday morning the second day’s 10 stages (2 were dropped due to delays) proved a challenge for the crew who decided that a calmer-calmer strategy was in order. “I’m amazed the car took the abuse it did.” stated David who quietly admits to giggling uncontrollably on the fast, smooth 6.6 mile Boney Turk stage, “SS9 was the first time we had the chance to open the car up properly. It’s got some grunt in it and that stage is bloody fantastic.”

As usual, Paul Eddleston, Team Illuminata Motorsport owner was on hand in the service parks with Mark Buskirk. “It was a bit boring actually. We just swapped the Team Dynamics wheels front to rear once and checked the oil level a couple of times.” jested Paul who continued, “The most mechanical work we did all weekend was on the tow rig on Sunday morning as it needed new brake pads before the drive back to Michigan. I consider that a successful weekend’s rallying.”

Photos curtesy of James Shoulders.

The TIM/Alba Rallysport team would like to thank;
Chad @ Racecraft Engineering
Jan and Tony @ speedindustry.biz
Stan @ Delta Subaru of Grand Rapids

teamilluminata.com
rcmvinyl.com
nasarallysport.com