PRESS RELEASE: Fantastic Finish for Double-Take Rallysport at Oregon Trail Rally!

[gameboy]

PRESS RELEASE:
For Immediate Distribution – July 15 2003

Fantastic Finish for Double-Take Rallysport at Oregon Trail Rally!

Hillsboro, OR - Double-Take Rallysport made the short haul to Oregon this weekend as one of 80 teams competing in the Oregon Trail ClubRally- run concurrently with the fifth round of the SCCA ProRally championship. Celebrating their favorite event, the twins were eager to tackle the smooth, technical roads of the Oregon coast. After two days of intense action, the team walked away with a second place finish in Production class. However, their victory was overshadowed by the tragic loss of the Subaru Rally Team’s superstars Mark Lovell and Roger Freeman in an unfortunate accident on day one.

Day One – dawned sunny and warm. The bright sunshine and clear skies would be uncharacteristic of the awful turn of events that were merely moments from the beginning of the rally. After the ceremonial start at Hillsboro stadium, the DTRally team set out for the woods for the first stage of the rally. However, before reaching the first stage, the team was diverted to a staging area half a mile from the start of the stage - something was apparently wrong. Word circulated that the first car on the stage, driven by 2001 Subaru ProRally champion Mark Lovell and his co-driver Roger Freeman were involved in an accident serious enough to require a Medevac helicopter to be called in. The remaining field of competitors were redirected to the service area to regroup and to await further instructions. Late that afternoon, the organizers resumed the rally. It would not be until much later that night that many of the competitors would officially learn the fate of the Subaru drivers.
The four stages of the day were run on completely new roads which had never been used in competition before. The smooth, hard-packed gravel trails allowed the DTRally team to maintain exceptionally high speeds. Due to the heat wave that had descended on the Pacific Northwest during the weekend, the team fought to stay hydrated in the sweltering, dusty conditions. And at the end of the first stage, the brothers found that they had set the fastest time of all the Production-class competitors. Day turned to night, and the MINI team strapped on their light pod for white-knuckle racing through the darkened woods. At the end of the first day, the team had an uneventful run, (a blessing in rally!) and finished a spectacular second place overall in Production class- their best accomplishment to date in an SCCA-sponsored event.

Day Two – Partly cloudy skies and cooler weather greeted the DTRally team as they made the 50 mile trek to the dairy region of Tillamook, home of the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory. A stark contrast to the previous day, the area had experienced light showers the previous night, which promised cooler temperatures and a reprieve from the dry, dusty conditions of the first day. The six stages of the day were run on roads that the brothers had raced on previously, and their experience showed through. As with the first day, the team was very quick in the early stages. The DTRally team fought to maintain their momentum in many of the long, uphill sections of the day. In the end, twins again secured a second place position in Production class.

Overall, the team had a terrific weekend. Their finishing results were their best yet in a US rally. Driver Eugene Wong stated, “Now that we’re confident that the MINI’s bugs are all sorted out, we hope to continue to improve our technique and move up the finish ladder in future events.”

DTRally would like to thank Cascade Autosport for their ever-efficient service and MiniMania (www.MiniMania.com) for their support and sponsorship.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Mark Lovell and Roger Freeman - they will be sincerely missed around the world.




pics and videos at:
http://www.dtrally.com/mini/OT03/

[LuckyRVA]

Way to go guys! Nice videos too!



-Jason

[DerekR]

Well done guys!

What other cars were you up against in Production? A friend of mine is contemplating a Cooper for rallying and your results are helping make his mind up!

[HarryHBMCC]

The entrant list (with classes) is located at http://www.oregontrailrally.com/ I couldn't get there a moment ago but hopefully the site will be back up when you try it.

Harry

[DerekR]

Thanks, Harry. Had a look at the Production cars and it's an interesting class. Most of the cars (and a pickup?!) seem to be over 1600cc. There's even a WRX Subaru listed as a Production entry. Do these vehicle classifications allow 4WD cars to run with 2WD? Makes the DT result even more impressive.

[gameboy]

thanks for posting the entry list harry.

derek, the WRX you see was incorrectly listed as production entry (i wish we were able to beat the rexes ) and in actuality was a ProductionGT (AWD class) entrant. the team never ran as it was banned from competing due to improper conduct in the previous prorally. all of our competition is limited to 2wd and has under 2500cc (adjusted) displacement. this "adjustment" takes into account base displacement, avalibility of vvt, valves per cylinder, etc.)

of all the car entered, our primary competition is the team in the nissan sentra SE-R. they have had 18+ rallies on the car and know how it handles intimately. with a stock LSD and more horsepower than the MINI, the SE-R is good competition.

the other potential challenger in our class is the new Acura RSX. i say "potential" because the driver is very conservative and is more concerned with surviving rallies than in placing highly. he was not a factor at Oregon Trail and withdrew after the deaths of the subaru crew.

the new honda civic si is also eligable for our class. no one yet has built and entered one in a rally here in the states but it would provide formidable competition.

ever since we've sorted out the bugs in the cooper and have finally gotten had some seat time, we've found that the other production cars (mainly 2wd DSM eclipses, and the like) do not provide much of a challenge. the SE-R is fast but with a bit more experience in the cooper, i'm sure we should have no problems challenging their stage times.

cheers,
eugene