Olympus Rally Makes a Big Splash In Shelton
By Mark Weber
The Olympus Rally lived up to its reputation this past weekend with rain, cold temperatures and hot competition. Ramana Lagemann earned his first win of the season after a fierce battle with Australian driver Andrew Pinker that saw the pair exchange the lead into the final seconds of the race. Australian driver Andrew Pinker was looking to make it two in a row after he vaulted his Syms Subaru into the lead at the end of the first day.
"It's unbelievable," said Lagemann, as he and co-driver Mark Williams pulled up to the finish after tearing through the slick 26-mile final stage. "That last stage was absolutely diabolical." The win is something of a redemption for Lagemann, who has battled mechanical trouble in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution this season and failed to finish either of the two previous races he started.
For their part, Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant were content to have brought their Syms Subaru home in second-place after an intense contest that pushed them to perform at their best. "It's good; it's pretty much going to plan," Pinker said Saturday afternoon. He earned his first overall win of the year at the previous round of the Rally America championship a month ago.
After 10 stages in the contest, Pinker and co-driver Robbie Durant had climbed nearly 30 seconds ahead of Lagemann and Williams. Lagemann, who has had a series of poor showings due to mechanical failure with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution this season, was hoping to score enough points in the early rounds this season to make his return to the X Games. He appeared cautiously optimistic Saturday afternoon that he could turn in a strong result.
"For the last couple of rallies we've been going well, but bad luck has struck us," said Lagemann. "I wouldn't say it's redemption… yet."
Meanwhile, Tanner Foust and co-driver Christine Beavis were close on Lagemann's heels after a flat tire on their Subaru late Saturday cost them precious seconds. "The tire just disintegrated and shot smoking rubber out in front of the car -- which was pretty cool," said Foust. "We were lucky just to end up with a bent fender."
Champion drifter Tanner Foust was in the lead early Saturday. Foust, who has moved up into the faster Open class after a successful campaign in the PGT class, is a threat for the title this season. Foust has been making a successful transition into his new Open class Subaru, also works as a stunt driver for television and films, is also a leading contender in the premier U.S. drift series.
Second overall after four stages Saturday were defending champion Travis Pastrana and his co-driver Christian Edstrom. The Subaru Rally Team USA crew, who are currently third in the overall series standings, said early Saturday they were hoping to recover a position or two at this race. The duo, who suffered a blown engine at the last round a month ago in Oregon, have recently returned from the Rally Argentina round of the Production World Rally Championship. Pastrana said Saturday he expected the experience on the world stage would serve them well.
"We're glad to be back in the States," said Pastrana. "I think we've learned a lot."
Seven-time U.S. champion Paul Choiniere and his veteran co-driver, Jeff Becker, were in third place after four stages -- less than half a second behind the Subaru crew.
But with more than two-thirds of the 125-mile course remaining, the race was still very much up for grabs. With such fierce competition in the series this season, a single misstep could change everything. In particular, drivers were concerned about the possibility of flat tires on the rocky and abrasive course.
However, in the end, just 4.6 seconds separated the first and second place finishers, Lagemann and Pinker -- after nearly two and a-half hours of intense competition spanning two days and more than 125 miles through the rough, gravel roads around Olympia and Shelton.
Third place overall went to Pinker's Syms teammate Tanner Foust and co-driver Christine Beavis. The crew was in the hunt for the lead from the start, but weren't able to overhaul the frontrunners.
"U.S. rally racing is really strong right now, it's really cool," Foust said.
Ken Block and co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino found themselves in fourth, more than a minute off the lead at the end of Day 1, while Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom were out of the game after they apparently ran out of fuel midway through the seventh stage. "I'm not sure what happened -- whether we punctured a fuel tank or what," Pastrana said late Saturday.
Also struggling was seven-time U.S. champion Paul Choiniere, who suffered damage after running on a flat tire and finished the day with apparent mechanical trouble. Likewise, Andrew Comrie-Picard was well off the pace, saying he was down on power much of the day due to problems with his turbocharger.
Sunday morning, with more than half of the 125-mile course remaining, the race was still very much up for grabs. It was expected that a pair of 26-mile stages on Sunday would ultimately determine the winner. Not only did they make up a significant portion of the race mileage, but the long distance was certain to take a toll on competitors -- and their cars.
"Those long stages have a lot going on," noted Foust. "Nobody in the top five is going slow and anything can happen."
In addition to the 2007 Rally America National Championship title, drivers are competing for entry into X Games 13. For the second consecutive year, rally racing will be featured in the Summer X Games, with the first five races of the 2007 Rally America season serving as qualifying events for the popular action-sport competition.
Entering the Olympus Rally, the top four drivers in the 2007 Rally America standings were separated by just 10 points. After three of the series' nine events, Subaru Rally Team USA's Block and co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino lead the standings, followed by Foust and co-driver Christine Beavis. Defending champions Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom are third.
There have already been some surprises at this round, with a pair of high profile no-shows among X Games contenders: neither Pat Richard nor Lauchlin O'Sullivan started the Olympus Rally.
Although a new addition to the Rally America schedule for 2007, the Olympus Rally was a World Rally Championship race from 1986-1988. Rally racing legends such as Rod Millen, Juha Kankkunen and American John Buffum have claimed victories at the famed event.
3
