17 Jul New teams and reunited pairings at NEFR

Article originally written for Rally America here.

NEWRY, Me (July 17, 2015) – A number of familiar faces at the New England Forest Rally this weekend are in unfamiliar pairings as a full field of drivers and co-drivers descends on the forests of Maine for the sixth round of the 2015 Rally America National Championship.

Jeff Seehorn asked veteran co-driver Karen Jankowski to join him this weekend for the first time. “Her experience is amazing,” said Seehorn. “I’m relying on her to help me go fast.”

Seehorn, a former motorcycle racer, entered his first rally event in 2014 and quickly adapted to four-wheel racing. Since then, the privateer has developed a fast pace and earned a regional class win at the Oregon Trail Rally this past April. His appearance at New England Forest Rally is the first time he has competed outside of the Pacific Northwest. “In the car, you would never guess that he only started rallying last year,” said Jankowski.

Jankowski estimates she has co-driven some 60 rallies in various championships, and won an SP class title in 2013. She said she and Seehorn have been working together to get prepared for his first run on the New England Forest Rally. “I know what to expect at the event and stages. Jeff and I have talked a lot about it so there are fewer surprises when he is there.”

Ramana Lagemann has Nathalie Richard with him for just the second time this weekend. They are campaigning a brand new M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5. Although both are experienced competitors, they haven’t rallied together since Oregon Trail 2014 — their first rally together. There, they placed first in the 2WD class.

“We had such a great time, good competition,” said Richard.  “We trusted each other almost from the get-go. It was a really good feeling together.”

Lagemann and Richard had a rough start to this weekend. They hit a rock on the first stage and were out early. They were expected to return on Day 2 under the rally restart rule.

Another new pairing this weekend is SP class contender Garry Gill and Niall Burns. Gill, SP winner at this year’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood has had several different co-drivers this season, while Burns has competed alongside three different drivers in as many events.

“Niall is awesome,” said Gill. “Yesterday, when we did recce, pretty much after two corners we were gelling really well. Excellent.”

Burns echoed the sentiment. “It’s been very easy to settle in,” said Burns. “I was able to adapt to Garry’s style for this event quite quickly and the two of us gelled pretty well.”

Travis Pastrana and Chrissie Beavis are also excited to be back in their Subaru Rally Team USA car this weekend in Maine. Although they ran a partial season together last year, the last time they raced together was at the season ending Lake Superior Performance Rally. “It’s definitely awesome,” said Pastrana. “Right away we felt really good”

Recently, Pastrana has been absent from the championship due to commitments with his Nitro Circus Live world tour.

For all of these teams, one of the risks of running such a high profile event without recent experience together is that it may take a few stages to find a rhythm. Said Beavis, early on Day 1: “We’re trying to shake the cobwebs off.”