The 2010 Olympus Rally in Ocean Shores, WA is promising to be a spectacular event. We have just learned that Pat Richard will be contesting this year’s #ra3 event in his open-class STI sponsored by Subaru Rally Team Canada. Olympus Rally is Pat’s home rally and it’s where he learned the art of throwing his car sideways at break neck speeds.
It won’t be easy for Richard to secure a podium finish at Olympus considering that the last time he competed there was in 2008. The competition will be fierce with the likes of Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, Bill Bacon, ACP and Antoine L’Estage hungry for RA points.
Take a look below at our best shots of Pat from 2009.
Rocket Rally Racing STI
Pat Richard sideways
Pat Richard & Alan Ockwell
Richard's STI flying off a jump
Last, but not least, check out the 2008 Rocket Rally promo with footage from Olympus Rally.
Thanks to our fellow rally photographer from Chicago, Arthur Partyka, we bring you coverage from the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, MO. The 100AW was the second rally in this year’s Rally-America series.
Ken Block and the Monster World Rally Team dominated this event. This year’s win was Ken’s fifth straight #1 finish at 100AW. It was also Block’s first podium finish in his brand new 2010 Ford Fiesta rally car.
Ken Block tests for 5th win at the 2010 100 Acre Wood Rally in the Monster Energy Ford Fiesta
Travis Pastrana had a little mishap on the Potosi Super Special stage. He broke the left rear control arm in his 2009 Subaru Impreza STI and could not continue the rally.
The second place went to the Canadian team of Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard. Their 2009 Mitsubishi EVO X was consistently fast on gravel roads of Southern Missouri.
Chicago-based team of Piotr Wiktorczyk and Greg Dorman experienced an engine fire on one of the first stages and could not finish the rally. After the event Dorman explained: “Basically about four and a half miles into the stage our car lost all its power. We pulled over and opened the hood and it was on fire. So we got out some extinguishers, it didn’t want to go out, but the Conleys were kind enough to pull over. We grabbed their extinguisher and we got the fire out”. We’re happy to hear that Piotr and Greg walked away from this incident without a scratch and we hope to see the Rider’s Energy Team on the podium in the near future.
Andrew “ACP” Cormie-Picard blew the engine in his 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX and didn’t have a chance to complete on any of the 100AW special stages.
Henry & Cindy Krolikowski dominated the 100 Acre Wood regional rally results in their 2000 Subaru Impreza. Their white GC8 STI looked as good as ever, especially after a quick car was in a water splash.
Last, but not least, Arthur captured a photo of Lars Gange, the official Subaru Rally Team USA photographer digging a hole for his Nikon pro camera. You can take a look at the result of this experiment in the Subaru Rally Team USA 100AW gallery.
We’re looking forward to the next event on the Rally-America Schedule, Olympus Rally, based in Olympia, WA that will take place between April 23rd and 25th 2010.
Take a look at the official 100AW highlights by Warwick Patterson and Bill Wood:
2010 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood Official Highlights
The 2010 Sno*Drift Rally was icy. REALLY icy. The competitors that we spoke to couldn’t believe how slippery the roads near Atlanta, MI were this year. The fact that
studded winter tires are not permitted in the part of Michigan where the rally takes place made for a spectacular rally-car ice dance.
Travis Pastrana negotiated this year’s rally with a broken collar-bone and to everyone’s surprise took the victory! He said that his injury actually helped make his driving smoother and prevented him from taking unnecessary risks.
Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino brought out their latest toy – Monster World Rally Ford Fiesta. They showed top-notch performance and were in the 3rd position when they were forced to retire due to a technical problem. Take a look at the new Fiesta in snow-mode below:
Ken Block goes flat out in his Rally Fiesta on ice during Sno*Drift testing
Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard snatched-up the second place in the their Rockstar Mitsubishi EVO X. See below for in-car footage of Antoine and Nathalie tearing through the icy stages.
Sno*Drift Rally - Antoine L'Estage// Nathalie Richard - ROCKSTAR ENERGY
William Bacon and Peter Watt took the third place in their 2006 Mitsubishi EVO IX. Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard placed at a respectable fourth place despite of a close encounter with a snowbank. Andrew commented on this year’s Sno*Drift conditions and said that “the first few stages were the iciest I have ever seen… and the rally just got icier from there.” ACP owes his strong finish to a fellow rally team of pro mountain bikers Carl Decker and Adam Craig, who stopped in the middle of a stage and pulled the NOS EVO IX back onto the road.
