Let’s face it: if you’re a guy, you could look at giant, bouncing Tatras all day long. In fact, it’s really hard not to stare, and to call them “distracting” is a vast understatement. After all, who wants to get work done when you could be watching ten minutes of jiggling Tatra action on You Tube? Read More…
It’s summertime here in the U.S. which means that the Bullrun Rally is getting ready to kick-off another 3,000 miles of driving mayhem. There are new participants, new celebrities and of course, more police watching over America’s highways. Over the years the Bullrun Rally has given us some of the most amazing automobiles and events the rally world has ever seen and this year looks to be no different. I recently had an opportunity to sit down with Andy Duncan, the rallies creator and ask him a few questions about what we can expect from this years run.
Q1. This years 2011 Bullrun Rally takes place from July 8th – 15th and is set to run from Las Vegas, NV to Miami, FL. After running the rally for 7 consecutive years now, how in the hell do you guys manage to keep the route fresh and exciting for your participants?
A. Bloody good question. Well, there are some places that people always like to go to and we repeat visit quite often (like Vegas!) but on the whole we’re planning routes 2 years out and trying to find towns and cities that we haven’t done for a while or just haven’t done. There’s a bunch of amazing towns actually that are really great fun that few people ever here about – we research these quite far in advance and then pull them out when we need them! The other important factor is that Bullrun is really about the people on it and not the cities we go to and THAT’S what really makes this event interesting and hold up to scrutiny year after year.
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Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to inflate the tires and get the bags packed for another edition of the One Lap of America. Some of you may recall that I ran this event last year in my 1968 Dodge Charger, a car that was too big, too loud and that, at the end of the day, drank WAY to much fuel (10 mpg sucks). Don’t get me wrong, we had an absolute blast of a time, but trying to compete against Nissan GT-R’s and Porsche 911 Turbo’s in a 42 year old muscle car probably wasn’t the best idea. This year however we’ve upped the ante the little bit and are now prepared to run with some of the best cars and drivers that this country has to offer.
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Yuck. Photo courtesy of The Hookups.
There are few things in life more frustratingly debilitating for an auto enthusiast than motion sickness. This mercilessly vile condition is caused by a disconnect between motion sensed by your inner ear and a lack of motion perceived by your eyes (often due to reading). This confuses the brain which causes many of us to go green in the gills and then inevitably become the subject of an embarrassing story.
Motion sickness is especially, and understandably, tough on rally co-drivers who are responsible for navigating a car from their pace notes in daytime and at night, through twists and turns, and across jumps, gravel and other gut-churning terrain. And even some of the best drivers on this planet are susceptible to the need, the need to heave.
Sadly, motion sickness can strike at any time, as people who could usually write a dissertation in a speeding Caterham Seven can suddenly and surprisingly become deathly ill while reading a map of the interstate. But don’t let a weak stomach hold you back from your competitive dreams – fear not, I have you covered. Whether you’re just starting out as a co-driver in a stage rally, competing in a TSD, or are the designated navigator on a lengthy road trip, these tips from experienced rally co-drivers will help you keep the bile down.
That's not going to buff right out...
Travis Pastrana has left the world of rally and RallyCross racing behind to drive in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Or has he? The former rally driver made a last minute decision to run last weekend’s Hundred Acre Wood rally. How ironic is it, then, that his race-ending crash on day one came on a left hand corner? It seems to me that left handers should be easy for Pastrana, since that’s all he’s been practicing for the past few months. Joking aside, props to Pastrana for putting in some overtime in the Rally America event. His decision to run it was last minute, and his post race schedule sounds as busy as Ken Block’s. If you ask me, this was about giving something back to the fan base who supported him over the years, and that’s worth a thumbs up. Read More…
Two-time, first ever back-to-back title champion for one of the most popular racing events of the decade, and as one of the most recognized drivers to the sport, Tanner Foust, is temporarily saying goodbye to Formula D. After standing on the podium five times last season during seven events, he has proven undoubtedly that he is a force to be reckoned with. He holds the highest score in both Formula D and D1 and was also voted to be the “Best Representative of Drifting” by his former competitors. He is indisputably one of the best drivers for precision and car control. Since Tanner is saying goodbye to his former crew at Papadakis Racing, it will be interesting to see last years Rookie of the year, Fredric Aasbo, who has since partnered with Papadakis and Team Need For Speed to step up and take the wheel for the upcoming season.
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Image: Monster World Rally Team
The WRC season kicks off this weekend with Rally Sweden, and here’s two minutes of Ken Block trying to keep his Ford Fiesta WRC car pointed in roughly the right direction during shake down testing. Despite studded tires and AWD, Block seems to spend a surprising amount of time sideways, scrubbing off speed. It looks like the new Ford Fiesta may prove even more challenging to drive than last year’s WRC Ford Focus. Block knows what he needs to do to improve in 2011, and a lot of that is dependent upon creating better pace notes with his co-driver, Alex Gelsomino. More below. Read More…
Ken Block may just be the hardest working man in show business. For 2011, he’s piloting the Ford Fiesta WRC car you see above in Sweden, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Australia, France, Spain and Britain. In between, he’s running select Rally of the Americas and RallyCross events, launching a “Gymkhana World Tour” in Los Angeles, Australia and Austria, and competing in the Summer X Games. In his downtime, he’ll film Gymkhana Four and Gymkhana Grid, visit the Goodwood Festival of Speed (again), attend the Weston Festival of Transport and drop in on the Monza Rally Show. Just for fun, he’ll be working on three other, top-secret project and hanging out with scantily-clad blonds. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Video below. Read More…
Car class champion Nasser Al-Attiyah
For the third year in a row, Volkswagen claimed top honors at the 2011 Dakar Rally, which wrapped up this weekend. In fact, the turbo-diesel Race Touareg 3 utterly dominated the car class of the rally, giving VW the podium for the second time since last year’s victory in the Touareg 2.
The winner, Qatari driver, Nasser Al-Attiyah, became the first Arab driver to win the Dakar Rally. Al-Attiyah is currently a driver for the Barwa Rally Team in the Production World Rally Championship, and was the 2006 PWRC champion in a Subaru WRX STi. He finished second overall in the 2010 Dakar Rally to VW teammate and WRC champion, Spaniard Carlos Sainz, by a nail-biting two minutes and twelve seconds. Sainz was off to a strong start early in the 2011 race, but his car suffered mechanical problems which hurt his chances at the title. Sainz finished third overall in the car class. Read More…
Europe gets tonnes of awesome iron that, for whatever reason, is verboten on US soil. It’s annoying, especially when said iron is made by THE US car company. The Ford Escort Mark I is one such unobtainable automobile, a nimble little coupe made in the mid ’70s that absolutely killed it on European rally circuits. Britain’s oldest car mag, Autocar, recently made a video review of little bugger so all of us Americans can see what we missed.
Source: Autocar Read More…
