13 Jul A New Car and a Driver Green to Climb to the Clouds Finds Success – CPD Racing USA Rally Review

Article originally written for American Rally Association here.

Gorham, New Hampshire (July 13, 2017)

Lauchlin O’Sullivan surprised many when he entered Climb to the Clouds not in a rally car, but in a specially built hillclimb Subaru STi. CPD Racing USA decided to take a gamble on a newly developed vehicle with a driver new to Climb to the Clouds.

“It’s my first time on the mountain,” said O’Sullivan, “so it’s been an exciting weekend to say the least”

In hillclimb, only teams entered in the Rally classes are permitted co-drivers. O’Sullivan entered the Subaru Climb to the Clouds in the Prepared 1 class, forcing him to tackle the mountain alone. The multi-time North American championship rally driver has been on the scene for many years, usually with a co-driver in tow. Scott Putnam, O’Sullivan’s normal co-driver and CPD Racing USA’s team owner, worked as a team manager this weekend; providing support and mechanical help throughout the competition.

O’Sullivan’s car for the weekend started life as the factory Subaru Road Racing Team’s backup car in 2008. Built to Grand-Am specifications, the car was engineered to compete on tracks such as Watkins Glen, Laguna Seca, and Daytona, but has been recently redesigned for hillclimb duties. Part of O’Sullivan’s main job at Climb to the Clouds was to evaluate and improve upon the car for future hillclimb events, such as Pikes Peak.

The team showed a strong pace during Friday’s upper mountain practice session. The course, run on the top 4 miles of the Mt. Washington Auto Road, encompasses a variety of surfaces, including 1 mile of dirt. The more open road and loose sections suited O’Sullivan well and saw CPD Racing post competitive times.

The team’s early success changed slightly for Saturday. The day’s practice session took place on the tighter, rougher, lower section of the mountain. Suspension calibration issues hurt the team. The car’s rear sway bar and suspension was set too stiff, O’Sullivan spent Saturday fighting understeer and lifting wheels in tight corners.

For Sunday, the CPD Racing team re-calibrated the suspension, changing the handling characteristics of the Subaru to be a little more neutral. The settings proved to be a little too playful, during Sunday’s first session O’Sullivan had a moment halfway up the mountain, nearly losing the back end of his Subaru.

“Yesterday, I was trying to get it sideways. I knew my photographers were there, so we were trying do some rally drift action but the tires stuck too much,” said O’Sullivan, “Today we didn’t mean to slide, and then the rear end started stepping out. I was like, ‘this is great’, but then it kept on going.”

In spite of the near miss, O’Sullivan set a blistering 6:44.64s run up the Auto Road. The performance proved fit for first in class and seventh overall.

“Fun event, incredible roads,” said O’Sullivan, “I’m ready to come back out next time.”