ryanrlamothe
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2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/22 04:02
Courtesy of Rally America
Iorio/Holter Having Troubles Early... (April 22nd, 2006, 12:57AM)
Last year's Rally America Open Champions were having trouble early. During SS4, they started having differential problems; they limped through SS5, and got through most of SS6 before blowing the rear differential.
Despite having to wonder if the car would move once they were released from parc ferme, Co-driver Ole Holter stated the team "had a great day...with Matt's experience at other tarmac events, he knows the braking points and just how long he can stay in the gas, and he is just making the most of the tarmac stages tonight...it has been a fun day."
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USM Ty Ty
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/22 12:34
Bleh. Tarmac is an evil evil thing.
Thanks for the update. I'm at work, and rally-america is blocked on the filter because of "sports". I can get on specialstage though, and im not sure if the live broadcast will work because of the age of media player on these machines. Old IBM netvista machines running off a main server.
Post edited by: USM Ty Ty, at: 2006/04/22 12:38
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ryanrlamothe
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/24 01:03
Courtesy of Rally America
North America’s top rally competitors are taking on the winding roads of Oregon’s coast mountain range this weekend at Round 3 of the Rally America Championship, the 2006 Oregon Trail Rally.
Australian Andrew Pinker was in first place after seven stages, 11 seconds ahead of Subaru Team USA’s Ken Block. Pinker has switched from the restrictive Group N class into Open class for this race in an effort to squeeze more power out of his Subaru.
He said he opted to make the change after struggling to keep up with the competition during Round 2, 100 Acre Wood, in Missouri. “We just didn’t have the top-end power,” he said. “We had a little bit of trouble on the fast roads.”
The area’s undulating countryside offers spectacular views for spectators but a technical challenge for drivers and co-drivers. Moss-draped Douglas Fir trees huddle steps from the roadside and drivers face steep rock faces and endless drop-offs at virtually every turn.
Subaru Team USA's Travis Pastrana was in third Friday, three seconds behind teammate Block.
Pastrana scored his first-ever rally podium result at this event last season, finishing in second place after three days of fierce competition. But a series of off-road excursions over the past year have hurt his results and he said he plans to take his time this weekend and drive a clean run.
“I’m trying to take this rally to learn to drive smooth. I’m not trying to take any chances,” said Pastrana after the first stage of Day 2 competition.
Weather is typically a factor at this event, making for unpredictable road conditions. Rain forecast for Friday gave way to clear skies and radiant sun that is expected to last throughout the weekend. Drivers are reporting hard-packed gravel on the roads.
Also among the podium contenders are defending North American champion Matthew Iorio, who finished fourth in Oregon last year, and series newcomer Alfredo DeDominicis.
The Italian has returned to competition in the Mitsubishi Evolution that suffered damage in the first race of the season when he slid off the road into a tree. He contested Round 2 in a Subaru when his car couldn’t be repaired in time, but said Friday he is happy to be back in the Mitsubishi. “I love it,” he said.
Local favorite Paul Eklund knows the roads well and is also expected to challenge for a top finish in his Open class Subaru.
Two-wheel drive contenders Sans Thompson and Craig Marr were out early after they hit a fence at top speed. "I just couldn't get the thing to turn, I knew I picked the wrong tires," said Thompson.
The opening stages of the 125-mile course took place Friday at the Portland International Raceway, with competitors taking short laps around a mixed tarmac and gravel course past cheering spectators in the grandstands. This short series of stages was only about 10 miles long, but offered fans a thrilling, up-close look at rally competition. There are more than 100 miles of race remaining, however, and the real contest takes place in the woods on Saturday and Sunday.
The Oregon Trail Rally is organized by Oregon Rally Group of Tigard, Oregon. Rally America, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds the sanctioning and marketing right to the Rally America Championship.
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ryanrlamothe
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/24 01:05
Courtesy of Rally America
Australian Andrew Pinker is in the hunt for his first Rally America win at the Oregon Trail Rally on a technically challenging course through the winding roads of Oregon’s coast mountain range.
The series newcomer has led the race from the start in his Open class Subaru. More than halfway through Day 2 of this three-day competition, he was 25 seconds ahead of the field.
Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana stepped up one position into second place Saturday afternoon, nearly 30 seconds ahead of teammate Ken Block.
Pastrana scored his first-ever rally podium result at this event last season, finishing in second place after three days of fierce competition. But a series of off-road excursions over the past year have hurt his results and he said he plans to take his time this weekend and drive a clean run.
“We’re really just focusing on driving for the championship,” said Christian Edstrom, Pastrana’s co-driver. “We’re really not pushing that hard.”
Block, meanwhile, suffered a punctured tire six-miles from the end of the afternoon’s long stage. It cost him more than a minute as he drove on the flat to the stage finish, tearing up the rear bumper in the process.
The area’s undulating countryside offers spectacular views for spectators but a technical challenge for drivers and co-drivers. Moss-draped Douglas Fir trees huddle steps from the roadside and drivers face steep rock faces and endless drop-offs at virtually every turn.
Pinker has changed from the restrictive Group N class into Open class for this race in an effort to squeeze more power out of his Subaru. He said he opted to make the switch after struggling to keep up with the competition during Round 2, 100 Acre Wood, in Missouri. “We just didn’t have the top-end power,” he said. “We had a little bit of trouble on the fast roads.”
Weather is typically a factor at this event, making for unpredictable road conditions. Rain forecast for Friday gave way to clear skies and radiant sun that is expected to last throughout the weekend. Drivers are reporting hard-packed gravel on the roads.
Defending North American champion Matthew Iorio was in fourth place after nine stages, followed by series newcomer Alfredo DeDominicis. He has been struggling to make up time after an error during Friday night’s opening stages -- a wrong turn on the short track course -- cost him more than 40 seconds.
The Italian has returned to competition in the Mitsubishi Evolution that suffered damage in the first race of the season when he slid off the road into a tree. He contested Round 2 in a Subaru when his car couldn’t be repaired in time, but said he is happy to be back in the Mitsubishi.
Two-wheel drive contenders Sans Thompson and Craig Marr were out early after they hit a fence at top speed. "I just couldn't get the thing to turn, I knew I picked the wrong tires," said Thompson.
The opening stages of the 125-mile course took place Friday at the Portland International Raceway, with competitors taking short laps around a mixed tarmac and gravel course past cheering spectators in the grandstands. This short series of stages was only about 10 miles long, but offered fans a thrilling, up-close look at rally competition. There are more than 100 miles of race remaining, however, and the real contest takes place in the woods on Saturday and Sunday.
The Oregon Trail Rally is organized by Oregon Rally Group of Tigard, Oregon. Rally America, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds the sanctioning and marketing right to the Rally America Championship.
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ryanrlamothe
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/24 01:06
Courtesy of Rally America
Australian Andrew Pinker is courting his first Rally America win after a strong start at this weekend’s Oregon Trail Rally, through the winding and technical roads of Oregon’s coast mountain range.
“We’ve had a clean day, everything has been nice,” said a smiling Pinker at the end of Saturday’s stages.
Although there are still more than 50 miles still to go in the race, Pinker has a healthy lead over Subaru Team USA driver Travis Pastrana and said he plans to drive conservatively on Sunday to maintain his position. “We’ll just try to stay in the lead,” he said.
It is unlikely that Pinker will face much of a challenge from Pastrana for first-place overall. A series of off-road excursions over the past year have hurt Pastrana’s results and his team is urging him to take his time this weekend and drive a clean race on the demanding course.
“We’re really just focusing on driving for the championship,” said Pastrana’s co-driver Christian Edstrom. “We’re really not pushing that hard.”
Pastrana stepped into second place Saturday afternoon after his teammate Ken Block suffered a flat tire that cost him more than a minute.
Block is now in fourth place and waging a tough battle for third against defending North American champion Matt Iorio. The pair began Sunday’s leg of the competition in a dead-heat and after one stage were only one second apart. It was not where Block was hoping to be at this stage in the race. “Instead of battling for the lead, we’re battling for third,” he said.
Visibility is proving to be a challenge for teams on Sunday, with dust and dappled sunlight in the woods obscuring road details.
Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant are contesting the Open class at this event after struggling to keep their Group N in contention during Round 2, 100 Acre Wood, in Missouri. The pair finished third overall there in February.
Leading the Production-GT battle is Tanner Foust. He moved up into fifth overall after Saturday's leg to earn nearly a minute class lead over driver Eric Langbein.
Langbein gently rolled his car after going wide in a corner early Saturday, but was able to continue in the race with little more than cosmetic damage.
The opening stages of the 125-mile course took place Friday at the Portland International Raceway, before moving into the woods for the second and third days. Just under half of the race miles are run today, on the final day.
The Oregon Trail Rally is organized by Oregon Rally Group of Tigard, Oregon. Rally America, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds the sanctioning and marketing right to the Rally America Championship.
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ryanrlamothe
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/24 01:07
Courtesy of Rally America
Australian Andrew Pinker is courting his first Rally America win at this weekend’s Oregon Trail Rally, through the winding and technical roads of Oregon’s coast mountain range.
With 40 miles remaining in the race Sunday, Pinker has a healthy lead over Subaru Team USA driver Travis Pastrana and plans to drive conservatively to maintain his position.
“We’ll just try to stay in the lead,” he said.
It is unlikely that Pinker will face much of a challenge from Pastrana for first-place overall. A series of off-road excursions over the past year have hurt Pastrana’s results and his team is urging him to take his time this weekend and drive a clean race on the demanding course.
The motocross veteran stepped into second place Saturday afternoon after his teammate Ken Block suffered a flat tire that cost him more than a minute. Pastrana said Sunday he wants to hold on to his podium position, but isn’t willing to risk a crash to keep it.
“If Ken, or somebody behind us, really picks it up, we’re where we are,” said Pastrana Sunday afternoon. “I’d hate to drive a conservative rally and have something happen.”
Behind Pastrana, Block and defending North American champion Matt Iorio are waging a tight battle for third place and both are gaining ground on the leaders.
The pair started the final day in a dead heat and finished the first 10 mile stage Sunday only a second apart. A stage later, Block had charged past his rival, and the fight for third was still on.
It was not where Block was hoping to be at this stage in the race. “Instead of battling for the lead, we’re battling for third,” he said.
In the Production-GT class, leader Tanner Foust is comfortably leading, and is holding firm in fifth overall. Behind him, Matthew Johnson and rival Eric Langbein are fighting for seconds.
Johnson said Sunday afternoon he had addressed some setup problems that put him well back during the first two days of competition. He managed to claw ahead of Langbein Sunday afternoon.
Visibility proved a challenge for teams early Sunday, with dust and dappled sunlight in the woods obscuring road details.
Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant are contesting the Open class at this event after struggling to keep their Group N in contention during Round 2, 100 Acre Wood, in Missouri. The pair finished third overall there in February.
The opening stages of the 125-mile course took place Friday at the Portland International Raceway, before moving into the woods for the second and third days. Just under half of the race miles are run today, on the final day.
The Oregon Trail Rally is organized by Oregon Rally Group of Tigard, Oregon. Rally America, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds the sanctioning and marketing right to the Rally America Championship.
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ryanrlamothe
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/24 01:09
Courtesy of Rally America
Australian Andrew Pinker is driving carefully toward first North American win on the winding and technical roads of Oregon’s coast mountain range at the Oregon Trail Rally.
With just 20 miles remaining in the race Sunday, Pinker has a healthy lead over Subaru Team USA driver Travis Pastrana and looks set to earn the overall race. He has led this three-day event since the Friday night start and said Sunday afternoon that all that’s necessary for a win is a clean drive to the finish.
It is unlikely that Pinker will face much of a challenge from Pastrana for first-place overall. A series of off-road excursions over the past year have hurt the rally newcomer’s results and his team is urging him to take his time this weekend and drive a clean race on the demanding course.
The motocross veteran stepped into second place Saturday afternoon after his teammate Ken Block suffered a flat tire that cost him more than a minute. Pastrana said Sunday he wants to hold on to his podium position, but isn’t willing to risk a crash to keep it.
“If Ken, or somebody behind us, really picks it up, we’re where we are,” said Pastrana Sunday afternoon. “I’d hate to drive a conservative rally and have something happen.”
A battle that saw two drivers poised to challenge for Pastrana’s position early Sunday ended in catastrophe for Matthew Iorio and landed Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block securely in third place.
The two started the day tied for third place and were trading seconds early Sunday when Iorio, defending North American champion, retired early. A car fire on Stage 15 left him unable to continue. He and co-driver Ole Holter were not injured.
Sunday’s early stages also proved a challenge for Production-GT leader Tanner Foust, who had climbed to fifth overall and appeared poised to take the class win. Brake failure and a flat tire, coupled with recurring transmitssion trouble, has dropped him out of contention. As his service crew worked to repair the damage during Sunday’s last service break, Foust admitted he would be unlikely to regain the lost time.
“I’m not going to push the car if it’s not going 100 per cent,” he said.
Matthew Johnson and rival Eric Langbein are now fighting for the Production-GT win.
Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant are contesting the Open class at this event after struggling to keep their Group N in contention during Round 2, 100 Acre Wood, in Missouri.
The opening stages of the 125-mile course took place Friday at the Portland International Raceway, before moving into the woods for the second and third days.
The Oregon Trail Rally is organized by Oregon Rally Group of Tigard, Oregon. Rally America, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds the sanctioning and marketing right to the Rally America Championship.
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ryanrlamothe
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/24 01:10
Courtesy of Rally America
Australian Andrew Pinker earned his first overall North American win this weekend at the Oregon Trail Rally, a challenging three-day race through the state’s Coast Mountain range.
He said fans can expect he'll take more outright victories in the series, and called it “the first win of a hat-trick.”
Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant set a strong pace during the opening stages and by the mid-point on Day 2, he had developed a comfortable lead on the field. On Sunday, he said he was driving carefully to maintain his lead.
“Yesterday we did lots of hard work and today we cruised,” said Pinker at the finish. “We kept the pressure on a little, but there was no risky stuff.”
Second and third place went to Subaru Team USA drivers Travis Pastrana and Ken Block.
Pastrana, a motocross veteran turned rally driver, earned his first-ever podium finish here in 2005. But he and co-driver Christian Edstrom admitted they weren’t prepared to risk everything for victory this time around. A series of off-road excursions over the past year have hurt their results and they said they were under orders to bring the car home in one piece.
“We’re really just focusing on driving for the championship,” said Edstrom, hinting that the team would turn up the heat later in the season.
“(Pinker) drove awesome, but it would have been nice to have tried,” said Pastrana.
Third place was a struggle for Block, who lost more than a minute to a flat tire Saturday, and he found himself facing the final day in a dead heat for third place against defending North American champion Matt Iorio.
“It was really frustrating,” said Block. “We thought we had some speed and we would have liked to battle Pinker for the win, but one flat tire early in the rally put me back to battling for third.”
A mechanical failure forced Iorio to retire and Block crossed the finish line in third place.
Pinker and Durant switched from the restrictive Group N class into Open class for this race in an effort to squeeze more power out of their Subaru. Pinker said he opted to make the change after struggling to keep up with the competition during the last round in the series.
Sunday’s early stages proved a challenge for Production-GT leader Tanner Foust, who had climbed to fifth overall and appeared poised to take the class win. Brake failure and a flat tire, coupled with recurring transmission trouble, dropped him out of contention late in the race.
That left Matthew Johnson and rival Eric Langbein to battle for the class win. Provisional results showed Johnson at the head of the class, but a series of scoring problems delayed final standings.
It was a comeback for both drivers. Langbein suffered a slow rollover on Saturday, while suspension problems early in the race held Johnson back.
The two-wheel drive victory went to Chip Miller and co-driver Kathryn Hansen in a Group 2 Honda Civic. This is the third year of competition for the duo, who debuted at Oregon Trail in 2004.
The opening stages of the 125-mile course took place Friday at the Portland International Raceway, before moving into the woods for the second and third days.
The Oregon Trail Rally is organized by Oregon Rally Group of Tigard, Oregon. Rally America, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds the sanctioning and marketing right to the Rally America Championship.
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Matt
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/27 11:45
It was a bit of a rough one. On eo the first majot problems was a lack of correct tires. I'd brought 2 sest of softs, 1 new set of mediums, and had a used set of mediums. I was trying to conserve the used set of mediums at Portland Internatioal Speedway, which was pointless. 2 turns on tarmac, and the tires were shot.
Rally NY had damagaged our rear diff, but we didn't find out untill stage 3 friday. The penultimate stage, I tried to save the diff, but it went completly on the last stage. All we'd brought for spare was the 3.9 gearbox and diff, so we lost the added acceleration of the 4.44.
Saturday was another struggle to find a good tire choice. Luck delt Ken Block a flat, and we had a race on our hands. At the end of saturday an oild leak had developed in an unknown line behind the turbo. We were down a half quart of oil every service. The oil was dripping onto the uppipe, and be burning by the end of the stage. Usually by the time we transited to the next stage, the fire was out. The guys pulled the turbo and tigntened the fittings. But we must have missed the real problem.
By saturday we were buying used tires from people in service. The oil leak was worse. we were down 3/4 quart every stage. The only thing that was keeping the fires under control was the intercooler water sprayer, dumping water around the turbo. Ole had lost his voice. We had the audio cranked up, but it was still tough to hear the difference between a five and a three, especially in deep gravel.
Finally on stage 14 I think, the source of the leak, or the oil return line turned into a hole. At the end of the stage we had no oil pressure. Fire or no fire, with no oil, it was only a matter of time before the engine died. I had to call it quits.
I wish it hadn't ended that way. No matter how the battle with Ken turned out, I would have liked to see the end of the rally.
Heather Carolin was very cool. I took her through the press stage and she had a blast. The autograph session could have been buisier, but then again there wasn't more than 50 or sixty spectators at parc expose, and she had atleast 20 or thirty ask for autographs.
I'm definitly a bit bummed today, but Rocky Mountain Rally is soon. I'm looking foward to it.
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USM Ty Ty
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Re:2006 Oregon Trail Rally UPDATES - 2006/04/27 12:44
 Poor Eve...
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