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Christian Edstrom, how's it feel being back?

5K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  naz53 
#1 ·
I would have posted something on Facebook but I figure this is a better place to do so for long replies. Hopefully you still visit here and will reply.

So, it's been a while since you've been in a rally car. I'm curious (as are probably others) how it has gone for 100AW and Oregon Trail. How about some rapid fire questions...

  • How did your return even come about? Did you simply ring up TP and say "I'd love to do a few rallies"
  • Was it difficult to get back into the swing of things?
  • Why now? Get bored of the day job? :)
  • How's the car compare to the previous time you sat with him?
  • Has TP changed? Driving better/worse/smarter?
  • Is this a temporary thing or do you plan on doing more rallies?
 
#4 · (Edited)
So, it's been a while since you've been in a rally car. I'm curious (as are probably others) how it has gone for 100AW and Oregon Trail. How about some rapid fire questions...
Hi John, I think there's going to be limited interest... but I am glad you asked here, rather than Facebook. I guess the short answer is that it's gone pretty well. 100AW was obviously a pretty successful pairing, since we won! We weren't quite so happy with Oregon. I blew a note pretty badly on Saturday night (SS13) and I think that shook Travis's confidence a bit and we lost a bit of speed as a result both on SS13 and on Sunday. It was 100% my fault and I blame myself for that loss, frankly. But still, I think we went fast enough to push David and Craig a bit, so we have to be reasonably satisfied with that.

How did your return even come about? Did you simply ring up TP and say "I'd love to do a few rallies"
When Travis and I stopped racing in 2011, I always told him that if he needed a co-driver for a one-off event because of a conflict, I'd always be happy to hop in. I really enjoy racing with Travis -- he's relaxed and fun on the road sections, doesn't take it all too seriously, but has good speed and focus on the stages. And we have developed a good pairing. We're like an old married couple - we tell the same stories and laugh at the same old stupid jokes. So when Chrissie had a conflict, Travis texted me and asked if I could sit in for a couple events. So Chrissie and I talked, she sent me their old notes (and some of the notes I sent her in 2010) and here we are.

Was it difficult to get back into the swing of things?
That's a good question. I was definitely nervous in the run up, sharpening my lead holders and ordering special new Japanese erasers and getting new pacenote books and all that. And the first time in the car was definitely a moment I won't forget. The first 300 yards were downright terrifying. Luckily, we had two days of testing before 100AW, so by the time the event rolled around, it was actually pretty easy. I should say that there were three things that made it easier on me. One, Travis is really, really easy to co-drive for. He wants the notes read in an even tone, he prefers not to get lost on transits, and he wants to get to the control with enough time to review the coming stage. Oh, and he wants you to check tire pressures and clean the windscreen, ideally. That's it. Other than the speed, it's the easiest co-driving job in America. Two, Travis hasn't changed his notes very much since 2011 -- he's added a couple of modifiers, added one specific new note for how to take a type of crest, and made some further shortenings. But I could read Chrissie's notes straight away. They were like my own notes, in her writing. That made me more confident that it would work. Three, Vermont SportsCar are simply an astounding team. Between John (team mgr), Graham (#1), and Jonathan (engineer), I got plenty of good advice, and Craig Drew was really helpful too.

Why now? Get bored of the day job? :)
No, I love my day job... and I've always loved co-driving, and especially for Travis. I just took a break because, frankly, co-driving had sort of dominated my life for 12 years and I felt like it was time to focus on my young family and my job. But when Travis asked, I obviously was going to say yes.

How's the car compare to the previous time you sat with him?
Boy howdy. I am not sure how much I'm really supposed to say about the car, but I think it's fair to say the 2009/2010 car was a very well-developed car, but you could tell it was built from a road car. The 2016 car is a pure race car. It is by leaps and bounds the fastest car I've ever sat in. And that's not even the impressive part -- the stability and handling both outdo the speed, and the suspension is simply stupid -- it goes over a big jump, lands, squats down and just goes right on driving. There is no upset at all. The compression and rebound damping are just unbelievable. And the engineering of all the visible parts is light years ahead. The car is definitely the biggest difference from 2010. I don't have words to describe it. I'll say that it is an incredible thrill and privilege to get to sit in one of these cars. I wish everyone would have the chance! Seriously, it's unbelievable

Has TP changed? Driving better/worse/smarter?
TP's driving was pretty well-developed in 2011. We obviously had our crashes in 2004/05, drove a really clean season in 2006, and then had two offs in 2007 (I think). After that, Travis has been clean sheet, I think. At least I don't recall any crashes in 2009/10. He's very good at consistently driving 9/10ths and not really taking big risks and he's typically very sympathetic to the car. He's definitely gotten even smoother, and takes more calculated risks than 2011 now. The latter is a function of working to beat David -- on the recce, we used to just focus on getting the notes, now we say things like "Oh, if we hit this crest hard right, we can straightline this and it's max," a lot. And then try it. So far, we've gotten away with it. LOL.

Is this a temporary thing or do you plan on doing more rallies?
I'll be in the car for STPR. But that's probably it for me.
 
#7 ·
Hello, Just wanted to ask based on your above reply that you will be in the car at STPR does that mean You & Travis are running that event. Travis won't be at X-Games that weekend? Just wondering cause I know unfortunately this Rally always falls in conjunction with X-games it seems & we miss seeing some drivers once in awhile because of it. Thank You!
 
#13 ·
John,
thank you for the reply, hopefully we will see you again rallying sometime. You guys were very nice to us at Wellsboro before when we were looking over the bug as I am huge bug fanatic (unfortunately had to sell my last project bug, hopefully another will takes it's place again). Also a main Subaru guy (have had 17 of them now. Good luck to you guys in your racing!
 
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