Saturday, November 22, 2008

MudCross

After a very short stage rally in New York due to meeting a tree stump in the dark I really needed to race. Life happens and I hadn’t had time to repair the WRX since September. In fact it’s still in the garage in pieces but that didn’t stop me putting the rally wheels on Tammy’s Forester and heading out to Bob’s Family Raceway to take on the guys in PA class. After two days of rain, it was muddy, really muddy. This event was a day/night rallycross and we love to race in the dark, even though I couldn’t see a thing with dirty headlights and no driving lights! I threw the car into 2nd gear and matted it on every run for the entire day. The auto box was superb and somehow the car had enough traction in the wet conditions to take the class win and FTD. I was a little stunned to be honest as the competition in PA has really stepped up this year. I put it down to new Hankook tyres and a little bit of luck. The course was great though. During the day it was long and the rhythm was fantastic, pitching the car into each corner and being perfectly setup for the next, speeds where constant. I think this is where time was really gained. It certainly wasn’t because of the ability to accelerate or brake in what only can be described as slop!
I had the opportunity to chair this event and that was pretty cool seeing it from another perspective. There’s a lot that goes into organizing a rallycross and it requires a team of people. Despite the crap weather I think it went well, people had fun but I learned some things and if asked again I’ll be better prepared.
What’s next for Alba Rallysport?
The final round of the DRSCCA rallycross season is on December 6th in Capac, MI. Next month I'll write up a 2008 rally season review so please logon for that. I’m looking forward to some snow/ice rallycross over the winter with the new secret weapons and of course we'll continue to develop (read: repair) the rally car for the 2009 season.
Photos by Kyle Treder and Kenneth Tsang. Event trophy photos by chrisamosphotography.com