Rally America: Oregon Trail Rally (4-6 May)

Steve · May 2, 2012

OREGON TRAIL RALLY NETS SECOND LARGEST ENTRY LIST IN EVENT HISTORY (Rally-America.com)

Top National and West Coast Teams Enter Round 3 of the Rally America National Championship

WILLISTON, VT (April 30, 2011) -- The Oregon Trail Rally, the third round of the 2012 Rally America National Championship, will start 63 teams on May 4-6th in Portland, OR.

Itâ€™s the second highest Oregon Trail entry list in the eventâ€™s history matching the 63 entries set in 2010. Oregon Trailâ€™s largest field was 76 teams in 2007.

Rally America has already seen record entries at the first two rounds of the National Championship and the trend continues heading into Oregon. The Oregon Trail Rally will start at Portland International Raceway on Friday and then continue onto the farm roads near Mt. Hood the rest of the weekend.

A number of top west coast teams have entered to challenge Rally Americaâ€™s top national teams to help the Oregon Trail Rally reach its high number of entries.

Subaru Rally Team USAâ€™s David Higgins and Rockstar Energy Drinkâ€™s Antoine Lâ€™Estage are battling for National Championship supremacy, but U.S. mountain bike champ and occasional rally driver, Carl Decker from Bend, OR, is fast enough to potentially reach the podium. Decker last raced in 2010 at Oregon Trail netting a sixth-overall spot and managed to garner enough points to later compete at X Games 16 in Super Rally.

Oregon Trail will feature a large Super Production Class this year with nine teams. There is a first place tie in the SP Class between Travis Hanson and Lauchlin Oâ€™Sullivan, but only Oâ€™Sullivan will compete at Oregon. Hanson will rejoin the National Championship hunt at the STPR Rally in Wellsboro, PA on June 1-2.

Oâ€™Sullivanâ€™s task wonâ€™t be easy as he faces his usual national SP competitors, and faces more west coast SP teams, such as Hood Riverâ€™s Dave Henderson and Auroraâ€™s Mike Goodwin.

The Two-Wheel Drive Class will be packed with 26 teams consisting of national and regional drivers competing on the same turf. Chris Duplessis in his 2011 Ford Fiesta R2 has dominated this year, but he faces an Australian two-driver team, Will Orders and Ross Allan. Orders and Allen are bringing their 400hp Nissan Silvias and could seriously challenge Duplessis.

There will be plenty of action and competition on the fast, gravel-pitted roads of the Oregon Trail Rally.

You can see the action begin at Portland International Raceway on May 4th for $10 per person, $5 for children ages 6-12, and children under 6 are free. The event moves to The Dalles and Dufur on May 5-6 for more amazing free spectator viewing areas.

Official Oregon Trail spectator guides are available for download or free at the eventâ€™s Parcs Expose: www.rally-america.com/VenueFiles/2012_OREGON_otr_spec_final_full_LO_RES.pdf

Live online video streaming coverage of rally action and exclusive driver interviews will be available at Rally America. Online coverage is scheduled to begin Friday at 6:00pm PDT.

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

About Rally America:
Based in Williston, VT, Rally America, Inc. sanctions the Rally America National Championship, the premier performance rally series in the United States. In 2012, Rally America will be conducting six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Seattle, Washington to Newry, Maine. Rally America also sanctions the 2012 U.S. Rallycross Series. Rally America has a rich history of introducing European-style rallycross at New Jersey Motorsports Park and at ESPN X Games SuperRally in 2010. More information about the Rally America National Championship and the U.S. Rallycross Series and can be found at Rally America.

Photo1: Matt Galantuomini
Photo2: Matthew Young

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ananda Siverts
Company: Rally America, Inc.
Email: [email protected]
Office: (206) 302-8289
Website: Rally America
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ronnie948 · May 2, 2012

Thanks Steve

ostcount Except

ScottinBend · May 2, 2012

This is a great rally.......just wish it was more available for spectators. Tried it last couple of times and was only able to watch a single stage each day. The stages are far enough away and they closed them before I could get to the spectator areas.......

Steve · May 4, 2012

The video (Recce 101) is pretty interesting, esp. for those interested in knowing more about how rally teams recce stages and create and use pace notes. I also learned yet another reason to never buy a used rental car...as if I needed another reason... :biggrin5:

Subaru driver David Higgins sets out on the Oregon Trail (RallySportLive.com)

By RSL Staff â€“ May 4, 2012

Subaru Rally Team USA driver and defending Rally America Champion David Higgins is full of confidence heading into this weekendâ€™s Oregon Trail Rally, the third round of the 2012 Rally America National Championship. Higgins won the Oregon Trail Rally convincingly in 2011, and enters this yearâ€™s event with a firm lead in the 2012 Rally America Championship standings. Higgins will look to repeat his success in Oregon at the wheel of his BFGoodrich Tires-shod 2012 Subaru WRX STI.

The 2012 Oregon Trail Rally will begin tomorrow, Friday, May 4 with a set of mixed surface stages held at the Portland International Raceway in front of thousands of fans before moving to the scenic farmlands in and around The Dalles and Dufur area on Saturday, May 5 and Sunday May 6, where nearly 100 miles of gravel special stages await the competitors. Higgins and his co-driver Craig Drew will battle over sixty teams in Oregon, the second largest entry ever for the event.

â€œThere is such a big mix of roads here with the race track on Friday, then very twisty and rough roads on the Saturday and the Sunday itâ€™s like a race track on gravel with some very, very fast roads,â€ explained Higgins. â€œFrom a driverâ€™s perspective this means there are a lot of changes in rhythm to contend with and thatâ€™s before worrying about what the weather might be like.â€

Last year at Oregon the team debuted their latest evolution Subaru WRX STI rally car and with the new car Higgins led from the start and took victory by over three minutes. For 2012 Higgins is in that same STI but the car has been developed and refined further, making Higgins confident a win here is possible again. However, Higgins is keenly aware that a strong points finish, not necessarily a win, would be enough to maintain his position atop the standings.

â€œLast year was great for us in the new car but the team has kept improving the package little by little and so Iâ€™m very happy with the pace we have now with it,â€ explains Higgins. â€œIt would but great to win the event and stretch our lead in the championship but it is always important to finish. I plan to drive my normal pace to start and then see if we need to give it that little extra once we get to midpoint. The weather can play a big part but I am happy with my Subaru in all conditions so that should not be a big worry.â€

Live online video streaming coverage of rally action and exclusive driver interviews will be available at Rally America. Online coverage is scheduled to begin Friday at 6:00pm PDT.
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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no5Srgoncy4]2012 Oregon Trail Rally Recce 101 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · May 4, 2012

There's a schedule for live streaming here, with a link to access the stream. Don't know whether it's any good, haven't seen any of it yet.

Steve · May 7, 2012

A little video from the rally. Hopefully there will be more (and better) avail soon.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Cz4zYrAHo]2 minutes in the Oregon woods with the Fiesta R2 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · May 7, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrD73lziixc]2012 Oregon Trail Rally: Day 2 Near Mt. Hood - YouTube[/ame]

Nathan · May 7, 2012

Sure are a lot of Skooby's out there!

Steve · May 7, 2012

Nathan said: ↑

Sure are a lot of Skooby's out there!
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Speaking of...

Subaru rally team USA driver David Higgins dominates Oregon Trail Rally for second year in a row (RallySportLive.com)

By RSL Staff â€“ May 7, 2012

The storyline and the results of the 2012 Oregon Trail Rally mimicked the 2011 edition of the event with Subaru Rally Team USAâ€™s David Higgins again leading from the start and pulling away for victory. The win, his fourth Oregon Trail Rally career victory, vaults Higgins even farther out of reach of his rivals in the points standings as he seeks to defend his 2011 Rally America Championship title. Higgins and his co-driver Craig Drew kept their mettle while at the wheel of their BFGoodrich Tires-shod 2012 Subaru WRX STI after their closest challenger dropped out of the event and Higgins ran nearly unchallenged for a large portion of the event.

The Oregon Trail Rally began Friday evening with short mixed-surface spectator friendly stages at Portland International Raceway where Higgins jumped to a nine second lead by winning all four stages. For Saturday and Sunday, teams moved on to the technical and fast gravel roads east of Portland in the shadow of Mt. Hood along the Columbia River Gorge.

Higginsâ€™ dominating win at Oregon had its only hiccup early on the second day as he slid off a slippery, rain soaked, corner at high speed. The #75 Subaru WRX STI literally bounced back on the road but the encounter with the scenery inflicted moderate damage to the suspension along with mild body damage. Higgins was able to drive back to the subsequent scheduled service and a quick repair from his service crew put his STI back on the charge. Higgins soon learned that his arch rival Antoine Lâ€™Estage was out of the event with a mechanical problem which meant Higgins could set a more prudent pace for the remainder of the event, driving just fast enough to maintain and even extend his lead without taking any undue risks. He went on to win by a margin of nearly four and a half minutes plus won 12 of the eventâ€™s 16 special stages.

â€œThis is a big win for us and gives us a really firm grip on the championship,â€ explained Higgins. â€œWe took maximum points and Antoine [Lâ€™Estage], our closest rival, did not finish, so it couldnâ€™t have gone any better really. Our Subaru was just perfect, itâ€™s so well suited for these conditions and really proved this weekend to be equally as tough too.â€

Added James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., â€œWeâ€™re coming away from Oregon with a commanding points lead, but our team will continue pushing our technical development agenda forward through the balance of rallies in the 2012 season. â€œ

Subaru Rally Team USA welcomes PUMA as a new sponsor. The sportlifestyle brand becomes the official supplier of team and racewear and an exclusive licensing partner to the team for footwear and apparel. PUMA also is the official team sponsor of the Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team of Dave Mirra, Sverre Isachsen, and Bucky Lasek.

Subaru Rally Team USA next travels to Wellsboro, Pa., for round four of the Rally America National Championship, the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally on June 2, 2012.
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Steve · May 17, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig3Ze228PlM]2012 Oregon Trail Rally: Day 1 at Portland International Raceway - YouTube[/ame]

Day 2 video is a few posts above.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftqZKnKxwp8]2012 Oregon Trail Rally: Day 3 - YouTube[/ame]

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