DESERT STORM RALLY March 23-24, 2007
Blythe, California
BRIAN SCOTT WINS DESERT STORM RALLY Brian Scott / John Dillon had a convincing victory on the second day of the Desert Storm Rally – based in Blythe California. Scott, driving his Subaru sponsored by Scott Roofing and Perforce Software, came home one and a half minutes ahead of Bill Holmes / Kevin Carter in their Ford F150.
The result had not always been certain as Holmes started the event by taking fastest times on the first three stages. But as Scott settled in on the second day he took command and had a run of fastest times on seven stages. On the final stage his engine was reported to be running rough and Holmes took advantage to gain some time back.
Behind the race for the top two places there was a tough fight for third. Tim Moser / Dick Moser in their VW Golf GTi, George Doganis / Tom Smith in their Nissan Sentra and Chrissie Beavis / Terry Stonecipher in their VW Jetta swapped fast times throughout the day. Finally Moser came in ahead of Doganis by just one second with Beavis in fifth place less than a minute behind.
Class wins went to Scott/Dillon in Open Class, Holmes/Carter in Group 5, and Moser/Moser in Group 2. Sarkis Mazmanian / Dika Mazmanian took Production Class in their Acura Integra.
The event had a mixture of very smooth fast stages with great sweeping jumps – mainly to the north and narrow rough stages crossing water washes to the south. Both types of stage were punishing on the car's suspensions. Shea Burns retired when his Subaru Legacy went off the road and broke his steering, while Kris Marciniak retired when he smashed his suspension on Palomas 3.
Click the Results Link at the top left of the page.
RALLYING Rallying is an intense form of motor sport in which competing teams (a driver and co-driver) ‘race' each other on special “stages” (regular roads of five to twenty miles in length that have been closed to the public). The teams start each stage at one-minute intervals and are timed over the stage to an accuracy of 1/100 of a second. The winner is the team with the fastest accumulated time from all stages.
The teams compete in production-based cars such as Ford Focus, Dodge Neon, Volkswagen GTi and Subaru Impreza. The cars can be highly tuned and must be improved for safety by fitting roll cages, and beefed-up suspension and brakes. They are fitted with computerized odometers that the co-driver uses to judge exact distances down to 1/100th of a mile. The co-driver uses a ‘routebook' to navigate the driver and warn him of upcoming dangers.
The cars can be serviced between stages and it is not uncommon for a gearbox to be changed or badly damaged body part to be repaired.
RALLY AMERICA Rally America, based in Golden Valley, Minnesota promotes performance rally, including the national championship, in the United States.
