PoR Recap - Week 33: Going Dutch helps to score us some points

[spspears]

In these tough economic times, it's always nice to have someone to split the bill with. This week six Press on! Rallysport drivers paired off and headed to three events, two in France and one in the Netherlands. When the dust, spray and tire smoke settled, we had our fourth best points total of the year.

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Jerry and Steven loaded up the trailers for the short trip from our Belgian workshops to Etten-Leur, Netherlands for the Exotic Green Rally. The points system for the Dutch Championship is a bit like the Dutch welfare state itself – very generous, but everyone gets about the same amount - no matter how hard you work at it. Steven loves this arrangement since he thrives on simply outlasting the faster guys – and he's just a dirty socialist. Jerry loves the Dutch Championship because, well, they let him enter a WRC car. Both of our guys came away with a hefty points subsidy, scoring a combined 318 for the stable. Steven had one of his best rallies of the year, bringing his Peugeot 207 R3T home 34th overall and 3rd in class A7. Jerry finished 70th overall and 20th in A8W in his Ford Focus WRC. The only bummer of the weekend was when Steven found out that Exotic Green isn't some great new environmental technology – it's a temporary employment agency for Eastern European agricultural and food processing workers. He had even bought the story about the composting porta-potties!

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Our second podium finish came from Bret. He and Bryan headed down to the Alps for the Chamrousse hillclimb. Bret posted a time of 1:14.30 on his first run, which earned him 3rd place in class N1. His first run time was also fastest in the class - just 0.55 seconds off the winning time in N1. Bryan had a mishap on his first attempt up the hill and had to retire. His second run would have easily placed him first in class N4, but unfortunately it didn't count due to the earlier abandonment. So, he continues to make us wait in anticipation for that win we know will come – he's become our Jeff Gordon.



Our final pairing was Justin and Rick, who braved the fog and rain that swept in off the English Channel at the Rallye de Boulogne sur Mer. Rick literally returned from vacation by sailing into port and hopping into his Impreza. Spending some time at sea must have helped, as Rick seemed accustomed to the conditions. He finished 74th overall and 8th in class with very little prep. Justin followed just 40 seconds behind, coming home 6th in A8 in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. On the ride back to Ghent, Rick regaled Justin and the service crew with tales from the sea. Unfortunately, the two of them have now decided to start a month-long lead up to International Talk Like a Pirate Day (http://www.yarr.org.uk/). Arrrr, here's to hopin' it wears off soon mateys, or we'll be installin' a plank on top of the hauler!



Also, we've been having some great fun with the PoR Rallysprints on Monday nights. The last couple of weeks have used the BTB stages that we normally don't get to run. Here's a sample..come out and join us if you get a chance!

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