April Fools RallyX

Carl Fisher · **Posted:** Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:54 pm

Well we were surely thought the fools for even being out there this weekend! I was thinking that today really demonstrated just how far we're willing to go to have fun...

Fortunately, after being cold for much of yesterday, I came today prepared for conditions and stayed warm and dry all day. What a difference that made! Instead of being miserable (which I think plenty of folks were), the crappy conditions were just sort of amusing. Until I had to spend $8 in quarters trying to get the worst of the mud off the Sentra...

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:11 pm

I am at 9 bucks and counting. Ran out of quarters at teh first one in durham so made it home and hit the second in raleigh.

Def was a good afternoon of sliding around.

Ash Nelson · **Posted:** Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:20 pm

Good grief guys, $5 and the SciRocco is ready to go! :mrgreen:

I really enjoyed both events and I feel like I got a lot out of the school, which I think payed off for me in today's event.

I want to thank Vincent for his expertise in course layout. I think this was the most fun I've had, and it was my fisrt time in "real" mud. I also want to thank Chris, Charlie and Keith for their help with setup.

I can't wait to do it again!

MaliaFredrickson · **Posted:** Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:27 pm

I must admit that this morning I wasn't really looking forward to getting up early and playing in the cold wet all day! Although I think I had more fun today than I have for awhile and that was even trying to take a tree or two out with me! (just trying to wipe some of the mud off with the branches!) Thanks to everyone who worked hard to put today together!

Dustin Fredrickson · **Posted:** Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:45 pm

We tipped the scales somewhere north of $12 at the carwash (which seemed utterly clogged when we left), and were still pulling chunks off the suspension when we swapped the street tires back on at home. We did a quick wash on the truck, though, too, which burned some of that wash time.

Thanks to everrybody who put this on - a great time was had.

ChristopherLin · **Joined:** Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:44 pm **Posts:** 125

this being my first rallycross was interesting having it be very slick from the rain

i had a good time when i wasn't going 5mph this afternoon

i hope next time (if there is one) it will be dry and faster

thanks to walter for the drive even though the clutch was out!

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

Chris and I enjoyed coming out and checking out the Rallyx action today, even though we weren't able to stay long. That was the first time we've seen a Rallyx and thought it was really cool. There was some great driving and the event ran so smooth it seemed to be on cruise control. Kelly, our 3-year old, loved watching everybody racing in the mud.

Eric P.

MarekRozanski · **Posted:** Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:53 pm

Despite the unexpected nasty weather on Saturday, the school was a blast. A big thanks to the organizers :thumbsup:

I took a few pictures, posted here.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:17 pm

I was telling Walter on the way home that Rallycross must be fun if people stay all day in the cold rain, get all muddy, and never complain. Several people came up to me afterwards and said they enjoyed the course and had a great time despite the conditions. I had a good time despite wet feet on Saturday. Luckily I packed rain gear even though it wasn’t supposed to rain on Saturday. Do they ever get a forecast right?

Once again Dustin put on a driving clinic for those in attendance. Eric and Carl showed us 2WD drive folks how it was done, but in the mud 4WD was the ticket for sure. Our two new STI guys put on quite a show in the back sweeper for those who were able to witness it. Their full on 3rd gear drift (while banging the rev limiter) was pretty damn cool to watch IMO even if it was not the fastest way around that corner. Sebastian needs to step up his game if he wants to keep the lead in style points this year.

Thanks again to Ash Nelson for her hard work and not smacking me for jumping in and taking over the course design. I wanted to run a fast OCS course, which I think we came up with despite the conditions. If it had been dry it would have been really, really fast. It was nice not to be choking on dust all day out there though.

As usual I can’t wait for our next event.

Carl Fisher · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:19 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

Thanks again to Ash Nelson for her hard work and not smacking me for jumping in and taking over the course design. I wanted to run a fast OCS course, which I think we came up with despite the conditions. If it had been dry it would have been really, really fast.

I liked both courses, but the afternoon was my fave. That LONG straight from the turnaround to the slalom, then the "big pucker" coming down the hill into the hard left, ranks among my favorite rallyX features ever. There was a lot to think about:

trying to stay inside coming out of the turnaround to find some traction to get some speed before heading out into the "skating rink" before the slalom
judging speed and position into and through the slalom to minimize the need to slow down (that slalom was about 3x as fast as it looked during the course walks, which was cool)
figuring out the best strategy for dealing with the downhill into the hard left, on a surface that was almost too slippery to stand on

On my first run I tapped the brakes on the one grippy spot at the top of the hill, then tried to work my way to the right down the hill to take a wider arc around the left-hander. But on my second run I banzaied the hill, came into the left-hander in a full broadslide right, and flipped the wheel left to pop around the cone and out. That seemed to work better, and was more fun too... :twisted:

ChrisSuich · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:21 pm

I'm glad to hear many peopled enjoyed themselves despite the weather. I too was much more comfortable on Sunday after dressing properly fo rthe weather. I'm astounded at what we will go through to have 6 minutes of being on the edge of control.

We shredded the OCS site. I hope they allow us to return. :oops:

Here are some photos I took Sunday afternoon at the last turn.
http://s239.photobucket.com/albums/ff49 ... l%20Fools/

Some comments from a Subaru site
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1482547

Again big thanks to Ash Nelson, Vincent Keene, Keith Strassel, Brian Herring, Chuck Nelson and Charlie Monroe for coming out Friday and staying late on Saturday to setup all the courses.

Ash Nelson · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:46 pm

ChrisSuich wrote:

:D We shredded the OCS site. I hope they allow us to return. :oops:

I think we may owe Kim some grass seed :lol:

William Gravely · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:41 pm

MarekRozanski wrote:

I took a few pictures, posted here.

See you got some pics of the Mighty Minus One when it wasn't blowing a ton of smoke.

It was definitely an experience Saturday. Instructors seemed really happy to tell me I was good enough to go solo; I'm sure it had nothing to do with the lack of roof or windows but instead was due to my driving skills.

Big thanks to Charlie Monroe!

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:54 pm

This was a great event. I loved the course and hope we can run it when it is dry. I like fewer cones and wide open gates. This way the good drivers find the right line and go faster. Hitting a bunch of cones isn't fun, but having room to go fast is!
Everybody did a great job. Thanks for all the hard work.

Pete Guthrie · **Posted:** Mon Mar 31, 2008 7:33 pm

to broaden our scope, of rally cross places.. is there any information of rally crosses taking place in SC? i am aware of the DC area races, and want to run in one someday. Is there any information of rallycrosses being done in SC as well?

about the results.. i find it enlightening, that my times got better and better.. as the conditions got worse and worse.. i suppose i like the conservative approach.. deliberate moves and conservative driving suits me i see, however also the school helped tremendously.. as the conditions were familiar to me. 71 hp and 1wd in mud, and my results are rather favorable.
A good time was had by all certainly in the Guthrie camp. our stuff is nasty as *&^%* too.. and since i hit a cone on almost every run, a bunch of the muddy cones are my fault. I will see if i can help sunday.. my folks are out of town on the 12th, but this weekend i will see what i can do.

rally on everyone.

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