Endurance and resiliance helps PoR bounce back in Week 39

[spspears]

After a couple of weeks of hard effort and low returns, PoR bounced back in Week 39. Four drivers broke the elusive century mark by outlasting the competition in three long, tough events.

Leading the points was our rookie driver Greg, who scored 142 at the Schutte Informatisering Hellendorn Rally of the Dutch Championship. He drove his new Fiat Grande Punto S2000 to 8th in class and 69th overall. Only 74 of the 230 crews that entered the rally made it to the final control. Congrats, Greg on your highly successful debut!

Speaking of difficult rallies, Rick and Aaron spent the week at the 13th round of the Sadomasochist Cup, a.k.a. Hungarian Rally Championship.

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This rally saw competitors brave tarmac, gravel, and snow over three days and 22 special stages. Making it to the finish was an accomplishment in itself. Our two drivers took fundamentally different approaches to this one. Aaron hit the stages in the nimble tin can that is the 1.4L N1 Peugeot 205 Rallye. At the other end of the spectrum, Rick's weapon of choice was the fire-breathing Subaru Impreza WRC.

Considering the surfaces and weather, I would have given even money on the two. Sometimes slow has its advantages. It takes a ton of skill and patience to keep a WRC car on the road under good conditions, let alone when you have to drive gravel stages on skinny snow tires. Rick put together a masterful performance though, en route to one of the stable's highest overall finishes of the year, 21st. He was also 7th in the A8W class, battling it out with the best in the business.

Aaron set out to run a steady pace and let natural selection take its course. Leg 1 went according to plan. On the third stage of Leg 2, however, he had three spins. The last of these left him with a broken gearbox and no choice but to take penalties for the remaining stages and restart on Leg 3 under super rally rules. He ran a steady final leg to secure a podium finish - 2nd in class N1 and 65th overall.

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Steven and Jerry took on another long event, the WRC Rallye de France Alsace. This all tarmac event was comprised of 24 stages over three days under changeable weather conditions. Steven was entered once again in the JWRC category in his Peugeot 207 R3T. Other than two small spins on SS19 that cost him about 10 seconds, he ran a nearly perfect rally, coming home a career-best 11th in JWRC and finishing 62nd overall. After a solid first two legs, Jerry ran into trouble on the last leg and was forced to retire on the final stage of the rally. His misfortune put a damper on what was otherwise another excellent WRC showing for the team.

Finally, Bret and Justin had a frustrating week at the Rallye de l'Alsace Bossue of the France Cup. This one consisted of only six short stages, meaning that a good result required aggression from start to finish. Unfortunately, both drivers fell victim to the foggy conditions in the first loop of the rally. Justin retired on SS1, and Bret, who was debuting his Peugeot 306 S16, crashed and was forced to retire on SS3.

Despite the retirements, the team returned to the level we had been a few weeks ago. Though we remain in 25th spot, we continue to chip away at the advantage of our closest competitors, Rallye-Normand. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going this week, as most of us head off for a weekend on the gravel. Good luck all!