This weekend will kick off the 2010 Rally America National Championship and there are some amazing changes that happened in the off season that promises to make not only the Sno* Drift Rally amazing, but the Rally America series as a whole.
Sno* Drift starts in Atlanta Michigan and runs throughout the northern part of the state. The teams will see many different types of snowy conditions including: snow, ice, and frozen gravel. The event is tough and usually claims the some of the best the series has to offer. Last year Travis Pastrana used the event as the launch pad for yet another consecutive Rally America championship as then teammate Ken Block failed to finish. This feat may not take place this year as it has recently been announced that Pastrana has broken his collar bone in a biking accident. There has been no release on whether or not he plans to compete in the event. This could be the first of a number of issues stacked against Travis this year.
Ken Block has left the friendly confines of the Subaru Rally Team USA, and taking his place is very talented teammate Dave Mirra. Mirra has been working on his race craft in the super production class and has now been called up to compete in the powerful open class. Block on the other hand has launched a team that will compete in rally races all over the world. The Monster World Rally Team will now receive powerful factory backing from the Ford Motor Company and the already dominant Ford Fiesta. The Fiesta which has taken the rally world by storm since its debut in the X-Games last year has already taken two out of two events globally this season. Ford hopes that Block’s aggressive driving style will complement the new machine.
There are a number of other changes and entrants that will be featured this weekend and we will be covering all of those juicy little tidbits all weekend. Keep it here at the Paddock for daily results for the season opener.
Go Ford!! The video of the practice stage was AWESOME!