PoR Week 48 and 49 Summary – Heading into 2011 with momentum!

[spspears]

Press on! Rallysport finished out the 2010 season with a bang, putting together some of our best individual and team performances of the year. Over the last two weeks, we earned 6 podium finishes, 1 class win, and two 1st place series trophies, without a single DNF.

[YOUTUBE]VUOT4Fz1e4w[/YOUTUBE]

In week 48 we scored our 4th highest points total of the year, tied our best weekly position (9th), and moved into 23rd place out of the 48 stables in the Championships. In week 49 there was only one championship rally, leaving all the stables to fight head-to-head for points. We came away with an 11th place finish – a great result.

Recently, we started tracking not only our weekly points, but also our weekly finishing position in the stable standings. As the chart below shows, we've had steady improvement throughout the year, but especially in the last two months or so. A big part of that has been having at least six guys competing for points every week, and just as importantly, very few DNFs. This is where two guys who joined us late deserve a lot of credit.



Greg became part of the team in week 39 and immediately topped the points chart. Since then he has had one DNF in 10 events – a great start for someone who had no prior experience in the RSRBR championships. Like Greg, Martin came to PoR in week 44 with no experience and has completed all but one of his stable rallies. As I said in an earlier recap, Martin has been devouring stage miles in a variety of cars, competing in up to five events per week – and both of these guys are doing this in addition to road racing. Having completed a year and a half of RSRBR, I know how long it took me to get to the point these guys are already, and I look forward to seeing what they can do in 2011.

The old veterans haven't been doing too badly either. Bryan put on another impressive show at the France Hillclimb Cup finale, which was open only to those who qualified based on performances throughout the year. He was 15th overall and 3rd in class N4 in his ubiquitous white Prodrive Impreza.

[YOUTUBE]V6wWNii2Kvk[/YOUTUBE]

Two other PoR drivers made the podium in week 48. Steven finished 33rd overall in his Peugeot 207 R3T at the Conrad Euregio Rally and was 3rd in class A7. Rick scored a 3rd in the Super 1600 class at the Rallye le Grand Challenge of the France Cup. Steven, Bret, and Rick all topped the 100 point mark, and every PoR driver finished in the top 10 of his class.

[YOUTUBE]_S2qi5PsT_s[/YOUTUBE]

In week 49, seven of us packed up and headed to Aaron's usual stomping grounds in Madagascar. The Tompodakan'i Madagaskara was the third and final event of the Madagascar Dirt & Dust Trophy. It was the last of the year for PoR, and the only event of the week. An even 400 crews showed up for the start, and 268 made it through to the final control. Because the Rallyesim rules allow only three stable drivers to score in any single rally, four of our guys were shut out of the scoring despite good performances.

[YOUTUBE]jYg9S3ewNXI[/YOUTUBE]

The three that did score points all made it to the podium, with Steven scoring the second PoR class win of the year in A5K, driving a Peugeot 106. Aaron, who claimed the stable's first win in the same series earlier this year, finished 3rd in N1 and easily claimed the Dirt & Dust Tour trophy in that class. Rick continued his impressive Super 1600 trial, scoring his second podium in two weeks in his Opel Corsa. Steven also finished in a three-way tie for the Dirt & Dust trophy in class A5K.

[YOUTUBE]QVHIYyZMjlg[/YOUTUBE]

And with that, we close out the inaugural season of Press on! Rallysport. Next week, we'll have a retrospective on 2010 and a look forward to RSRBR 2011, which begins in about five weeks!