Day One Update of the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles

The Rallye Aicha des Gazelles is One Day In and Already Big News

Rallye Aicha des Gazelles Kicks Off in Tangier, Morocco

TANGIER, Morocco (March 15, 2010) – Today, 110 teams hailing from 14 countries arrived in Morocco for the ultimate driving and navigation test. All vehicles cleared technical inspections on Saturday in Sete, France at the ceremonial start of the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles in front of thousands of cheering fans.

This year, the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles celebrates its twentieth anniversary and its successful and unique history. The rally is the only all-women’s off-road rally in the world and strictly forbids competitors from using GPS, support teams, cell phones and even modern maps. Keen navigation skill combined with strategic off-road driving is essential for the success of the Gazelles. Read more

EMILY MILLER & WENDY FISHER RETURN TO THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE RALLYE AICHA DES GAZELLES

Emily Miller and Wendy Fisher are gearing up for a second return to the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles. The event takes place across the southern portion of Morocco in some of the country’s most beautiful and challenging terrain. The race officially starts in Sete, France this Saturday, March 13th. The Prologue stage takes place outside Erfoud, Morocco on March 17th and the competition ends with the ceremonial finish in Essaouira, Morocco on March 27th. For a full schedule, check TeamMillerFIsher.com.

The rally is a unique competition where GPS, phones, radios and chase teams are strictly forbidden and teams must use traditional navigation skills to reach over 50 checkpoints in nine-days of driving.

Daily updates on the team will be available from a number of outlets:
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Domination at 100 Acre Wood Rally Cut Short for Pastrana, Mirra Finishes 4th Overall

(February 28, 2010) Subaru driver Travis Pastrana was nearly untouchable at the 2010 Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, convincingly pulling away from a strong field before a seemingly innocuous driving error late in the event damaged his 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI and forced him to retire. Pastrana’s Subaru teammate, BMX and X Games icon Dave Mirra, finished cleanly in 4th overall as he grew more familiar with his new higher-specification Open Class Subaru STI rally car. The 100 Acre Wood Rally, based in and around Salem, Missouri, was the second stop on the six-event 2010 Rally America National Championship series.

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Pastrana and Mirra Competing at The 100 Acre Wood Rally this Weekend

Subaru Rally Team USA’s Travis Pastrana and Dave Mirra to Compete in The 100 Acre Wood Rally this Weekend

(February 24, 2010) Four-time and defending Rally America National Champion Travis Pastrana will compete on Missouri’s high-speed back roads this weekend at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. The Subaru Rally Team USA driver, who leads the Rally America National Championship after a dominating win at the first round last month, will pilot a BFGoodrich Tires-shod 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI with co-driver Christian Edstrom. Pastrana’s Subaru teammate Dave Mirra, the BMX legend turned rally pro, will drive an identically-prepared Subaru in the event and will have veteran co-driver and former national champion Martin Headland sitting in the navigator’s seat Read more

Travis Pastrana Leads After First Day of 100 Acre Wood Rally

Salem, MO (February 26, 2010) — After the first day of the 100 Acre Wood Rally, Subaru Rally Team USA’s Travis Pastrana sits in the overall lead, 22 seconds ahead of Rockstar Energy Rally Team’s Antoine L’Estage. Canada’s L’Estage lost ten seconds to Pastrana after suffering a flat on SS1 and will be pushing to catch him on tomorrow’s stages.

Ken Block is campaigning a new 2011 Ford Fiesta with the Monster World Rally Team and currently follows in third place, 46 seconds behind L’Estage.

Block has been outright dominant at this event in the past, having won the 100 Acre Wood Rally four times in a row. He is seeking a “one for the thumb” win here to even the score with Pastrana for the Rally America Championship lead. Many consider the roads of Missouri to favor Block’s “flat out” driving style with long straights and sweeping turns.

Close behind in fourth place, Bill Bacon from New England is within striking distance 38 seconds behind Block.

In Super Production, the father-son team of Travis and Terry Hanson, command a sizeable class lead and could potentially win back-to-back Super Production overall wins. George Georgakopoulos dropped to fourth in class after holding second position going into the day’s final stages. Wazoo Racing’s Tim Penasack is now in second with Tim Rooney three seconds behind him.

Much like Travis Hanson, 2-Wheel Drive Class master, Chris Duplessis, continues to dominate his class in a 20 year-old 1990 Volkswagen Golf. Duplessis is seeking his second 2-Wheel Drive overall win for the season.

Husband and wife team, Henry and Cynthia Krolikowski, provisionally won the Trespassers Wil Regional Rally while also leading the Regional Rally Championship. The top three teams from each Rally America regional series are invited to the 100 Acre Wood Rally to determine a top regional winner after a weekend of competition.

Despite the surprisingly dry and sunny weather not usually seen at 100 Acre, many notable teams have suffered attrition in the first few stages of the day.

NOS Energy Rally Team, Andrew Comrie-Picard, was slated to drive first on the start order before his engine seized during the shakedown stage. This DNF is a drastic blow to Comrie-Picard’s Championship hopes.

Super Production favorite, Piotr Wiktorczyk, put out a serious engine fire early on SS1 that required another team to drop off their fire extinguisher. The car was not severely damaged from the fire and the crew was OK.

Competition will resume at 10:30am CT on Saturday morning out of Salem. Check www.rally-america.com for live updates, results, photos, and more.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

This year there will be six forest events from Maine to Washington, before X Games 16, plus three new European style rallycross events after X Games — all based in Southern New Jersey.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.

About Rally America
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2010, Rally America will conduct six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Olympia, Wash., to Bethel, Maine, and three European style rallycross events in New Jersey.

Photo Credit: Tim Williams/Rally America

Subaru Rally Team USA signs VP Fuels as Official Fuel Supplier

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
***
Subaru Rally Team USA signs VP Fuels as Official Fuel Supplier
(Febuary 24, 2010) Subaru Rally Team USA is pleased to announce today
the selection of VP Racing Fuels products for their 2010 rally
campaign. The partnership includes VP Fuels being designated the
Official Fuel of Subaru Rally Team USA. Subaru Rally Team USA,
managed by Subaru technical partner Vermont SportsCar, is headed by
four-time defending Rally America National Champion Travis Pastrana
and BMX legend Dave Mirra. The team is scheduled to compete in the
six event 2010 Rally America National Championship, ESPN’s X Games 16
Rally Car Racing event as well as Rally America’s three all-new
European-style RallyCross exhibition events this fall.
VP is the Official Fuel of American LeMans Series, NHRA, SuperDirtCar,
World of Outlaws Sprint Car and Late Model Series among others,
fueling championships in North America and around the globe for over
35 years. VP Racing Fuels was founded in 1974 by Steve Burns, who
initially exhibited his aptitude for R&D in the early 1970’s as a
young racer in San Antonio, Texas. Self-taught in chemistry and
physics, Burns began experimenting with exotic blends of fuel, much to
the dismay of his parents whose garage served as Steve’s laboratory.
VP is now recognized by many as the world leader in race fuel
technology, with a catalog of nearly 70 fuel blends and a growing
roster of VP-fueled champions across the entire spectrum of
motorsports.
“VP Fuel has been extremely successful in every form of motorsports
they have entered and their international blends of rally fuel are
second to none,” said Lance Smith, President of Vermont SportsCar.
”The decision to switch to VP Fuels was made after we assessed the
power their rally car products make and learning of the technical and
developmental support VP could provide our team. We are looking
forward to both the technical and performance gains that VP Fuel can
provide our team as we aim to win a fifth straight Rally America
National Championship title.”
Four-time consecutive and defending Rally America National Champion
Travis Pastrana and his teammate Dave Mirra, the 2008 Rally America
Rookie of the Year, both return to Subaru Rally Team USA and will
pilot 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally cars. Vermont SportsCar will
be working closely with VP Fuels on the build and development of the
next evolution of their Rally America Open Class specification Subaru
Impreza WRX STI rally car to maximize engine performance and power
output.
“Rally Racing is probably the most challenging and most exciting form
of car racing on the planet” said Jim Kelly, VP Fuels Regional Manager
for Europe and the Northeast United States. “VP fuels championship
winning teams in all types of racing and while we are in a lot of
rally cars in Europe it will be particularly gratifying to see the
Subaru rally cars of Travis [Pastrana] and Dave [Mirra] flying down
rally stages with VP in the USA.”
Subaru Rally Team USA heads next to the second round in the Rally
America Championship series, the 100 Acre Wood Rally, scheduled on
February 26 – 27 in southern Missouri.

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc.,
Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT),
DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Vision X, Alpinestars, Motul,
Exedy, VP Fuels and Vermont SportsCar.

For more information on Subaru Rally Team USA, as well as exclusive
photo and video galleries visit rally.subaru.com and for the latest
news follow the team on Twitter: twitter.com/srtusa.
For more information on VP Fuels please visit www.vpracingfuels.com

Rally Car Racing Returns to Summer X Games 16: First 3 Athletes Invited

Rally Car Racing Returns to Summer X Games 16: First 3 Athletes Invited

Rally Car Racing returns for X Games 16 as one of the most exciting events on the schedule. With increased ticket sales and television ratings, Rally Car Racing is a fan favorite.

Drivers from the Rally America National Rally Championship series will once again be invited to compete in ESPN’s Summer X Games 16 competition, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ESPN.
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Subaru Driver Travis Pastrana Skates to Victory at the Sno*Drift Rally

(Feb 1, 2010) Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana and his co-driver Christian Edstrom overcame treacherously icy conditions to take a dominating win at this weekend’s Sno*Drift Rally, round one of the 2010 Rally America National Championship. Pastrana, the defending four-time Rally America National Champion, won by over one minute and thirty seconds driving an open class rally specification 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. In an amazing show of determination and grit, Pastrana completed the event nursing an extremely sore collarbone which he broke in a motocross accident less than a week ago. His Subaru Rally Team USA teammate, BMX legend turned rally pro Dave Mirra, finished 6th overall with co-driver Derek Ringer. Read more

Able Planet Sponsors Rally America to Promote “i am able” Campaign

Wheat Ridge, CO (January 21, 2010) — Able Planet joins the Rally America team as a Contingency Sponsor of the 2010 Rally America National Championship to provide financial support to the organization and award valuable prizes to this year’s competitors who will be eligible to receive a wide range of award-winning headphones and headsets with Able Planet’s patented technologies that provide superior sound quality and speech clarity. Read more

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