2006 Season Recap
The 2006 season was a great success, culminating in the Rally America West Production Class and 2WD championships (Driver and Co-Driver), the 2006 Production Class Regional Rally Championship (Driver and Co-Driver) and the Production Class Co-Driver Pacific Northwest Rally Championship.
Read on for more details!
2006 Season Recap
2006 season kicked off at the Doo Wop Rally Series in Montesano/Aberdeen, WA on February 25-26th. The team was quick and consistent over the 2 day, 240 mile (99 miles of special stages) event, picking up solid 2nd place finishing positions on both days and 1st place on the combined Doo Wop Rally Series.
In April, the team headed to Portland & Hillsboro, OR for the 3-day, 375 mile (125 miles of special stages) Oregon Trail Rally (a Rally America national event). Friday night consisted of several “Super Special Stages” on Portland International Raceway’s road course, motocross track and access roads, which provide rally fans and spectators great access to the action. Our familiarity with the track and asphalt racing translated in to a win on Friday’s stages. Saturday started off great, with the team building up a 7 minute lead after 4 stages. Unfortunately, on the 5th stage the team stuck a huge rock embedded in the road, instantly breaking the driveshaft and forcing retirement. The axle was replaced during the overnight service, and the team started off Sunday with a series of stage wins. On Stage 4 the car struck a dirt embankment with the passenger side and kicking the car up into the air and on to two wheels. When the car landed back on the ground, the impact knocked the wind out of Kris, bruising his ribs and shoulders, as well as splitting a coolant hose. The team made finished the stage, made emergency repairs and completed the rally, scoring valuable second place points.
Next stop was the 2 day, 305 mile (135 miles of special stages) Olympus rally in Shelton, WA. This was the first running of the Olympus rally, a former stop on the Wortld Rally Championship tour, in 14 years. The day started off poorly, when the throttle cable rattled free on the 1st stage, costing the team a minute. Then the team then suffered a left-side rear trailing arm failure half-way through the day. The trailing arm was replaced, but the right-side failed two stages later with no spare available. A spare was acquired and a repair made overnight, enabling the team to start the next day’s event. The team set some some solid stage times early, but suffered a cracked wheel on the second to last stage–which wasn’t detected until after the team started the monster 25-mile long penultimate stage. The deflated tire disintegrated a couple of miles into the stage, forcing an emergency tire change. The car behaved erratically with the spare tire, which contributing to an “off” in which the car struck several small trees, breaking the front lower control arms, sheering a brake line, and bending the newly replaced rear trailing arm. The team was able to make some makeshift repairs and finish the stage under their own power, but lost over 30 minutes in the process.
Access to the logging roads during the dry summer months is limited due to extreme fire danger, so smaller, single-day Rally Sprints are held. Kris competed at the ORV (Off Road Vehicle) Park sprints, finishing first in class. The team also racked up another win at the Rally Worker Sprints in August.
In October it was off to the Mt. Hood Rally in Hood River, OR. The competition was extremely tight, with several production class cars competing for class and outright two-wheel drive honors. The team had to settle for 2nd in class, 2nd 2WD car and 6th car overall after being edged out by Mark Tabor and Kathryn Hansen in an Acura RSX Type S in the production class and 2WD standings. An outstanding performance by both teams.
September’s Wild West Rally was postponed to December due to extremely high fire danger caused by unseasonably dry weather. In December, however, weather also played a role. Record rainfall, followed by snow, and then more rain, combined with federal regulations meant that the road permits for the final Rally America national event had to be pulled. Scrambling for alternatives, the organizers implemented a contingency plan which featured racing at the Straddleline ORV park and at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA. The team ended up taking top honors in class as well as overall 2wd at the ORV park. The team was capitalizing on extensive road course experience at Pacific Raceways and was leading their class when the motor failed on the second stage, forcing retirement.
The 2006 season was a great success, which included several autocross and rallycross wins in addition to the Rally America West championship! Job well done! Results of the 2007 Regional Cup championships will be decided in January–wish us luck!
