18 Jul 2WD Class Preview – New England Forest Rally

Article originally written for American Rally Association here.

Newry, Maine (July 18, 2017)

Round 5 of the American Rally Association National Championship, the New England Forest Rally, is set to run this Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22. The two-day event sees competitors travel to the furthest reaches of the North Eastern United States and challenge 110 miles of back roads and logging trails in Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire.

Ryan Millen and Rhianon Gelsomino have been the picture of perfection this season. The pair have faced direct competition from multiple strong contenders and managed to come out on top every time with the win. This weekend, they’ll be looking to make NEFR five for five and clinch the first-ever ARA Open 2WD Championship. Millen and Gelsomino need a single point to secure the Open 2WD championship.

They will get that point the moment their Rally Rav4 sets off on Concord Pond, the first stage of the rally. “That’s pretty exciting,” said Millen.

Last time out, at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, Millen and Gelsomino had their closest battle yet. Seamus Burke and Martin Brady arrived on scene to directly challenge the Rally Rav4’s dominance. Burke, a highly experienced and well respected driver, introduced a new V6 powered MKII Escort at STPR 2017. The rally marked the first time he, and the car, battled directly with Millen.

Millen took the early lead at STPR, besting the higher powered Escort on both runnings of the wide and sweeping Waste Management stage and the first run of the Tioga County Fairgrounds super special.

The following day saw STPR move on to the narrow and twisting roads Susquehannock State Forest. The tight stage roads suited Burke’s higher power car and on-throttle driving over Millen’s momentum driving approach. The first loop of the day saw Burke steadily drive 1.5 seconds per mile quicker than Millen. By the end of Stage 7, Burke had taken a 48 second lead in the class.

Undeterred, Millen and Gelsomino pushed harder going into the second loop, winning Stage 8 by 2 seconds and limiting their time loss on subsequent stages to under 1 second per mile. Millen’s goal for the day was a form of damage control, to remain within 1:30s of Burke.

One minute thirty seconds is an important amount of time in rally. Ninety seconds allows a driver to capitalize on a leader’s mistake, flat tire, or penalty. 1:30s allows a following driver to apply pressure to those in front, potentially forcing a mistake.

Millen spent 110 stage miles applying pressure to Burke and reaped the benefit on the rally’s final stage, in it’s final corner. Burke and Millen were placed head to head at the Tioga County Fairgrounds side-by-side super special. Burke looked set to win STPR, but then went wide and high-sided his Escort on the dirt banks surrounding the course. Unable to free his car, Burke was towed off the bank and given a Bogey time on the stage, a 3 minute penalty. Millen and Gelsomino won the Open 2WD class at STPR.

“What can you say, to win in the super special!?,” said Millen, “’to finish first you must first finish.’ Today was a great day for us.”

“Savage” Dave Wallingford and Leanne Junnila, currently second place in the Open 2WD championship are back. The two last competed together a few weeks ago at Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs in Quebec, where they finished first in the Open 2WD class and second overall in the NACAM standings.

The following weekend, Wallingford competed at the Subaru Mt. Washington Climb to the Clouds, where he and co-driver Ryan Scott, had quite the ride.

The three day event consisted of two days practice before the full running of the mountain on Sunday. Friday’s practice saw teams drive twice on the upper half of the Mt. Washington Auto Road. There, Wallingford and Scott set competitive times and were excited to challenge for first in the ARA-sponsored Rally 2 class.

The team’s expectation for the weekend changed during Saturday’s lower mountain practice sessions. During the day’s second pass, Wallingford experienced what’s known as a traction roll. At the Signal Corps spectator area, the outside rear tire on Wallingford’s Fiesta R2T caught too much grip during it’s weight transfer into the corner. The car quickly went up on two wheels, and the then rolled off the road onto a patch of rocks.

Fortunately, Wallingford and Scott were unhurt and spent the rest of the practice session entertaining fans in the spectator area. The two were in high spirits and took to joked, “the wind blew us over,” said Scott.

But that wasn’t the end of Savage Dave’s Climb to the Clouds. He and Scott drove an hour away to the Team O’Neil Rally School and borrowed an older R2 driver instruction car. Downgrading to an NA 1.6L motor put Wallingford and Scott at a power disadvantage in their class. Undeterred, Wallingford and Scott took to the full, 7.4 mile course, on Sunday and finished the day fourth in the ARA sponsored Rally 2 class. “I made it up,” said Wallingford, “I’m just happy I did that.” At NEFR, Wallingford won’t be driving his normal Fiesta R2T, that car is still under repair. Instead, Savage Dave will take to the New England stage roads in his old grey 2012 Fiesta.

Also competing at NEFR is local favorite and former factory Subaru driver Ramana Lagemann. Lagemann, a Boston Native, considers NEFR to be his home event, having come to New England in 1999 for his first rally weekend. In 2006, Lagemann took his first win on the national stage at NEFR and in 2015, he drove here in an M-Sport prepared Fiesta R5.

Despite his strong background in AWD cars, Lagemann usually competes in fast a 2WD vehicle. He’s won national rally events, including Olympus Rally, in an E36 BMW M3 and this year he takes to New England in a 964 Porsche 911.

“I’ve been obsessed with Porsche all my life, so taming this beast has been a welcome challenge,” said Lagemann, “I’m excited for the fan reaction as it how’s down the stages. Our main goal is to have fun, but of course we are both competitors at heart and want to win!”

Joining Lagemann in the Porsche will be co-driver Chrissie Beavis. Beavis is one of the most experienced co-drivers in the country, with seat-time sitting shotgun in everything from old BMWs to Travis Pastrana’s Subaru STi. Beavis and Lagemann have teamed up in the past to great success, winning 2WD at Olympus Rally in 2015 and earning a class win at NEFR in 2012.

“Chrissie and I are really excited to be teaming up together again,” said Lagemann, “I personally haven’t been in a rally car since LSPR last year. That was my first event in the German Performance Service Porsche, and I learned a lot about the unique characteristics of a 911 rally car. The Porsche accelerates and brakes very well, but it can be a handful in the corners, where it takes a lot of commitment and precision to get the chassis balance just right.”

Lagemann and Beavis will be close competition to the series mainstays Ryan Millen and Dave Wallingford. 2WD should be very fun to watch this weekend.

Photo Credit: Matt Stryker (Top), Chris Daley (1), Alex Wing (2), Matt Kalish (3)

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