Category: Rally

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Rally – Mikko Hirvonen Announces Retirement

Mike Shaw

Mikko Hirvonen is one of the fastest drivers and one of the most beloved personalities the World Rally Championship has ever seen. He broke the mold of how most westerners saw Finns, as Mikko was unafraid to show his raw emotions and talk in detail about his successes and failures to the media. He also has one heck of a sense of humor that was well displayed in his travel videos he did with co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen in their first season with Citroen.  By far Mikko’s  greatest successes came from the…

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Red Bull GRC Final – Live via RedBull.TV Streaming Today at 5PM Pacific

Mike Shaw

One thing many of use fans have been patiently waiting for is live streaming of Red Bull GRC events, and finally today for the championship deciding round at the The LINQ in Las Vegas we will get our wish.  By utilizing RedBull.TV, it means all web browsers and mobile devices and even Chromecast connected to your TV can get full HD quality streaming, and even the ability to re-play the action later.  The usability of RedBull.TV is a far cry from NBC Sports Live Extra web application in all kinds of technical…

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Rally – Exclusive Interview with John Hoyenga & Chris Duplessis of Nameless Performance Rally Team

Mike Shaw

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadThe guys at Nameless Performance invited me out to Portland Speed Industries to see their 2.0 version of their GT-86 rally car project.  It was a heck of a beast of a machine the first time around, but as you can see from the photos, they’ve done some dramatic changes. I sat down with Nameless Performance co-owner/everything man John Hoyenga and their new official driver Chris Duplessis to chat about all the work they’ve done since the GT-86 debut in 2013.  John gives us…

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Track Details Emerge for Red Bull GRC Final at The Linq in Las Vegas

Mike Shaw

With the large gap since round 9 at DirtFish Rally School, we’ve already known for some time that next week’s final round of the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship would be the championship decider.  Mathematically Joni Wiman, Ken Block, Nelson Piquet Jr., and Scott Speed all have a shot at taking home the crown, and GRC didn’t have to falsely add final event “double points” to make it happen (ahem…F1 and IndyCar).  To add to the excitement, the final round takes place in Las Vegas during the “so famous it’s infamous” (old “Friends”…

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NASA Rally Sport Releases 2015 Schedule

Mike Shaw

I can’t help but get behind this method of releasing next year’s NASA Rally Sport racing schedule.  Check out the video, and the listed schedule below.  Even more handy, here’s a link to their iCal calendar too. [youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/3AeoJdtPtho”]   Rally School / Rally Cross 2/21/15 February 3.6 months away Ridgecrest, CA Sandblast Rally 3/7/15 March 4.1 months away Cheraw, SC Empire State Performance Rally 4/25/15 April 5.7 months away Rock Hill, NY High Desert Trails Rally 5/2/15 May 5.9 months away Ridgecrest, CA Empire Hill Climb 5/30/15 May 6.8…

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PR: Jason Smith and Matt Brandenburg Earn National Rally Championship Titles at Black River Stages

Mike Shaw

Harrisville, New York (October 26, 2014) The woods of Upstate New York played host to two days of intense rally action last month. Black River Stages, the 2014 NASA National Rally Championship Event was held in the towns of Harrisville and Croghan on September 20-21st. A big field of rally teams from all over the country showed up to see just who would have what it takes to be the fastest on these twisty and sometimes muddy stages. Six qualifying events across the country led up to this winner-take-all event.…

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WRC Live Radio – Rally Spain 2014

Mike Shaw

If you enjoy listening to live coverage with Becs Williams, Colin Clark, and Lisa O’Sullivan like I do, the WRC Live Radio USA on-air times for WRC Spain are as follows: Thursday 9:00 AM Pacific (12:00 PM Noon Eastern) Thursday 11:15 PM Pacific (Friday 2:15 AM Eastern) Friday 11:45 PM Pacific (Saturday 2:45 AM Eastern) Saturday 9:00 PM Pacific (Friday 12:00 AM Eastern) Tune in via wrc.com or via the WRC Android and Apple iTunes apps.  

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2014 Mt. Hood Rally – Full Recap

Mike Shaw

The 16 car field for the Mt. Hood Rally included many local veterans and some novices eager to take on the 6.14 mile “Road 17” just south of Hood River.  I drove the stage in my passenger car and it was amazingly fast and flowing with only a few long sweepers that would require some good timing as to when it tightens and opens back up.  I had thought it might have had a few twisty bits, but not really.  The fastest person on this stage is the one that…

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2014 Mt. Hood Rally – Latest Updates

Mike Shaw

This page will be updated throughout the event with updated text of driver quotes, stage times, and if possible audio clips from the drivers as well.  Unfortunately initial tests by Mike and Paula Gibeault of rallydata.com showed an extremely weak data signal, so times and quotes will likely be slow in coming. Live Text main site   SATURDAY: &nbsp 14:20 SS3 Completed and cars starting SS4 after another re-seed. Most have been steadily improving their times now that the road has been swept clean, although #271 Matt Tabor was a…

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RallySafe Testing at Lake Superior Performance Rally

Mike Shaw

If you follow international rally racing, you may have heard of RallySafe.  The RallySafe system is an on-board electronic device that can instantly alert safety crews and oncoming cars of emergencies.  In addition to the safety aspect, this system also provides live timing, including split times and GPS location information.  Here’s a description of the RallySafe system from their web site: The RallySafe unit is a small electronic module fitted to a vehicle for use by the navigator and driver. It incorporates a full colour display, key pad, accelerometers, a…

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