Ahh and so it begins, That is, of course, the craziness of the 2010 Rally-America season. For 2010 I will be working with Wazoo Racing as their lead tech. In the off season I worked with Wazoo Driver/Owner Tim Penasack to help him rebuild his 02WRX into a 07STI to compete in the 2010 Rally America SP Class. Our first stop of the season was this past weekend in northern Michigan at the Sno-Drift rally.

Our rally started off a little rough but for the most part ended pretty clean. We had a minor off on Shakedown that had us doing some body work on the left front of our new 07 STI before the event even started. At any other rally in the U.S. This off would have been a minor bumper scuff. But in +or- 5 degrees, bumpers turn brittle and snap not bend. With the help of fellow crew member Brian Goss and our awesome stand in crew of; Love muscle, Guns, and scribble (All from Michigan Tech aka RallyU) the body work was Riveted and zip-tied together to make the start of the rally.

Day 1 was pretty uneventful. Our one and only 30 minute service went like clock work and we were done our spanner checks, alignment, and cleaning by the time the 20 minute mark hit. With ten minutes to spare it gave us plenty of time to check out the new kids with Mr. Block. I am very excited to see Ken Block and Alex Gelsimino riding in a factory backed Ford Fiesta for the 2010 season. My only suggestion is they should lessen the amount of tent weights on their tent when the wind gusts are upwards of a raging 0MPH. Back on the Wazoo side of things. We ended our first day with the new car back at the heated maintenance garage for the Garland Resort. We only had one or two small re-prep items on the list, and thankfully we found ourselves back in our rooms and sleeping by the time the clock struck 11, This is such an unusual occurrence for me.

Day 2 and the final day of the Sno-Drift rally found my team move from day1’s Lewiston, Michigan location over to neighboring Atlanta, Michigan. Our first service went once again like clockwork. Nothing went un-checked or un-torqued and time was left in the service to throw around some friendly bantering between the T Hanson Motorsports team and Wazoo Racing. It’s nice to have some fun with your drivers in service. It gets them laughing and relaxed before they go and throw a 350HP rally car through the woods on ice at over 75MPH. Our second and last service of the rally didn’t go by without some excitement. Tim and Alex brought the car into service with the right front wheel pined against the wheel well due to a bent lower control arm. Even though it might sound bad, when you understand which bolts come out and go in first. A control arm, ball joint, and sway bar end link on a Subaru are easy to change. Like always with Wazoo racing, the car was out of service on time and 100% ready for the stages. Day 2 of the Rally ended in Hillman, Michigan at the local community center. Tim and Co-driver Alex would battle across ice meant for a skating rink and end the rally 6th in class and 17th overall. In the off season, I spent 5+ 50-60 hour weeks rebuilding this Subaru, and seeing it cross the finish line was one of the more rewarding moments in my life.
I would like to end my World Rallysport blogs this season with a couple things I learned and people I would like to thank. I’ll try to make this on the lighter side. Also be sure to check back next week for my Rallye Perce Neige blog post.

Things I learned.
1. Control arm pivot bolt comes out before any other bolt.
2. Chris Duplessis is the BEST 2wd driver in North America (nothing we didn’t already know)
3. Nothing looks better then 4 guys in matching mechanic suits, working on a beautiful rally car. Wazoo racing looked and performed like top notch pros this rally.
4. Service work on a black and blue busted ankle is not the funniest thing I have ever done.
5. Arby’s roast beef sandwiches can take on many different forms.
6. Michigan tech is full of guys with really funny accents. “Don’t cha know”
7. Those that didn’t get in on my Mechanics wetsuit group buy lost out big time. These suits are worth twice their weight in gold.

People to thank
1. Pat Moro! If you had not let us use your control arm. We would have had some large issues on our hand. You’re a true rallyist.
2. Tim Penasack. Thank you for creating a 150 point inspection list for the rally car, and a 75 point inspection sheet for the truck.
3. Brian Goss and John Groo, Just for being wellll….. yourselves.
4. Aaron Sinclair. Thank you for switching to channel 2.
5. Terra Firma for making a badass warm hat.
6. Mom and Dad for letting me chase a dream.