PoR Week 29 Recap: Rookie Sensations and Magic Tricks Gone Awry

[spspears]

Our Director of Public Relations was on vacation, so this week's recap is short and a little late – and that's probably just fine with most of us on the team. After several weeks of great performances, we had a long-overdue off-week. Thankfully, Rick was there to pick up the pieces, breaking the century mark and leading the team in points in only his second week.

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Both Rick and Aaron competed in the Ralli dos Açores, the 4th round of the Portuguese Championship. Rick ran a very solid rally in his Prodrive Impreza. A couple of rolls on SS9 cost him precious time, but he continued to improve throughout leg 2 and finished 37th overall. It was his second top 40 in his first two rallies with PoR!

As for Aaron...some drivers like to keep the opposition guessing. They gamble with tire combinations and setups in an effort to wring every last ounce of performance from their vehicles. Aaron goes one better – he not only gambles with tires and setups, he gambles with car selection itself.

It goes a bit like a common magic trick: at the parc exposé, Aaron pulls out a pack of cards with the names of all the cars PoR currently owns. He announces to the assembled crowd that he will drive whatever car is chosen from the deck. He then asks for a volunteer (usually a small child) to pick a card – any card. Most times the trick turns out OK, and Aaron gets to drive the car he practiced in. But, Aaron's not a very good magician and sometimes it all goes wrong. This week was one of those times, and Aaron ended up in a Super 2000 Peugeot 207 instead of the Citroën C2 he planned to drive. We've asked him to stop this, as it's a logistical nightmare, but he persists.

Anyway...the crew rushed to the hauler to unload the 207 just before Aaron was due to check in at the time control. In their haste, they neglected to check what tires were mounted on the car and Aaron ended up running the first loop on tarmac tires instead of gravel. Luckily, the 207 is a tough beast and Aaron eventually made it to the end of the rally. Not sure what else to say really...full credit given for pressing on though!

Bryan, Bret and Justin all ran into trouble in the France Cup this week. Bryan suffered transmission damage after an encounter with a large hay bale on SS1 of the Rallye du Mans. Bret was the victim of a high-speed accident right at the finish of SS3 in the Rallye Montagne Noire. Unfortunately, the car did not cross the finish, otherwise he may have been able to repair the car and continue. Justin also ran into difficulty at Montagne Noire. After a strong start moved him as high as 3rd in the A8 class, he damaged an oil cooler in a crash on SS6. He was unable to make it through the stage before the engine expired.



Steven also suffered from self-inflicted wounds at the French Gravel Championships. After setting the fastest time in class R2 on SS1, he ran off in the rain on SS2. The car wasn't badly damaged, but the bonnet flew open without warning later in the stage, resulting in a hard crash into a tree and retirement from leg 1. Leg 2 was a bit sketchy as well, but the points gods took pity on him, thanks to an unusually small field in class R2.

For the week, we were 27th in points and retained 25th spot overall. Best of luck to everyone on a successful week 30!