As previously mentioned, the MaxAttack! event will be scored on the first six stages at Olympus due to the unfortunate loss of one of our rally friends.
Here are the updates from the teams from the last service last night, and how the teams ended up for the first round of the 2011 MaxAttack! Series.
-Tom and Don Burress said their #437 Volkswagen GTI was doing well and that the oiling issue was under control. They drove hard and took 10 seconds out of Wyatt Knox and Ole Holter's #333 Mazda Mazdaspeed3 on the first run of Brooklyn. It wasn't quite enough though, as they had a bit more to make up, so the team would wind up 2nd in MaxAttack!, just 10 seconds back. A very good effort by a local grassroots team!
-For their part, Wyatt Knox and Ole Holter drove a fast, consistent rally from start to end in their #333 Mazda Mazdaspeed3. The car was robust and the team was very quick. They will take home 1st place points for Olympus MaxAttack! for their efforts. Congratulations, Wyatt and Ole!
-Dave Henderson and Terrence McDowell really picked up the pace over the last four stages! They brought the #711 Mazda Mazda3 from 6th to 3rd in 27 stage miles! Excellent effort for the pair. The car held up great. Just a minor exhaust leak, but no major issues.
-ACP and Robbie Durant reported no real problems, but the crew was working under the hood of the #20 Scion xD when our reporter stopped by. As others picked up the pace, ACP and Robbie fell off just a bit, finishing 6th, missing the final MaxMoney position by a mere 2 seconds! Andrew just wanted to say that he was "really having fun running in a 2WD car again." I think the team has signed up to run the regional event on Sunday, perhaps using the stage time to get the car sorted a bit more before it's next outing. But all in all, it was a good result for a new, untested rally car!
-Brian Gottlieb and Patrick Darrow were cool as a cucumber at service, saying they had no issues and no drama, but the pair must have been pushing the #466 Honda Civic pretty hard, as they kept their 4th place position as others were moving around them. At the finish, they were just 11 seconds adrift of Henderson/McDowell.
-Adam Crane and Britta Nielsen was another team with little drama. The only quote we could get from him was "MORE POWER!" The also held their position to bring the #742 Toyota Corolla home in 5th, the final MaxMoney spot. They were just 14.5 seconds behind Gottlieb/Darrow at the final time control.
-Just 10 seconds adrift of ACP, Dave and Rick Hintz brought back the #207 BMW M3 in 7th position on it's maiden voyage. The team had planned on swapping the slipping clutch for Sunday, but managed to nurse it to the effective end of the MaxAttack! event. The car was finished mere hours before the start of the rally, so it was a very good result for an untested ride. We look forward to seeing Dave and Rick compete again in their new MaxAttack! machine!
-Kris and K. Edward Dahl were surffering from an intermittent engine problem that broght the #258 Honda Civic down to 3 cylinders from time to time. After driving at stage speed, the car seemed to fix itself, but they were a bit wary. Another grassroots team, the pair have no service crew. Someone drove their truck to the service area for them so they could work on the car themselves. They brought the Honda home in 8th place, 30 seconds behind the Hintz brothers.
-Sean Medcroft and Jenne Medcroft dropped from 8th to 16th when the 6 axle bolts that hold one side of the rear axle to the diff flange on their #141 Merkur XR4Ti sheared off at the starting line of one stage. The pair had no choice but to work on the car in the control, which added more penalty to the time it took to actually improvise an impromptu repair. Tough break for the team.
-No issues reported from Garth Ankeny and Russ Kraushaar in the crowd favorite #96 Saab 96, but they certainly had their own battle going, as they finished just 1 single second behind the Dahl's!
-Kristen Tabor reported that they had a "big moment" on the loose gravel of Smith Creek that scared mom/codriver Janice. She said they pushed very hard on Brooklyn to try to beat brother Mark in his 4WD car. The daughter/mother team brought the #231 Acura RSX-S home in 10th.
-Those Tabors like to stick together, and father, Bruce Tabor, with codriver Tim Maple brought their #222 Nissan Sentra SE-R home right behind his daughter in 11th with no real issues after fixing their broken strut from earlier.
-Dave and Jenatte Clark report that their #509 Toyota Celica was suffering from overheating, but they found if they removed the lamp pod to get more air to the radiator, it would stay cool enough to continue. They brought the car home in 12th position at the end of the day.
-Brian McGuire and Jennifer Kraus had an exhaust system come loose on their #419 BMW 325i but the crew got it handled at service.
-The rookie team of Dustin Embrey and Jeffrey Stoner brought their #206 Toyota Corolla into the final service with a transmission so noisy it was painful to listen to. They can say they finished their very first rally, though, which is an accomplishment!
So, for the Western Round of the 2011 MaxAttack! Series at Olympus Rally, here are your MaxMoney winners:
1st ($1,500.00) Wyatt Knox/Ole Holter--Mazda Mazdaspeed3
2nd ($1,200.00) Tom Burress/Don Burress--Volkswagen GTI
3rd ($1,000.00) Dave Henderson/Terrence McDowell--Mazda Mazda3
4th ($800.00) Brian Gottlieb/Patrick Darrow--Honda Civic
5th ($500.00) Adam Crane/Britta Nielsen--Toyota Corolla
Congratulations all, and take care of yourselves and each other out there today.
