Off season? Nah…

Since the final round of the 2007 rallycross season it’s been all go at Alba Rallysport. With a short break over Christmas and New Year we jumped on a plane and visited our sibling team Alba Motorsport in Perth, Scotland. The weather was somewhat wet and windy, normal for December. Sadly we didn’t have the chance to test drive the team Land Rover, a rather special vehicle. Recently completed in 2007 and purpose built for off-road challenge events, the coil sprung 90” truck cab chassis features a 2” lift. Powered by a 3.5L Rover V8 it’s equipped with an external roll cage, Warn winch, auxiliary lights and a host of recovery equipment. RCMVinyl.com of course supplied the graphics.

Upon returning to Michigan on New Years Day we started a major rally project for 2008. The WRX interior was stripped out in readiness for stage rally preparation. This project is expected to last the next 4 months and will include a full custom-built roll cage, various chassis strengthening modifications, all the necessary safety additions and a wide range of under body protection. Check back for updates as the project progresses.

January was a busy month for Alba Rallysport and naturally we attended the Detroit SCCA annual awards banquet. Despite the cold, snowy weather, the food, drink and company was warming. Having the chance to celebrate and congratulate all the class winners of the 2007 season is a wonderful thing. The region’s rallycross program has come a long way and we were honoured to receive the 1st place award for the Rally Prepared AWD (PA) class from Paul at Team Illuminata Motorsport. Congratulations to all the other rallycross class winners and runners up. I’m sure the 2008 season will be an even greater challenge.

Photo by Chris Amos, chrisamosphotography.com

The last weekend in January saw the season opener of the Rally America Championship, Sno*Drift based in Atlanta, MI. It was a freezing weekend in the ‘Tip of the Mitt’ but I spent two days in one of the 000 lead cars, this time in the unusual position of co-driver. An incredible amount of work and effort goes into organizing and running a stage rally and having the chance to experience it from a different perspective makes me appreciate the dedication of the workers that allows us competitors to partake in a sport we love.

Sno*Drift winners Antoine L'Estage & Nathalie Richard, photo by Uwe Reher

The Grand Finale

The ninth and final round of the Detroit SCCA Rallycross Championship, presented by Team Illuminata Motorsport, was held at an old favourite site, Fowlerville Fairgrounds. Going into the final round of the PA championship, Alba Rallysport had a large enough points lead that allowed the freedom to have more fun than usual. However, with a field of 8 cars the outcome could have been quite different. It was a bitterly cold day as we jumped out of the car to register. We were there to battle it out for 2007 PA (Prepared AWD) class bragging rights with regular RS twins Dmitriy (#42) and Jennifer (#64). Fowlerville isn’t one of Dmitriy’s favourite events with a history of vehicle carnage and bad luck so needless to say he remained somewhat restrained. The rest of the class comprised of long lost faces Micah (#88), James (#3) and Todd (#33) and rallycross newcomers Billy (#555) and Brandon (#1555). The recent arctic temperatures had reduced the track to conditions that resembled a snow-covered ice field but the day was to reveal constantly changing driving surfaces. Our favoured multi-lap format was the order of the day with 5 runs, 2 laps each. On the road trip to the event we had decided it was all or nothing. I wanted to go out with a bang and we were on the hunt for FTD and the Primitive Rally $25! I did, however, try to take it easy on the first run. Much of the snow had been swept away by the modified cars so we searched for traction on the polished ice. We didn’t find much but did find about 10 cones. Although it wasn’t a good start I felt we’d found the best turn in points so on run 2 we kept the car tight to the inside and crossed the finish line with a fast clean time. The secret in rally driving is to set the car up for each corner and turn in early. This is particularly important when faced with a sequence of tight turns. It’s a similar technique taught in ski racing where rhythm is crucial. We lost that rhythm on the first lap of run 3 where we tore down the back straight carrying far too much speed. Not finding enough grip on the icy, muddy slush to slow the car for the series of chicanes we lost it and went off course picking up 12 cones on the way. Despite having to stop and get back on course our raw time was still fast so we knew FTD was in our grasp. For now, Doug Harvey held the honours. After a short break, a well-earned sandwich and a wee chuckle at Billy Connolly talking about childhood holidays by the beach we headed out for the final two runs of the day. The course was reversed and the surface was quite different to the morning, hard packed with only a smidgen of ice. Naturally, we attacked. It was a quick run but I felt we’d slowed at two points on the course that I just didn’t have to lift for. This was it, the final run of the day and the 2007 rallycross season. Nick the starter waved us off and we literally pinned the right pedal into the carpet all the way around the first series of turns, Tammy shouted at me to slow it up as we approached a tricky chicane. We made it through clean. As we ripped down the straight I didn’t lift as we entered the long left sweeper at the end. YEEEE HAAAAA! The WRX was popping off the limiter as I balanced the car around the corner, my left foot dabbing the brake as the surface changed from sand to ice to sand to ice again. One last icy jog to the right and we nailed the throttle over the finish line struggling to slow the car down in time for turning off the course and through the timing truck gate. Our run was clean, and ridiculously fast, but while we had plenty of safety run off after the finish we missed the gate at the timing truck, which landed us with a time penalty. Aaaarg! FTD had eluded us and was taken by Steve Baumbach in the PF class, an impressive drive. We’ve had fantastic fun, both on the day and throughout the season. Congratulations to Jennifer (#64) for taking the PA class win. Impressively consistent times and very little cone carnage! Dmitriy, as always had a clean day of driving but perhaps those gremlins were in the back of his mind all day. Micah is one to watch for 2008 so hopefully we’ll see him out on a regular basis. Thanks to all the organizers, workers, land owners and competitors for a great year. We’re looking forward to the 2008 season and hope to see the regulars and more newbs out there sliding around on the gravel/mud/sand/grass/snow/ice! Photos by Alba Rallysport and Chris Amos http://www.chrisamosphotography.com/

The penultimate round

The eighth round of the Detroit SCCA Rallycross Championship, presented by Team Illuminata Motorsport, was held at Bob’s Family Raceway in Clarksville. With eight Subaru drivers in the Prepared AWD class the Alba Rallysport team had some challenging competition. It was a chilly, overcast midday as we headed out on the short drive to Bob’s. Team co-driver Tammy was taking the day off due to illness and in her place was a friend of ours from Kampala, Uganda who was more used to seeing rally greats like Kankunen and Waldergard speeding through East Africa. As we cruised along I-96 a bank of flashing lights appeared in my rear view mirror, the unmistakable Subaru rallycross stars from Chicagoland. After refusing to ‘street race’ a crudely modified Chevy Cavalier the four rallycross prepped AWD cars turned off towards Clarksville to begin our day of proper competition. With a 2pm start eight runs were planned for the day, three of those being after dark. The course had some tighter sections than usual which demanded a shift in driving pace as well as some well-chosen gear changes. The weather brightened by the afternoon and we were ready for the first run. I took it easy but still managed to pick up two cone penalties. Rob (#86) turned in virtually the same time but with only one cone penalty. On run 2 we dropped our time dramatically but sill picked up a cone penalty. This wasn’t quite going to plan. I knew with Dmitriy (#42) snapping at my heels at every event, and in terms of championship points, I had to keep clean. The third run was ugly. I missed a gear change at the forest chicane and clipped a cone with the very back of the WRX as we sped down the slalom on the sand drag. Rob turned in a fast, clean run. Unfortunately for the #42 driver, although smooth and clean as always, the Impreza RS just didn’t have the power to keep up with the WRX and Sti. With the pressure on, Dmitriy made a rare mistake on run 4 and gained two cone penalties; the only two of the day I might add! I clipped a cone also but Rob was clean and with a blistering time, FTD up to this point. I pushed harder on run 5 and Rob started to feel the pressure picking up ten cone penalties (How did you manage that Rob?). I hit the same cone, not managing one single clean run all day. After a short pizza break we went into the night portion of the event. We fitted the new Hella lamps to front of the Alba Rallysport WRX and prepared for after dark battle. With some slight modifications to the course we prepared for run 6. Bam! A clean run but Rob had a clean run too and two thousandths of a minute faster. That’s 0.12 seconds! Run 7 saw the mist sink into the dips on the course creating a stage rally atmosphere. Pushing to get below the 0.9 min. mark that same cone on the back section of the course interfered with my rear bumper again. By this point I had my eye on FTD and the $25 Primitive Racing prize money. I was trying to gauge the speed of the M4 class cars that were laying down consistently faster times. Last run of the night and a time of 0.889 minutes, clean, no cones. Fantastic, that will do it I thought, until Scott Harvey Jr (#13) turned in the same time on his last run. We later found out that Ryan (#92) took FTD with a clean run and 0.887 minutes, and the overall M4 class win. FTD wasn’t to be, however, my Ugandan co-driver and I took the PA class win and 20 championship points, barely 10 seconds faster than the #42 Impreza RS that gave us a very close race. The driver of the #86 Sti will be one to watch at future events.
The final round will be held at Fowlerville on December 8th followed by an end of season gathering. See you there!
Photos by Chris Amos, http://www.chrisamosphotography.com/

LSPR 2007

In 2005, Tammy and I spectated at LSPR. It was her first rally and she was so very bored. On the way home we vowed never to go back to that rally unless we entered. Fast forward to October 26th 2007 and with some help from rally friends we found ourselves sitting in car 525, a yellow G2 Golf GTi about to check out of the first MTC.
We left Grand Rapids early on Thursday morning with a borrowed truck, trailer and rally car. Corey, one of our crew rode with us while Mark and Sharon left later that morning. The ten-hour tow up to Houghton in Michigan’s UP was uneventful (thankfully) and beautiful. The colours of the trees and the wonder of the lakeshore never cease to amaze me and to top it off it was a blue-sky day. We arrived at the motel and set about unloading the rally car and truck then made our way to registration. Rally to me has always been about ‘family’, ever since I was a wee lad when my dad first took me to see Group B cars competing in the Lombard RAC rally (now Rally GB) near our home in Edinburgh. When we walked into registration that evening we were greeted by the familiar, welcoming faces of Mary and Jerry Shiloff, two of the rally family. Registration went smoothly thanks to meticulous preparation by Tammy and we retired to the luxury of the motel for some sleep.
A crisp Friday morning dawned and the crew headed down to tech with the car while we attended rally school. The novice school was taught by Mark Williams, a well-known name in US rallying, and was highly beneficial to us as newcomers. Mark confirmed that we were on the right track and not completely clueless about what we were doing. Back at the motel the crew reported a couple issues with tech. Small oversights on my part but it they were resolved and we headed out to Parc Expose to meet many familiar faces and a few new ones.
We were warned about stage 1, Green Acres. It was as rough as everyone said. About a tenth of a mile in I wished we were in a Land Rover. The rocks looked big enough to disintegrate the wee Volkswagen. We took it easy, we didn’t break anything and we finished the stage. A quick ten-minute service and we were off to Herman.
Stage 2, Herman, was going very well until we hit a water splash just over half way in. We were in fifth gear at the time and the car didn’t like it. It spluttered to the end of the stage in third. We checked into the FTC and the engine died. After we jumped started it out of the control zone I opened the hood and poured water out of the distributor cap. A swab from the first aid kit helped dry up the remaining moisture (remember a shop rag next time!) and we fired it up and took off towards stage 3, Bob Lake; which ended up being cancelled due to safety concerns.
Stage 4, Echo Lake, was a little rough. No, wait. It was ridiculously rough! Never have I spent so much time in the air in a car since racing Land Rovers across the Scottish hills! It was hard on the car so we made sure to slow down for the major jumps and holes remembering that our main goal for the weekend was to finish.
Stage 5, Passmore, was the polar opposite of Echo Lake, smoother and faster. Quite obviously there were some competitors that were pushing the limits as we passed one car submerged in a small pond. On most of the straights we topped out in fifth gear. The higher speeds will take us some time to get used to but what a fun stage. We headed back to service in Kenton where our crew had hot pasties and beverages waiting. Excellent! A quick check over the car, wheel nuts tightened and we were off to Bob Lake again.
The first pass through Bob Lake was a transit (we treated it like a recce!) so having the opportunity to run it a second time, as stage 6, was great. By this time Tammy and I had found our rhythm and the in-car nerves and tension had eased. I should re-phrase that and say, I had relaxed a little, kept my month shut and let Tammy focus on co-driving, which she did an excellent job of. What a fun stage.
We were back to Echo Lake for stage 6 and it was even rougher than the first time through. Made worst by the persistent rain and one of the disadvantages of running at the back! Perhaps we had too much fun on Bob Lake 2 because we started hearing unhealthy knocking noises from the rear suspension. After one large jump followed by a waterhole the wee Golf stopped complaining so we pushed on towards stage 8, Passmore2.
I guess we like running at night. We were exactly 18 seconds faster on Passmore 2, flying by three stranded cars and a limping Neon (with most of the back end missing) co-driven by Tammy’s rally hero, Bob Martin.
Back at service the crew were happy to see us and we them. We loaded up and hit the road for the long drive back to Houghton and well earned sleep.
We were up early on Saturday. The air was clear and fresh. It was going to be a beautiful sunny day. Our crew had already filled the car up with gas and given it the once over but had bad news. Remember that clattering noise on Echo Lake? Well, it turns out the right rear strut had pulled itself clean out the top mount (hence the noise) then punched through the turret sheet metal and lodged itself solid (hence no more noise!). We had driven all 17 miles of Passmore 2 and the 40+ mile transit back to Houghton like this. We were very lucky. Without hesitation we jumped in the car and headed up to Parc Expose in Calumet to avoid late penalties while Corey ‘procured’ top mount rubbers (thanks Chad and Jay!). The next hour was spent on the main street of Calumet hammering and re-locating the rear strut back into its rightful place. Our out time came around and after a few autographs (no joke, kids who know no better!) we took off towards the infamous Gratiot Lake stage.
I was a little nervous at the start of stage 9, Gratiot Lake. I’d heard stories of car destruction. The stage was wet so we avoided waterholes for fear of killing the engine. My nerves were unwarranted however. Gratiot was fantastic and one of my favourite stages of the whole rally. I love tight, twisty tests. Nearing the end of the stage we came around a corner to see Carl and Ben in their Golf who had a brush with the scenery. They allowed us through after almost swapping wing mirrors and followed closely behind for the rest of the stage amused at the way the 525 GTi was hopping and skipping through the woods. Half a mile into stage 10, Delaware, we realized that perhaps we hadn’t avoided all the water on Gratiot. We were stuck at 3500rpm in fifth gear, about 55mph. With the top boys doing well over 100mph this wasn’t the stage to suffer a lack of power. Due to my frustration we came into the infamous Delaware Delta much to fast and over rotated, missing the tight left. We got it together and finished the stage but we weren’t happy with our performance. We would have likely been faster in Tammy’s Forester with a couple bikes on the roof!

While waiting at the start of stage 11, Burma, we dried out the distributor again. Burma is such a great stage and Tammy called out the tulip notes with military precision. It was spot on. Enough said. We headed into Copper Harbor for service where it was announced that there had been an accident on Brockway Mountain so stages 12 & 13 were cancelled. I like tarmac stages but I was quietly relieved, as the GTi is a little skittish on a sealed surface with gravel tyres.
After a long service and a brief five-minute hailstorm we headed out to stage 14, Burma 2. This is a driver’s stage. It’s tight and twisty and has a great rhythm to it. Although the sun had not yet set apparently there were a few full moons along the way. We didn’t see a thing.
Arriving at stage 15, Delaware 2, we saw a few people frantically trying to get the ‘Subaru Guy’s’ car 536 ready. The glass we saw on Burma 2 was a result of their roll and they needed to fit a window net before being allowed to start. They managed in time and we entered the ATC ready for Delaware. 3,2,1 and we took off, moving up through the gears the wee 16v engine screaming. Delaware is almost straight and the road is so smooth and wide. What catches you out is the Delta, which goes against the whole character of the rest of the stage. Again we entered too fast, this time in forth gear, the car over rotated and we spun. Slow is definitely faster, something I should know from rallycrossing. During the spin we clipped a rock in a ditch and once we got up to speed it felt like we were loosing air out of the rear tyre. Knowing we still had Gratiot Lake 2 to run, which was probably very rough by now, we took it easy. As it turns out the tyre was ok and frustrated that I’d slowed down so much we pressed on to the final stage of the rally, which turned out to be cancelled due to a rolled vehicle. We transited stage 16 and thankfully so. It was very wet and very rough. We met our service crew for a quick once over the car then made our way briskly back to Houghton for the final MTC in. Our rally was over. We had made it through one of the toughest rallies in North America. We had no major offs, no punctures and bonded in only a way that husband and wife can bond in a rally car. We finished 17th out of 32 on Friday and 20th out of 29 on Saturday. It was a great weekend. Thanks to the whole RCM gang for their support. Thanks to all the marshals, workers and spectators and of course Rally America for organizing a great event. We hope to be back next year!

We missed you!

Due to business commitments the Alba Rallysport team unfortunately had to miss the seventh round of the Detroit Region SCCA Rallycross Championship held at Fowlerville Fairgrounds on October 13th.
In addition to the regional championship this event was also part of the Great Lakes Divisional Championship which meant contingency money. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t have the chance to fight for a portion of the considerable amount of cash put forward by Subaru and other manufacturers; this, on top of contingencies arranged by Paul at Team Illuminata.
PA class had only 4 competitors, two of which shared car #88 owned and run by Orion Fairman of the Ohio region. Sadly, Detroit region’s own Dmitriy (#42) had mechanical issues that led to him dropping out. I’m sure it would have been a good fight to the end. Orion took the PA class win followed by Jennifer (#188) and Mark (#117) in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Well done to all and see you on November 10th.

Chalk one up for the McRaes

The sixth round of the Detroit SCCA Rallycross Championship, presented by Team Illuminata Motorsport, was held at Lenawee Fairgrounds in Adrian. It’s not over until it’s over and with a class field of 4 and a tight, tricky course the Alba Rallysport team had to keep the pressure on from the start to gain vital championship points.
It was an unusually warm sunny day for the end of September. We’ve competed at this venue before and we didn’t fair too well so getting the first run of the day over with was our first priority. It was a very well groomed oval dirt track, sandier than Fowlerville or Bob’s so in the wet there is actually more grip than when dry. The run format was similar to the previous event in August in that we competed in 4 sets of 2.5 laps. Not only did this provide a great deal of seat time but was made all the more challenging by course designer Scott Harvey Jr.
The first half of the course was open and fast, the second half tight and twisty. This called for a high degree of driver restraint. It was all too easy to enter the chicanes with too much speed and pick up several cone penalties, something we managed during the afternoon. It was good to see Dmitriy (#42) back having missed the last event and having won here in April he wasn’t going to give us an easy time. Jennifer (#64) and Rob (#86) were the other two contenders, the smooth, power demanding course suiting the #86 Sti.
Run 1, let’s keep it clean my co-driver told me, 3…2…1 GO! We were off, a 90 degree right turn, into a wide slalom, a long sweeping right hander and into the back straight which was followed by some incredibly tight turns as we came around to the start again. Having recently sorted some of our fueling issues this tighter section felt better than on previous courses, the WRX pulling well in 2nd gear even at low RPMs. This was good. Another lap and a half and the first run was complete with only 1 cone penalty. We were happy with that for the first one of the day. Dmitriy (#42) as ever, drove a clean run. This wasn’t going to be easy and we couldn’t afford to pick up cone penalties with him racking off quick, clean times. Jennifer (#64) was also driving a clean race. Run 2, we were more focused. The advantage of running more than one lap at a time is that you get to feel out where to make speed and where to take it easy. This time we kept it clean and laid down the FTD challenge for the morning. Alas, it didn’t hold up thanks to Harvey Jr.! Dmitriy kept it clean, again and although Rob (#86) was fast in the Sti he was eating cones for lunch. He’ll be one to watch though and it’s only a matter of time before he’s racking up fast, clean runs.
Runs 3 and 4 were on a reversed course and it evened up the times in PA class drastically. The afternoon course was a completely different animal and we just couldn’t nail the tighter section in a smooth manner. The WRX was overly tail-happy in the loose sandy surface, which made for a lot of fun but also a great deal of cone destruction. We took out 3 and 4 cones respectively.
I put it down to a little luck, or perhaps Colin an Johnny McRae were looking down on us that day but we took the PA class win and 20 points towards the championship. With only 3 more events in the season we’ll take it where we can get it!

End of an era

On Saturday 15th of September I lost my rally hero.