Pinker puts Jack Daniels Back on the
Top Shelf
By Neil
McDaidWellsboro, PA. June 2, 2007. Australian Andrew Pinker, along with his English co-driver Robbie Durant, powered their Jack Daniels sponsored Subaru
STI to victory in round five of the 2007
Rally America Championship. This victory pushes Pinker to the top of the championship points standings and also qualifies him for a place in the second running of the rally at the ESPN X-Games in L.A. this August.
The Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally or, as it’s known to most,
STPR is now in its 31st year. It is definitely one of the fastest gravel rallies run in the USA. With its many long straights, speeds can get up in access of 100mph. Throw in multiple tricky hairpin turns along the tree lined stages and the occasional thunder shower, it generally makes for a challenging, and at times, a treacherous rally. The surface varies between hard packed clay surfaces that can become very slick when wet to sections of small to medium stones that roll like marbles under the tires.
Although the rally did not officially start until Saturday, standing on the practice stage on Friday evening one would be hard pressed to tell it from an actual competitive stage. The pace was ballistic.
There is a slight crest at the end of the practice stage where there have been some hairy moments in the past.
Ken Block, with co-driver Alex
Gelsomino, had a narrow escape there in 2005, when they landed in the middle of a swamp after taking the jump at full tilt. They were lucky to land on their wheels not their roof.
Close call for Block and Gelsomino on the shake down stage, as they have a Monster of a wreck. [Photo/ Neil McDaid].
This year the crew of Car #43 would not make it as far as the jump. A little over a mile into the practice stage they would slid wide and connect hard with a large tree, resulting in heavy damage to their open class Factory team Subaru. Alex would suffer a mild concussion; Ken was shaken but unharmed. Making every effort to preserve his slight lead in the Rally America Championship, Subaru USA Rally team opted to send to Vermont for the back up car . Because of Alex’s concussion, Block would also have to locate another co-driver to get back into the rally.
Step up veteran US Rally Champion Driver, and sometimes co-driver, and also multiple winner of STPR, John Buffum. With a great effort by the Subaru service crew that ran into the wee hours, Block and Buffum were ready to roll from the green in Wellsboro on Saturday morning.
Down from previous years, some 52 teams were scheduled to start the rally. Despite the lower entry the quality of equipment had improved greatly over prior years, STPR would also enjoy one of the largest number of spectators ever.
The action got going on SS1, “Asaph Run.” Andrew Pinker, behind the wheel of his black Subaru STI, would throw down the early marker. Running first on the road, he set the fastest time for the stage with Canadians Antoine L'Estage, in the Hyundai, in second and Andrew Comrie-Picard flying the Mitsubishi colors, at full of rack through the spactator area in third.
Seamus Burke, with Eddie Fries on the notes, would lead the attack for the Irish in their Evo 8, starting seventh on the road. Unfortunately for Burke, about half way through the first stage he would catch Otis Dimiters who had lost time due to a slight off. Battling the dust and stones from Dimiters, Seamus could only manage tenth quickest over the 9.8 mile stage. He would also suffer a severely cracked windscreen from the rocks.
Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher would set fastest time for the Irish on SS1, posting a time good enough for ninth overall. Despite the great effort by the Subaru service team throughout the night, fuel problems would force the retirement of Ken Block and John Buffum on SS2.
Without question the most popular stage for spectators at STPR is the “Subaru Water Splash.” In the past this stage had been run as the first stage, but this year the organizers would change it to SS4. It gets its name from the dramatic flying finish in the middle of a small river which has been notorious over the years for ending the event early for some.
The large number of spectators in attendance at the Subaru Water Splash were not disappointed with the nonstop action. Antoine L'Estage would set the fastest time by some four seconds over Andrew Pinker. Seamus Burke would set the sixth fastest time but would have a few tense moments after crossing the water as he struggled to keep his partially drown Mitsubishi running.
With 4 of the 10 scheduled stages complete, teams would return to Wellsboro for the lunch
break and the longest service of the day.
Donnelly takes the victory in the Sherwood Forest rally, before it would all come to a suddent stop on SS9.[Photo/ NeilMcDaid]
In conjunction with the main Rally America national event, two regional rallies are also run on the same stages. Competitors can opt to enter one or all three events. Stages 1-4 would make up the Sherwood Forest Rally. Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher would take the top honors. Taking second overall would be fellow Irish driver Paddy Brennan with Barry McCann. It would be the highlight for the Irish at STPR as trouble loomed ahead.
Under heavy skies, the competitors would make the long transit to SS5 and the beginning of the evening section of the rally.
SS5 “Twelve to Lebo 1” would be the first stage victory by the defending Rally America Champion, Travis Pastrana, who had struggled to get on the pace all day. Pastrana had just returned from Ireland where he took first place in the motorcycle technical freestyle competition in the Red Bull X-Fighters Tour, which was held in front of 35,000 at Slane Castle.
Ramana Lagemann would take his second stage of the day setting the fastest time on SS6 “Francis Lee 1.” Andrew Pinker would take second and the Donegal duo of Burke and Fries would find their pace to take third. Pastrana would capture fourth, after a close encounter with a
ditch.
"Don't cut".Travis cuts a little to much on ss6,
Paddy Brennan and Shane McCann would approach our location about 8 miles into SS6, with smoke billowing from the car from a suspected blown turbo. To avoid further damage, Paddy pulled his Subaru aside and retired from the event.
SS7 would be canceled due to spectators problems. At the final service of the day, with three stages remaining, Andrew Pinker had a firm hold on the overall lead with a 17 second advantage over Ramana Lagemann. Pastrana would hold third and Seamus Burke was holding down fourth.
Defending STPR Champion Matt Iorio would not come out of the last service. A mishap in fuel filling earlier in the day left Iorio battling gasoline fumes in the cockpit and ultimately forced them to retire with a damaged transmission.
Lagemann, holds down second, to seal his spot in the X-GAMES [Photo/ NeilMcDaid]SS8, “Twelve to Lebo 2” would see Lagemann putting pressure on Pinker setting the fastest time by a mere 2 seconds.
SS9 “ Francis Lee 1” would prove to be a disaster for the remaining Irish drivers in the hunt. Two miles into the 10 mile stage, Seamus Burke would clip something on the road and puncture a front wheel. Rather than loosing the three minutes it would take to change the wheel, Burke would drive the remain 8 miles on the rim. By the end of the stage the flapping tire shred and the disintegrating rim tore the front fender [wing] to pieces. Burke would be 2:38 off the pace of Andrew Pinker, who set the fastest time for the stage.
For Charlie Donnelly and Noel Gallagher their rally would come to a sudden and spectacular end on stage 9. “We slid wide just before we wrecked,” said Donnelly. “I think we must have damaged a rear control arm. The car just became uncontrollable and we went off. I think we rolled three times; we were lucky to walk away.”
Charlie had a bit of a stiff neck but apart from a bit of bruised pride, he and Noel were just glad to be walking around. For the car, that might be a different story as it sustained heavy damage.
There are two major rally championships in the USA; Rally America and the United States Rally Championship. Charlie set out in ‘07 to focus on the United States Rally Championship and, up until this point, things were going according to plan. He is still currently well ahead in the points. This was his first and only planned rally in the Rally America series. Hopefully the car is repairable and Charlie can get back on track for the championship.
The final stage of the rally was also canceled due to continued spectators issues. In the end it would be all Andrew Pinker, collecting his second outright victory of the year, which moved him to the top in the Rally America Championship. Ramana Lagemann was second and Travis Pastrana third overall. Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries would have to settle for fifth overall after the puncture on SS9. They were also the only surviving Irish team left in the event.
Seamus Burke and Eddie Fries approch the water crossing on SS4[Photo/ Neil McDaid ]
After STPR, the nine drivers expected to secure an X-Games invitation are: Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, Colin McRae -- the three medalists from last year's race -- and Tanner Foust, Andrew Pinker, Matt Iorio, Paul Choiniere, Ramana Lagemann and Andrew Comrie-Picard. All but Pinker competed at last summer's X-Games.Round six of the Rally America series moves to the northeast in July for the New England Forest Rally, formally known as The Maine Rally. One more top finishing driver is expected to earn a last-chance invitation which will be decided in Maine. Can Seamus Burke step up and grab a place in the X-Games to represent the Irish? Rally America also plans to extend two more special invitations but there are no indications yet as to who those final drivers might be.
Between now and Maine we are off to the
Donegal International Rally. The organizers are expecting to see the largest turnout in the rally’s history. There’s not a bed or a shed available for miles. All this is due to the entry of
WRC Champion Sebastian
Loeb, who will come to
Donegal to test for Ireland’s first
WRC event. Look for a full report in the coming weeks.
Getting to grips with her new class 7 Honda Civic Type R, Letterkenny's own Miss Toni Kelly will be looking to better her great result in '06.
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