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2010 STPR Recap

gravitybureau — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:51:51 +0000

The 2010 Susquehannock Trail Rally was spectacular. Canadian team of Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard came in first place, followed by privateer Bill Bacon. Ramana Lagemann and co-driver Chrissie Beavis took third place in Open class. It looks like the Subaru domination of the Rally-America series might be a thing of the past. Mitsubishi-powered vehicles seem to be winning these days.

You can take a look at our top shots from the first day and a half. Stay tuned for a complete set of Gravity Bureau’s photos in the next few days. We’ll be also posting the complete event coverage in low-res on our Flickr stream.

Aspah Special Stage - Ken Block & Alex Gelsomino, Monster World Rally Team

Wilson Point Special Stage - Bill Bacon & Peter Watt

Waste Management Special Stage - Antoine L'Estage & Nathalie Richard, Rockstar Energy Rally Team

Waste Management Special Stage - Ken Block & Alex Gelsomino, Monster World Rally Team

Waste Managament Special Stage - Dave Mirra, Subaru USA Rally Team

Aspah Special Stage - Bill Bacon & Peter Watt

Ken Block & Alex Gelsomino, Monster World Rally Team

2010 Olympus Rally Summary

gravitybureau — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:50:10 +0000

The 2010 Olympus Rally in Ocean Shores, WA claimed quite a few cars from the Rally-America series. First off, Andrew (ACP) Comrie-Picard crashed his Mitsubishi EVO IX on special stage 2. In an interview for Driving Sports, the driver said: “We were pushing super hard… went really fast into a right five and it was very slippery, set up for it, got on the throttle, went to go around it and just went in too fast. Completely my fault”. ACP is currently 8th in the Rally-America standings with 13 points.

Andrew (ACP) Comrie-Picard launching his Mitsubishi EVO IX - ©Neil McDaid

Ken Block set the fastest time on special stage 2, but his Ford Fiesta suffered a gearbox failure on his way to special stage 5.

Monster World Rally Team Fiest at Olympus Rally - ©Neil McDaid

Ken Block sideways in the MWRT Ford Fiesta - ©Neil McDaid

Ken Block disappointed - ©Neil McDaid

Art Gruszka crashed his 2006 Mitsubishi EVO IX and couldn’t finish the 2010 Olympus Rally.

Art Gruszka - 2006 Mitsubishi EVO IX - ©Neil McDaid

Olympus Rally was not too kind to Pat Richard and Subaru Rally Team Canada. He finished the event in 15th place with almost 18 minutes separating him from the rally leader.

Pat Richard & Subaru Rally Team Canada STI - ©Neil McDaid

Dillon Van Way crashed his 2002 Ford Focus due to a broken front axle.

Dillon Van Way crashed his 2002 Ford Focus - ©Neil McDaid

Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom led the event from start to finish winning 8 of 13 stages. Their Subaru STI performed flawlessly and they were able to build a significant lead. After the rally Travis said: “This rally was tough from the start. It was definitely the most intense field that we’ve had, though a lot of guys went out on the first day”. Pastrana stands in second place of the 2010 Rally-America Championship with 45 points.

Travis Pastrana #199 - ©Neil McDaid

Canadian driver Antoine L’Estage defended his leading position in the Rally-America series by placing second. Nathalie Richard, Antoine’s co-driver and wife summarized: “We started off well but had a problem early on in the rally, losing half a minute. It was pretty much impossible to catch Pastrana after that so I had to tighten the reigns a little bit to ensure Antoine slowed down and drove a smart and less risky rally. It may have dampened his fun a little bit but sometimes my job is to get him to think of the big picture”. L’Estage is leading the Rally-America series with 51 points.

Antoine L'Estage & Nathalie Richard jump their EVO X - ©Neil McDaid

Although Subaru Rally Team USA’s car #199 dominated the event, Dave Mirra nad his co-driver Martin Headland noticeably pushed harder than ever before. Mirra secured his first national podium and placed third overall at Olympus Rally. He is currently in 4th place with 34 points.

Dave Mirra's SRT USA STI - ©Neil McDaid

Bill Bacon is third in the 2010 Rally-America standings with 40 points. Privateer family-run Bacon Motorsports team is consistently intimidating larger, factory-sponsored rally teams this year. It will be interesting to see what Bill can really do when he gets sponsored by a big brand and has the means to push harder.

Bill Bacon's EVO IX - ©Neil McDaid

Old school Subaru Legacy Turbo launching off a jump - ©Neil McDaid

Photo Credit: Neil McDaid

Sources: RallyBuzz, Rally-America, SpecialStage, Subaru Rally Team USA, Monster World Rally Team

2010 100 Acre Wood Rally Summary

gravitybureau — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:49:08 +0000

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 & Alex Gelsomino flying high in a 2009 Ford Fiesta rally car - ©Arthur Partyka

Block's MWRT Ford Fiesta rally-car sideways - ©Arthur Partyka

Block signing a T-shirt for his fan - ©Arthur Partyka

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

Photo Credit: Arthur Partyka

Sources: RallyBuzz, Rally-America, Special Stage, Subaru Rally Team USA, Rider Rally Team, Monster World Rally Team