International Rally New York - 23-34 Oct 09

Video Clips

Posted: October 28, 2009 6:30 PM

Lawless/Sharkey Win International Rally New York

Posted: October 27, 2009 12:26 PM

Tom Lawless, the 2005 United States Rally Champion, with the Irish codriver Brian Sharkey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9), emerged as the winners of the International Rally New York 2009, a two-day test where the result was in doubt until almost the final mile.

Going into the second day, an accomplished Finnish crew of Jani Paasonen/Mika Rajasalo (Subaru Impreza), had a lead of 43 seconds. With a competitive car and more experience than their rivals, United States Rally Championship (USRC) regulars assumed that the visiting Finnish team would be able to cruise to a victory. At the time, Lawless/Sharkey were second, 43 seconds behind, despite a bit of turbocharger and fuel pump trouble on the first day. Seamus Burke/John Buffum were third, but would soon withdraw from the rally due to a head gasket failure.

And then the momentum of the event went the other way: Paasonen’s car broke an axle during the final morning, which slowed Paasonen enough to allow Lawless a 13-second lead. Paasonen responded by taking back seconds on each special stage – despite heavy rain, mud, and deep puddles which limited his and everyone else’s speed. The margin was down to about three seconds at lunch time. But as Paasonen should have surged ahead on the final two or three stages, the Subaru broke a differential. Paasonen/Rajasalo decided to pace themselves and finish, falling to 1 minute and 17 seconds behind the winners.

Martin Donnelly/Stephen Duffy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) placed third. They were far enough behind the leaders, 6-3/4 minutes, that Donnelly joked afterward that they became spectators in the rally. United States Rally Championship hopefuls Daniel O’Brien and Brendan McCabe finished under Super Rally rules. This was not enough to secure the Championship title. Keith Jackson/Marra Estep (Subaru Impreza) took fourth, garnering enough points to wrap up the United States Rally Championship in the All-Wheel-Drive category. Shawn and Jennifer Hudspeth (Mitsubishi Eclipse) placed fifth overall and secured the USRC All-Wheel-Drive Production Cup for the season. Both teams traveled to the final round of the 2009 USRC season in New York from California.

Like the overall victory, the Two-Wheel-Drive win was not settled until late in the rally. United States Rally Championship contenders Josh & Jeremy Wimpey (Volkswagen Golf Mark 2) and Dan Brosnan/Shane McCann (Nissan Sentra) both suffered mechanical breakages on the first day, broken suspension and steering, respectively. Likewise, the very rapid Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino (Ford Escort Mark 2) were stopped by a broken differential. And so, in the heavy rains of the final afternoon, Wojtek “Al” Kulpa/Adam Pelc (Volkswagen Golf Mark 3) raced with the father-son team of Simon & Kieran Wright (Ford Focus ZX3). Kulpa/Pelc reached the final control with an advantage of 39 seconds for the trophy.

Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann finished under the Super Rally rules, which was enough for them to secure the United States Rally Championship in the Two-Wheel-Drive category. It might have been a golden opportunity for the up-and-coming team of Michael Reilly/Josh Benthien (Ford Focus SVT), but they were delayed by an off-course excursion while leading the Two-Wheel-Drive classification. In the end, they finished tenth overall and won the 2009 USRC Two-Wheel-Drive Production Cup.

Photos:

Posted: October 27, 2009 12:23 PM

On a limb racing.com

Results

Posted: October 27, 2009 12:21 PM

Full Results and Times

Seeded Entry List

Posted: October 21, 2009 12:17 PM

Entry List

New York Forest Rally (USA)

Sponsorship for Competitors in the International Rally New York 2009

Posted: October 21, 2009 11:49 AM

Robert Cella has announced his selection of drivers whose entry he is sponsoring at the International Rally New York to be held in Narrowsburg and Callicoon in Sullivan County, New York on October 21 – 24, 2009. The selected drivers are:

- Thomas Barton and Matt Gottlieb, local Sullivan County rally drivers

- Robert Martai, a local rally driver from New Jersey with previous experience from Hungary

- Jani Passonen, a former Finnish Rally Champion and participant in World Rally Championship

Robert Cella is a retired engineer, a radio operator at Rally New York events (www.RallyNewYork.com) for many years and a great supporter of the sport of rallying and Rally New York events. This is the third Rally New York event in a row when the competitors become the beneficiaries of Mr. Cella’s awe-inspiring generosity.

In addition, the total of $12,000 in subsidies will be distributed to the teams from the Pacific Division of the United States Rally Championship (www.usrallychampionship.com) to assist them with traveling to the final round of the United States Rally Championship in New York - the International Rally New York 2009.

Finally, a prize fund guarantees that each team finishing the Rally in top 30 percent of all finishers, including at least one production car and one two-wheel-drive car, will win $200 in prize money.

The course of the International Rally New York 2009 is approximately 300 miles long with more than 100 miles of special stages. At the conclusion on Sunday morning, the United States Rally Championship will hold its annual Year-End Awards ceremony and will award separate National Championship titles in the Two-Wheel-Drive Championship and in the All-Wheel-Drive Championship, and declare Production Cup Champions in both categories. Each day of the Rally is a separate round of the New York Rally Championship (www.RallyNewYork.com) that will hold its own annual Awards in the New York City area in December.

The Rally takes place in the spectacular southern Catskill Mountains of New York only 90 miles northwest of New York City. The event is headquartered at the modern Villa Roma Resort. All racing will take place on the 12,500-acre Ten Mile River Scout Reservation on new, purpose-built and refurbished stage roads. The Ceremonial Start is at Villa Roma in Callicoon, NY on Thursday evening. The Rally ends with the Ceremonial Finish at Keowa Rally Village in Narrowsburg, NY on Saturday night.

Hundreds of participants, spectators and fans will gather for two days at the exciting Keowa Rally Village on the Ten Mile River Scout Reservation. The Keowa Rally Village includes a Spectator Area with spectator parking, food, lodging and camping, a Service Park with a Vendor Area next to it, and the Rally Control. During the two days of racing, a number of special stages will pass by the Spectator Area both in the morning and in the afternoon. Several special stages start or finish at the Keowa Rally Village.

The United States Rally Championship is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. This is the third season of the new Championship structure that minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship.

United States Rally Championship before the Final Round

Posted: October 21, 2009 11:48 AM

Round 3 of the United States Rally Championship’s Pacific Division. The Prescott Rally, the final qualifying round prior to the season finale at International Rally New York, was run on October 2nd and 3rd in the high deserts of Central Arizona.

A compressed two-day schedule allowed teams to participate in a multiple pass recce session Friday morning, register and inspect competing vehicles Friday afternoon, complete the competition stages Friday night and Saturday with awards and prize giving Saturday night.

Daniel O’Brien and Brendan McCabe made the trek from New York to pick up additional points towards the USRC AWD season championship and to size up Keith Jackson and Marra Estep, their closest rivals. The rally began with Jackson setting fast stage time by almost 20 seconds. O’Brien countered on stage two and took the overall lead by less than three seconds. Stage three marked the end of the battle as Jackson collected a tree, allowing O’Brien to cruise through the rest of the weekend to victory.

Production AWD was a battle between Will Hudson and Brian Szykowny and Shawn and Jennifer Hudspeth. The two teams traded the lead back and forth with the Hudspeth’s coming out on top. The husband and wife team have secured their spot in New York with a strong third place overall at Prescott.

Open 2WD was an unexpected runaway for Odi and Amy Bakchis, running as high as second overall until troubles on stage 5 ended their rally. This allowed Tim and Dick Moser to take over the lead and finish an incredible second overall in the older Golf.

In Production 2WD, John Black and Katianna Pihakari’s Ranger pushed Alex Rademacher and John Stewart’s Subaru until a big off on stage six. Alex and John cruised in for the win with Jason Wong and Yjiro Otsuki in second in their Neon.

This year’s event featured 101 stage miles over the two day format with activities based at Tim’s Subaru and the Prescottonian Hotel in Prescott, Arizona. Sponsors for the event include Scott Roofing of Phoenix, Tim’s Subaru of Prescott along with the Subaru Western Region, The Prescottonian Hotel, and Whiskey Row Screen Printing. Timing and Scoring are provided by the California Rally Series.

The series now moves to New York for the final round with six Pacific Division qualifiers eligible for a part of the $12,000 tow subsidy. The Pacific Division qualifiers are:

All-Wheel-Drive Championship and All-Wheel-Drive Production Cup:
Keith Jackson AWD
Shawn Hudspeth AWD
Will Hudson Prod AWD

Two-Wheel-Drive Championship and Two-Wheel-Drive Production Cup:
Alex Rademacher 2WD
Bill Holmes 2WD
John Black Prod 2WD

Jani Paasonen and Mika Rajasalo entered the International Rally New York

Posted: October 12, 2009 12:28 PM

Jani Paasonen of Finland with codriver Mika Rajasalo entered the International Rally New York 2009 in a North Coast Subaru's Impreza STi:

List of Entries at:

New York Forest Rally (USA)

Spectator Guide Available

Posted: September 10, 2009 11:58 AM

New York Forest Rally (USA)

Rally New York, Ltd. constructs purpose-built roads on gated privately-owned property and opens entry for International Rally New York 2009

Posted: September 1, 2009 7:10 PM

Entry is now open for all-gravel International Rally New York scheduled for October 23 - 24, 2009. Rally program, online entry, downloadable entry forms, itinerary, supplementary regulations, lodging information and downloadable order form for course notes (can be also ordered online) are available at www.RallyNewYork.net/irny2009.html . Regular entry ends on September 24. The entry will close on October 15.

The International Rally New York 2009 is the final round of the United States Rally Championship. The course is 299 miles long with 104 miles of special stages. At the conclusion on Sunday morning, the United States Rally Championship will hold its annual Year-End Awards ceremony and will award separate National Championship titles in the Two-Wheel-Drive Championship and in the All-Wheel-Drive Championship, and declare Production Cup Champions in both categories. Each day of the Rally is a separate round of the New York Rally Championship that will hold its own annual Awards in the New York City area in December.

A prize fund guarantees that each team finishing the Rally in top 30 percent of all finishers, including at least one production car and one two-wheel-drive car, will win $200 in prize money.

The Rally takes place in the spectacular southern Catskill Mountains of New York only 90 miles northwest of New York City. The event is headquartered at the modern Villa Roma Resort and Conference Center. All racing will take place on the 12,500-acre Ten Mile River Scout Reservation on new, purpose-built and refurbished stage roads. The Ceremonial Start is at Villa Roma in Callicoon, NY on Thursday evening. The Rally ends with the Ceremonial Finish at Keowa Rally Village in Narrowsburg, NY on Saturday night.

Hundreds of participants, spectators and fans will gather for two days at the exiting Keowa Rally Village on the Ten Mile River Scout Reservation. The Keowa Rally Village includes a Spectator Area with spectator parking, lodging and camping, a Service Park with a Vendor Area next to it, and the Rally Control. During the two days of racing, a number of special stages will pass by the Spectator Area both in the morning and in the afternoon. Several special stages start or finish at the Keowa Rally Village.

The Rally will be conducted according to the international FIA regulations.

After the just completed Gorman Ridge Rally in California, the United States Rally Championship heads to the final round of the Pacific events at the Prescott Rally (www.prescottRally.com ) in Arizona before the final round in New York. Pacific Division teams are competing for coveted cash travel subsidies that will be awarded to top six teams in the Division. The total of $12,000 in subsidies will be distributed to Pacific Division teams to assist them with traveling to the final round of the United States Rally Championship in New York.

The United States Rally Championship is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. This is the third season of the new Championship structure that minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship.

Regulations:

New York Forest Rally (USA)

The 2009 International Rally New York will take place on October 23 – 24, 2009

Posted: September 1, 2009 7:09 PM

Rally New York organization has announced a change of the date for its 2009 International Rally New York scheduled to take place in the Fall of 2009.

The 2009 International Rally New York will take place on October 23 – 24, 2009, which is one week earlier than previously announced.

We are making this change to avoid Halloween that impairs our ability to recruit and retain event marshals and to use certain stage roads. We regret any inconvenience this change may have caused to those competitors who, as we have been advised, already made arrangements to attend the rally.

The 2009 International Rally New York is the final round of the 2009 United States Rally Championship. The event includes two one-day rounds of the New York Rally Championship. The 2009 International Rally New York is a gravel rally.

The United States Rally Championship is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. The Championship structure minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship. Pacific Division teams will be again competing for $12,000 in travel subsidies to attend the final round in New York.

Rally New York, Ltd. also presents the Rally New York USA on April 17 - 18, 2009. This tarmac event is the first round of the 2009 United States Rally Championship. All Rally New York events are conducted according to the international rules with three-pass reconnaissance on Thursday and two days of racing on Friday and Saturday. Most events in the United States Rally Championship allow for reconnaissance of the rally course.

Event Website

Posted: November 21, 2008 12:00 PM

New York Forest Rally (USA)