Rally TN Results!

Update by Per Schroeder to the Saab 99 project car
May 28, 2008

We're almost ready for STPR!

The first task upon arrival into Hurricane Mills, Tennessee was registration. The one and only Loretta Lynn calls this part of the country home, although we didn’t see any signs for Butcher Holler, nor any coal mines.

We had plenty of opportunity to talk shop and bench race while we waited for registration. We chatted with the Rally Spec Focus guys in line as they checked the official board for updates.

The cool kids from Checkpoint Racing were ahead of us in line. You can also see NASA Rally Sport's Amy Feistel, who worked day and night throughout the weekend to make this event happen.

Once we had secured out paperwork, we headed “up the road a piece” from the host hotel to Rally Headquarters in nearby Linden. Here, Per gives Project Saab its first taste of Tennessee asphalt.

Walking through the Parc Fermé area gave us a chance to look over the Checkpoint Racing’s new super-tough Subaru STI, dubbed “The Destroyer”.

Team USUK uses their Rally Spec Focus to spread the gospel from the Duke of Ted and the Earl of Preston.

We got a lot of compliments on our handsome Superlite wheels that we picked up from Pack Racing products.

We hadn’t gone through Tech just yet, but we did catch some shots of this super cool vintage Mitsubishi Lancer undergoing scrutineering.

We recieved a clean bill of health from the guys in the Tech shed.

We sure like to see GRM stickers on a RallyMoto entry.

Project Saab looked like a winner from the very first stage. The unusual profile seemed to generate extra cheers from the enthusiastic crowds in the spectator areas.

Codriver Jason Grahn manages to look cool even while wriggling into his driving suit.

The very first time control of the rally is (wo)manned by...you guessed it, Amy Feistel.

There’s a learning curve when driving the chip-sealed asphalt surface of Rally Tennessee. Driver Hampton Bridwell managed to not bend man or machine in this demonstration.

Traveling down these tree-canopied roads at 20 mph would evoke a hum-along-with-John Denver vibe. Project Saab had more of a scream-along-with-Judas Priest take on the scenery.

This Merkur XR4Ti dubbed “Fireant” served as the combo car, acting as both the sweep vehicle for the RallyMoto entries and the stage clear for the car entries. Looks like an awesome opportunity for rally seat time to us.

Team Illuminata debuted their freshly built WRX at Rally Tennessee. Their efforts were rewarded with a solid 8th place on the overall results.

Project Saab was able to keep its sure footing through the gravel that had been spread across the racing surface by earlier competitors.

Did we mention how cool it is for RallyMoto bikes to sport GRM stickers?

We noticed that the forward-opening hood on Project Saab seems to get a bit slackjawed at speed. Good for cooling, bad for aesthetics.

Project Saab displayed terrific, fade-free braking power throughout the weekend.

Precise driving in a tarmac rally sometimes means putting a wheel (or more) off the road. Seamus Burke’s Mitsubishi Evolution had taken some roadside vegetation with it along the way. Though blindingly fast on the early stages, he was forced to retire due to engine failure on stage 8.

Sometimes, putting a wheel off the road causes less-than-desirable results. A well built cage and proper safety equipment kept the Vicente-Johnson team from spending their weekend in the hospital.

It’s not a ghost, it’s a Spec Focus Rally car. Also barely visible at the final time control of the day is rally organizer Amy Feistel.

Rally Tennessee was a blast, We finished second in class (M2) and 14th overall out of 22 starters. Our stage times started slow, but we settled into a nice rhythm by the fourth stage. One of the engine mounts had to be reengineered during the first service—we just got everthing buttoned back together in time. We had some fuel starvation issues on our seventh and eighth stages, but this was solved by adding more gas at the next service.

You can see the full results on the Rally Tennessee web site.

We’re happy to note that we were trading stage times with 12th and 13th overall throughout the day.

We’re now busy getting the car ready for Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, which is less than two weeks away.

Sorting Out Our Fuel Pressure

All updates

Success at STPR