409industries
10-10-2008, 10:18 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10th 2008 DirtyImpreza.com Rally Team (DIRT) Returns From Prescott Rally
Despite challenging weather conditions, both cars return undamaged with solid finishes K.Jackson / J.Burke (7th Overall) E.Gilbert / M.DeLodder (16th Overall).
Aliso Viejo, CA – The DirtyImpreza.com Rally Team (DIRT) has returned from the 21st running of the Prescott Rally held in the mountains outside Prescott, Arizona last weekend. The very fast stages allowed both drivers to open up the power in their modified Subaru Imprezas and test their driving skills at speeds well over 100mph. The weather decided to keep things interesting as periods of drizzle and rain made driving conditions slippery and service intervals difficult for crew members. Narrow roads with two-thousand foot exposures also kept the teams' attention on 4 of the rally's 8 stages.
Keith Jackson and Jon Burke (DIRT / Jackson Rally STi) Car #10 - The roads were described as graded smooth, fast and flowing, but what made them tricky was the loose layer of gravel on top of the hard pack dirt that was like driving on marbles. Dust was also a factor in deciding how hard to push on some of the more congested stages. A slight off on SS6 put the car into a rocky embankment that lodged some stones in the bead of driver’s side rear tire. Despite the slow leak this caused, they continued at full speed to the end of the stage.
During their next transit, they changed the tire just as the rain began to fall. Keith, with the help of codriver Jon Burke, was able to keep up with many of the other more experienced Open class AWD drivers in the rally and finished 6th in the class of 9 and 7th out of 25 total finishers.
Eli Gilbert and Mindy DeLodder (DIRT / Tommy Gun Rally WRX) Car #22 - Back from some major repairs since Gorman Ridge Rally, the beginning of the Prescott event was both competition and shakedown for the WRX’s new transmission. Early stages were taken at a quick pace, but still with significant reservation as the team did not want a breakdown on stage and were still familiarizing themselves with the high speed character of Prescott's roads.
Putting full faith into co-driver Mindy’s pace notes after the 4 night stages of Day 1, Eli pushed hard late in the rally despite the rainy conditions on Saturday’s stages 7 and 8. After catching a car on stage 7 which caused the team to lose about a minute, they were able to break into the top 10 overall stage times on the slippery last stage, ending the rally on a very positive and confidence-building note. This last push earned them the 16th overall spot for the rally.
About DirtyImpreza.com:
Based out of Aliso Viejo, CA., DirtyImpreza.com is one of the fastest growing Subaru Impreza specific off-road and rally websites in North America. The DirtyImpreza.com Rally Team (DIRT) is involved in grassroots racing from rally cross to stage rally competition. For more information about DirtyImpreza.com and DIRT, visit DirtyImpreza.com.
Contact:
Aaron Ekinaka
ekinaka@dirtyimpreza.com
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com
October 10th 2008 DirtyImpreza.com Rally Team (DIRT) Returns From Prescott Rally
Despite challenging weather conditions, both cars return undamaged with solid finishes K.Jackson / J.Burke (7th Overall) E.Gilbert / M.DeLodder (16th Overall).
Aliso Viejo, CA – The DirtyImpreza.com Rally Team (DIRT) has returned from the 21st running of the Prescott Rally held in the mountains outside Prescott, Arizona last weekend. The very fast stages allowed both drivers to open up the power in their modified Subaru Imprezas and test their driving skills at speeds well over 100mph. The weather decided to keep things interesting as periods of drizzle and rain made driving conditions slippery and service intervals difficult for crew members. Narrow roads with two-thousand foot exposures also kept the teams' attention on 4 of the rally's 8 stages.
Keith Jackson and Jon Burke (DIRT / Jackson Rally STi) Car #10 - The roads were described as graded smooth, fast and flowing, but what made them tricky was the loose layer of gravel on top of the hard pack dirt that was like driving on marbles. Dust was also a factor in deciding how hard to push on some of the more congested stages. A slight off on SS6 put the car into a rocky embankment that lodged some stones in the bead of driver’s side rear tire. Despite the slow leak this caused, they continued at full speed to the end of the stage.
During their next transit, they changed the tire just as the rain began to fall. Keith, with the help of codriver Jon Burke, was able to keep up with many of the other more experienced Open class AWD drivers in the rally and finished 6th in the class of 9 and 7th out of 25 total finishers.
Eli Gilbert and Mindy DeLodder (DIRT / Tommy Gun Rally WRX) Car #22 - Back from some major repairs since Gorman Ridge Rally, the beginning of the Prescott event was both competition and shakedown for the WRX’s new transmission. Early stages were taken at a quick pace, but still with significant reservation as the team did not want a breakdown on stage and were still familiarizing themselves with the high speed character of Prescott's roads.
Putting full faith into co-driver Mindy’s pace notes after the 4 night stages of Day 1, Eli pushed hard late in the rally despite the rainy conditions on Saturday’s stages 7 and 8. After catching a car on stage 7 which caused the team to lose about a minute, they were able to break into the top 10 overall stage times on the slippery last stage, ending the rally on a very positive and confidence-building note. This last push earned them the 16th overall spot for the rally.
About DirtyImpreza.com:
Based out of Aliso Viejo, CA., DirtyImpreza.com is one of the fastest growing Subaru Impreza specific off-road and rally websites in North America. The DirtyImpreza.com Rally Team (DIRT) is involved in grassroots racing from rally cross to stage rally competition. For more information about DirtyImpreza.com and DIRT, visit DirtyImpreza.com.
Contact:
Aaron Ekinaka
ekinaka@dirtyimpreza.com
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com