Headwaters ClubRally 2002
Posted 03-14-2008 at 04:50 PM by Dave532
Headwaters Club Rally
May 10-11, 2002
Park Rapids, MN
Not for the squeamish...
Pre-Race: Between the last rally in February and the upcoming Headwaters rally in May I was introduced to a local import-only repair shop just down the road from my house in Saint Paul. Metric Auto Works is a local favorite if you need high quality work performed on your import vehicle. The owner was also a past rally/track racer and a current co-driver for the "Metric" rally team. We hit it off and he agreed to assist me by sponsoring my rally car for the remainder of the season. This ended up being a big help and this relationship continues to this day.
I also decided if I was going to invest all my time and money in this sport, I had to upgrade a few things.
It has always been my belief that the greatest racing investment should be in the tires because that is your only contact with the road. I then throw money at whatever connects to the tires to the car and so on. I purchased a new (used) set of Pirellis to complement my Kumhos and Michelins (spares). the Raceline magnesium wheels were performing great so I purchased some Avanti racing wheels to keep my spares mounted on.
I replaced the Ground Control coil-overs and AGX shocks with the DMS 50mm adjustable rally damper/spring package. I had no major complaints about my current suspension package but after experiencing how brutal stage rallying truly is, I just felt I would gain more confidence (and performance) from a true rally suspension upgrade.
Friday: The shortest tow all year...about 3 hours to Park Rapids, MN. I meet up with old friends (who compliment me on my new bumper cover...again!). I failed to start this rally last year due to a failed brake line so we were eager to do well at the closest thing we had to a "home" rally.
Saturday: In a word, rain. All day long and alot of it. The drivers were warned how slippery the stages were. The better funded teams were able to mount open tread and mud-type tires. I was stuck with the Pirellis but they had a pretty good reputation in the wet so I wasn't too concerned.
Stage 1: What happened to my car? This DSM will not turn or rotate no matter what I do. I am skipping over wet gravel like I have skis mounted to the car. My corner entry, mid-corner and exit are all painfully slow. Not to mention I am frantically sawing at the wheel just to keep the car on the road.
Stage 2: Between stages I lower the tire pressures in an attempt to get this car to grip. On the stage itself I feel a small improvement but the car is still not turning like it used to. Bob is making the calls fine but he can see that I am really struggling. We finish the stage very disappointed.
Stage 3: Still raining...still muddy. I am starting to become very frustrated now as I am sure we will end up dead last on the roster if we continue with our current pace. Coming around a blind left-hander I see the road swing to the right up ahead. I assume this is a quick left-right chicane and maintain a higher entry speed. I immediately see that I was wrong...this corner is more serious than I thought. I do what I can to get this pig to turn but I am too fast with too little grip and I go off the road and down a steep bank at about 40 mph and hit a tree stump. The crash was serious enough to make ample use of our belts and facture the windshield. We make sure each other are OK and Bob breaks out the Safety Triangles and 'OK' sign. The car is pinched between the bank and the tree stump. Our day is done and we'll need help getting out of here. When all the competitors have finished the stage, "Sweep" comes by to assess our situation. 40 minutes, a Warn winch and three 4WD's later we are back on the road proper.
It doesn't look good. In fact, It looks like an elephant sat on the passenger's side hood. The A-pillar and strut tower are tweaked. Not to mention fenders, hood, control arm, radiator and support, etc. Sweep tows us out of the stage and we meet my father who helps us push my totaled rally car onto the trailer for the last time
.
Saturday Night: We finish with a DNF. What a way to start off a new sponsorship!
That was such a good car for us...I will salvage what I can from it but the shell is done for. Ironically, if we had finished, we would have won our class...all the other PGT competitors were wrecking and having mechanical issues. Our Championship hopes have taken a large hit but we still have decent shot at it.
Bob and I are bruised up a little bit from the safety belts but otherwise unharmed. On the way home I was already planning which one of my 2 or 3 DSM shells I was going to build into the new rally car...I had to complete it soon...at least by August when the Ojibwe Forest Pro Rally was going to take place.
May 10-11, 2002
Park Rapids, MN
Not for the squeamish...
Pre-Race: Between the last rally in February and the upcoming Headwaters rally in May I was introduced to a local import-only repair shop just down the road from my house in Saint Paul. Metric Auto Works is a local favorite if you need high quality work performed on your import vehicle. The owner was also a past rally/track racer and a current co-driver for the "Metric" rally team. We hit it off and he agreed to assist me by sponsoring my rally car for the remainder of the season. This ended up being a big help and this relationship continues to this day.
I also decided if I was going to invest all my time and money in this sport, I had to upgrade a few things.
It has always been my belief that the greatest racing investment should be in the tires because that is your only contact with the road. I then throw money at whatever connects to the tires to the car and so on. I purchased a new (used) set of Pirellis to complement my Kumhos and Michelins (spares). the Raceline magnesium wheels were performing great so I purchased some Avanti racing wheels to keep my spares mounted on.
I replaced the Ground Control coil-overs and AGX shocks with the DMS 50mm adjustable rally damper/spring package. I had no major complaints about my current suspension package but after experiencing how brutal stage rallying truly is, I just felt I would gain more confidence (and performance) from a true rally suspension upgrade.
Friday: The shortest tow all year...about 3 hours to Park Rapids, MN. I meet up with old friends (who compliment me on my new bumper cover...again!). I failed to start this rally last year due to a failed brake line so we were eager to do well at the closest thing we had to a "home" rally.
Saturday: In a word, rain. All day long and alot of it. The drivers were warned how slippery the stages were. The better funded teams were able to mount open tread and mud-type tires. I was stuck with the Pirellis but they had a pretty good reputation in the wet so I wasn't too concerned.
Stage 1: What happened to my car? This DSM will not turn or rotate no matter what I do. I am skipping over wet gravel like I have skis mounted to the car. My corner entry, mid-corner and exit are all painfully slow. Not to mention I am frantically sawing at the wheel just to keep the car on the road.
Stage 2: Between stages I lower the tire pressures in an attempt to get this car to grip. On the stage itself I feel a small improvement but the car is still not turning like it used to. Bob is making the calls fine but he can see that I am really struggling. We finish the stage very disappointed.
Stage 3: Still raining...still muddy. I am starting to become very frustrated now as I am sure we will end up dead last on the roster if we continue with our current pace. Coming around a blind left-hander I see the road swing to the right up ahead. I assume this is a quick left-right chicane and maintain a higher entry speed. I immediately see that I was wrong...this corner is more serious than I thought. I do what I can to get this pig to turn but I am too fast with too little grip and I go off the road and down a steep bank at about 40 mph and hit a tree stump. The crash was serious enough to make ample use of our belts and facture the windshield. We make sure each other are OK and Bob breaks out the Safety Triangles and 'OK' sign. The car is pinched between the bank and the tree stump. Our day is done and we'll need help getting out of here. When all the competitors have finished the stage, "Sweep" comes by to assess our situation. 40 minutes, a Warn winch and three 4WD's later we are back on the road proper.
It doesn't look good. In fact, It looks like an elephant sat on the passenger's side hood. The A-pillar and strut tower are tweaked. Not to mention fenders, hood, control arm, radiator and support, etc. Sweep tows us out of the stage and we meet my father who helps us push my totaled rally car onto the trailer for the last time
.Saturday Night: We finish with a DNF. What a way to start off a new sponsorship!
That was such a good car for us...I will salvage what I can from it but the shell is done for. Ironically, if we had finished, we would have won our class...all the other PGT competitors were wrecking and having mechanical issues. Our Championship hopes have taken a large hit but we still have decent shot at it.Bob and I are bruised up a little bit from the safety belts but otherwise unharmed. On the way home I was already planning which one of my 2 or 3 DSM shells I was going to build into the new rally car...I had to complete it soon...at least by August when the Ojibwe Forest Pro Rally was going to take place.
Total Comments 0
Comments
Recent Blog Entries by Dave532
- Sno Drift Pro Rally 2006 (05-14-2008)
- Lake Superior Pro Rally 2005 (05-13-2008)
- Shooting Star ClubRally 2005 (05-10-2008)
- Lake Superior Pro Rally 2003 (05-04-2008)
- Ojibwe Forests Pro Rally 2003 (04-28-2008)
