Smart tire choice and road position allowed L’Estage and Richard to open up a small lead over rivals Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and Alan Ockwell (Toronto) of Subaru Rally Team Canada. Richard and Ockwell landed heavily on a jump on the second stage, damaging the car and losing boost, and then losing brakes. Despite this, the pair was only 27 seconds back from the lead at the first service. They would only run a few more stages before parking their car with driveline problems.

“We led from the first stage, and spun and lost time on the fourth stage, and then got back on track,” said L’Estage. “We didn’t make any other mistakes for the rest of the day and it’s a great way to start the season. I don’t know [why we're so successful]. Things are clicking and it works.”

For Nathalie Richard, the Rallye Perce-Neige is her 100th career start, a fact that makes the win even more gratifying. “We both really wanted to come here and win this one,” said Richard. “These weren’t easy conditions, and it’s a great way to start the season. We’re just doing what we’re doing and it seems to work.”

Podium regular Leo Urlichich (Toronto) and co-driver Carl Williamson (Swansea, GB) got off to a rough start. Timing mistakes on the first few stages led to six minutes in penalties, and the pair were pushing to make up time and positions – perhaps a bit too hard. A spin on a fast straight damaged the back end of the car, but the two were luckily able to continue. Incredibly, between a fast pace and misfortunes of rivals, the pair were able to climb up the order, finishing second overall.

“It is amazing. We tried hard,” said Urlichich. “Everyone made mistakes, the car had a few problems, I definitely made mistakes, Carl unfortunately made a mistake, but we all fought back for a second place on the podium.”

Sylvain and Simon Vincent (Terrebonne, QC), who were aiming for a top five finish, also benefitted from other’s troubles, and the cagy veteran was well aware of what strategy leads to success. “You have to pace yourself at a rally like this,” said Sylvain at the midday service stop. “It’s such a long event, you need to make sure you don’t get too tired, too early. You can lose concentration and make mistakes.” A mistake is exactly what destroyed the podium hopes for Bruno Carre and Yvan Joyal, both of Laval, QC. The pair rolled late in the rally, and though they managed to finish, they dropped from second overall to eighth. That allowed Sylvain Vincent to move up to third overall, earning valuable points towards his goal to rank in the top ten lifetime driver rankings.

“I was aiming for a top five, as that would be perfect,” said Sylvain. “It means good points, which is really important! It is really hard with the competition we have, to get into the top five at a gravel event, but on ice and snow, it is a bit easier.”

In Two Wheel Drive, a battle appeared to be brewing early on between the team of Peter Kocandrle and Angela Cosner, and Thierry Menegoz and Guillaume Bechard. After two stages, the teams were just 0.1 seconds apart. However, Menegoz struggled to find grip and dropped down the order before retiring. Kocandrle took advantage of his growing lead and lessened pressure to open a lead of more than 20 minutes over his closest competitor.

“Everything was great until the last four stages. I had my first flat on stage, and a bit of an off, but someone helped us out. Then we got stuck behind a car and followed for a while and then backed off, and then they spun and backed right into us, breaking one of our lights,” said Kocandrle.”We came here to set some points in place for the year and try to build things for this year and maybe run the North American championship. The guys at Open Road Motorsports have been awesome, and they’ve really looked after us.”

The Rallye Perce-Neige is the first round of the six event Canadian Rally Championship, and is made up of 16 stages, totalling 248km of competitive distance. Canada’s only true winter rally, roads are covered in ice and snow, but teams are forbidden from using studded tires, requiring a smooth hand at the wheel for a driver to be successful.

“The roads are fantastic. Tortue is already the biggest challenge in Canadian rally, just to make it to the end is an accomplishment,” said Sylvain Erickson, Clerk of the Course. “This year, teams had to do it twice. The speed of the guys was really great, everything worked out to be very impressive.”

The Canadian Rally Championship is comprised of six events held nationwide in a season that extends from February to November. The series is presented by Subaru Canada, supported by Yokohama Tire Canada and features contingency programs from Subaru Canada and Mitsubishi Canada. The Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) is the official sanctioning body for rallying in Canada.

Rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” The all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over closed-road courses that typically cover more than 150 kilometers of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Fans can get up close to the cars in the service areas and catch all the action from specially designated spectator points located at the best spots on the route.

Full coverage of the championship will air on RDS and TSN. Check local listings.

For more information: www.carsrally.ca or www.rallyeperceneige.com

Rallye Perce Neige Final Results

1. Antoine L’Estage – Nathalie Richard – two hours, 45 minutes, 18.8 seconds
2. Leo Urlichich – Carl Williamson – 2:53:56.0
3. Sylvain Vincent – Simon Vincent – 2:59:11.5
4. Mathieu Dube – Eric Losier – 3:01:01.2
5. Simon Losier – Brian Maxwell – 3:02:43.7
6. Joel Levac – Stephanie Lewis – 3:02:58.8
7. Steeve Hobbs – Jean-Mathieu Tremblay – 3:03:38.9
8. Bruno Carre – Yvan Joyal – 3:04:17.2
9. Warren Haywood – John Hall – 3:15:07.9
10. Maxime Rochefort-Laframboise – Jerome Milette – 3:17:47.0

Photo Credit: Andrew Harvey Photography

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“This is a good win,” said Higgins, “The conditions were the most treacherous I have ever seen.”

Higgins finished the event 1:49.9 ahead of Rockstar Energy Drink’s Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard. The Rockstar team never held the lead but they made considerable time on Higgins on the first leg of day 2 and looked like they would get closer to challenging the Subaru driver.

“We chose to use snow tires at the start of the day,” said L’Estage, “versus Higgins’ ice tires. We just gambled right and were making up good time until after the first service.”

Last year, Sno*Drift winners Travis and Terry Hanson made rally history by becoming the first Super Production (SP) team to win an overall event. This year the son and father duo took third overall for a consecutive Sno*Drift podium and secured the SP Class win in dominant fashion. The finish was all but miraculous as the team didn’t expect to complete the event due to engine problems before the second day began. Due to the sound of their engine, itappeared it could break at anytime. The team fought through the mechanical issues, however, and managed a highly respectable podium spot while continuing to prove the competiveness of the Super Production Class as a viable contender to the more powerful Open Class cars.

The SP battle for second and third place was fairly close, considering that the icy Sno*Drift conditions spread the field to greater-than-usual lengths. Lauchlin O’Sullivan and Scott Putnam, piloting an unfamiliar Mitsubishi EVO, held a 45.8 second advantage over newcomer driver David Sterckx and co-driver Karen Jankowski.

The Sno*Drift Rally is David Sterckx’s first Rally America National Championship event. Sterckx is a former 2001 Belgium Rally Group N DR2 Champ and has been preparing for his first national event since last year.

In the 2-Wheel Drive (2WD) Class, Chris Duplessis and Karl Atkinson once again topped the 2WD field in their 2011 Ford Fiesta R2 winning all the stages in class and consistently placed within the top 10 overall. His performance netted him the Sno*Attack title, a championship for 2WD cars run in conjunction with the Sno*Drift Rally.

Even though they didn’t win, it was the inspired drive of Andrew Comrie-Picard with Jeremy Wimpey in a 2011 Scion xD that caused plenty of buzz among the crowd. Comrie-Picard quickly adapted to the new car, having been down as far as 5th in class early in the event to place 2nd in 2WD, narrowly beating Dillon Van Way and Jake Blattner in their 2011 Ford Fiesta by 21 seconds.

A record breaking 65 teams started the Sno*Drift Rally with a slew of new competitors making a big splash. Notably, Canadian Rally Championship regulars Leonid Urlichich and Carl Williamson entered Sno*Drift for their first U.S. event and instantly challenged Travis and Terry Hanson for third place overall, trading times throughout the event. At one point, Hanson passed Urlichich on stage only to give up the spot deep into Day 2. Urlichich did finish third overall in the standings, but the car failed post rally inspection and was penalized three positions to finish sixth overall.

Urlichich protested the Steward’s decision and the Sno*Drift overall results will remain provisional pending the outcome of the protest.

Erik Zenz and Dave Parps successfully swept the top spot at the Sno*Regional and Drift Regional Rallies in their 1988 Mazda 323.

The Sno*Drift Rally was streamed online for the first time in event history. The video stream brought snowy-stage rally action, driver interviews and analysis by Rally America host, Matthew Johnson. Camera crews used night vision technologies to give fans a never-before-seen glimpse of the late evening stages. 41 countries tuned in to view the broadcast on http://www.rally-america.com.

Next in the 2012 Rally America National Championship is the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood on February 24-25th in Salem, MO.

Full Sno*Drift Rally results: http://www.rally-america.com/events/2012/SNODRIFT/results/

The 2012 Rally America National Championship is proudly supported by VP Racing Fuels – the Official Fuel of Rally America, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, ParkNBlend and RECARO seats.

About Rally America:

Based in Williston, VT, Rally America, Inc. sanctions the premier performance Rally series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2012, Rally America will be conducting six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Seattle, Washington to Newry, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds of well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses consisting of gravel, dirt or snow. More information about the Rally America National Championship Series and the sport of Rally can be found at www.rally-america.com and videos can be viewed at www.youtube.com/rallyamericaseries.

Photo credit: Scott Rains

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L’Estage won the North American title each of the last two seasons. He was American champion in 2010 and Canadian champion in 2010 and 2011. He’s arguably the fastest rally driver in North America. This season he’ll start with a new car and new sponsor. He talked about both after a cardio workout to get ready for the season this weekend. He also talked about his growing rivalry with Subaru Rally Team USA driver David Higgins who beat L’Estage by five points for the title last year. You can hear that conversation at: http://bit.ly/zWtz0P

Chris Duplessis was America’s 2WD champion in 2008 and 2010. This year he’ll start the year with the Ford Fiesta R2 he built from a kit last Fall. That car won the Mt. Washington Hillclimb and the 2WD competition at the New England Forest Rally by more than 3:30 when the dust settled. Duplessis was out testing the car for several days two weeks ago and found it in perfect condition to start the year. He also talked about a new Fiesta R2 on the work bench. You can hear the full conversation here: http://bit.ly/ycVWnX

The weekly Tech House & Speed webcast is one of the world’s only hour-long looks at the vertical world of sports cars including rally, drifting and time attack. The rare blend combines news and information about motorsports technology, personalities, house music and racing speeds. The webcast is hosted by Emmy-award winning journalist and interviewer Bill Wood.

Currently Tech House & Speed streams exclusively on Race Fan Radio every Wednesday night at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific and on Thursdays on the MotoIQ.com website. It’s resident on demand at www.ByBillWood.com or on iTunes. Use THSTalk to like the show on Facebook and follow it on Twitter.

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“We’ve been thinking about smart phone apps for a couple years now, looking for an activity that was engaging for fans and went beyond presenting the same data that a web browser could,” said Anders Green of NASA Rally Sport. “Then we finally realized we could take one of the oldest spectator tricks in the books, modernize it and computerize it, and do the whole thing in the middle of the woods even with no data connection at all. That was worth putting some time into.”

Experienced rally fans will immediately recognize the technique. By marking the time that each rally car as it passes, one can tell whether each vehicle is faster or slower than the previous car, simply by assuming that they all started one minute apart somewhere down the road. The result is that the roadside fan can determine that the first car was 1.5 seconds faster than the second and that the third car was 2.3 seconds slower. The technique can’t discover the overall scores of the drivers, but instead shows split times that reveals the raw performance of the stage that the fan is experiencing at the moment.

“Split times are the most visceral scores in racing, because they are telling you what’s happening in the race before it’s over,” says Green. “Especially in a sport like rally, where you can’t visually compare two cars at the same time. The infrastructure required to have the organization deliver official split times for rally is massive and expensive, it would involve communication towers, light beams, power supplies, and data connections, all set up in remote and hostile environments. It’s mega-dollars to build that kind of a system. Being able to get the same thrill from a split time you generate yourself for with a 99 cent app is a lot more exciting and appealing. Plus this method works at any rally regardless of what scoring technology the event happens to be using.”

NASA Rally Sport, the grassroots rally sanctioning body in the US, focuses on competitor fun and providing support for rally organizers. Stepping into the smart phone arena is a natural extension of its existing technologies in volunteering databases, cloud-based scoring software, and virtual volunteering. Providing tools to the racers, organizers, and fans to increase their enjoyment of rally is a core mission of NASA Rally Sport.

The app, currently available in the Android Market at http://RallyBarcode.com/pr1, uses no special features and is designed to work on any version of the Android operating system. Future expansions, which could take advantage of GPS location and crowd-sourced split times, are currently being planned.

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This year the old Plan B Rally has a new name and a new venue for ralliest to come and really have some fun; plus the challenge to see who will win at this year’s rally weekend of events. A whole new concept to stage format rallying. Also, a prize fund that consist over $1000.00′s! The event will be Feb 18/19th, 2012 at Speedworld in Surprise, AZ. www.arizonaextremerally1.com

We will be included in with the very first time other motorsport activities called “2012 Off-Road Fest.” There will be over 120 entrees for the off-road teams between Pro-Lites, Stock and Pro-Lite Trucks, UTV’s, Trophy Karts, etc. They will be going for the Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road Racing and the Arizona Short Course Association point’s events. Denise is expecting this event will become a very exciting event to enter in years to come. Already teams are lining up to enter to get ready for 2012 season for the Bilstein USA RallyCup and Lucas Oil 2WD Championship from the Bilstein Southwest RallyCup Series and to go for the Rally America SW Region Championship. The Local Motors based out of Chandler, Arizona will have the “Rallyfighter” car there as an O car for the rally event and to showcase their new concept vehicles at the event.

It will be the type of weekend that you can bring friends, family together and really enjoy yourselves. One example for the teams right after registration, recce for ralliest and pre-run for the desert teams; we are going to have a BBQ and bonfire for all of the teams to sit down and enjoy an evening at the track to get ready for some great competition on that Saturday and Sunday.

Speedworld is based in Surprise, Arizona just northwest of Phoenix. This track has been seen on CBS, Versus, Speed and MAV TV this past year. It has multiple tracks between drag racing, motocross, short course dirt arena racing, a Paintball park, etc. This year will be the use of some dirt roads in the back of the track. A large facility with one of the nicest track owners you could ever meet.

What will be unique is that for the first time off-road desert teams that are not part of the short course arena only events that weekend; they will be using the rally course and using our route book if they so choose and instructions/arrows will be the way we set-up a stage rally. As Denise McMahon quoted;” It will be something new for them (the off-road teams) to get to understand what we do in our sport. Also do not worry the rally teams go first for our event before the desert teams and after lunch/service the roads in the back will be checked for any re-grading both days.”

How did this get started? Well, Tim Jones from ASCC and Denise McMahon the organizer of Plan B Rally started discussing this concept back in early 2011. To bring rallying and off-road together since we have certain similarities but still unique in how our motorsport disciplines compete. Tim has wanted to get rallying meshed in with off-road for sometime and Lucas Oil whom is the presenting sponsor for the Bilstein Southwest RallyCup series brought the two series directors together and start the discussions of doing a event together. Denise McMahon has been doing some research for over several years and going to several Glen Helen race track events to watch the Lucas Oil LOORS series races and talking to not only to the top people at Lucas Oil headquarters but to off-road teams about the unique idea of bringing the two types of dirt motorsports together. Lucas Oil will be observing how well this turns out between the two types of motorsports and hopes this will be the future to come between the two organizations.

There will still be a MTC and ATC to get to the start BUT you have a chance in front of potential spectators of over 3000 to be coming to watch your skill through out the whole course made specifically for this event. It is a 4.6 mile challenge to go through the Lucas Oil off-road short course arena BUT you go through other areas of the very large facility course that has dirt stage roads in the very back. You will be twisting; turning. This will not be a high speed event due to small hills, tight turns and going back through another dirt arena on the other side. What is great about this? You get to do this 4 times on the first leg of the day one event.

The other twist to this event is you will be side by side with another rally car at start control BUT one starts at top of the minute but the second one starts 15 seconds later so it is a time trial but with a twist/challenge to it. Also, we will be inverting the start order so that slower cars have the chance to be on the starting line first. The scoring will be done by transponders for accuracy.

Already one team can’t wait to for the event to happen which is Jim Morris and Steve Palemeri who are going for the 2012 overall win in the Lucas Oil 2WD championship but he will have to contend with Bill Holmes which always these two teams have fun competing against each other. Bret Norgaard and John Sundelin are coming out of retirement and getting ready to compete at this event. But there are a couple of other teams coming on strong for 2012 are Chuck Wilson and John Black. So already the gloves are on to see who will win in either championship. Also some off-road teams are looking into doing a back and forth season between rallying and off-road.

If you can not make it out to Speedworld that weekend; the organizers are working on two types of video and camera crews to capture all of the excitement to be on You Tube and for a possible TV package. So come on out to be part of the excitement as a spectator or as a competitor. You will have fun.
The 2012 Bilstein Southwest RallyCup Series presented by Lucas Oil, and Arizona Extreme Rally is proudly supported by Bilstein Shock Absorbers, Lucas Oil, Team O’Neil Rally School, Subenet.com Racetech, Real Estate of Southbay, Fiberwerx, Local Motors, Stage Track, Fast-Aid, K 2 Awards.

About Bilstein Southwest RallyCup Series presented by Lucas Oil:
Based in Anaheim, California, the series contains not only the Rally America SW Regional series, but for the past eight years having the SWRC Cup, three years for the Bilstein USA Cup series, and newly formed as of last year the Lucas Oil 2WD Championship series. In 2012, SWRC series will be conducting over 6 venues and 10 events spanning from Arizona, Northern/ Southern California and Nevada. More information about the series can be found on www.southwestrallyseries.com .

About the Arizona Short Course Association:
ARIZONA SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIP (ASCC) is an affordable, action packed short course racing series. ASCC features Stock and Heavy Metal Trucks, 1450/Prerunners, Desert and Short Course Buggies, UTV’s, SxS’s and Trophy Karts. All races have exciting land rush starts, high speed straits, high flying jumps, moguls, and woops! This series is part of the Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road series of Arizona. For more information can be found at www.arizonashortcourse.com .

About Rally America:
Based in Williston, VT, Rally America, Inc. sanctions the premier performance Rally series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2012, Rally America will be conducting six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Seattle, Washington to Newry, Maine. Also supports all of the regional series that spans across the United States.More information about the Rally America National/ Regional Championship Series and the sport of Rally can be found at www.rally-america.com and videos can viewed at www.youtube.com/rallyamericaseries.

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Organizers Post Record 70-Car Entry List

The 38th running of the Sno*Drift Rally in Northern Michigan will once again kick-off the six events that comprise the 2012 Rally America National Championship on January 27th and 28th, 2012. Based in Montmorency County, the Sno*Drift Rally is the only snow-covered event where high-powered rally cars will speed, jump, and slide down narrow ice-covered stages!

A record-setting 70 teams from across the U.S. and Canada will test their skills on the snow-banked roads which are sure to be an exciting setting to begin the 2012 Rally America National Championship. (See the full Sno*Drift Rally entry list here: http://www.rally-america.com/events/2012/SNODRIFT/entries/)

Topping the list of teams is 2010 Rally America National Champions, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard from Quebec, Canada, piloting what is expected to be a revamped 2010 Mitsubishi Evolution X. L’Estage and Richard finished with a solid 2nd place overall in 2011 and look to keep the pressure on as a favorite to win it all this year. L’Estage’s closest competition is the entry from Vermont SportsCar and Subaru Rally Team USA entry, is expected to field a 2012 Subaru WRX STI for 2011 Rally America National Championship overall winner David Higgins from the Isle of Man – but the official announcement has not yet been made as to who will actually be piloting the Subaru factory-backed machine.

The top story from last year’s Sno*Drift Rally was the history-making achievement of Traverse City, Michigan’s Travis and Terry Hanson piloting their Super Production (SP) 2007 Subaru WRX STI to an overall win. It was the first time an SP Class car won an event outright, which ultimately positioned them for a 2011 Rally America National Championship third-place overall finish. The Hansons will test their luck again in challenging the more powerful Open Class cars, but as everyone knows, the snow can be an equalizing factor giving anyone a chance for victory.

The Two-Wheel Drive category is always fun to watch and has been exploding with top talent over the past few seasons and the 2012 Sno*Drift Rally will continue the trend. Chris Duplessis from Whitefield, NH, who recently competed in WRC Academy at Rally GB, returns with a rally-prepared 2012 Ford Fiesta R2. He faces strong challenges from television host and longtime Rally competitor, Andrew Comrie-Picard, who will be piloting a 2010 Scion xD, as well as 2009 Rally America Rookie of the year, Dillon Van Way from Carencro, LA, as he returns in his always-fast 2011 Ford Fiesta.

The 2012 Rally America National Championship season opener will feature the entrance of a number of international competitors. Notably, Belgium Rally Champion, David Sterckx, will make his Rally America National Championship event debut driving a newly prepared SP Subaru WRX STI with co-driver Karen Jankowski. Chinese Championship driver, Tingwu Song, begins his full Rally America National Championship effort at Sno*Drift with co-driver Martin Brady in a 2009 Mitsubishi EVO X. Song first arrived on the American rally scene at the 2011 New England Forest Rally to test the waters. He placed as high as sixth in the Chinese Championship before shifting his attention to America.

Fans attending the 2012 Sno*Drift Rally will have plenty of opportunities to meet their favorite drivers and watch the rally action on more than 120 miles of competition roads and at the fan-friendly Ralph Thayer Mazda sponsored Super Special stage which takes place in the afternoon on Saturday, January 28th in Lewiston, MI.

The Sno*Drift Rally begins in downtown Lewiston, MI on Friday, January 27, 2012 at the 1:00pm Parc Expose where spectators will have a chance to view the rally cars on display as well as meet and get autographs from the many drivers and co-drivers prior to the start of the event. Fans will be able to pick up complimentary spectator guides that provide driving instructions to nearby viewing areas. It’s the perfect starting place for a day full of rally competition and an adventure in the beautiful Michigan woods.

The action continues in downtown Atlanta, MI at 8:00am, on Saturday, January 28, 2012, with another Parc Expose before heading to the Ralph Thayer Mazda Super Special Stage. The Super Special is a rally stage where spectators can watch all the rally action from start to finish from the comfort of one viewing location. The Super Special will be held at the Lewiston Sand & Gravel Pit located just off of Buttles Road – admission is just $5 per person. Due to limited on-site parking, organizers are providing free bus rides from the Atlanta, MI School and the Lewiston Ace Hardware store beginning at noon. Details of both opportunities are currently available on the event website: www.sno-drift.org.

In addition to the Super Special planned for Saturday, the Sno*Drift Rally organizers are proud to announce the return of the Ralph Thayer Mazda-sponsored Sno*Attack 2-Wheel-Drive Class competition supporting grassroots rally competitors. The Top 5 overall two-wheel-drive finishers of the Ralph Thayer Mazda Sno*Attack competition have a chance to split over $5,000 in prize money. Detroit area auto dealer, Ralph Thayer Mazda, is a long-time supporter of regional rallycross events in the Detroit area and has stepped up their involvement in stage rally in recent years. More information regarding both the Super Special and the Ralph Thayer Sno*Attack two-wheel-drive competition can be found at www.sno-drift.org and www.thayerauto.com.

Rally America will feature an online broadcast of the Sno*Drift Rally on www.rally-america.com beginning at 1:0pm EST on Friday, January 27th. The free live-streaming broadcast will bring you live stage racing, driver interviews, results, and analysis. This marks the first time that Rally America will live stream a National Championship event. The organization believes the increased exposure will help grow the sport and give greater visibility to all National Championship events, drivers, and their sponsors.

The 2012 Rally America National Championship is proudly supported by VP Racing Fuels – the Official Fuel of Rally America, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, ParkNBlend and RECARO seats.

About Rally America:

Based in Williston, VT, Rally America, Inc. sanctions the premier performance Rally series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2012, Rally America will be conducting six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Seattle, Washington to Newry, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds of well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses consisting of gravel, dirt or snow. More information about the Rally America National Championship Series and the sport of Rally can be found at www.rally-america.com and videos can viewed at www.youtube.com/rallyamericaseries.

Photos by Mike Proulx, www.WorldRallySport.com

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Rana, of Calgary, has entered the 2012 Targa Newfoundland in the Fast Tour category with the same Ferrari Enzo that became a world-wide sensation when he and co-driver Roland Linder of South Carolina, slid off the road on a Targa stage in Marystown and ended up in the river leading to Mortier Bay. Captured on video, the incident, the subsequent recovery of the car and thoughtful interviews with Rana and Linder were posted on YouTube and seen around the world. Rana was inundated by media and interviewed for print and broadcast stories about how a rare, $2-plus million Ferrari nearly floated out to sea.

Not only are Rana and his car coming back for Targa Newfoundland 2012, he’s updated the Ferrari with even more radical looks and increased power. The car was transported to a specialty shop in Germany almost immediately after its unscheduled plunge into the salt water, where the crash and water damage were repaired and the modifications completed. “It looks obnoxious,” Rana confides.

Rana’s candor about the incident is refreshing. “I learned a lot,” he says. “Obviously, it was unexpected. As a driver, I’ve had incidents on racetracks and that’s normal. But I wasn’t attuned to the changing nature of the roads in Targa. At first, I couldn’t believe this was something I didn’t control. But I’ve come to understand it and I’ve learned from the experience. It was a little miscalculation that made me famous.”

In fact, the exposure was actually good for his Calgary exotic car business. “It cost me $500,000,” he quips, “but it made me famous.” Early in December he released a DVD on his adventure which is now available through his website at ZRAuto.com.

He also approaches the 2012 event knowing what he wants. “These are fabulous cars,” he says. “The sound, the acceleration, the handling – unbelievable. But you don’t have to drive them absolutely flat-out all the time to thoroughly enjoy them. Just driving these cars on these roads gives me pleasure.”

Not only is Rana returning with the Ferrari Enzo in FXX trim, he’s bringing a posse of exotic car owners to join him. Far from dissuaded by his adventure, the group, including Rana’s wife, are eager to experience what he describes as “the best time you can have in the automobile world.”

“Not coming back never entered my mind,” he says. “I loved the experience. We made new friends, we drove through beautiful country that needs to be seen to be believed, we met the best people in the world – I was inspired!”

And when he gets to that fateful corner in Marystown that made him famous?

“I’ll be ready!” says Rana.

Owned and operated by Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, Targa Newfoundland is one of three internationally recognized Targa motorsports events in the world. The 2012 competition starts in St. John’s on September 8 and concludes back in the capital on September 15. The 11th annual rally will cover more than 2,000 kilometres of the challenging, twisty roads of the central and eastern portion of Newfoundland, including up to 450 kilometres of closed-road, flat-out Targa stages.

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The Waste Management Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally(r) presented by Citizen and Northern Bank has signed a new contract, including the Waste Management Winter Rally, giving the events permission to use Waste Management property for these two performance rally events for the next four years.

We are pleased to have the continued cooperation of Waste Management,” said Meridith Croucher, the chairman of both the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally and this event. “The Waste Management stages have become a key part of the program to continue to bring performance rally to our competitors, workers and fans.”

The inaugural event, held in 2011 as the Wellsboro Winter Rally, was well received by both competitors and the community of Wellsboro. Croucher said the name change was due to contractual agreements with Waste Management.

The Waste Management Winter Rally, sanctioned by Rally America, will once again use a grassroots format. There will be only a route book to guide the competitors through the approximately five-mile stages.

“The route will be slightly different in 2012, as the 11-mile stage used in June for STPR will be turned into two shorter stages,” Croucher said. “Other than this small change, the schedule will be similar to 2011.”

Due to the holidays, arrangements are still pending for headquarters, service and after-event party locations, as well as negotiations with Waste Management to allow the public to spectate the rally.

Please look for further information at http://www.stpr.org/2012winterrally after January 1, 2012.

“The Wellsboro and Rochester teams will buckle down after the holidays to plan a better event in February,” Croucher said. “We hope that it meets everyone’s need for serious ‘FUN!’”

Paul Martino/Jordon Guitar’s white Production class Honda Civic Si blends in with the snow-covered rally course at the 2011 Wellsboro Winter Rally.

Photo credit: Marnie Soom.

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Rally New York USA, April 21 – 22, 2012 (tarmac)
Idaho Rally, June 9 – 10, 2012 (gravel)
Gorman Ridge Rally (California), August 25, 2012 (gravel)
Rally Delaware, August 24 – 25, 2012 (tarmac)
Prescott Rally (Arizona), October 5 – 6, 2012 (gravel)
International Rally New York, October 20 – 21, 2012 (gravel)

The United States Rally Championship consists of a combination of two tarmac rallies and four gravel rallies. Events of the United States Rally Championship allow for two-pass reconnaissance and pace notes. The combination of tarmac events and gravel events, full reconnaissance and pace notes make the United States Rally Championship unique in North America as no other series in North America encompasses all these features. There are no other tarmac National Championship rallies on the calendar in North America.

The United States Rally Championship will continue taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. 131 drivers and co-drivers participated in the 2011 season of the United States Rally Championship.

The Championship structure minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship.

As in the previous season, any team either from the Atlantic Division or from the Pacific Division will receive a free entry when competing in any championship event outside its home division. More information on the United States Rally Championship is available at www.usrallychampionship.com.

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Orlando, Florida, Performance Racing Industry Trade Show (December 2, 2011)
NASA Rally Sport continues its role as the innovation leader and grassroots champion with its introduction of the new RallySolo class for 2012. This program allows drivers to attack the rally stages without the traditionally required navigator. This move, which opens up the events to an entirely new group of racers, is great news for the existing events.

‘Organizing rallies is all about getting people to come out and participate.’ says Anders Green of NASA Rally Sport. ‘The more folks you can get out on the stages, the more excitement and fun there is for everyone, and the more affordable the events can be for all the racers. We want to be inclusive and get as many racers as possible out on the stages. The more the merrier! RallySolo adds to the existing racing, we have no plans to displace the traditional format of a two person team.’

Motorsport is dominated by single-seat cars, with rally being a notable standout by requiring a team of driver and navigator. There is nothing unusual about racing solo on gravel or dirt, however. Desert races like the Baja 1000 have a long history of allowing single seat classes. Hillclimbs around the country also allow the same arrangement. The challenge and excitement of a single driver, pushing themselves in an endurance test against the clock, will appeal to many of the rugged individualists that make up the racing community.

The cost savings of building a rally car without the provisions for a navigator is at least one to two thousand dollars in addition to another thousand dollars or more in safety equipment for the second occupant. The challenge of besting the stages without a navigator will appeal to a new, different group of racers. The existing rally community has a deep passion for the current format of driver and navigator, and while the RallySolo program will seem gimmicky to them, it was not designed for existing competitors.

‘A great driver and navigator team will always be faster than a solo driver, there’s no question. A couple of our regulars may try RallySolo, but I don’t expect any significant count of existing rally drivers will switch to it long term.’ say Green. ‘We’re not trying to take the existing group of rally racers and cut the pie into different shaped slices. This is really about expanding the sport and getting new blood involved. Growing the sport is critical, and that means having open minds and trying out new ideas. If solo drivers can navigate through 1000 miles of open Mexican desert, I’m fully confident they can successfully navigate the closed roads of a rally.’

The program will appeal most to new drivers just getting started in the sport. The reduced complexity in the car build and simpler team requirements mean a lower initial barrier to getting started. In the same way that all racers continually upgrade their race cars, it is believed that RallySolo drivers will race solo for a couple years, and then ‘upgrade’ to racing with a codriver to further increase their speed.

‘Many of us have forgotten how tough it was when we got started in rally.’ continued Green. ‘Now, to get started as a rally driver, you need to convince your best friend that they should shell out $1400 dollars for safety gear and a rally license just to sit next to you. When you’re new and just getting into the sport, that is a serious barrier to entry. In the last decade, participation in rally in the US has been cut in half. For those that love rally, it would be irresponsible not to create ways to increase entries when the sport has faced such continual declines in recent years.’

One of the fundamental aspects of traditional race tracks that make them successful is that they are inherently able to support multiple uses. There might be stock cars one weekend, motorcycles the next, open wheel racing the next, followed by non-timed driving schools. This flexibility of use is what allows these facilities to operate in the black. Until recently, rally events have been extremely limited in the types of vehicles that could run, limited to just one type: two person rally cars. NASA Rally Sport increased the options by introducing RallyMoto to allow motorcycles on rally stages, and continues to expand the opportunities of rallies to attract new racers with the RallySolo program. Producing a rally event is very resource intensive and the temporary ‘track’ that is created should be fully utilized by a large field of racers.

The first rally offering the RallySolo program is the Sandblast Rally based in Cheraw, South Carolina. On February 4th, 2012, Sandblast Rally will debut this next evolution of rally racing. Five years ago at the very same event, NASA Rally Sport introduced the RallyMoto program, which allowed motorcycle riders to compete on rally stages. RallyMoto remains the most successful program in modern US rallying at bringing new racers to the rally stages, and NASA Rally Sport hopes that RallySolo will be equally effective at increasing entry fields.

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