What’s your name? Where are you located? What do you do for a living?
I’m Jason Tuttle, but everyone calls me Jace. I’m 25 years old and live in a great area for rally up here in the Pacific Northwest, Salem Oregon. I work at a small, very accredited hospital for 4 years now as a cook. But don’t think of me as a ‘lunch lady,’ I volunteer for a couple local Search and Rescue organizations, and am working my associate’s degree in automotive and possibly marketing.

What got you interested in rally?
I use to see the WRC on TV when I was a teenager and was mesmerized. And of course at the same time, I’d find some video games that had rally-ish features. Any game that had me flying down roads between trees was the coolest. A few years later a buddy of mine who I was in an autocross club with mentioned something about going to spectate at Oregon Trail Rally that year. I had no idea that existed here in Oregon. I actually didn’t end up going to my first stage rally until a year after that, where it was Mt. Hood Rally. And for some reason I decided to not be a spectator, but volunteer as marshal. It my was first rally, and I had gone by myself so it was kind of intimidating actually. It was the most fun I’ve had watching cars race ever! My favorite thing about Mt. Hood Rally is not only was it the first rally I went to, It was also the first rally I was a Stage Captain for with the Oregon Rally Group, and it was the first stage rally I competed in!

Image: Jeff Hinds Photography

Tell us about your rally car/truck. How long have you had it?
The rallytruck is a 2wd 1992 Mitsubish Mighty Max. And let me just say that it is the most fun vehicle I’ve ever driven! The MM was taken off the showroom floor and turned into a Rally Truck right away from the hands of Dave Turner. I hear it performed pretty darn good back in its day. Heck, Dave driving and the PNW’s own Ben Bradely co-driving took home the last SCCA RallyTruck Class championship in 1995. It has a Toyota rear end with disc brakes, and some head work. Few random things from other cars here and there, but up front it’s damn near all stock.

My first ‘rally car’ was a free 1986 2wd Honda Civic Wagovan, which I managed 3rd place in class with for the 2009 rallycross season. Only after it caught on fire on course! Also came away with class champion for the 2009 Spring Enduro put on by Siskyou Sports Car Club in Medford, Oregon. It was taken to the wrecking yard in Januray 2010. Now, I’m working towards a new build.

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
What challenges did this cause? What benefits did you realize as a result?
It was a purchase that was likely the greatest thing I’ve ever bought. I had my aspirations of building a Mazda 323 BG chassis as I’m really familiar with them and they just look pretty goofy and cool all together. After lots of research I came to the realization that buying an already prepped rally car was the way to go to start things off. I was drooling over the classifieds in forums for 2 years trying to find something that wasn’t a Frankenstein build or another VW/Subaru.

I noticed the truck for sale from the owner back then and thought it would be the coolest thing! Months had passed, and it was sold. I continued my search, saving my pennies for my Mazda build. The truck later showed back up on the classifieds from the ‘new’ owner and I again was pondering it for quite a while before I decided to sell everything Mazda I had to fund the truck. I was pretty bummed to not be building the Mazda, but glad I finally had a rally car. And it being the truck was the most badass thing!! It was quite a birthday present to myself with help from a friend. I felt like a little kid getting his favorite toy for Christmas. I just wanted to go drive it any chance I had.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed/crashed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
I developed a little reputation doing rallycross events through my first year of owning the truck, just learning to drive it. Being the first time I’ve ever driven a RWD vehicle, let alone something with no weight over the drive wheels, I was ALWAYS spinning. I’m sure I completed 2 or 3 full 360 spins per day. It was so fun!!

As Mt. Hood finally came in 2010, it being the first stage rally I’d compete in, I had my goals to just drive clean and controlled, and just finish. Coming to the finish of the 2nd stage I had gone into one of the last corners a little too quick for my ability and locked up the wheels, going straight into the bushes where the road dropped close to a foot down. I was nervous as I felt we were in a fairly bad spot and wouldn’t get out. Finally after a few cranks and what seemed like eternity sitting there, she fired up and we took off out of the ditch. I’m glad we were in a truck as the ditch felt a little steep and with that much brush, we weren’t sure if a car would have the clearance to get out.

The only other moment we had where I lost control was upsetting the back end coming around a corner going downhill. The momentum carried us around going down the slope sideways, and came to a stop blocking the road. Just threw it in gear and mashed the throttle going back down the right way!

Image: Travis Ogden, ShutterDriven

I did manage to catch my 1986 Honda Civic Wagovan on fire at a rallycross in 2009. Blew a hole in the oil pan after landing a ‘yump’ and the fluids ignited. I didn’t realize what the damage was at first. Only a big boom, and the lack of power felt a little worse than usual. I was already running on only 3 cylinders and about 40hp on a good day. I just floored it for about another minute to finish the course and as I came across the finish I caught a LOT of smoke out of the corner of my eye. As I thought, “Oh shit! is that from me, I see 4 guys running at me and yelling ‘fire!.’” Just then the smoke was coming into the cabin of the car and I shut it down. Turned out to be an expensive tow home.

Tell us about a time when you narrowly avoided a DNF. How did you press on regardless?
Sadly, starting only one stage rally, it resulted in a DNF after barely finishing the 3rd stage. It was the infamous Fir Mountain stage. Long, rough, and it was really quite a workout for me. 6 miles from the finish we had come through a rough section and suddenly I lost my power steering and warning lights came on. I felt like we had bent a wheel or gotten a flat as everything seemed to be working fine but my steering. And for that particular section, wheel damage made sense. So we carried on, just being a more careful.

Coming into the final 2 miles I noticed what looked like another car up ahead. As we slowly caught up, it turned out to be another car for sure. Being familiar with the road through the past few years of volunteering, I knew there was nowhere close to get around so we just cruised along behind the SAAB of Cliff Johannsen. Every time we came to a road marshal position I did my best to play a little and get it sideways. It was really exciting coming into the flying finish as I hit it flat out coming around the sweeping corner getting completely sideways, almost not making to the cattle guard where the stop control was. I hear it looked really cool, and that’s all that mattered!

As we were getting our timecard back, steam was pouring out the engine bay and the temp gauge was pegged. Hurried to get out of the control, popped the hood, and just stared… Nothing was broken or burst… Then it hit me… The belts were gone… Not having any spares in the truck, I decided to call it quits, not wanting to damage the motor anymore than I possibly was already. It really sucked to make that decision, being so soon in the rally and all I wanted to do was hit the final flying finish. The smart decision really sucks sometimes.

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally? The most challenging?
Sitting behind the curtain and on the sidelines for a few years, the most rewarding thing was coming across the first flying finish of the first stage of my first rally. Knowing I had finally completed a stage was just amazing. I was SO excited. Pumping my fists while carrying a giant shit-eating grin. And as my co-driver Merrilee Gilley [and I] congratulated each other on a stage finish, it was so much more rewarding than just making the start.

I’d say the most challenging thing would be moving up in volunteer roles. I’ve started from the bottom, and with the ambition of wanting to do so much more and be more involved, I just haven’t had the time or room to put in the effort that I really want. There have been some great mentors helping me along the way. Simon Leavers, Gloria and Randy Hale, the Tabor Family, Mike Nagel, Rich Olmstead, and Ed and Pat Bodnar have all had a hand in teaching me everything there is on how to run a stage rally.

How many events did you enter last year? Is that trending up or down? Why?
I competed in all but 2 rallycross events for my area, did 2 autocrosses, and made the single only stage rally I had planned on. Even that was pushing my luck in the end. It all worked out well though as the reason for not entering more stage rallies was to spend the time in smaller scale events just learning to drive.

Image: Jeff Hinds Photography

How important are car classes? What class/region do you race in? How many competitors in your class at each event?
I’m all for 2 single classes. 2wd and 4wd. Maybe a 3rd for Historic, but that’s just for fun and if there were enough participants and they were complete replicas of their generation (aside from safety). I play with the Pacific Northwest folks, between northern California up into Canada. I have yet to attend Rally Idaho, although I really hope to show up and volunteer there this year. There were 18 2wd cars overall in the 28 car field at Mt. Hood Rally 2010.

When it comes to rallycross, I like where Oregon Rally Group has gone with car classification. They run 9 different classes total, which gives everyone a chance to take home some hardware at the end of the day. I think that’s really cool! It even let me come home with a 4th place overall trophy for Modified 2wd Rear this past year alongside a 3rd place Modified 2wd featuring FWD and RWD. Much better results than I had planned for within the first year driving the truck. Guess it helps bringing up the back of the field consistently!

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes vs blind rally?
I like the idea of recce as it gives the team an idea of what they’re getting into. Pacenotes; well I don’t have experience with them. We ran a route book at Mt. Hood, and only made a few notes on instructions where I need to slow down. As much as I wanted to be like the WRC guys and have instructions hollered out to me with all the numbers and stuff, it was completely unnecessary for a noob. If I were more confident in my driving and was going for a win, it be a regular practice. As far as a blind rally goes, well where does the co-driver come into play at? Drive as you see it is fun, but I feel times would be better and the cars could look cooler for spectators as they prepare themselves for the corners with speed and angle. Regardless, I don’t have really any experience with any of them. Yet!

Spectators: How would you like to see them addressed?
We need more, period, but I feel the average person doesn’t want to sit in the woods waiting for usually 1 car to pass them at a time, and only catch them for a few seconds. Special Stages in an arena type setting would bring more out I’m sure. I’d personally like to work towards some great promotion for events to get spectators interested more. Bring rally cars out to car meets, autocross, drag strips, and just show them off. Tell folks about them. As a competitor, I drove my rally truck to work about 20 miles once a week, along with just cruising around town occasionally. All to get people to see what it is, and quite often ask about what the truck is, and what rally is. It was a lot of fun.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
Aside from driving the rallycar around town and letting people see it in person, I had some posters made at a print shop for less about a dollar a piece and handed them out to automotive shops, the colleges, super markets. Go hang out at the grassroots events and just strike up a conversation about how we all enjoy driving spiritedly on regular roads, and then inform them that rally does just that! I was very pleased to know that I had almost 10 brand new people who I have never met until a particular time come out to volunteer at stage rallies last year. Just by telling them and acting out my lack of driving technique!

What’s one piece of advice you’d give someone looking to get into rally?
Bring a pillow and a sleeping bag, ride with me up to a stage rally and hang out for the weekend. I’ll provide the food, tent, fuel, and introduce you to some of the greatest people around, and you won’t go home disappointed. You’ll come back next time with a friend or two. 100% guaranteed.

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
It’s always a topic on the online rally forums. Myself, it’s cost, but that pretty much includes everything you can imagine. Anyone can bring a beater car out and trash it. Now you just have to think about safety equipment. That’s the most costly thing involved in a car for me, but I’m not game for taking shortcuts. I’d like to live and tell the story about that awesome crash. Entry fees tend to stack up compared to track days along with having to take care of towing, where you’ll sleep, helping out your friends as they crew for you. It’s just so much. I really feel like I’m way down on the bottom of the folks wanting to rally. I live mostly paycheck by paycheck so saving up just to enter a rally with a $500 entry fee took me quite a few months, and after the event I was still in the hole.

How would I address that… I wouldn’t know where to start. Shoot everyone a text one night and tell them tomorrow night we’re going to have folks with FRS radios out in the sticks and we’ll be racing from one of the mountain to the other. Ya, sure it’s completely illegal and not the safest, but isn’t that how this all got started? No, that’s not how I’d actually go about solving it, but like I said, I wouldn’t know where to start. Rally organizers aren’t making profit so to speak, so it’s really out of their hands. I’ll just keep saving my pennies and hitting the coin return button on all the vending machines I pass by hoping something falls out.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
I do absolutely anything I can to help out the organizers. I was offered more and more responsibility last year as each event came and those are the people the sport needs to keep it alive. I pass down my knowledge as a volunteer to the next person and teach them how do keep things going smoothly. I’ve always wanted to help out a friend in service, but there are regularly some positions that need filling out on the stage or in the shadows and that’s where I’d feel more beneficial.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be? Why?
I would take any single one of them. I don’t have a favorite. I’d love to drive on the snow, but I’m sure I would suck horribly. Personally, I’d give my left nut to drive the Dakar.

Your favorite Group B car?
Ford RS200, or the Stratos. I have a thing for little cars that my 6’2” body can barely fit in. And they’re loud, fast, and breathe fire! C’mon, they’re epic! Than again, if Group B had lasted longer, rumor is Mazda would have released the Familia Sport-4. I love the Mazda 323, and with Mazda having the 4wd turbo charged version in the WRC, they made a concept of an even more wicked version of the GTR into a widebody! It just looks awesome.

We’ve all got a rally hero. Who’s yours?
My modern hero would be Petter Solberg. He is a great driver, had to deal the running/owning his own WRC program, and his character is great. He carries himself as a fun guy who means business. I love how the guy shows so much emotion. His excitement is contagious, his frustration is livid, his humor is… well remember when he fell off his car showing off? =)

Do you have a local rally club? Tell us about it! (If not, why not?)
We have a couple in the area. Oregon Rally Group is our big organizing group. They put together some of our stage rallies, coordinate the rally cross events, and have a hand with TSD’s. Cascade Sports Car Club is another who deals quite a bit with the TSD rallies, and recently Charles Buren has formed a new club aimed towards stage rally. They’re all full of some of the greatest motor sport people in the Pacific North West.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
Sadly, not nearly as much as I’d like. Although that is one of my ‘new years resolutions’ =)

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
Merrilee Gilley as my co-driver for Mt. Hood along with Patrick, Joel, Dana, Coy, Mike and Lara for working out the service crew. Todd for giving a hand in so many ways. Tiffany for all the incredible support through the last few years. All those folks who yelled constructive criticism at me while behind the wheel. Our sponsors; Sharky’s Pool and Brew and Capital City Appliance, both from Salem, Oregon.

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
All the volunteers who showed up at Mt. Hood so we can go throw ourselves around for the 3 stages. Without them there wouldn’t be a chance to do that. The Tabor family, and the Hales are a huge part of our volunteer friends. They rock!!

What’s a helpful trick you’ve picked up since you started rallying?
Tire Pressure!!! I was oblivious to just how much it changes things. Thanks Mike!

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
Just keep an open mind and listen to what others have to say. Every tip and trick are worth trying out.

Is there anything else rally-related you’d like to talk about, but hasn’t been asked?
Well yes, there indeed is. As a matter of fact, it will likely be what makes my first rally stand out from my others more than anything.

After finishing the 3 stages of Mt. Hood, and waiting around for our crew to tow us back to service, all I wanted to do was pack up and head home. I was truly frustrated. Now though, we had another job, and that would be service for Todd as the combo car. Many more hours had gone by, the rally has finished and we’re finally able to pack up and head out. Part of me wanted to hang out for the awards ceremony, but again I just wanted to get home and unpack. Our awesome service crew had packed up and left as they all had different places to be.

After it was dark, I was on my way heading to I-84 with friend and crew worker behind me for our trip back to Portland. So it’s dark, the rain is pouring down and we’re cruising along, than I hear this crazy howling. It’s a tire getting ready to blow on the tow rig. I’m looking for a fair place to pull off on the highway, but the particular section we were in was around a long bend with no shoulder. Too late anyway, about 15 seconds later the front passenger side tire blows apart and is shredding. I got pretty nervous as I wasn’t sure how the truck with trailer would handle in the current conditions.

I finally came to a spot a couple hundred feet further. I was calling Joel, to inform him what had happened. And Merrilee and Todd as they were part of our crew and hanging out at the awards, and then my cell phone dies. Joel and I had a frustrating time in the pouring rain and wind fighting to keep the truck jacked up after it had slipped off the jack already.

Fellow competitor, Michael Colangelo noticed our triangles on the highway, recognized our trucks and stopped to offer assistance. With little he could do to help, aside from brightening my particular grim mood, he continued his trek back to Seattle. Todd and Merrilee showed up to our rescue about an hour or so later and we were finally able to get a spare put on the truck. Again, there was still quite a bit of fighting to accomplish this task. Thanks to the county sheriff who also stopped by for our assistance.

Now with a full rally service crew we were taken care of and on our way back down the highway. Well, along the way, we stopped to help a rally volunteer out who’s vehicle broke down only miles from us. He hopped in with me, and our rally team convoy was heading back to Vancouver. Or so we thought…

Just outside of Troutdale, Oregon in the midst of some horrible rain and winds still, there was something that looked odd up ahead. Dustin (the volunteer) asked if that was a car in the ditch. Squinting through the rain we were trying to make out what actually was a car on it’s side in the grass on the side of the highway. Our convoy stopped to offer aid along with another car of good folks. Turns out a married couple and their young (6-10yrs old) grandchild on their way home from an anniversary had found a puddle of standing water, hydroplaned, losing control and crashing into the ditch, coming to rest on the passenger side down. We helped the them all climb out through the drivers door.

Aside from the women being very shaken up, they all amazingly seemed to be quite alright physically. Merrilee was taking care of the child most of the time who’m looked like she was just so scared, she didn’t know what was going on. Our convoy waited with the family for over 2 hours in the miserable weather for emergency personnel. We kept them warm inside of cars, with our jackets and some food and eventually some of their family members showed up in 2 minivans before the county sheriff finally made it to us.

Image: Joel Newman

With the scene finally being tended to, we packed up our triangles, collected our jackets (not before giving the family some un-used parkas, as they were still there) and were on our way home, again. The entire family was very grateful we stopped and offered help. They all seemed very cool now and in much better spirits. On our way home, I mentioned something that seemed to has stuck with me. ‘I can’t complain about my day anymore’. It was right around 1 in the morning the day after running Mt. Hood Rally. Almost 14 full hrs after I had expected to be home the first time from my DNF, we were in Vancouver, Washington where we all just walked in, took a deep breath with a nice sigh of relief, and called it a night.

Heck, when we woke up later in the afternoon, we threw new belts on the rally truck, picked up and replaced the tension belt pulley on the volunteers vehicle, and off I was driving back to Salem. I pulled into my driveway driving the RallyTruck darn near 32 hrs after all I wanted was to be home. Off to bed I went, and thus ended my Mt. Hood Rally 2010 experience. My first stage rally as a competitor.

That’s an epic night on the road. Thank you for sharing your story with the world rally community, Jace. Press on regardless.

What’s your name?  Where are you located? What do you do for a living?
My name is Justin Carven and I’m located in Holyoke MA, out near Springfield, MA, and Hartford, CT.  I am the founder and owner of Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems where we design, manufacture and sell retro-fit kits to convert diesel vehicles to be able to run on straight vegetable oil.  Most of our customers collect used cooking oil from local restaurants and filter it in their garage for use as their fuel.

What got you interested in rally?
About 5 years ago it had become clear to me that much of my advertising budget was being wasted on print ad and trade show campaigns that had little return on investment. As a result, I made the decision that I would rather spend that money on projects that, even if unsuccessful, would provide some reward to my staff or others.

In late 2007 I was approached by members of a SCORE Baja racing team who had expressed interest in building a diesel powered desert racing bug and were looking for sponsorship. This project piqued my interest and that of the gear-heads in the office and we made the decision to get involved.  We spent 2008 working with the team to build the Class 5 Unlimited bug with a MK4 VW TDI engine. The car was completed at the last minute to compete in the 2008 Baja 1000 but unfortunately lacked development and only completed the first leg due to ECU problems. I co-drove on that first leg and came down with a full blown race addiction.  I renewed our sponsorship for the 2009 SCORE season during which we had mixed results ranging from 2nd in class finishes to several DNFs.

Since I am based on the east coast and the Baja team was out of El Cajon, it became pretty clear that I would need to find my racing fix somewhere back east. Right after the 1000 in 2008, I started looking into the northeast rally scene which I had been aware of but had yet to check out first hand. I participated in some Rally-X events, volunteered at Rally NY and took a course at Team O’Neil.

Image: Pete Kuncis (click pic to visit)

Tell us about your rally car/truck.  How long have you had it?
Did you buy your rally car or build it? What challenges did this cause?  What benefits did you realize as a result?
In early 2009 I purchased a ’79 VW Rabbit shell originally built and campaigned by Pete Van Bogart of Cascade Motorsports and started to build it back to be stage ready. A friend who had briefly owned the car let me know that it was for sale once again, having changed hands several times over the previous few years, but hadn’t seen competition since 2002.

The car was basically a rolling shell with a pedal box, cage and logbook but was the perfect starting point for a diesel rally build.  I have owned and tinkered with VWs for years so I know Rabbits well, and have access to all sorts of spares, but the first season was a big learning experience. The initial build up of the car was relatively quick and I was able to run some tests at O’Neils and a couple of SCCA RallyX events by April and had the car in complete rally prep in time for the NY Rallysprint that June.

Image: Travis Sleight

My first stage rally was the NE Forest Rally and it was a real eye opener to the importance of suspension and re-enforcing. We smashed our oil pan and broke the side and rear engine mounts on the rough stages during day two and were forced to retire. We made repairs and were allowed to run the last stage for fun right before sweep.

On the drive back to rally HQ, I started the long list of improvements that needed to be made. The later model engine and transmission I installed were heavier and dimensionally larger that original equipment and created some ground clearance problems.  It took a few events to get the suspension beefed up for the car and to build under car protection to deal with our rough New England stages.

Over the next year many improvements were made to the car and it was competitive in 2010 with many top 3 in class finishes allowing me to secure the RallyAmerica Eastern G5 championship and 2nd in Rally NY 2WD. I certainly learned a lot about building cars for durability and hope to use this experience on my next build.

By the end of 2010 I have put over a dozen stage rallies as well as some hillclimb and one EuroRallycross event on the car.  The car has served me well but has proven to be a bit on the delicate side given the abuse and speeds it has been subjected to.  I am currently re-prepping the car for 2011 but hope to finish the MK4 Golf that I have been working on for the last year and start developing the car this season.

Tell us about the reasoning behind the Greasecar conversion on the rally car. Pros/cons?
The primary reason for running a Greasecar conversion in the rally car is because I’m writing off rally as a business/promotional expense and trying to demonstrate that our products do not affect performance or durability.  With that said however, I do like to be doing something different in any arena and enjoy the challenge that comes with it.

It is still unclear as to the performance handicap, if any, since running a diesel is my only rally experience and there is only one other diesel in rally competition in North America.  Next year should be interesting though if the Wimpeys get their TDI finished and some comparisons can be made.  Running a diesel certainly requires a different approach compared to a gasoline car, but offers great low end torque and fuel economy. I think that, in the right hands, diesel can be competitive with any of the top cars out there.

The only challenges we’ve really had in terms of the alternative fuel involved the freezing of our fuel jugs at a winter event which almost led to running out of fuel until we were able to get a hold of some diesel.

Image: Tim Oliver

Tell us about a time when you stuffed/crashed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
I’ve been very fortunate so far with keeping the car on the road.  The last event I ran was the Autumn Rallysprint in NY with my wife in the co-driver’s seat for the first time.  Near the end of the first stage, I came in too hot to a R3 which turned out to be a lot looser than expected and slid off into a gate post. The damage was largely cosmetic though I did bend the rear axle beam.  We were able to get the car back together at service and continue the day but lost too much time to be competitive.  Since I do all of my car prep myself and operate on a limited grassroots budget, even simple offs like this one can take me months of evenings after work to straighten out and that has been the biggest challenge I’ve had to deal with.

This situation can also make me more tentative than I would like especially during the summer when I know I will have little opportunity to straighten the car out between events.  It will be a mixed blessing to have two cars at my disposal by the end of the year, fortunate to have a back up, unfortunate to have two carts to fix and prep.

Image: Shawn Volpe

Tell us about a time when you narrowly avoided a DNF. How did you press on regardless?
In addition to the off at the NY Rallysprint, Geoff Clark and I had a pretty close call at Black River this year when we hit a large rock on the inside of a turn which kicked the car and almost flipped us.  The impact tore the 1/4” aluminum skidplate like paper, cracked a wheel in half and pushed the control arm back several inches. For the first few seconds after the car was back on 4 wheels it sounded the car was coming apart and we looked for a place to put over and retire.  But as we drove I realized we could steer and the brakes were working so we limped out the rest of the stage.  We were running that weekend without a crew but were able to get some help from the Saab rally guys at the next service, bashed the fender back for clearance, replaced the wheel and did our best to correct the alignment. We finished the weekend with a respectable 3rd in 2WD and 7th overall.

Image: Pete Kuncis (click to visit)

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally?  The most challenging?
Rally appeals and satisfies me on a number of levels. As a mechanical designer and fabricator, I find building and developing a car very exciting and fulfilling.  At the same time, I really enjoy the thrill and challenge of competition.  Since often you don’t know exactly where you stand during competition you really need to run your own race and know where your limits are and how far to push them; that type of calculated strategy is right up my alley. Then of course there is the driver/co-driver teamwork and the general camaraderie of the entire rally community.  So I guess you could say, overall, I enjoy everything about rally.

The most challenging things are coming up with time, money and crew support.  I have been fortunate over the last several years to have funds available through my business to support my habit but like everyone in the current economy, rally funds are becoming tighter.

Image: Pete Kuncis (click to visit)

How many events did you enter last year?  Is that trending up or down?  Why?
I was fortunate to run 6 stage rallies, 2 hillclimbs, 1 rallysprint and 1 Eurorallycross in 2010.  2009 was my first year in competition and I ran 3 stage rallies, 4 hillclimbs and 2 rallysprints so the trend was up in 2010. I hope to run at least 6 events in 2011 but will need to be far more budget conscious to meet that goal.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
Between car prep, travel costs and entry fees, it would be hard for a prize structure to make any significant impact on my event choices. MaxAttack is certainly the only real prize fund out there and it is fun to run for the money, but more for the competition the events bring out than the few hundred dollars it can earn. I was a bit disappointed that a National 2WD podium at NEFR doesn’t even earn a plastic trophy but generally I have very low expectations for “rally-riches.”

Image: Pete Kuncis (click to visit)

How important are car classes?  What class/region do you race in?  How many competitors in your class at each event?
I understand the reasoning behind classes but generally feel like I’m competing against all 2WD vehicles and like comparing times even when divided by G2/G5.  I am running G5 and it has been a bit disappointing to have fewer class competitors than the G2 crowd, that’s another reason MaxAttack is so fun.

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes vs blind rally?
I’ve never run a blind rally, unless you count co-drivers losing their place, so I can’t really comment. Recce is great when there is time for it and really helps me feel more confident going into an event, with some sense of the roads and their conditions.  Generally, I like to keep my stage notes simple since I usually can’t focus when I’m fed too much information at one time. I certainly think that stage notes are very valuable when there is good driver/co-driver communication.

Spectators: How would you like to see them addressed?
I love seeing spectators at the events and on stage.  There have been a few scary moments when spectators are a bit too close or rowdy for comfort on stage but for the most part, as long as there is good marshalling and spectator areas, the more the better. I was really impressed with the spectators in Canada. In general they seem more enthusiastic and appear to require less marshalling.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
I’d like the answer to this question myself since I have no local rally friends or helpers.  Often, I’ll park my rally car in front of my business or drive it on errands around town, people are intrigued, but often it is hard to explain exactly what rally is to those who are interested.

Often, I’ll park my rally car in front of my business or drive it on errands around town, people are intrigued.

Image: Pete Kuncis (click to visit)

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
I don’t know that I have a well rounded enough perspective of the rally community on a whole to be able to identify the most critical issue it faces.  However, like most, I do feel that US rally does not get the public and media attention it deserves and this fact does affect the level of monetary support available to the event promoters and competitors alike.  It is certainly possible to maintain events on a club level simply through entry fees as demonstrated by NASA and Rally NY, but this means a lot of hard work from a small, dedicated (mostly volunteer) crew and it is not necessarily sustainable in the long run.

A significant challenge to exposure is event coverage. Since rally spectating is not as convenient as it is for other motorsports, media coverage seems to be the best way to present rally to the masses and create opportunities for sponsor exposure. The technology that has been developed over the last few years has really helped to present rally coverage quickly and on a reasonable budget as demonstrated by NoCoast Productions, RAM TV, Driving Sports and others. However it is still a challenge to get that material in front of a national audience as ESPN had done in the past and TSN currently does in Canada.  I certainly don’t have the answers as to how this wider exposure can be achieved but I do think interested viewers and potential fans exist.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
Unfortunately, I rarely get the opportunity to attend rallies that I am not running, but when I have I have done corner marshalling, time control and have thought about helping out with crew support if I get the chance.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be?  Why?
To be honest I don’t follow WRC closely but any event of that caliber would be amazing to run, hopefully I can get the chance to run WRC Mexico one of these years.

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
There are a lot of rally folks who I admire for a variety of reasons, but Chris Duplessis has really stood out to me, not only as a strong competitor, but also for his positive attitude and helpful nature to other rallyists.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
Unfortunately, there aren’t many rallyists in my area to get together with, but I do exchange emails and phone calls with a few to talk shop from time to time, though I wish it was more often.

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
I think we can all agree that there are so many volunteers to thank that one would never be able to make a complete list.  A few who come right to mind however that I have really stood out to me are Kathy Moody, Fran Gager, Jim Blumenfeld, Don Taylor, Walt Clark and the list could go on for pages.

Gearbox Magazine would like to thank Justin for taking the time to share his thoughts with the world rally community, and the photographers who hauled their gear out into the wilderness to capture this wild hare in action.

How did you first get involved in motorsport?
I’ve always loved cars; before cars had rear seatbelts I apparently used to stick my head between the car window and the headrest and was fascinated just watching my dad drive. I bought a radio controlled car when I was around 13 years old, a Tamiya Terra Scorcher. I can remember it was £123 and I had a sheet of paper ticking off the money as I earned it on a paper round!

Once I had the car, the local model shop introduced me to the idea of racing, and of course I was hooked immediately. Everything was upgraded; car, motors, batteries etc. I raced Tamiya products for a few years, and then moved onto Schumacher (nothing to do with the F1 driver!) and competed over the SE of England, with occasional trips to national RC car events.

In my mid teens my dad took me to see my first rally; it was the London International rally, a one off mixed surface event in the SE of England. The first driver I saw flat out in a forest was Malcolm Wilson, the now boss of Ford’s World Rally Championship Team. I can still remember that the speed he came through the forest at completely blew my mind; it was just SO fast. So fast in fact that my mum who was watching with us withdrew about 200 metres back into the forest!!

Image: Russ @ 90right.com

What got you interested in rally and what brought about the transition from tarmac to gravel?
That first rally event was key to it all I’m sure, but I’d had an interest in motorsport for years, watching F1 on TV, any rallying I could possibly see, and attending rallycross meetings at Brands Hatch where the Group B rally cars were still allowed to compete. Rallying just appealed to me more than any other motorsport, all my RC car racing had been on dirt, the rallycross was such a spectacle, all sideways and noise, and rallying was closest to that.

Once I’d passed my driving test I think it’s fair to say like most youngsters I drove too fast, though I can only recognise that fact now I’m in my 30’s! I continued to race RC cars but was constantly researching real motorsport and adding up how long my job as a lifeguard would take to save up for a rally car! Clearly noticing my enthusiasm, for my 19^th birthday, my parents bought me a day at a rally school, driving MkII Escorts on gravel. I’d never driven a rear wheel drive car before, or on gravel, but loved the experience by the end of the day had decided that I was going rallying, come hell or high water.

Image: Andrew Coley

It took me nearly a further two years to save up for my first rally car, a Vauxhall Nova 1600cc clubman spec, which basically means home built, not to FIA homologation rules but to UK MSA safety rules.

We focused first of all on tarmac single venue events, held mostly at disused airfields, racing circuits and vehicle test venues across the country. These events all featured central servicing and no public road sections, so keeping the cost down. I did 3 events in 1998 and retired from all three with mechanical issues; more on this later!

Our first event in 1999 featured 25 cars in our class; it was the first event we actually finished with no major problems, and we finished third in class, which we were over the moon with…I’ve still got the trophy! 1999 went well and we won our regional tarmac championship in our class, but my funds weren’t sufficient to move up to gravel events or to any of the one make championships which were being run by manufacturers at the time, Peugeot and Ford. I couldn’t really see a way forward at this point, felt we’d achieved all we could in the Vauxhall and resigned myself to another year of regional tarmac events.

Luckily the following year things took a turn for the better; I entered the Roger Clark Award, and was selected by the UK Motor Sport association for the ‘Fit to be Champion’ scheme. The combination of these two raised my profile, in particular to the organiser of the Roger Clark Award, who despite my not making the final suggested me to a new and very well funded rally team, 22motorsport. From being an underfunded regional driver I suddenly had a drive on the first round of the national gravel rally championship in 2001 and a chance to compete in the forests for the first time!

Image: Russ @ 90right.com

You’ve been selected for a number of driver programmes over the years. What are these programmes about? How are individuals selected?
There have been a few genuine ones (ie; not a company trying to make money) over the years, and the MSA here in the UK still run a scheme called MSA elite, where drivers and co drivers from various disciplines are selected for training to become professional drivers; PR, fitness, psychology, sponsor finding etc. It’s a great idea though doesn’t go as far as the French scheme’s which have actually provided funded for the rise of Loeb, Ogier and others through the ranks to the WRC.

In 2000 I was involved in the MSA’s first ever driver program, called ‘Fit to be Champion’. They selected 20 people from applications sent in from all over the UK to go to the Lilleshall National Human Performance Centre (where the UK’s Olympic gymnasts trained) 4 times over the year for training and assessment on various elements of being a professional driver. I worked very hard on my fitness, and met some great drivers who I’d looked up to the previous years. I think I was the only person on the scheme who wasn’t yet competing at national level, so it felt great to be among people who were ahead of me in their careers. I learnt a lot from the scheme and from my fellow drivers.

The second one was the Roger Clark Award; this was open to anyone, and I think around 100 drivers registered, which cost around £100. A group of sponsors was arranged y the organiser to provide a prize fund of £50k to the winner, and through the year you sent in reports to the judges, who included Malcolm Wilson and Richard Burns. Six people made the final and it was won by Niall McShea, who went on to win the PWRC quite a few years later.

Again I was one of only a few who were in the award and were only competing regionally, and I didn’t make the final. I did, however, impress the guy who was running the award, Richard Stoodley. He was at an event with the team I mentioned earlier, 22motorsport. He retired from the event and spent the day spectating, as did the team boss when he crashed his brand new Subaru. The rally was at a venue I knew well and I was pushing hard on that day; I had no idea at the time but several months later, just after learning I hadn’t made the final, I was asked to go and meet 22motorsport with a view to a drive in 2001. Fantastic!

Image: Andrew Coley

Your participation in these programmes has enabled you to compete in multiple countries and conditions. Could you share a couple of your most memorable stories with us from these?
It was in fact a scholarship with the French MSA that allowed me to compete abroad for the first time, at the end of 2005. Nissan Motorsport, (NISMO) BFGoodrich and Eurosport TV were running a competition for experienced rally crews to win a fully paid up drive on the legendary Dakar Rally. Prospective crews were asked to send in loads of information, personal statements, references etc. 200 crews from all over Europe entered, and we were due to receive a call on a set date telling us if we were selected for the final ten, to represent our country in the competition.

It was around 8 o’clock at night on that date, I was a bit hacked off that we hadn’t made the final although I’d always thought it was a long shot. So myself and my then co-driver, Dan Pearce, were heading out for a few beers to drown our sorrows! As I was leaving the house the phone rang…it was the ASO, who organise the Dakar, telling us that we were in the final 10 and representing UK! We still had the beers…probably a few too many, it was a great evening!

We flew out to BFG’s test venue in France, and spent a gruelling weekend battling for a place in the final 5, sleeping in tents in freezing temperatures. Endurance running and mountain biking, navigation tests, mechanical tests, driving off road and at high speed were all assessed. The pressure was incredible, especially as Eurosport were there filming the whole thing. The producer had said: “Ignore the camera, you do your life” in a heavy French accent, but you couldn’t ignore the cameras, they were everywhere. We did well in the Semi Finals, and needless to say when we made the top five we were ecstatic!

The final was in Morocco, at an old French military town called Erfoud, where all the manufacturer teams still test for the Dakar. It was another extremely arduous weekend. We slept in tents in the desert (NOT warm at night!) and did more navigation, sand driving and learnt general Dakar rally skills. It took the judges four hours to decide a winner…

We came second. We missed the drive by one place. We were gutted. We’d been beaten by a proper professional driver, a guy called Tobias Johansson, who at that time was Fords WRC test driver and an FIA B seed. He’d done 9000kms of testing in the focus, and 11 rounds of the WRC in a Subaru that year. We hadn’t competed since 2001!! I was so proud we’d run him so close, but so gutted we’d lost out.

NISMO very kindly appointed us official reserve crew for the event, and we stayed in Morocco for a further 5 days doing the full Dakar training programme. I dug a lot of sand the first day; great motivation for learning how not to get stuck! I wrote a full article about the Dakar Challenge here: http://apcsport.com/PR/Dakar%20Challenge%20article.pdf

Image: Andrew Coley

Tell us about your rally cars. Did you buy or build them? Any particular challenges or benefits stand out to any of these, looking back?
When I first wanted to compete, I got the MSA rule book, read it from cover to cover (which I’ve never done since!) and made a list of everything we needed. I then added it all up and got saving! After more research it became very clear that the best way to get value for money was to buy a car someone else had built, which was what we did.

When I bought my first car I knew NOTHING about real car mechanics. I had lots of RC car experience, but they were plastic and electric, and this was obviously not! On the first event the brakes bound on, and the engine overheated. So after this event, I learnt all about brakes.

We went to our second event, and had no idea that the binding brakes had caused the engine to overheat so badly that we’d melted a piston ring! So after this I learnt about engines. At the third event I span, and on full lock used full revs to pull away. The driveshaft blew to bits…so you can guess what I learnt about this time!

I didn’t have the budget to get the car prepared professionally so everything had to be done with friends, family, and on a steep learning curve, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without all that experience. Having said that, now I’m older, I would love to own just one rally car from brand new, build it myself with everything ‘just so.’ We’ll see!

You’ve worked as a motorsport/performance instructor, participated in new model launches, and now work as a rally commentator for Eurosport Television. How did this come to be?
My first instructing job came when I wanted to try my first rally car, a tarmac spec Vauxhall on gravel, so I contacted my local rally school to see if they would hire me the venue. They said no, but talked about my results and asked if I’d ever instructed. I said no but would like to; had an interview and so kicked off the next ten years work!

Over the years I progressed through everything from rally to off road to quad bikes, then circuit instruction, drifting and finally manufacturer work. Manufacturer work includes events training the dealer networks on new products, doing track experiences with prospective customers at vehicle launches etc. It’s nicer work, better paid, and less dangerous than blasting round circuits with novice racing drivers!

Anyone who knows me will say I talk too much, so at these events it would be me that did the briefings, awards and occasionally filming work that needed doing for the event. After doing a fair bit of TV and filming work, I put two and two together and thought there must be some mileage in presenting for work, and put a showreel together.

After a lot of emails, phone calls, interviews etc I landed a role with Eurosport TV as the ‘pundit’ for the IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge). We’ve just come back from covering an epic Rallye Monte Carlo; 12 out of 13 stages shown live by helicopters, in car cameras, roadside cameras etc, 14 hours of live TV rally coverage in 3 days.

I really enjoy the TV commentary and presenting; it’s a rush, with all the pressure, especially if you’re live. The biggest non TV event I’ve hosted was an end of season F1 event for Mercedez-Benz, including interviews with F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and a crowd of 15,000 spectators at the track; I was very nervous, as I am when I compete, but once you get into the event or the rally it all goes away and the adrenalin carries you through.

Image: Andrew Coley

How many events did you attend/enter last year?  Is that trending up or down?  Why?
Zero as a competitor, which is down. In 2008 we won our class (A6) in the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship and did 6 events, but I spent all my savings (again!) and the recession hit the instructing work hard, so no money spare for motorsport for the last couple of seasons.

I’ve still got a rally car; currently it’s a Group A Peugeot 206 ‘Cup Car’; FWD, 1600cc (Semi Grp A) engine, 6 speed H pattern close ratio box, LSD, big brakes, forest and tar suspension set ups, fully under guarded, Peugeot Sport shell, LHD etc etc.

I’m considering competing on a few events in Belgium as they’re rally mad over there and close public roads for motorsport, which we rarely do in mainland UK. Belgium is closer to me than Wales, which is where a lot of our forest rallies happen, and it’s cheaper to enter events too as UK forestry is VERY expensive for the motor clubs to hire.

Spectators: How would you like to see them addressed?
You’ve got two groups; those of us who’ve spectated for years, are quite happy to walk miles to watch, want to be in our own space, and know where is safe to stand.

You’ve then got new fans, who maybe watch rallying on TV, and have no idea how to find the stages, want car parks and burger vans a one minute walk from the action, and really do need herding into an area to keep them from harm!

A good compromise in my opinion is to promote heavily an easy to watch spectator stage, like a stadium stage would be in the US, or one at a circuit or country park in the UK, and then leave the hardcore fans to their own devices in the forests.

Image: rally-shots.com

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
We’ve had several people come ‘through’ our team, usually by volunteering to come and help in service on events. I always put press releases out to local press, and we try to support any local car events by taking the rally car along, people like to see it and it helps gain coverage for us too.

Two guys who came through the team have gone on to MUCH bigger things; one worked for Hyundai World Rally Team, and the other has just finished a long stint with PENSKE racing as an aerodynamicist. He’s left to go and work in F1; pretty humble beginnings working on our Vauxhall Nova in my garden!

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today? How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
Loss of venues. Noise issues and NIMBY’s (Not In My Back Yard) are closing venues left right and centre. Two amazing venues in the South East of England where I learnt my trade have gone because of noise. I’m not saying rallying needs to be quieter, although I think current noise limits are necessary, just that we need to get the backing of local councils sometimes, and stand up to an individual who makes a fuss about noise, and say I’m sorry, this event is long established, it’s one day of the year, it’s good for the local economy, etc.

Also in the UK the cost of hiring forests for rallying is astronomical. The MSA is currently lobbying our government to allow road closure for motorsport, already common in Ireland and on the Isle of Man for the famous Manx rally. This would mean we could have rallies anywhere, not just in remote forests, and really bring a benefit to the local towns. In Belgium rallies are almost universally welcomed; they take over a whole town for a week, like a festival atmosphere. I’d love to see that in the UK.

Image: Andrew Coley

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be?  Why?
Monte Carlo or Finland. Monte Carlo because I’m fascinated by the event having covered it for Eurosport, the weather is just so unpredictable, an amazing event steeped in history.

And Finland for the jumps and the speed of the stages; you’d need to do it more than once to get your head around it at all.

Your favorite Group B car?
Metro 6R4. My first two road cars were dreadful Austin Metros, and the contrast between them and the Metro 6R4 group B is just amazing. Also they were instrumental in my love of rallying thanks to their use in the rallycross I used to spectate at when I was younger. If in doubt go and listen to one come through a forest flat out. Awesome.

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
Colin McRae and Richard Burns; both inspirations to a generation of fans and competitors in the UK, and both sadly missed. I’ve basically a soft spot for anyone who was competing when I was out watching the RAC; so for me that’s the Group A era of mid 90’s.

I was lucky enough to meet McRae and Burns when I was competing, and in recent years two more rally legends, Tommi Makinen and Francois Delecour. Both the latter were again while working for Eurosport; there is something very special about sharing a conversation about rallying with one of your rally heroes! I’m very lucky.

Do you have a local rally club?  Tell us about it!  (If not, why not?)
Yes, but I’m rarely around to go to any club nights; work is very time consuming and involves a lot of travelling for me. There’s a huge network of motor clubs in the UK, and a great way to get into the sport.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
Whenever I’m working I’m with fellow competition drivers, so plenty of rally and race chat to be had! There’s lots of talk about who’s faster, race or rally, but it’s all light hearted stuff and for me there’s mutual respect both ways. Racing drivers do have shiny boots and wear their sunglasses a bit too often though!

Image: Russ @ 90right.com

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
My parents. They’re retired now, but were school teachers, so no experience of motorsport, and didn’t have money to throw at me. They always gave (and still do) any time required, even when they were working full time, the encouragement needed to stick at a hobby/career like motorsport, the patience needed when I was screaming at some part of the car that wouldn’t fit, the cold days in a cold garage with my Dad trying to learn more about why I’d broken the car again. More parts of engines have been on the kitchen work surface than any normal Mum would allow, I lived at home until I was nearly 30 as I spent all my money on motorsport! Need I go on?!

Where can other rallyistas find you online? Blog, Facebook, Twitter, forums?
www.APCsport.com/rallying
twitter @Andrew_Coley

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
That it’s a great, friendly community of people. When you’ve come into service and bits are hanging off the car and you’re struggling, you’ll have guys from the top teams right down to the bottom doing their best to help you fix the car in time. You won’t find that in all forms of motorsport.

Is there anything else rally-related you’d like to talk about, but hasn’t been asked?
No, but ‘tweet’ me with any questions and I’ll always do my best to reply.

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Andrew. From Tamiya to the Telly, it would seem you’ve had quite a ride. Press on regardless.

Gearbox Magazine exists to do three things and we’ve got a short post about it on GBXM.net.

2011
To get things started, Leo tells us he plans to compete in all 2011 CRC events, selected regional events in Ontario and Quebec, and maybe a US event. That’s a grand total of nine events in a single year. Tall Pines, Baie-Des-Chaleurs, Perce-Neige – Leo wouldn’t miss these events for the world because, in his words, they’re “just that good. I can’t say enough about them.” What’s the one US event on Leo’s radar in 2011?  Rally Tennessee. Looking toward the dim end of the pencil beams, Leo would like to eventually run in Europe, where tarmac experience is critical. Maybe one day he’ll run recce in Finland.

Image: gravitybureau.com

Bringing It
For 2011, Leo’s not concerned too much about final results. “I don’t care about titles so much,” he says. Instead, Leo aims to be on the pace with the top teams at every event he enters. “I don’t want to be winning by a fluke; somebody DNFd or mechanical. That’s not my style.” “To drive fast,” Leo maintains, “You have to try your best. You have to push.” This year, expect to see Leo Urlichich bring the fight to the top teams.

Giving Back
At Rally of the Tall Pines, Crazy Leo Can-Jam Rally Team raised over $800 for Bancroft Sled Dog Races, a charity which promotes physical fitness for kids. In the process, other teams have begun to partner with non-profits to serve their communities. When asked how this relates to rally, Leo said, “By helping the local community, we help rally. Everybody benefits in the end. Really. How hard is it to give someone a ride? It takes five, ten minutes?”

In similar fashion, this coming weekend, they will be giving away two free rides to event volunteers chosen at random during shakedown at Perce-Neige Maniwaki.

Says Leo, rally volunteers “stand there in rain, snow, sleet, hail, all not only for the chance to get a bit closer to the rally action, but also to make the amazing sport of performance rallying possible.” A shakedown run in the open class Subaru Beast is the least he can do. Imagine if every rally had a shakedown stage and every team were offering rides for a single charity.

And Then Some
Last year, Crazy Leo took the rally cars out to a couple track day, motor/autoshow, and local car club events. At these non-rally get-togethers, Leo was shocked to see how many people were genuinely interested in rally, but have no clue how to get involved in the sport. Imagine the irony of talking to university students – who have designed their own race cars – and discovering they couldn’t even guess how to get started in rally.

So Crazy It Might Work
This year, Leo will be looking into sharing the rally car with students at university. College students tend to be younger, active on Facebook, and not as tied-down. “These are hungry, hungry people [for motorsport], and we’re gonna try and get people involved.” Crazy Leo Can-Jam will be getting involved with university clubs, events, and maybe even classroom presentations. Maybe he’ll bring out a spare car and give a few rides, too, making a perfect opportunity to invite people to come out to the next rally and check it out.

Go Crazy with Crazy Leo
If running a full schedule+ and still finding the time to market rally in the local community is crazy, sign us up. Leo’s blog on CrazyLeo.net is regularly updated with the goings on of a passionate rallyista, looking to make things happen. Check it out. It’s crazy enough, it just might work.

A couple BIG rallies or a bunch of small ones – which would you prefer?

[Image: Eli Gilbert]

From a rally perspective, you know what this means. No matter what happens. No matter how difficult the challenge, we press on, regardless. Rallyistas will right an upside-down car and resume racing. Rallyistas replace blown headgaskets in dirt parking lots in less than an hour. They will lash together the remains of mangled suspension bits to just get the car back to service, where someone’s daily driver will be divested of its running gear in cannibalistic sacrifice to allow for the continued rally effort.

As the sun sets, and champagne rinses the dirt from weathered sheetmetal, rallyistas gather ’round the annihilated members of Club DNF raising their glasses. The air is charged with exuberant satisfaction; laughter, cheers, and the siren song of two-stroke blenders delivering frosty “Group B Margaritas.”  To be here, now, is to press on regardless. No matter the final result; be it a trophy, honorable mention, or crumpled suggestion of a vehicle strapped to a trailer; this is rally and we will press on, regardless.

But what does it mean to the local community; to society? I’ve seen rallyistas time and again talk about how rallies are a positive impact for the local communities which host them. We stay in the hotels. We eat in the restaurants. We buy the gas. We drink the beer. But is that the extent of our interest in helping others? Yes, rally is expensive. Yes, things are tough all over these days. Yes, there’s no shortage of charities looking for our help.

So what does press on regardless mean for a rally team trying to help children with HIV/AIDS? Andrew Frick and Ryan Scott are busting their asses trying to raise money for Camp Sunrise, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children with HIV/AIDS through their Rally Team for Dreams campaign. We’re not going to go into all the details, because they’re not important. Here’s what matters.

$5 will help RALLY make life a little easier for CHILDREN with HIV/AIDS.

We can spend tens of thousands of dollars turning clapped out shitboxes into race cars we use maybe once every six to eight weeks.
We can spend hundreds of dollars on booze and shenanigans after the rally to celebrate rally.
Why can’t we spare five bucks to help our rally family do some real good in the world?

Gearbox Magazine has bought a spot on the RT4D Focus because we believe in what they’re doing. Ryan and Andrew have more advertising space available on the car right now than they should. This is a great opportunity to get your company name on a race car already promised coverage at a WRC event in just a few weeks. We reached out to the guys because Gearbox believes rally can do more than just spend money in the local hotels, restaurants, and liquor stores. We believe rally can be an agent of change, improving the status quo and making the world a better place.

What does press on regardless mean to Rally Team for Dreams? They are running out of time, far below where they should be in terms of fund raising for the cause, and yet, still pressing on, regardless.

Visit Rally Team for Dreams to learn more and help them make this happen.

Should recce be mandatory?

[Image: Francois Flamand]

What’s your name? Where are you located? What do you do for a living?
Keith Jackson, Vista, CA, Project manager for Skanska USA Civil.

What got you interested in rally?
Always been an off roader, but seeing a Subaru fly thru rally roads got me hooked.

Tell us about your rally car/truck. How long have you had it?
2005 Subaru STi Open AWD. Bought off the lot in 2004 and built in 2008.

Image: Patrick James for Dirty Impreza

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
What challenges did this cause? What benefits did you realize as a result?
The car was built by my brother and I at JacksonRally in the summer of 2008. Total build time was about 6 weeks from street car to open class. The biggest challenge was that this build was our first rally car, even though we’ve been building off road vehicles for over 10 years, building a rally car was new to us. We had a lot of help from Scotty of PlaCar. Building the car ourselves helped gain a vast amount of knowledge about the car and that has proved to be a huge benefit.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
One off that stays in memory was at the Gorman Ridge Rally in 2009. We were seeded first on the road and had the job of sweeping the road against us and the first stage jitters. The stage was going very fast and about a mile from the finish we were coming downhill into a L4- way to fast, swung the passenger rear out wide, and tagged the bank. This nearly ripped off the rear bumper and bent the rear lateral link like a taco. After managing to finish the stage we replaced the link on transit and continued on, now 7 minutes late to the next ATC. This resulted in a little over 1min in road points. What makes this stuff so memorable is that we fought our way back and placed top honors at the event, 1st overall.

Image: Eli Gilbert

Tell us about a time when you narrowly avoided a DNF. How did you press on regardless?
In 2009, we ventured out of our typical schedule to compete with the big dogs in Rally America’s National Event Rally Colorado (COG). This was the teams first experience at the national level and we couldn’t have been more excited. The weekend continued on with no issue until the rain came in and saturated the mountain roads creating very slippy conditions.

As usual, we were running a very tight budget and only had 1 set of tires, which were not grooved for the rain. Despite the rain we pressed on regardless through the stages and at one point we over shot a L3 long by nearly 100 yards into the brush! We narrowly escaped a ditch on the right and continued back on the stage with no further issue, very fortunate to not hit anything else. We managed to place 6th OA (including TP!!) and 1st in class in both regionals.

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally? The most challenging?
The biggest reward is the smile of our faces. Rally is the most exciting thing I have ever done. The most challenging is being a nearly 100% self funded team competing in OpenAWD class.

How many events did you enter last year? Is that trending up or down? Why?
2008 – 2 events, first year competing
2009 – 6 events, including International Rally New York (USRC championship event)
2010 – 4 events

The trend is up and down, as stated above rally is quite the expensive hobby and the time needed to commit puts a strain on work and personal life.

Image: Andrew Pascarela for Dirty Impreza

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
I think, without going overboard, that a cash prize at least equal to the entry fee for the event would gather more entries and faster times.

How important are car classes? What class/region do you race in? How many competitors in your class at each event?
Car classes provide honest competition throughout most budgets and that is very important. Its not easy to compete against the top dogs but you shouldn’t have to sell any internal organs to enjoy the simplest of classes.

I currently run the OpenAWD class in the Southwest region (SoCal). The class participation for OpenAWD tends to be only at each extreme, either nearly all or nearly none.

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes vs blind rally?
I’m a fan of recce and have run recce with my own notes and organizer provided notes. I have yet to run solely based on routebook.

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare? Why?
I like seeing spectators out there enjoying the action and I hope organizers continue thru the headaches to get them out there. Spectators are a very important asset to the sport; you must have people be able to see what it is or it will never grow. It’s embarrassing how many people have no clue what rally is.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
Rallycross is the gateway to stage rally. That’s where I got my start. It’s cheap, local, minimal car prep/tech, minimal (if any) damage to your vehicle.

Image: Jamie Stapp

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
Collaboration between sanctions/series. It’s hard enough to make the minimum entries on most events so why not have fewer high quality events. It would be nice to see a higher quality event get enough entries to bring the cost down to a small event price.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
I try to make it to any local rally that I am not racing. I have volunteered for timing and course closing thus far. Local rallycrosses usually are a good place to help out. Newcomers to the scene love to see a real rally car up close and it helps get them psyched about the sport.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be? Why?
WRC Finland. It’s my favorite rally and insanely fast with many jumps! In 2010, I spectated WRC Finland and it was amazing!

Your favorite Group B car?
Audi Quattro.

We’ve all got a rally hero. Who’s yours?
Petter Solberg. His positive attitude and pure love for the sport inspires me… and he used to drive a Subaru!

Do you have a local rally club? Tell us about it! (If not, why not?)
DirtyImpreza is my local club, from rallycross to stage rally to meets to a day in the dirt, DI is all about rally enthusiasts.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
Every chance I get, mostly with my brother, Kyle, at our shop JacksonRally in Temecula, CA.

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
First and foremost is my brother, Kyle. He is the mastermind behind the build of the rallycar.

Scott George of PlaCar and Chris Tusow (OP). Scott has built many rally car and helped provide vast amount of expertise as we tackled my car. OP is a good friend and master Subaru mechanic and keeps an eye on us to make sure we don’t screw anything up motor/drivetrain wise.

Aaron Ekinaka of Dirtyimpreza brings us all together for pure love of the sport and continues to do so thru DI.com

Image: Patrick James for Dirty Impreza

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
Huge thanks to every and all volunteers for every stage rally, rallycross, TSD, or any other form of racing, without you we wouldn’t be racing.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
To finish first, first you must finish.

Press on regardless, Keith! Thanks you for letting us share your story!

What about you?

[Featured image: Juliet Ekinaka for Dirty Impreza]

Where are you located? What do you do for a living?

I was born and raised in Mexico City, and have lived here all my life. It’s a huge city – one of the largest on the planet, with more than 20 million people – right smack in the middle on the country. People tend to love it or hate it, but are never indifferent about it. Eyebrows are usually raised at this, due to Mexico’s portrayal in the press, but I really, really like it. I live in a very vibrant, family-friendly, walkable neighbourhood, with beautiful parks, great restaurants, bars, and lots of things going on, but I only moved here from the outskirts two years ago, so I’m still learning about the pedestrian lifestyle. It’s absolutely fantastic. I can’t believe I spent so many years stuck in a car in traffic.

Image: Jo Lillini

I run an IT consultancy with a friend of mine. We design and build online applications for midsize and large companies, mainly in the financial sector. We’ve done loan application & management systems, risk analysis, logistics, operations management, you name it. Our focus is on business processes rather than technology per se, so we tend to have a very good relationship with our clients. I used to work for a large multinational corporation, but I wouldn’t go back to that kind of life.

Image: Ralph Hardwick

What got you interested in organizing rally events?
I sort of fell into it as part of my general involvement in rallying. I began co-driving in 1991 and driving in 1993, and I’ve done quite a bit of both over the years, but our club was so small, it was common for everyone to do a bit of everything, so I’ve been spectator, service crew, organiser, marshall, time control and general enthusiast. Nowadays things have become more specialised, and people generally stay in one particular role, but pretty much everyone around my age has a similar history.

Image: Ralph Hardwick

As the sport began to mature in Mexico, around the start of the century, the level of competition and the quality of cars began to rise dramatically, so driving began to get expensive very quickly and I had to give it up. After driving, nothing seemed to attract me very much, and hanging around rallies with nothing fun to do got boring fast, so when I was asked to help out in Rally Mexico I was happy to do it.

Image: Ralph Hardwick

What event(s) do you organize?  How long have you been running it/them?
My main involvement has been in Rally Mexico, since 2002. I’ve also helped out at the 24 Hour Rally a few times, and other local events throughout the years, but the WRC round is my main concern.

Image: Ralph Hardwick

Why do people go rally?
Well, as with anything else, because they want to and because they can! Seriously, though, I think rallying attracts a very specific kind of person that shares certain values and appreciates certain things that other sports in general and other forms of motorsport don’t have.

First of all, rallying takes commitment.

Image: Jo Lillini

Picture, if you will, the finish control of any night stage in Wales: the rain has been falling for the past 67 hours, the wind from the North Sea is so strong that it makes the rain go sideways and any exposed skin gets windburned within 15 minutes, and the freezing mud is a foot deep everywhere you look. Suddenly, a rally car swerves into view, lights blazing, exhaust roaring, oversteering in a mad, beautiful 4-wheel drift to fly by the stage finish sign, missing it by four inches.

As the car drives away and the noise dwindles in the fog, we must take stock of all the people involved in that moment. Should we stand in awe at the crew, who’ve been driving at an insane rate of speed for the past two days, without making a single mistake? Should we salute the time marshalls for their admirable devotion to duty? What about the spectators, who had to trek for two hours through the mud to watch their friends slide by for a split second? The medical crews, who pray constantly that their services will not be needed, are they not worthy of our admiration too? Any of those roles, and dozens more that are involved in this fantastic sport, would be impossible to fulfill without an iron will and absolute commitment to rallying.

Second, an appreciation of nature tends to be common.

Image: Jo Lillini

Rally people are very aware of their surroundings and pay very close attention to road surfaces, weather patterns and natural features that might inform a recce, a tyre selection or the choice of gear when tackling a tricky, damp corner with a cover of a particularly slippery species of pine needles. Rallies tend to go deep into stunning areas of great natural beauty. That seems to keep people more down to earth.

Third, the fact that we don’t have wheel to wheel racing makes it easier for rally folk to develop much better relationships with their rivals.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

In that sense, rallying is much more noble than circuit racing. Here, it’s everyone against the road and the clock. If someone beats you on a stage, it was because they did a better job, not because they cut you off or slammed into you. In fact, one of the unwritten rules of rallying is that if you see a fellow competitor stopped during a liaison stage, you must stop and offer assistance. There is a real sense of camaraderie throughout the world of rallying.

Fourth, the team element is crucial.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

Sharing successes and failures with your co-driver or driver makes everything much better. It keeps one honest and humble, because you can’t lie about your mistakes when things go wrong and you can’t bask in individual glory when things go right.

Finally, where else can you just show up and sign up to compete against the best in the world, and get the chance to chat with them throughout the weekend as equals? That alone makes rallying fantastic.

All of these things make the experience of taking part in a rally a truly epic endeavour. You need only to step into the bar after the rally and listen to all the stories and look at all the joyful faces to realise they all feel as if they’ve just come back from fighting a great and arduous battle, and in many cases, they have.

Image: Ralph Hardwick

What’s the best thing about being a rally organizer?  The most challenging?
The best thing has been the satisfaction we get when we do something so well that people feel compelled to tell us about it. We’ve had competitors, media representatives, team personnel, FIA officials and tourists from all over the globe come up to us and praise things we’ve done. The feeling is indescribable.

The most challenging is all the time spent planning the event, far into the future, and trying to take into account all the things that may have a negative impact on our plans: last-minute changes in regulations, natural phenomena, political issues, etc.

There are so many things that can go wrong at so many points that plans have to be incredibly detailed, but very flexible.

Image: Jo Lillini

How many entries did your event have last year?  Is that trending up or down?  Why?
In 2010 we had 40 entries, which was a lot less than we usually have. I can’t say if that dip represents a trend, because there were a lot of ouside factors that very probably brought that number down from where it should have been. For starters, Rally Mexico was not part of the WRC in 2009, due the FIA’s rotation experiment. While we did put on a great event that year with the Rally of Nations, it attracted less attention than previous editions. If that weren’t enough, we were still coming off the great influenza scare, and people were quite apprehensive about traveling to Mexico and the U.S.. Finally, and probably the greatest factor, the entire world was in the middle of the worst financial crisis we’ve had in 70 years. Things were so bad that the WRC lost half of the manufacturers competing. They even lost Subaru, that had built rallying into their marketing image for years. 2011 will probably still be different in that sense, but things seem to be gently getting better worldwide.

Image: Jo Lillini

How much money should an organizer make?
As much as possible! That is, as much as their market can sustainably bear.

Should rallies be run as for-profit corporations?
In his 1776 masterpiece, “The Wealth of Nations,” Adam Smith wrote:  “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.”

In terms of quality, the show you put on, and the most bang for the buck of your spectators and competitors, you are constantly trying out new things and improving, or you’re quietly stagnating.

Image: Jo Lillini

Self-interest as a very strong motivator, and an event that takes so much effort needs as much motivation as possible. They say competition improves the breed, and there is always competition between events. In terms of quality, the show you put on, and the most bang for the buck of your spectators and competitors, you are constantly trying out new things and improving, or you’re quietly stagnating. Doing this as part of a corporation that seeks profits is a very practical way of keeping you on your toes and having an easy way to evaluate your own performance.

I’ve no doubt that there are some fine events run with other goals in mind, but in the end we are a complex species and motivation is crucial.

How important are car classes?
As a mechanism for allowing a greater number and variety of competitors, and to make competition within classes as fair as possible, it’s a very good thing. As a possible source of confusion for fans and as a possible source of weakening of particular classes, it’s a very bad thing. Trying to strike a proper balance is where it gets interesting.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

How involved is recce at your event?  What percentage of the teams do recce?
How does your event handle stagenotes/pacenotes?
I’ll answer these two questions together, because they address the same thing and there’s no leeway in how we do things. Since we’re part of the WRC we have to do things exactly the way the FIA has set out in the the rules. In terms of pacenotes, each crew must prepare their own, and we provide no notes, as is common in the U.S. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen organiser-prepared pacenotes in Mexico, ever, regardless of event level. Recce is done at a certain date and time, under very specific circumstances regarding vehicles allowed, the paint job of said vehicles, the maximum speed allowed, the number of passages allowed, the equipment the crew must carry on board, GPS tracking of each car, and the order in which the recce is to be done. 100% of professional crews do recce, every time. Rookies sometimes miss recce for various reasons, from mechanical woes to paperwork issues, but it’s never more than 1 or 2 cases per rally. In my not even remotely humble opinion, not doing the recce classifies you as a Grade A Nimrod. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t allow them to take the start.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

Differential pricing of entries/licenses: Why/Why not and what, if anything, does it achieve?
I think it’s meant to provide the same benefits as car classes, and my answer above would be echoed here. The only difference is the possibility of not wearing the rally sponsors’ decals, should they conflict with a competitor’s own sponsors, and paying a higher fee for that privilege. Pricing of entries represent a relatively minor percentage of rally expenses, so is of little concern to most people in the sport. I do think that rookies would benefit from waiving of entry fees for their first events, such as the recently published entry rules for the WRC Rally of Spain, where they have all sorts of schemes to encourage young Spanish drivers to take part, but even that carries all sorts of complications regarding value, motivation and subjects better left to an after-dinner, wine-infused discussion…which I’d be glad to have!

Image: Jo Lillini

Your favorite Group B car?
Peugeot 205 T16. It is such a beautiful and purposeful car, it makes my heart skip beats. The Ford RS200 bears mentioning as well. I think it could have decimated the opposition after one more year of development, had Group B survived and Group S not been stopped. Still, Jean Todt has always been a master at this game, so perhaps it wouldn’t have been easy to unseat Peugeot. By the way, did you know that the engine block of the Peugeot 206 WRC was taken from the 205 T16? It was that good. Still, my admiration for the 205 pales in comparison to my absolute lust for the 1992 Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluizione II. Now THAT was a fucking rally car.

I had the fantastic opportunity to see and touch all the Group B cars in Spain in 2009. Alongside the WRC they put on a historic rally for those beasts and they attracted more than 20 of the original Group B factory cars. On one hand, they are more awesome in the flesh than on TV. On the other, after looking at the materials and build quality, I wouldn’t do a rally in one of those things if you paid me.

Image: Jo Lillini

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
Juha Kankkunen, bar none. I had the chance to meet him in Finland a few years ago and I was so nervous that all I could do was mumble hello and run away. Of the current drivers, I’ve had the chance to interact with them quite a bit in Rally Mexico and it’s difficult to enshrine them much after you’ve shared a beer. Probably Grönholm was the last of the truly larger-than-life heroes for me. I’m hoping Kimi reaches that level.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare?  Why?
Spectators are a fundamental part of motorsport, but they’re absolutely critical in rallying, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Think of all the rolled rally cars that have been pushed back onto their wheels by spectactors, or the Group B era videos of the fans in Italy and Portugal. They’re just as important as the teams! On the other hand, though, hours of boredom and drinking while waiting for the cars to arrive do tend to make for a slightly negative opportunity for casual mayhem. There have been famous cases of snow on Monte Carlo stages, butter thrown at windscreens in GB, logs placed mid-stage to hinder an unfavoured driver and everyone’s favourite: thrown rocks, our particular bête noire.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

Sports in Mexico mean basically one thing: football. Soccer, that is. It permeates the entire culture and is played and fanatically followed by practically everyone. In that atmosphere, and in a country where rallying was not that big, we didn’t know what to expect when we started. To our great surprise, we had about 40,000 spectators the first year. That became 70,000 the following year and it’s been rising steadily every year since. We’re up to about 400,000 these days, which is a mind-boggling amount of anything, let alone people standing in the middle of an arid sierra at over 2 Km. of altitude, waiting for rally cars to show up! Such numbers have resulted in some problems in the past, but people were extremely well-behaved this year. Let’s hope that continues to be the case.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

How do you plan to get the local community involved in your event next time around?
There is a constant and very large ‘hearts & minds’ campaign throughout the year, down to the level of individual hamlets and villages, conducted by rally personnel with the support of the State Government. Any opportunity we get to interact with the people along the route is pounced upon.

When rally time comes, we’re doing a couple of interesting things, chief among them is the Health Rally. A couple of weeks before the rally starts we send out a top-of-the-line medical convoy that tours the entire rally route for 15 days, providing medical care to the communities around the area. This is also done with the State Government. The Health Ministry helps us to offer general consult, dentistry, optometry, and health promotion. The sort of services that are provided include: screening for diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, cervical cancer, and breast cancer, as well as providing full dental and optical services. Much emphasis is placed on promotion of healthy habits and disease prevention.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

We also have a program known as Responsible Spectator, where we invite hardcore, rabid rally fans to be an official part of the event. Anyone can sign up, but there’s a written test one must pass to be accepted into the program. Once in, they receive some training and are provided with an official tabard and other tools. They’re then let loose on the rally route to help with crowd control, to set a positive example for other spectators, and to alert us to any incident that may warrant the attention of Rally Control, Police or other officials.

Both programs have worked very well, but we’re always tweaking things to make them better. We’ll probably think of something new to add this year.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

Social media: What are the measurable effects? What are the downsides?
I don’t think we’re using social media with an eye on ROI or cause and effect. It’s just a fantastic opportunity to interact with your audience without having to go through traditional media channels and other intermediaries. Anyone still on the fence regarding social media should read The Cluetrain Manifesto (affiliate link), by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger. It was written long before the rise of Facebook and Twitter, but the message has never been more relevant.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
At the WRC level, it seems that the lack of manufacturers is the most serious problem we face. There are 20 countries fighting for a slot in the calendar and a dozen brilliant competitors sitting on the sidelines, waiting for a chance to dive back into the championsip, so it seems like a simple problem to solve, but that has sadly not been the case. Monte Carlo is staying with the IRC for another year, for example, and they had 63 entries this year. Things are far from clear.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

At the regional, national and local levels, we all have our own particular issues to solve, and it would be impossible to issue a blanket statement that would apply everywhere. If you look at how things are working in Finland, Argentina, Mexico, the U.S., Japan, South Africa and Italy you’ll get 54 different stories and different passionate versions of what needs to be done. The reality is that rallying is a difficult and resource-intensive sport, and we could be doing a lot worse, especially in the economic climate we’re suffering through right now.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

Rallying in the U.S. seems to be doing very well, though. Despite the very real challenges you face, in terms of geographical distance between events, the cultural distance from the FIA, the issue of public roads, competition tyres, competing sanctioning bodies, etc. Rally America has a very real presence in media outlets worldwide. Travis and Ken have definitely put the U.S. on the rally map, the X-Games have been a huge boost to the public image of the sport and you have a lot of very talented competitors. You’re doing all the things we in Mexico should have done years ago.

How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
It’s easy to put my feet up, grab a pint of Guinness and imagine a perfect rallying world, with seven equally-matched manufacturers with very exciting cars, 12 rallies in the championship with 100 cars each and all sorts of gorgeous fantasies, but the reality is that people like David Richards, Malcolm Wilson and Jean Todt are very, very smart, and know this sport inside-out. If they haven’t been able to sort it out, I very much doubt I would. We have to remember that, just like love and sexual attraction are just strategies that our genes employ to get us to replicate ourselves, our passion for this sport is just a very pleasant tool the manufacturers employ to get us to buy cars and/or enhance their brands. We know that and we’re fine with that, but we usually forget that the decisions don’t depend on our strongly-held beliefs, they depend on economic and financial goals….and that’s the way it should be. See my answer regarding profit above.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

How do you mitigate environmental concerns about land use for rallies at your events?
Allow me to copy and paste our relevant press release:

02 March 2010 – RALLY MEXICO GOES GREEN – Putting our efforts right back into the Earth

Every person and human endeavour on the planet has a measurable impact on the composition of our atmosphere. Through normal, everyday activities -cooking, driving, watching TV- we produce greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide. This is known as our carbon footprint.

Rallying is not exempt. A leading European rally in the 2008 WRC measured their footprint: 4,300 tonnes. A large figure, made all the more surprising by the fact that only 5% came from the competing vehicles and only 5% came from the plane flights of those involved in the rally. An astounding 79% came from spectators and local rally personnel, travelling to the event. This is something we must address.

Starting in 2010, Rally Mexico has a permanent policy of social and environmental responsibility. Our objectives are two-fold: to help combat global warming through the complete elimination of our carbon footprint; and to do it through direct environmental actions that will benefit the communities the rally visits every year.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

With help from Pantanal Asesoría, an environmental consultancy, we will do the following:

·Measure total greenhouse gas emissions produced by Rally Mexico 2010.
·Design, in collaboration with the Institute of Ecology and the Health Department of the State of Guanajuato, a comprehensive plan of action in the surrounding communities to offset the greenhouse gas emissions and neutralise the footprint of Rally Mexico 2011.

We are not content, however, to wait until 2011 to see the beneficial effects of our policy and actions. The semi-desert and mountainous terrain of Guanajuato can do with effective actions today. The fragile balance of the terrain needs vegetation cover, erosion control, sustainable use of fertile soil, proper management of waste and sewage, conservation of water, careful use of fuel and the rational use of natural resources.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

To that end, we have joined forces with the Governments of the State of Guanajuato and the Cities of León, Silao and Guanajuato and with the National Forestry Commission. During 2010 we will implement a community and environmental development program in nine communities: Ibarrilla, Alfaro, San Antonio del Gigante, Sauz Seco, La Laborcita, Las Coloradas, Vaquerías, Derramadero, Nuevo Valle de Moreno, and surrounding areas of particular environmental value. Our 2010 program will focus on:

·Toilets with biodigesters in homes and schools
·Wood-saving stoves, reducing the use of wood as fuel by 70%
·Rainwater storage for household use
·Laundry sinks with absorption wells for greywater treatment
·Solid waste management
·Composting
·“Living fences” around homes and fields – magueys, nopals, bushes and native trees
·Fruit trees and family allotments
·Reforestation

These actions will put us well on the way to ensuring that Rally Mexico leaves no environmental footprint, and that CO2 emissions are completely offset. We invite all interested parties to learn more about our program and join us at www.rallymexico.com.

Image: Marcos Rodriguez

How do you help out at other rallies during the year?
Sadly, I don’t. Mexican rallying is in a sad state of disrepair and I no longer enjoy attending local rallies. I do dream about fixing the whole thing, though, but Real Life ™ has gotten in the way quite a bit over the past years.

Image: Jo Lillini

Which WRC event is most like your rally?
That is a particularly difficult question to answer, because each rally is different things to different people. The nature of the stages, the atmosphere, the terrain, the vegetation, the organisers, etc. all make up small parts of what a rally turns out to be. I really don’t think you can compare us to any other event on the calendar.

Image: Jo Lillini

Do you have a local rally club?  Tell us about it!  (If not, why not?)
My club is the Club Automovilístico Francés de México, the French Auto Club of Mexico. It was founded in 1956 by five young Mexican guys of French descent. Their first event was the 24 Hour Rally, which was designed to emulate the Monte Carlo Rally. We just had the 51st edition last week-end, by the way. It’s usually run in July to make the weather conditions as horrid as possible, but we were forced to reduce the hours of non-stop rallying from 24 to two blocks of 12 for safety reasons a few years ago. A lot of U.S. competitors have come down to do the 24H over the years, and they can attest to the fact that finishing it is a lifelong source of pride.

Image: Jo Lillini

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
We used to get together every week, but the rise of the Internet changed that. The club still has weekly sessions, but I haven’t been there for a couple of years. Nowadays I talk shop over IM, Facebook, Twitter, or when I run into rally people, which is quite frequently.

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
I am decidedly NOT going to gush about my friends on the Internet! I would never live it down!

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
There are over 3,000 volunteers in Rally Mexico. In them, I’ve seen the most amazing feats of courage, commitment, and passion. I wouldn’t dare place one individual or group above the others, except to say this: the little people are always more important to the success of a rally than the big bosses. My heartfelt thanks go to all those who directly or indirectly have helped me not to screw up royally, year after year.

Image: Jo Lillini

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
You’re nothing without your friends.

Well, folks, it looks like we finally wrapped this one up. Hope you enjoyed the insight shared by our friend Eugenio at Rally Mexico. As we go to press, Rally Mexico is only a few short weeks away, so we really appreciate his taking the time to share so much with us. You can get to know Eugenio by following him on Twitter (@eperea), and you can learn more about Rally Mexico on the official website and Twitter (@rallymexico)

If you liked the pictures, there’s a lot more where these came from! Check out Jo Lillini’s website and Marcos Rodriguez’s website to see more. You can view some of  Ralph Hardwick’s work on Sutton-Images.

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