Birmingham, Michigan

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October 11th, 2008

RallyCross? Oh, I Remember That

It was back to the dirt for the team's Subaru Outback last weekend after a long break in the RallyCross schedule. The occasion was the National event held over 2 days at Fowlerville Fairground in Southern Michigan. Returning after a stint campaigning his own car was guest driver Bob Martin joining car owner Paul Eddleston in the popular M4 class. With many runs promised care and attention would pay dividends as this would represent many more opportunities to gather cone penalties than usual. Eddleston kept a clean sheet till his 7th run (a record perhaps) but Martin got dirty in runs 5, 6 and 7. Both cars were on the pace in this first session ending the morning in 3rd (Eddleston) and 4th (Martin) behind super clean Scott Harvey and Ohio visitor Orion Fairman.

The evening session changed little as everyone hit something and the times were very close but the next day's final session proved Decisive. Eddleston had a mysterious first run 20% off the pace which basically finished his bid for a podium. Martin faired better with some fast but untidy runs ending the day in second place behind Scott Harvey in his Eclipse. Fairman, despite blowing his engine the previous day and completing his runs in a borrowed SA car, finished a valiant 3rd place, 7 seconds ahead of Eddleston. Justin Kollien salvaged fastest time of the day on Sunday Making up for his 5th place after missing all of Saturday's runs due to work commitments.

Next Outing Bob's Family Raceway at night!

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October 9th, 2008

Mixed Bag at Black River Stages

The weekend at Black River Stages contained both highs and lows for the two car team. On only stage 3 the TIMAlba Rallysport crew of Allan and Brandt when off on a slippery right hander only yards from the finish. Stuck, they had to wait for their teammates Sladovich and Westcott to drag them back on to the stage. It was then they discovered the bent lower control arm. Normally, with service the next thing on the schedule, replacing a control arm is not such a big deal, if you have a spare one. Unfortunately the scrounged one was for an STI and try as they might, the service crew could not make it work so withdrawing was the only option.

Thankfully Sladovich and Westcott soldiered on in their Talon despite seriously thrashing the car over many of the jumps on the stage. One particularly heavy landing blew out the rear struts, dislodged the battery, threw one of the heater vents on to Westcott's lap and bent a wheel. Service was already going to be a busy affair as the front brake pads had disintegrated so you can imagine the mayhem when they brought the car back. Regardless, the service crew managed to put the car back together and the crew responded with a 9th overall finish and 1st in class. A great example of why we press on regardless.

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