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.

With the first round kicking off at the end of May there was plenty of time to get the car ready for the five FIRC events. As a shakedown – literally – we decided to enter the Turbo Centre Twyford Stages in April, at one of Andy’s favourite venues, Twyford Wood near Grantham. Twyford has a reputation for being rather rough but we had enjoyed rallying there in 2008 and we knew there had been some improvements to the bumpy roads at the former airfield.

The weekend dawned fine and sunny, a portent of things to come. Despite a power steering leak which dumped all the fluid and then a puncture, we won every stage of the rally and finished two minutes ahead of the field. What a great start to the season! It certainly put us in the mood for going to Belgium and taking on the other British, French, Dutch and German crews.

The first FIRC round was the ORC Canal Rally, based in Oostrozebeke and held on the last May bank holiday weekend. The format – as on all the rounds – was recce on day one, with the rally taking place the next day. This event had a format of three stages, with each leg run four times.

The rally had a strong entry, including Belgian rally legends Paul Lietaer and Patrick Snijers amongst the 130+ competitors.

The rally had a strong entry, including Belgian rally legends Paul Lietaer and Patrick Snijers amongst the 130+ competitors. We were seeded number 24, the Belgian rally organisers clearly not expecting great things from us, having referred to the car as “antique”! We surprised them all – and ourselves – with a 5th fastest time on the first stage.

The stages continued to go very well for us throughout the day, despite a traditional British-style bank holiday downpour, during which one of the favourites, Belgian M3 CSL pilot Andy Lefevre crashed heavily, writing off his Beemer and causing the cancellation of SS11.

We finished the rally in sixth place overall, scoring 10 points for being first FIRC competitor in our class, winning a trophy and a pair of Dunlop tyres, thanks to John Morgan of Fairfield Motorsport. Fellow BDMC competitor Rich Vincent was co-driving for Andy Thomson in a Ford Focus 4×4 turbo, but sadly the pair had a troubled run and failed to finish.

We did not expect a similar result on the next event, the Geko Rally van Wervik, as we knew there would be a strong entry from Belgian crews using the rally as a shakedown for the forthcoming Ypres rally which is not only a round of the Belgian Open Championship, but an IRC round as well. The rally was June 12th – just two weeks after the ORC – but as the car had run perfectly on the previous event a quick spanner check was all that was needed before setting off.

The format for Wervik was the same as for ORC with three stages repeated four times each, but this time with more stage mileage to get our teeth into, including a gravel section in the middle of SS2. The recce went well, our note making was improving all the time and may have been helped by the fact that the B&B we stayed in was on the first stage! In fact the recce went so well that Andy shot off like a rocket on SS1, finishing only 12sec behind Freddy Loix in his Fabia S2000 (and about 30sec in front of the co-driver!!!)

In fact the recce went so well that Andy shot off like a rocket on SS1, finishing only 12sec behind Freddy Loix in his Fabia S2000 (and about 30sec in front of the co-driver!!!)

We were lying 8th overall after the first leg and the second leg saw us moving up to 7th place, then things got exciting on leg three, as first of all we encountered a cyclist whilst at 100mph+ on a narrow 100-L1-300-C section towards the end of the first stage, then had a scary moment just missing one of the famous Belgian telegraph poles through the gravel section on the following stage. This same section claimed Bill Cook in his (previously) mint Sunbeam Lotus, putting him and Belgian co-driver Yves Brunyeel out of the rally with some injuries to the crew – and more to the car.

We finished leg three in 5th place overall and the fourth leg was thankfully without further incident, but we dropped a place as Paul Lietaer in his Subaru WRC just managed to overtake us. Once again we were the first placed FIRC crew in our class which gave us maximum championship points, earned us two more Dunlop tyres, a trophy and – bizarrely – a hosepipe! We had to wait until midnight for the awards ceremony as the Belgians believe in consuming plenty of beer before doing anything serious like collecting an award. We were not the only crew to win a hosepipe -  the fastest historic man also got one and caused great hilarity by announcing that he only lives in a flat and doesn’t even have a garden! The evening ended in a haze at 5a.m. when we staggered into the apartment of a new Belgian friend whose name we didn’t even know…

We had to wait until midnight for the awards ceremony as the Belgians believe in consuming plenty of beer before doing anything serious like collecting an award.

Suddenly we found ourselves extremely popular amongst the Belgian rallying fraternity, to the extent that they seeded us at number four for the following FIRC rally, the Short Rally Oudenburg-Jabbeke. Such an early seeding confused the co-driver as there were now less cars to follow on the road sections! We are getting ahead of ourselves, however, as before our return to Flanders we entered another rally at Twyford, not sure why, perhaps to make sure that winning the first one had not been some sort of fluke.

It was another sunny weekend at Twyford Wood as we rolled up to take part in the Jane Cowling Memorial Phoenix Stages. There were hordes of 205’s as the event was a Peugeot 205 Challenge round, and we had a good craic with Pat Flynn and his cronies the night before the rally. Pat lent us a couple of boneshaker bicycles to check out the venue, something which the co-driver considered to be an act of deliberate sabotage the next day!!

After a night of ‘luxury’, sleeping in the service van, we were up bright and early to start the rally on a beautiful summer day. Sadly the good weather brought dust problems with it, so the organisers sensibly started the rally at 1min intervals, which was a good idea, but the continuing dust problems did mean that we unfortunately lost some stage mileage in the afternoon.

After a night of ‘luxury’, sleeping in the service van, we were up bright and early to start the rally on a beautiful summer day.

The roughness of some parts of the stages caused problems for all the crews, in particular bent rims, punctures and a few accidents. We were luckier than most but didn’t know we had cracked the front cross-member on the Evo, something which didn’t affect us too badly at the time but was to come back to haunt us later in the season. We also had a few bent wheel rims and a puncture, but that didn’t stop us from taking another convincing victory at Twyford, although we didn’t win EVERY stage this time!! Thanks to our performance – and Cat’s friend Paul Lawrence – we finally got a photo into Motorsport News which earned us a £200 Demon Tweeks voucher.

Back to the FIRC we were pretty confident in the car after the victory at Twyford and again only spanner checking was needed as we set off for Oudenburg. A Belgian ‘Short’ rally has limited mileage and this event had just two stages – one long one and one short one – run four times. We had a bit of a shaky start as within a mile we clobbered a chicane made of oil drums, causing a severe vibration which we thought must be a puncture. We eased off but after a few corners realised that all four tyres were still inflated. We carried on regardless with the problem and it was only after the rally that we found the vibration was caused by a damaged driveshaft.

The notes read 300-R1-400-LGC/Bridge-75-L4-250-R3; but did not mention the slight bump on the entry to the R3.

We were lying fifth overall with just one short stage to go and just 1.6 sec behind fourth place man Matthais Boon in his Impreza, when we decided that the only way to make up the time was to attack the early section of the stage flat out. The notes read 300-R1-400-LGC/Bridge-75-L4-250-R3; but did not mention the slight bump on the entry to the R3. Lietaer told us afterwards that this section is only flat in a WRC car, sadly the knowledge came too late for us to avoid a massive moment at 120mph. Going over the bump sent the car into a huge wag which Andy was unable to catch, which eventually sent the car backwards into a ditch and cartwheeling back onto the road facing the right way, neither of us are sure how. There was a quiet contemplative moment as we came to a halt, followed by Andy turning the key to restart the engine before driving carefully to the stage finish.

At the finish there was plenty of pointing and laughing from the spectators and as the oil light came on we turned the engine off and got out of the car for a better look. No wonder the oil light was on, we had mashed the oil cooler, the navigator’s wing was bent and there was some unfeasibly positive camber on the o/s rear wheel.

We still had to negotiate the three mile road section to the finish, and gratefully accepted the offer of the following competitor, Dirk Vermeirsch, to push us back to the final TC. He very kindly nosed up to the remains of our rear bumper with his Sierra Cosworth and expertly pushed us all the way to the TC. This allowed us to hold onto fifth place, not much of a reward for poor Dirk who we beat by 0.5sec. John Morgan was an impressive second overall in his Escort Cosworth which meant we finished as second place FIRC crew.

Fortunately the finish area was just across the road from a bar, where to recover from the shock of the ‘moment’ on the last stage, the co-driver was forced to consume several beers while the driver and service crew were getting the poor crushed Evo onto the trailer for the trip home.

Back in the UK there was some work to do on the engine and rear suspension, which no matter how we jiggled it was never going to be the same again. We also discovered the crack in the front cross-member, sustained at Twyford. All we could do was weld it together and hope it would stand up to more abuse. There were several late nights in Rockingham’s scrutineering bay which has a handy four poster ramp and many thanks are owed to Rockingham, as the loan of the garage and ramp saved us the cost of hauling the car up and down the A1 to Hull all the time. Andy also did a great job, working long hours into the night to get the car driveable for the next FIRC round, Short Rally Staden.

We have met some great people over in Belgium and a couple that have become good friends are Yves and Emy Bruyneel, who happen to live in Staden. They invited us to stay with them for the rally and as Yves is a regular Belgian co-driver, he was able to be of great assistance with the recce.

Despite having replaced the big end bearings and the hydraulic lifters, we started the rally with a worryingly rattly engine which felt a little down on power and did not inspire much confidence. Nevertheless we had a tidy and uneventful rally, even though overnight rain had made the first few stages of the day quite tricky, with eight competitors leaving the road at just one corner – a particularly muddy right hander with a large telegraph pole right in the middle.

The stages were in an area familiar to us from the Omloop van Vlaanderen so we soon settled in and survived the early dampness to put in faster and faster times throughout the day, but with one eye on the FIRC championship we were content with eighth place and another FIRC win.

Now there was only one FIRC round left to go – the Hemicuda Rally – and we were leading the championship. All we had to do was finish third to win! Before that, we intended to see if we could improve on 2009’s result in the Omloop van Vlaanderen – a non-championship round, but a fantastic and very popular two-day rally held just two weeks before Hemicuda.

Unfortunately we were without our loyal service crew of Eddie and Chris for this event – however another Belgian friend, Lorenzo Bossu, came to our rescue and valiantly serviced for us all weekend, even bringing his van full of his own Evo 3 spares and an assistant. It was just as well he had offered to help, as the night stages on the Friday saw us confounded by a rare mechanical failure when an injector broke, costing us about two minutes on the stages with a bad misfire and a 10sec penalty for a late exit from service. The following day the car stopped completely on the first stage for another few minutes due to a loose wiring connector, a result of the previous night’s hurried fix in service. The problem was easily rectified, but it was not so easy to get past the competitors who had gone by us while we were stopped.

After that we were out of contention to repeat last year’s 10th overall, so we relaxed and prepared to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the event. Things were going pretty well and we were having a lot of fun inflicting damage on innocent trees by sliding the car about flamboyantly, until we encountered some sneakily placed gravel on a square right. You must have see the pictures by now…. No? Well we slid spectacularly into a ditch as you can see from the photo.

Image: KDMrally.be

After sterling efforts from the Belgian spectators, gathered on the corner for this very reason, we were eventually manhandled out of the ditch. There was accident damage to the front wing, headlight and bonnet, and also some strange knee-shaped dents in the bodywork on the opposite side of the car. We drove out of the stage, but there was no power steering and with the time we had lost (at least 15 minutes) it seemed pointless to continue, so we decided to retire from the event.

We had just two weeks to get the car fixed for the last FIRC round, Hemicuda. We were contemplating hiring a car for this event as we did not think it would be possible to fix the Omloop damage in the time available, however it would have been a real shame not to finish the championship with the car we’d started in, so with a lot of help from Eddie and some more late nights in the garage, we were able to get the repairs done in the nick of time. Interestingly the car’s MOT was also due and the MOT man must have been hard of hearing (or at any rate he was after testing the unsilenced Evo) because he wrote us a ticket just half an hour before we left for the rally! It seems that Andy has now perfected the dark art of getting the car ready at the very last minute.

There was a stronger than usual entry in our class, with former Hemicuda winner Dave Pattison in his highly modified Evo 6, John Morgan in his Cosworth, and Steve Hendy in his Focus WRC car. Unfortunately for us every foreign crew competing was automatically eligible to score FIRC points, and as we were unlikely to beat these three and still had to finish third in class, our chances of securing the title looked increasingly slim.

Image: rallydigital.be

Continuous heavy rain overnight made the stages extremely treacherous and an enormous pool across the stage on the very first corner gave us some anxious moments, as the engine ingested copious quantities of water and misfired for the first mile or so. The stages became increasingly muddy from crews cutting across the corners and the ditches claimed several cars early on.

We were really cautious in the opening stages, refusing to take any risks and determined to keep out of trouble. By the end of the first leg we were only 14th overall, but staying well clear of the fourth placed FIRC crew. Morgan and Pattison were battling for the overall FIRC lead and Hendy did not start the event, so as long as we drove sensibly and stayed out of ditches we’d be on course for third place.

Towards the middle of leg two the rain cleared and this made the stages very tricky with dry sections suddenly changing into slippery mud baths, causing more accidents. We continued to drive very carefully and the end of this leg saw us holding third in class as planned with nearly three minutes over the next FIRC crew. By the end of the rally we had done what we had to do to finish third in the FIRC (and seventh overall), which meant we took the inaugural FIRC championship win.

We’ve enjoyed every minute of our season, although driving slowly for a finish on the last event must be one of the hardest things we’ve ever done. It just shows that winning championships are about using your head and all the hard work that goes on between events, just as much as they are about driving the car. Not having a huge budget, it’s also been very rewarding to win a championship with a fifteen year-old car. There’s a lot of satisfaction in adding up the value of the machinery behind you!

Our prize for winning the championship is free entries for the FIRC in 2011, so no doubt we’ll be taking part again next year. All we need now is a little bit of sponsorship to enable us to run a new (faster!) car for next season. Here’s to a successful and enjoyable 2011.

Thank you to Cat and Andy for sharing this epic story with us. We’re looking forward to keeping up with developments in 2011. Readers might also like to follow Cat on Twitter.

How about you?

• What’s the best prize you’ve won in rally?
• Ever slept in the service vehicle? Why?
• What’s the least amount of time you’ve had to prep the car prior to an event?
  

As a Mitsubishi owner for 15 years, I’m firmly in the Mitsubishi camp. Tommi Mäkinen, with his gold driving shoes and four consecutive WRC wins (1996-1999), all in Mitsubishi Lancers, stands as my all time favorite WRC jock. Still, I often found myself cheering for Petter Solberg and Colin McRae in the Subarus. How could any rallyista not be moved by Solberg’s unabashed victory celebrations, or aspire to McRae’s humility on camera and relentless attack on the stages?

Such is the content of WRX vs. Evo. Author Huw Evans traces the history of these two platforms, starting with a general history of the two manufacturers and setting the stage for rally dominance with the introductions of the Subaru Legacy and Mitsubishi Galant. The Legacy and Galant are replaced by the Impreza and Lancer and the pace of this book quickens.

WRX vs. Evo reads like a world rally arms race. Each WRC championship is covered in great detail. No event goes unmentioned. Narratives follow the Mitsubishi team through a season, then switch gears, illustrating the Subaru perspective. You’ll be reminded of gut-wrenching mechanical failures and inspired victories from both sides. You follow the drivers as they join and leave the teams, and it seems as if just about everyone wanted a ride in these cars.

The battle royale spills over into the streets too. You’re introduced to model year changes, seeing when and where various bits of rally-bred technology made their way to the street. These were the improvements made to the Subaru. This was what the automotive press had to say about this model. Mitsubishi returned fire, bringing the next Evolution to market with these features. The press had this to say about the Mitsubishi. There’s even an appendix at the back of the book detailing the specs for each car over the years, as well as an appendix covering every special/limited edition model offered.

I’d say this is a proper gearhead’s book. You can read it front-to-back, as I did, but it’s arranged in such a way that you can just pick it up and get a quick fix of Mitsu/Subie/WRC history at a glance. Flip to 1996 and see what was new in the Lancer Evo IV. Jump to 1995 and follow along as Colin McRae wins his first driver’s title. Consider alternate gear ratios between years in the appendix. (I also suspect the WRC season recaps would make excellent bedtime stories for young, impressionable minds!)

I’ve never done a book review before, and I need to be clear that 671 Press sent me a copy specifically to review, but I’m very glad they did. I really enjoyed reading this book and make a point of displaying it prominently in the house. As a long term Mitsubishi guy, I noticed a couple typos in the book, but there is just so much data presented in such convenient, manageable chunks, I still feel it deserves a glowing review all the same. WRX vs. Evo is a compilation of stories which, together, tell a larger story which continues to this very day.

If this sounds like a book you’d like to read, or give to a Mitsu/Subie/rally friend as a gift, you can pick up a copy of ‘WRX vs. Evo’ by Huw Evans on Amazon. Full disclosure: That’s an affiliate link. If you click that link and purchase the book, Gearbox Magazine gets a percentage of the purchase price, which will help us do more for the rally community in the future.

Thank you for reading and, if you pick this book up, let us know what you think!

What’s your name? Where are you located? What do you do for a living?
Drew McPhee from Sydney, Australia. I’m a software developer. It’s not very exciting.

What got you interested in rally?
Pretty much born into it, my father Ian McPhee used to rally a Renault R8 Gordini in the 60’s and 70’s. When I was young we used to go to Port Macquarie every year to follow the famous Southern Cross Rally So from a very young age I watched and admired the super human skills of internationally renowned drivers like Rauno Aaltonen, Timo Makinen, Andrew Cowan and many more, as well as Australia’s rally stars of yester year like Greg Carr, Colin Bond, Ross Dunkerton and George Fury. My mother also raced formula V (formula fords with Volkswagen engines) in the 70’s so racing is really in my blood and it’s impossible to get out.

Then in 1988 my father decided to get back into rally driving and all his years of training me to read maps and generally develop my sense of direction were put to good use as I navigated (or co-drove) for him for the next 10 years till 1998. We started off in a LA Lancer coupe, and then moved to a JA Starion which we converted from a Group 2E Production race car, which was driven by Kevin Bartlet. That car had some very nice ex works bits, including a very rare X-Trac straight cut close ratio gearbox. Then Dad brought Bruce Robinsons ST185 Toyota GT4 and we started doing some east coast rounds in the 1993, 1994 and 1995 Australian Rally Championship’s including Coffs Harbor, Wagga Wagga and the Essanda Rally of Canberra, which was a round in the APRC as well.

My dad got a bit fed up of the running costs of the 4wd, and having kept the gearbox from the Starion, decided to put it to good use and build another RWD rally car. The brand, Mitsubishi of course!  Series 5 Galants were known as Sigma’s in Australia (unfortunately); they are big and heavy but are strong and available, and have the 4g54 as stock. I found an engine from a midget sprint car that pushed out nearly 300hp normally aspirated and we mated it to the X-Trac gearbox. The result was a tire shredding rally weapon that Dad loved driving until his health deteriorated and he had to give up rallying. That’s when I decided it was time to start driving in 1999, something I always wanted to do but was never in the financial position to do so. The decision on what rally car was not hard. My dad has instilled a lot of brand loyalty into me.

Tell us about your rally car’s. How long have you had your current car?
I have rallied Mitsubishi Galants exclusively since I started driving. I started in a GA Galant, which just so happened to have a Starion 4g63b Turbo engine fitted with a Starion 5 speed. I did my first rally in very torrential rain with this engine which was very interesting at times and my Dad, who was navigating and I are lucky to still be here having almost put the car down the side of a mountain, but finished an encouraging 17th outright. The turbo engine was not legal in our regulations at the time, and I had stored the colt speed engine from my Dad’s LA Lancer, so I put that in and did a few years of learning with a 1700 4g32. Much safer way to get used to driving on dirt and you can learn a lot driving a small capacity engine quickly.

Pretty soon I felt like we were at walking speed, so I had a 4g52 built up to 2.2 liter and dropped that into the GA Galant. It made good power and made the Galant a real treat to drive. However eventually the rear suspension ripped out of the car from fatigue, so I built my 2nd Galant rally car, a GE (aka sigma). Most of Dad’s car had been sold off, so it took some time for me to get all the bits together to make it a competitive car. I did manage to get a few bits off his car which really helped. We rallied that for nearly 8 years without any major issues, but the engine was starting getting tired. It was either dump even more money into it, or go in a new direction…

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
Whilst I was researching fitting a VR4 engine to the Blue Galant/Sigma, an e38a VR4 RS rally car came up for sale and I decided to defect to the dark side of rallying, 4wd turbos. I had done my time in RWD and it was time to move up. It was pretty cheap, and it had some history; it had been a rally car since it was purchased new in 1989, 21 years ago! No doubt it had won a rally or two in its day, but now the rules for old 4wd turbos have been freed up a bit, some more modern parts can be fitted.

It has a lot of Evo 3 bits which makes it stronger and faster, but transmission wise its pretty stock. The car is an RS so it has the goodies like close ratio gearbox, viscous centre and rear diff, and of course a much lighter body shell. An Autronic SM4 makes the ex ralliart evo3 td05-16g really work nicely all the way up to 2 bar of boost! I have detuned it for reliability, 2 bar is awesome but with the gvr4 trannies that sort of boost will not last long.

What challenges did this cause? What benefits did you realize as a result?
The biggest thing with buying a car is, you just don’t know. It’s taken quite a bit of work to put straight all that was wrong with the car, some things I can’t put right due to the age of the car; the underside is getting very second hand. Most things were bent, suspension arms, cross members, all that sort of thing needed renewing, replacing and general maintenance. Electrics are also usually very dodgy in a cheap 2nd hand rally car which requires specialist time and money to get right. My car had burnt out wiring here and there which almost cost me the engine as the thermo fans would stop working!

I think in the long run, it’s much better and more rewarding to build your own car, but if you are not mechanically minded, or have a bad back, there is nothing wrong with buying an already prepared rally car. Just expect some things to be wrong with it.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
I have never written off a car, touch wood. I have always driven to rallies, which might sound nuts, but it is a form of insurance. You need to drive to survive, keep it on the island and get the beast home. Having a trailer is pure luxury. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to push hard… I smacked 3 trees in 1 stage once, and only had to replace 1 front guard to fix the panel damage. We have had plenty of offs over the years, but I’ve always managed to get the car back on the road and home in various shapes and mechanical conditions. Actually I have trailered the blue car home once when the brake master cylinder packed it in.

Tell us about a time when you narrowly avoided a DNF. How did you press on regardless?
The worst one was Rally of Port Macquarie 2005. We were pushing hard and on stage 5 of the rally, we went through a left hand corner fairly rapidly (80kph plus) and there was a unseen dip right in the middle of the corner. We were already sideways when we hit the dip and it kicked the car even more sideways. The nose of the car was heading straight for a 1 meter high stump which was on the side of the road past the apex of the corner. I managed to get some steer back and got the nose pointed away from the stump, but because I had full right hand lock on, the wheel was sticking out from the side of the car. The wheel hit the stump, which instantly pushed it back into the wheel arch, which in turn pushed the drag link back under the gearbox, giving the car about 40 degrees of toe out on each wheel!

We were well and truly off the road by the time I pulled it up, so I went to work on getting it fixed with the tools I had on board. By the time our service crew arrived, I had the drag link out of the car; it was the only damaged part but was bent like a banana. I went up with my service crew to the local winery which was just up the road, where they had an anvil and solid hammers. We managed to straighten the drag link enough to get it relatively straight, went back and put it in the car, and re-joined the rally having only dropped one stage!

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally? The most challenging?
Any form of motorsport is expensive. There lies the challenge. There comes a time when you really have to make tough decisions, but having people around you who support you and your crazy addiction really makes it easier. As it’s a tight community, you always have friends to call on when needed, rally friendly sponsors to supply goods, services and funds, and competitors to drive you to limits and beyond. Having someone come up and ask for your autograph is also pretty cool!

How many events did you enter last year? Is that trending up or down? Why?
I can only afford to run about six rallies a year, but I also enter a few other events like auto tests – motorkhana’s and khan crosses as we know them in Australia. These can help shake the car down and keep your eye in. Rallies are the big expense; the rallies I go in are usually two day events with up to 350km competitive driving, these sorts of rallies take a lot out of you and the car. I hope to be entering more events soon as a few possible sponsors come onboard.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
Any cash prize would be awesome! In rallying, cash prizes are very rare. We usually risk it all for a little bit of plastic known as a trophy, so goodness knows how hard we would all push if cash was involved!

How important are car classes? What class/region do you race in? How many competitors in your class at each event?
Very important. I believe young drivers should never jump straight into fast rally cars. Lower classes allow you to gauge your performance, and then be recognized for them. I belong to two clubs and am involved in two different championships. One club I am in Open 4WD class, the other it’s known as P6 for older 4WD cars. My class is fairly open and I’m up against some much older and newer machinery. There are usually at least 10 to 15 cars to battle with at each event.

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes vs blind rally?
Well they both still have their place in rallying. Blind rallies are certainly the hardest. They are slower obviously as usually they are unpracticed, but stages can be re-run over the years , however you will never remember all of a forestry road, they just change so much from year to year. I usually do blind rallies. It’s very difficult at times to judge how fast to go, and pushing too hard can have grave consequences.

I have done some pacenoted events, and that is the other extreme. You know what is coming, which allows you to go faster. Going faster means if you have a moment, it will be larger than normal. Glancing off a bank in a blind rally can mean burying the strut into the firewall in a pace noted rally. Most say that pace noting is much safer, but sometimes I fail to see the logic in that argument. Either way, you need to drive to the conditions in rally.

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare? Why?
Always good. You can gain up to a second a corner if someone is watching!

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
That is the million dollar question, and one which has kept rally in the dark for so long. It’s so difficult to get people who don’t have a deep love in rallying to get involved. Sure they can and will watch it on TV, but getting someone out to an event to watch, or even better official, is a different story. In my rally club, we actually supply free meals and accommodation to people who come help us out by officialling, and we have easy to follow spectator instructions published well in advance, and this really helps to get them out in the forests. Proper media coverage is also imperative.

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
Insurance. With popularity comes responsibility. Competitors need to know that if something may happen that there will be help for them. I for one have organized my own insurance and public liability so I am covered, but it is not widely known just what your rights are as a competitor. This needs improvement.

How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
That’s difficult to address. It’s a very grey area here in Australia. I would like to see more information published about just what we, the competitors, are covered for insurance wise, so people can rest assure if the inevitable happens, that financial assistance is there for them. This is not always the case when entering a rally. I actually have my own personal insurance that covers me in the event of an accident.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
I spent about 5 years on the club steering committee which helps the clubs executive with all sorts of matters. I have done many “setups” in the past, which often requires taking a few days off work before a rally and driving the course preparing it for competition. I also built two versions of the clubs website, the first being in 1999.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be? Why?
Rally Australia, or Rally New Zealand. Australia, as it’s my home, and NZ, because they have the best gravel roads in the world.

Your favorite Group B car?
Starion of course, closely followed by the Lancia 037 rally….The Group B Starion really never made an appearance in the WRC, but a lot of its technology worked its way into the GVR4, and so it remains the legend that never was.

We’ve all got a rally hero. Who’s yours?
Local is George Fury, International is Walter Rohrl. George was a very quiet farmer from Albury, NSW, who drove the local school bus and went on to be a works driver for Nissan. When I was 5, I wanted to be a bus driver because that’s how George started rally driving!  Walter needs no introductions. He is the only driver to win four Monte Carlo rallies in four different cars.

Do you have a local rally club? Tell us about it! (If not, why not?)
My club is a little unusual. The Australian Motor Sport Action Group (AMSAG) is a non profit association of some 300+ members which run rallies in country New South Wales. Its members come from various walks of life, split equally between the country and the city. AMSAG strives to have its rallies match the excitement and competition of those “hey days” of rallying epitomised by the Southern Cross Rally which was run between the 1960′s and 1980′s in some of the same forests AMSAG use for competition. Lately they have allowed a modern section within their competition, which gets 4WD turbos in the mix with old school classic rally cars.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
Not often enough. Our club has a great social side but we only seem to get together when events are on. Social networking websites has generally improved this; there are quite a few of the rally community now on networking sites like Facebook all the way up to WRC level so you can really keep in touch with what is going on.

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
I currently don’t have any sponsors, so it’s really my family and friends that I have to thank. Especially my wife Karen, who has funded a few rallies over the years, and my Father Ian who has provided me with so much help over the years. I would also like to thank all of the people that run our club and come out to help official when the rallies are on. Without them there would be no rally.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
Always make the effort to help someone, no matter what. You never know when you will need that help yourself.

Thank you, Drew, for sharing your story with us. We wonder, have any of our readers grown up in a family that rallied? What about manufacturer loyalty? Did the vehicles your parents drove impact your choice of rally car at any point in your rally career?

We know you had your sites set on besting Block in the championship. Now Block is out of contention and you’re engaged in a Mitsubishi dogfight for the final podium. It would seem this has been a monumental year for the championship. How has 2010 treated BMS?
2010 has been a great year for BMS.  We have had very good luck and everything has gone as planned throughout the season.  I would not say that we set out to beat Block, specifically, as much as we were hoping to be competing in that upper tier of competitors.  I feel that we have accomplished that.  The fact that we are actually in contention for the championship is amazing to me.  We have been able to put the car on the podium every event this year except for the Olympus Rally.  The truth be told we had the 3rd podium spot at Olympus as well, but penalty time was added for hitting a chicane and there was a minor timing error on our part.  Beyond those issues I know that we have been at a podium “pace” for the entire season.

With just one event left on the Rally America schedule, is it mathematically possible for BMS to overtake L’Estage in the points race and take home the trophy? What will it take to make that happen?
There is a possibility we could still win the championship.  Antoine would have to have an issue of some sort in order for that to happen.  Our team has actually become very close with the Rockstar Energy team this year and I would hate to see Antoine lose the championship due to some stupid issue.  If I had been faster all season I may have a different opinion.  Keep in mind though that the Rockstar Energy team has some significant financial support that we lack.  They are in the upper tier I was referring to earlier.  Money or not, Antoine has really earned his position this year, besting us at every event except Oregon Trail.

The pressure must be intense. What’s going through your mind as you go about your daily routines back home before NEFR?
At this point the pressure is off.  The long trips out west are over.  The short turn around between the west coast events and STPR is behind us and things are back to normal.  I have about a month to re-prep the car and its only 3hrs drive to NEFR.  We have already secured 2nd in the championship before NEFR even starts.  I think very few people really understand the time and money and time and time that have gone into this.  I have a slight feeling of satisfaction with these results.  I have always felt that, given the opportunity, I could run at the front.  This year with a sliver of the budget of the other teams, a less powerful and nearly five year old car, we have done just that.  I am proud.  Proud of myself and my efforts and of my family for sticking this out, especially my father who is working on the car at least as much as me.  My parents are probably never get to retire now either.  Thanks guys!

What’s the plan of attack for NEFR? Maximum attack? How hard are you going to make things for L’Estage?
I am going into NEFR hoping to have another good result and most importantly have fun.  Nothing I can do can win me the championship so its back to the roots of simply having fun rather than racing for points.  Naturally the spirit of competition is still there so we will go quickly, but we have to keep in mind that the X-Games are 2 weeks later in LA.  If we have a big off we will never make it in our own car.  By the way we do plan to attend this year for the first time!

Bill and Peter will be charging into the woods of Maine the weekend of July 16th and 17th for the final round of the 2010 Rally America national championship. Will L’Estage hold on to the lead or will Bacon fry him before the final control? Whatever happens, we wish both Mitsubishi drivers – and indeed, the entire field of competitors – the best runs of their careers.

May the cars and the stages be kind, and may you all trade times with your closest rivals the whole weekend long. Here’s wishing everyone at New England Forest Rally all the thrills of their first rally. Press on regardless.

All images (save L’Estage & Bacon on-stage) courtesy Mike Constable of FotosByMike.

What’s your name?  Where are you located? What do you do for a living?
Carl Jardevall, Live in Half Moon Bay, work in San Carlos CA. own and run Nordic Motors.

What got you interested in rally?
Everything with an engine got me hooked at young age. At around 15 a friend navigated in a beetle rally car. That got me going in the rally direction. Also growing up in Sweden in the sixties and seventies rally cars were all over.

Tell us about your rally car/truck.  How long have you had it?
Did you buy your rally car or build it?
My current rally car is a Mitsubishi Lancer 8. I picked up the car in 05 and pretty much 06 took time to build it. First event in 07.

What challenges did this cause?  What benefits did you realize as a result?
Time and of course late nights. One plus is you know how and where things are.

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
Knock on wood so far with the EVO 8 I’ve been lucky, I’ve had a few close calls, with the EVO 4 I had a few years back we did a nasty off in Colorado. Ended up on the nose in to the beautiful Colorado grasslands.

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally?  The most challenging?
Rewarding part is the nice people you meet and of course if you do well on stages. Travel and the time input.

How many events did you enter last year?  Is that trending up or down?  Why?
3 events last year, will probably stay the same or maybe one more depending on outcome.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
If cash got involved it has to be a fair amount to entice me. In general I try to do my best no matter what, but to push that last 5% you need a major carrot at the end of the day.

How important are car classes?  What class/region do you race in?
How many competitors in your class at each event?
I would say car classes are a must. You have so many different levels of competitors and financial  background. You need to have a introduction class for people that are new to the sport as well as the guy’s and girls who want’s to spend a lot. I’m currently converting the car over to the SP class. I’ve been running in open but to go all the way out is more than I’m ready to invest.

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes vs blind rally?
When I started rally back in ’75 we didn’t have any recce. All events were blind and to some degree I think the drivers back then had a better ability to read and understand changes in road surface. One major argument for the recce was to make it safer. Well the cars are still going off and roll and you have added time off from work as well. I think the champion ship events may be justified but on club level I’m not sure.

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare?  Why?
The more you make a sport popular you will have spectators. The draw back in this country to some degree is the legal system with lawsuits left and right. It also puts a bigger burden on organizers as well.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
You probably will have to get events closer to metropolitan areas. It doesn’t have to be major events, just a short rally sprint of some sort with rally cars. Right now if you are not into rallying you have no idea when and where there is an event.

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 would like to see a governing body that worked for the teams/rally drivers instead of running it as a business. You probably have to have two groups of PR people, one that works on attract funding to the sport and a second one to gain reassurance from landowners and the public.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
Unfortunately not.

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be?  Why?
New Zealand. Just looking at the pictures and videos from that event says it all.

Your favorite Group B car?
Audi Quattro. The raw power that came out.

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
It has to be Ari Vatanen, a close second would be Michelle Mouton.

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
I have to say anybody that is a volunteer have to receive a big thank you. Most of the events I’ve done has been in the North West. I would assume even a bigger thank you to all of those people.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
There is a lot of enthusiastic people out there. I think the key is to do it with moderation unless you have the funds.

Carl has been rally racing for better than 30 years. We sincerely thank him for taking the time from his busy schedule to share his thoughts on our interview. To see more pictures from the last 30 years of rally, jump over to the Team Jardevall Rally Sport website.

When we first heard about Bill Bacon and team, we heard they were a self-funded, privateer outfit gunning for Ken Block. Today, we find they’ve passed Block and are now just 7 points behind L’Estage in the Rally America National Championship in their well-sorted Mitsubishi Evo. With New England Forest Rally approaching fast, it’s still anyone’s game, but in the interest of transparency, as much as we’d love to see a Mitsubishi 1-2 at the end of the year, we’ve got our fingers crossed for Bacon Motorsport taking home the gold.

BMS was kind enough to share a couple very nice photos with us from Oregon Trail. Thought we’d share with you. We’ve got an email in to our contact at BMS and will be trying to get a quick word in with Bill on their plan of attack for the next few weeks before NEFR.

Gearbox Magazine had a photog on-stage at STPR this weekend. Look for more pictures from that event soon!

A YouTube commenter was kind enough to share a rough translation of the in-car..

-Trampolin jump right 8 – 70… OH, F*CK!
-(Still going) Looks like we lost something…
-Don’t care, we’ll reach the finish

We’ve got a proper driver interview on-deck for Tuesday of this week. Until then, press on regardless.

A clip of Ross and Jason demonstrating what R. Sout means at Gallangowan 2009.

The bloke calling the shots from the silly seat in the R. Sout Galant VR4 is, more often than not, Jason Page. Jason hails from Albury/Wodonga in New South Wales and is an instrument technician by trade. He rides a motorbike to work and Ross tell us that, for fun, Jason goes mountain biking with his mates.

Conveniently enough, Jason happens to live and work close to Ross, which makes getting together to sort out pre-rally paperwork a drama free experience. An integral part of the team, Jason often wears the go-fer hat when there’s work to be done on the rally car.

Image: Mat Jones Photos

Ross tell us, “We are starting to gel and I find, on pace-note events, I trust his timing and description and am better able to concentrate on driving.” Jason and Ross have been a team since 2008,  an ordinary year, in which they experienced a broken wheel hub at one event and a blown engine at another putting paid to their year.

2009 was better, as the boys shared the P6 Class win with Alan and Gavin in a Mazda Familia 4wd (GLC, Protege).

In-car with Ross and Jason on Kandanga in 2008.

We’ll let Ross share the recent Benarkin story in his own words…

2010, event wise, was off to a crook start with wet weather meaning the first event, the first round of the KCF Short Course Rally Series, was cancelled. Eventually, the KCF was run on the weekend of the 17^th April and as luck would have it, Jason had gone to Turkey to commemorate the worst loss of a battle in Australia’s wartime history, ANZAC Day, the landing at Gallipoli.

An old friend Barrie stepped in the ‘silly seat’ and we went to Benarkin for the first event of the season. The weather had again stepped in and the event, previously two stages run three times was changed to a single 23km stage.

There was a fair bit of carnage and a number of cars had suspension failure, flat tyres and/or broken wheels. Barrie and I drove to the conditions with a 16.27, 16.25 and 16.28 for the three runs.

At the end of the event we had finished outright third!!!And first in P6 Class. Woo Hoo. We followed a Subaru STI first and an EVO 1 in  second. Great result for the 21 year old car.

A slippery corner at KCF Short Stages at Benarkin 2009.

Ross is looking forward to the next couple events. He’ll run one without Jason as he will be out of state working, but he’ll be back for the pinnacle event, a round of the Asia-Pacific Championship being held in  South-East Queensland on the 30^th July-2^nd August. It is a two day rally, tough on cars and all crew but a hoot just the same.

Gearbox Magazine would like to thank Ross for keeping in touch with us after the original interview. Though we may not meet many of the people we interview, in going through the process, we find ourselves becoming big fans.

Main image courtesy: Kristian Hayes

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

What got you interested in rally?
As a child I was always drawn to the rally car models at the hobby shops.  I had no idea what they were or why they needed all those lights but they looked really cool.  In the late 90s speed vision was showing all of the World Rally Championship.  I remember watching these rallies with my brother like it was our job.  Tommi Mäkinen was running an Evo and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Tell us about your rally car/truck.  How long have you had it?
My current rally car is a 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution 9 RS.  I bought the car new in Dec of 2006.

Did you buy your rally car or build it?
My father, brother and I built the car from new.  The cage was welded in by Kenny Conway of Conway Autoworks in Scituate, MA.  We did everything else ourselves.  I mean everything.  It took us 10 months of late nights and weekends to complete the car.

What challenges did this cause?
Building the car created many challenges for us.  We had to learn as we went on a lot of things. Everything from upgrading differentials to opening up the transfer case and transmission: it all made me nervous.  The biggest challenge was rewiring the car down to the bare essentials.  There is not a wire in that car that is not doing something.

What benefits did you realize as a result?
Building the car has been good in the sense that we know every last bolt on the car.  There is nothing on that car that we have not had our hands on.  We can fix everything ourselves.  The down side is we cannot make big repairs during the short services at the rallies.  We do not have the means to get it done quickly.  We try to make sure everything is like new when we leave the garage.  After each rally the car is disassembled, cleaned and inspected for damage and wear.  Every nut and bolt is checked for torque and marked so that it can be quickly inspected again while in service. Many people find this to be extreme but for a privateer team that is running at the level we are this is a necessary evil to ensure that the car is 100% going into each rally.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

Tell us about a time when you stuffed the rally car (or maybe had a nasty off).
My first big off was in our first rally car that we built in maybe our 3rd rally ever.  It was at the Quebec City winter rally.  We got high centered on a snow bank and lost about 25 minutes on a long stage.  I wanted to quit right there.  I was done and regretted every ounce of energy and money I had put into the whole situation. At the end of the event we had moved back up through the field and there was a real sense of accomplishment when we finished.  That sense of accomplishment is what keeps me going.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

What’s the most rewarding part of being involved in rally?
Getting home is the most rewarding part of rallying.  It’s getting home and knowing that we made it through the rally and accomplished all the challenges that there are just to complete the event.

The most challenging?
The most challenging part of rally is trying to drive fast enough to make an impression on the top runners and not destroy the car while doing it.

How many events did you enter last year?  Is that trending up or down?  Why?
We entered four national events last year.  That is less than what we have done in the past, but we wanted to focus on the Rally America series and really bring our A game as far as preparation.  In years past we’ve simply run whatever events were close by, be it a RA event, Canadian or regional.  We are focusing on the RA events right now to try and get some exposure and create interest for sponsors.

What kind of cash prize structure would entice you to enter more rallies or push the car harder?
If there was enough payout to cover the entry fees and some tow money it would be nice.  People simply do not believe me when I tell them what the entry fees are.  If we were all becoming rich and famous then I might push harder and risk the car more.  The guys that are taking the big risks and writing off car after car already are rich and famous.

Should rallies be run as for-profit corporations?
Everyone wants to make money.  It’s a hard thing to get that many people to donate that much time.  There is so much that goes into a rally it’s unreal.  On that note I do not want to help someone get rich while I pay 1000-1300 for entries.

How important are car classes?  What class/region do you race in?  How many competitors in your class at each event?
It’s very important to break the rallies down with classes.  The guy showing up at the rally for the first time in a $4500 VW would get discouraged if he was competing directly against the budget of Block/Pastrana.  I started out in 2wd cars.  I’ve run 3 times as many rallies in a 2wd as I have 4wd.  I currently run in the open class against the big money teams.  I’m not beating them but they all know my name!

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

What do you think about recce vs pacenotes?
(I think you mean to ask recce vs tulip rally)  (RA uses Jemba notes,  not really pacenotes)  When I started rally there were only tulip route books.  My co driver would call a note then tell me that there was no more info for the next 1.5 miles. The only info was intersections and really dangerous areas. It was crazy.  You were driving totally blind.  The guys that had run the event in previous years had a huge advantage.  There were lots of small crashes at tricky spots.  Running the rallies today with the Jemba notes and single pass recce helps to bring us up to speed with the rest of the world but still not quite the same level.  Most world rallies have two pass recce so they can check their notes after they make changes the first time through.  The crashes now are bigger but it seems that they’re less frequent.  People are driving more committed with the notes.  There is extra cost with the recce but you do not have to do it to run the rally.  You can enter and run “blind” with the tulip route book.  Good option for first timers.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

Spectators: Dream come true or worst nightmare?  Why?
We need more spectators obviously, the more the better.  More people mean more sponsors.  More sponsors mean more money.  More money means cooler cars.  Let’s face it… rally cars are the coolest thing on the road. Cooler cars means more spectators.  The rallies are different from other racing series in the sense that people are allowed to come right up and get close to the cars.  At the service area the spectators can view the cars being worked on right at their feet.  You have a chance to talk to the fans right in the middle of a service.

How do you get local gearheads involved in rally?
I try to make the car guys from the Fire Department and Police Department  more aware of rally and how much we have accomplished. I have a core group of friends that have seen me progress and volunteer their time to help me at rallies and spread the word about my efforts and the sport.  As far as more promotion than that, the car takes all my time and then some.  I do not think anyone beyond that really understands what we’re doing out there or who we are rubbing elbows with.  I tell them though.  Most recently we have started a social networking site and are trying to more proactive to share our experiences.   Facebook and blogging has really helped us to share with our friends what our effort is all about and allows us to keep our friends involved.

How do you go about building partnerships with your sponsors?
Going after sponsors is pretty much the last thing I was designed to do.  I am not good at selling myself and as a result I have had very little sponsor help over the year.  All of my effort goes into have the best presentation possible for the car and team.  I want potential sponsors to see us and feel like they would want us to represent them.  I think we do a good job at that.  People always complement us on how nice the car looks and how nice the build is.  Our driving speaks for us as well.  We are consistently the highest placing privateer in the events we enter.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

What do you see is the most critical issue needing addressed by the rally community today?
Rallying needs more exposure in the US.  It’s a Catch 22.  For more exposure you need more money etc. etc.

How would you address that issue if you were in charge?
I think the best way to create more exposure for RA would be to develop characters from the drivers.  It could be pitched like all the reality shows on Discovery and TLC.  Clearly I am biased towards myself but I think people would find it very interesting to see the behind the scenes of our team and then see us at the events trying to run against the big budget teams.  The classic underdog story.

How do you help out at rallies when you aren’t racing?
I  keep telling myself  that when I am done  running a car that I am going to volunteer at rallies.  Sort of to give back and stay involved. As for right now, being a privateer means exactly what it sounds like, I’m out there on my own doing it on my own with only the help of my family and close friends. In any down time I have,   I am usually focused on our next rally.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

If you could enter any WRC event, which rally would that be?  Why?
Sweden.  I would love to try the studs and be in the high snow banks with that much grip

Your favorite Group B car?
Lancia Delta S4, it has all the best of the Group B rules in one.

We’ve all got a rally hero.  Who’s yours?
Colin Mcrae, he was fully committed all the time.

Do you have a local rally club?  Tell us about it!  (If not, why not?)
My co-driver, Peter Watt,  stays very involved, he brings good rally karma to our team.  He is a member of the Peterborough Motorsports Club and stays very active in organizing his local regional rallies.

How often do you get together with other rallyistas to talk shop?
We’ve tried but none of us ever have time to meet up with each other.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

Tell us about some people who have made your rally dream a reality.
My family has been unreal in making this all come true.  My father has put more time and money into this Evo project than I have.  It’s really crazy.  We do not come from money.  My father is a heavy equipment operator and my mother is a teachers aid at the local elementary school.  I do not think my father will ever be able to retire now.  Really!!  My father really got behind me after seeing what we did throughout the years in the slower cars. My longest supporter has been my brother, he goes to all the rallies to service and comes into help with the car when there’s big jobs that need to be done at home. He helped a lot with the initial build of the car and has been going to the rallies with me since day one.  I think I’ve done almost 50 rallies and he has only missed 3.  My wife has been by my side since our first autocross and she never complains. As I type this we are trying to buy a smaller cheaper house closer to my parents (the “shop” is actually my father’s garage).  Not too many girls out there would stand for that.

Photo Credit: Veloz Media & Timothy Hourihan Photography

Thank a volunteer (or group of them) here.
I would like to thank all the organizers that make all the rallies possible.  If it were not for all the stage workers (most of which we never meet) the rallies would never happen.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from your time in the rally community?
Expect the unexpected.  Be thorough. You better be ready for anything because it is going to happen.  (Sorry but most of my life lessons were learned before we started rally.  For that I can thank my father.)