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Gorman Ridge Rally ‘05
Another rally is now in the history books for myself and my team of friends that make it possible. Those friends include all the competitors who make rallying fun and a fantastic sport to be involved in. My local support is what really keeps the progress rolling, Eric Schleicher for my engine tuning, Mike Masano for the sarcastic encouragement (love it) and my usual crew of helpers, like Morgan Davies and Eric Olsen. I had my best finish to date, forth place in class, CRS Open 2WD, missing out on third place by only 2 seconds. Hind sight is perfect and there was obviously a lot of time I could have: pushed harder, lifted a little later, shifted into first rather than lugging second gear for a couple of seconds, and hit more of the cautions without caution in mind. But, I’m very pleased with my overall finish in the race, just getting to the end of any CRS rally is a challenge for all the teams.
I started Gorman with my forth newbie co-driver since I’ve been racing. Although he is no stranger to racing in the dirt, and even to sitting on the right side of off-road racing, he was new to being in a closed car, reading a route book with instructions closer than a mile apart. His race day didn’t start out so well, feeling sick through the first three stages. But, I was feeling great about the car and my new driving abilities. Since the engine and tranny swap earlier this year, the car had been driving a little odd, pushing in the corners. I finally realized it was the two was limited slip, staying locked in the corners not allowing the front tires to glide through but push through the corners. Well, simple solution, learn how to rally race the right way, left foot braking. This allows you to dance on the gas and brake pedal at the same time. This gives power to the front end to keep the tires pulling, while slowing the back end down in order for the car to pivot at the corners, decreasing the distance and time required to make a given turn in the dirt. Well, I’m no expert at it, but I’m definitely addicted to it now, what an amazing difference in how the car handles.
By the first service break, Tim and I were dealing with him not feeling well, just read what you can, and look out the window the rest of the time. My first big boost in confidence came when I looked at the score board, I had moved up four places, from 22nd to 18th place overall. As most of my services go, we kicked the tires, washed the windows and spent the next 50 minutes sitting around relaxing and talking about what had gone on so far. Last year at this time, I had accidentally run over a banner and we were scrambling to change out the axle that had its CV boot ripped off by said banner.
The next three stages were run in the opposite direction as the first three, new challenge, but no trouble for us. The most surreal part of the race was driving through the field of sunflowers with them slapping the side mirror the whole way through the long sweeping turn at 60mph. Finally, the break we were looking for, three hours for the catered hamburger lunch and time for most of the teams to scramble into repair mode. Again, we washed the windows and kicked the tires, then went back to relaxing. Tim took a Dramamine and went to his room to relax in the air conditioning, emerging after a two-hour nap fresh and ready to go. The only real work we had to do on the car was to flip the front tires, left to right, right to left, in order to have a fresh set of edges to pull us through the dirt.
After talking with my mentor/inspiration, Mike Masano, I changed my strategy. He told me that he had been hitting all the single cautions bumps (water bars) at speed without any trouble. So, that’s what we’ll do, turn slowing down into jumping, it worked and the little car took the abuse without a single complaint. (Not to mention the fun factor of flying a Festiva through the air) We dropped about 3/10 of a minute from our stage one and three time and both Tim and I new we were getting faster, as the road was slowly getting rougher.
The drugs worked and Tim was feeling great for the afternoon/evening runs and we were moving up the score board, at the next service break we were now 14th overall. This was fantastic, my only problem was the setting sun, and I’m generally not a fan of racing in the dark. So, I did my best for the next couple of stages, driving my own race and only dropping 1 to 2/10 off of my day light times. The final stage was now all that was left for us to finish this race and I made the decision to drive smart, avoid beating the car on the sand box corner that hat sucked us in a few times already and get to the end of the race. This decision came back to haunt me, I could have easily had made up 10 seconds on the last stage, but I did what I thought was best. Missing out on my first rally trophy by 2 seconds. I don’t feel so bad about it though, I had a great run at a tough race and finished in the middle of the pack, 13th out of 25 finishing cars and 32 cars that started the race.
The race organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job, after having to cancel several of the stages just two weeks before the race and reorganizing to run the entire race on only two roads. Risky, since this could have been a disaster, but the roads held up very well to our abuse. The only section that kept getting noticeably worse was the sand box corner, which sucked in several cars and threw sand over my windshield nearly every time through it. The parks services had done a great job of grading the roads in the days before the race, scraping out the roughest section from previous runnings of these roads. Another big thanks goes to Tokico for making such a great strut. My front struts were on their fourth race and zero problems. As for the back end, I’ve finally gotten it to were it now glides over what ever abuse I give it and keeps on going. Now is the big decision, should I run Prescott, my home state race? I’m feeling like I should, and Tim said he would be honored to sit in my car again.
My last co-driver, Piers, had the chance to co-drive for a fast new driver in an Audi, Alan Musev, which I fully supported his decision. Well, what a step up for him, from my Festiva into the car that ended up not only finishing first in class but first overall, congratulations to them and what a great story on that teams side. Third rally ever, and just winning the battle from Amy BeberVanzo by only five seconds. Top drivers in top class cars. The other big story was my good friend Mike Masano, first in P-Stock class and fifth place over all, missing forth overall from a twelve second penalty. Great driving Mike! Next time, I’ll see if I can’t push even harder, confidence is key, and that only comes from more time pushing the car and myself closer to the limits.
Jon R. Car# 306 Festiva-RS Evo II
Another rally is now in the history books for myself and my team of friends that make it possible. Those friends include all the competitors who make rallying fun and a fantastic sport to be involved in. My local support is what really keeps the progress rolling, Eric Schleicher for my engine tuning, Mike Masano for the sarcastic encouragement (love it) and my usual crew of helpers, like Morgan Davies and Eric Olsen. I had my best finish to date, forth place in class, CRS Open 2WD, missing out on third place by only 2 seconds. Hind sight is perfect and there was obviously a lot of time I could have: pushed harder, lifted a little later, shifted into first rather than lugging second gear for a couple of seconds, and hit more of the cautions without caution in mind. But, I’m very pleased with my overall finish in the race, just getting to the end of any CRS rally is a challenge for all the teams.
I started Gorman with my forth newbie co-driver since I’ve been racing. Although he is no stranger to racing in the dirt, and even to sitting on the right side of off-road racing, he was new to being in a closed car, reading a route book with instructions closer than a mile apart. His race day didn’t start out so well, feeling sick through the first three stages. But, I was feeling great about the car and my new driving abilities. Since the engine and tranny swap earlier this year, the car had been driving a little odd, pushing in the corners. I finally realized it was the two was limited slip, staying locked in the corners not allowing the front tires to glide through but push through the corners. Well, simple solution, learn how to rally race the right way, left foot braking. This allows you to dance on the gas and brake pedal at the same time. This gives power to the front end to keep the tires pulling, while slowing the back end down in order for the car to pivot at the corners, decreasing the distance and time required to make a given turn in the dirt. Well, I’m no expert at it, but I’m definitely addicted to it now, what an amazing difference in how the car handles.
By the first service break, Tim and I were dealing with him not feeling well, just read what you can, and look out the window the rest of the time. My first big boost in confidence came when I looked at the score board, I had moved up four places, from 22nd to 18th place overall. As most of my services go, we kicked the tires, washed the windows and spent the next 50 minutes sitting around relaxing and talking about what had gone on so far. Last year at this time, I had accidentally run over a banner and we were scrambling to change out the axle that had its CV boot ripped off by said banner.
The next three stages were run in the opposite direction as the first three, new challenge, but no trouble for us. The most surreal part of the race was driving through the field of sunflowers with them slapping the side mirror the whole way through the long sweeping turn at 60mph. Finally, the break we were looking for, three hours for the catered hamburger lunch and time for most of the teams to scramble into repair mode. Again, we washed the windows and kicked the tires, then went back to relaxing. Tim took a Dramamine and went to his room to relax in the air conditioning, emerging after a two-hour nap fresh and ready to go. The only real work we had to do on the car was to flip the front tires, left to right, right to left, in order to have a fresh set of edges to pull us through the dirt.
After talking with my mentor/inspiration, Mike Masano, I changed my strategy. He told me that he had been hitting all the single cautions bumps (water bars) at speed without any trouble. So, that’s what we’ll do, turn slowing down into jumping, it worked and the little car took the abuse without a single complaint. (Not to mention the fun factor of flying a Festiva through the air) We dropped about 3/10 of a minute from our stage one and three time and both Tim and I new we were getting faster, as the road was slowly getting rougher.
The drugs worked and Tim was feeling great for the afternoon/evening runs and we were moving up the score board, at the next service break we were now 14th overall. This was fantastic, my only problem was the setting sun, and I’m generally not a fan of racing in the dark. So, I did my best for the next couple of stages, driving my own race and only dropping 1 to 2/10 off of my day light times. The final stage was now all that was left for us to finish this race and I made the decision to drive smart, avoid beating the car on the sand box corner that hat sucked us in a few times already and get to the end of the race. This decision came back to haunt me, I could have easily had made up 10 seconds on the last stage, but I did what I thought was best. Missing out on my first rally trophy by 2 seconds. I don’t feel so bad about it though, I had a great run at a tough race and finished in the middle of the pack, 13th out of 25 finishing cars and 32 cars that started the race.
The race organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job, after having to cancel several of the stages just two weeks before the race and reorganizing to run the entire race on only two roads. Risky, since this could have been a disaster, but the roads held up very well to our abuse. The only section that kept getting noticeably worse was the sand box corner, which sucked in several cars and threw sand over my windshield nearly every time through it. The parks services had done a great job of grading the roads in the days before the race, scraping out the roughest section from previous runnings of these roads. Another big thanks goes to Tokico for making such a great strut. My front struts were on their fourth race and zero problems. As for the back end, I’ve finally gotten it to were it now glides over what ever abuse I give it and keeps on going. Now is the big decision, should I run Prescott, my home state race? I’m feeling like I should, and Tim said he would be honored to sit in my car again.
My last co-driver, Piers, had the chance to co-drive for a fast new driver in an Audi, Alan Musev, which I fully supported his decision. Well, what a step up for him, from my Festiva into the car that ended up not only finishing first in class but first overall, congratulations to them and what a great story on that teams side. Third rally ever, and just winning the battle from Amy BeberVanzo by only five seconds. Top drivers in top class cars. The other big story was my good friend Mike Masano, first in P-Stock class and fifth place over all, missing forth overall from a twelve second penalty. Great driving Mike! Next time, I’ll see if I can’t push even harder, confidence is key, and that only comes from more time pushing the car and myself closer to the limits.
Jon R. Car# 306 Festiva-RS Evo II
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