Gran Premio de La Bañeza
The last road race in Spain witch take placea every august on the streets of La Bañeza – which is a small town in the north of Spain. This was in 2007.
The Ridebook: The Prohibition Tour
Check out the whole Prohibition Tour story at: ridebook.harley-davidson.com/#!/prohibitionTour Music by Butch Walker and the Black Widows
Oregon Trail Rally: Day 2
Oregon Trail Rally: Day 2 – by Eric Gearhardt
After Friday night’s spectator stage at Portland International Raceway it was off to The Dalles Oregon. Located 85 miles east of Portland this is the starting point of Day 2 of the Oregon Trail Rally. We made the trek and even though I have been shooting media for quite some time, it has been a tradition of ours to go camping along the Columbia River. Yes, I am one of “those” fans that wants to experience, rain, cold, trains (trains every hour, blowing there horn at every crossing)….and an occasional adult beverage as part of our experience.
Arriving just after midnight at our favorite spot, Horse Thief Lake, the winds were howling at more than 25 mph, which made setting up the tent out of the question. So I hopped in the passenger seat and crawled in my sleeping bag to try to get a few hours of sleep before the racing started in the morning.
Much to my surprise, as I woke at first light and gearing up for the day, I found friends that were camping near me and we had a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, and sausage. A perfect way to start the day!
The first spectator stage for the day was at Fir Mountain which has general parking in a field and a short shuttle ride to the location where you can watch the rally cars race from either side of the road. Cars make a left hand corner coming into view coming down a fairly steep grade where they dodge a hay bale chicane, which subsequently kicks out the rear end of the car. As they continue, they end up drifting out past the spectators spraying dirt, dust and gravel everywhere! It was awesome and it was quite the show of flying dirt and rocks!!
Fir Mountain has become a pretty popular spectator location. Dick Hannah Subaru has made it a tradition to supply hotdogs for all spectators. The tradition started out as a Steak BBQ for employees at Rally, and when the employees were a no show. Subaru Shawn cubed up the steaks put them on Skewers and served the small crowd. It’s an on going joke that Dave Mirra loves the Hot dogs so much he stops by yearly. In reality there’s a part of the stage where he tends to go off, being towed out at the Fir Mountain Spectator Stage.
Dave Mirra’s Stop in at Fir Mountain 2011.
Fir Mountain Spectator Stage
Sticking around for the second running of Fir Mountain I ventured up the road to get some lookout shoots over the valley.
As the last cars past the Fir Mountain stage it was down the road back to the car and off to Boyd Road. Getting the opportunity to drive on part of a stage for Sundays event you get to see what the cars have to contend with. Driving off the main road turning past the old school house onto a Dirt road. It was a rough ride even in my AWD Celica. Deep ruts and non packed dirt tossed dust and silt into the air at just 10mphs. Turning into a farmers field cresting a hill you come across the parking and more spectators. Cars come out of a sweeper drop down a carousel then venture back up a hill and finally crest with a great view of the the mountains in the background as they leave your sight.
Adam Yeoman blazing new trails as he came around the corner a little too hot.
As the day wrapped up and came to and end it was back to Dufur. Venturing past an old barn I had to stop and take a few photos.
Sunsetting at Dufur’s parc Expose’
As the Night wrapped up and the rumble of rally cars rolled off for the evening. It was time to head back down the hill to the campsite. As some of you know I’m a bit of a space nerd, shooting the lunar eclipse on my birthday in Hawaii. Well Saturday night of Rally was another lunar oddity. A Super moon: or when the moon is within 90% of its closest proximity to the earth. Causing it too appear larger. That night we also passed thru Haley’s comets trail leading to shooting stars thru out the nights sky.
Cruise for the Cure
High Desert Trails: A Great Day of Rally!
Just Southwest of Ridgecrest California, on a light breezy Saturday morning with the sun keeping it around 80F, the teams unpacked trailers and setup. Radio crews and volunteers had been busy getting ready for the four new miles of road that would bring competitors excitement and smiles for the rest of the day. This new section included jumps, twisty turns, and trees. Stage 1 – ‘Gold Rush’ took drivers and co-drivers on a 14.3 mile ride of everything this rally has to offer: 1600 foot elevation changes, blind crests, flowing fields, cattle guards, fast sections, technical, and twisty. Drivers reported that they simply loved it!
Coming off a small rally hiatus, it was unclear if Keith Jackson and Marra Estep would be able to pick up their 2009 USRC winning pace. Winning Stage 1 with more then a 45 second gap quickly confirmed that there was no issues getting right back into maximum attack with their Subaru Impreza WRX. Their competition was Bill Holmes and Sean Gallagher in their Ford Raptor followed closely by Jon Burke and Zachary Dickinson in anouther Subaru Impreza WRX. Burke would have problems with the car and not continue after service. This left Holmes in 2nd, a minute and a half behind Jackson, and well over 3 minutes ahead of the CRS GT cars. Having some brake problems on the last stage, Cem Akdeniz and Mustafa Samli would take 2nd in Open 4WD and 6th overall.
(The audio is pretty rough, but the driving is not. This stage is called “Gold Rush” and it’s got everything rallying in the high desert has to offer. Climb 1600 feet in 6 miles, fast and flowing down hill flat out, and then tight and twisty back up into the trees! Jon Burke & Zachary Dickinson were setting fast times until a mechanical problem kept them in service after stage 4. Up-Two-Mountains Rally Team @ The 2012 High Desert Trails Rally.)
Running in Subaru Imprezas, Alex Rademacher and Jeana Yi were close with Leelyn Pritchard and Logan Mineer all day. After service it became not only a battle for CRS GT, but a battle for third overall. Radamacher turned up the pace in the afternoon and pulled into the lead. Pritchard maintained bragging rights by beating him on Stage 8 – The DirtFish Power Stage! Co-Driver Logan Mineer said “I’ll admit, it was nice holding that champagne for a bit, even if I knew it was Keith’s all along.” Michael Carnes & Reza Yazdani were back again this year in their Audi Quattro to take 3rd in CRS GT.
In 2WD Eddie Fiorelli & Tom Smith set an outstanding pace for the first stage in their CRS-2 VW Golf, taking the 4th fastest time, and surprising a number of turbo 4WD cars. They would keep 1st in CRS-2 all day, ahead of Sean Lane & Christian Coulter in their Dodge Neon, and Javier Olivares & Brock Heinz in their Mitsubishi Gallant, but would be beaten overall by a Performance Stock VW Golf driven by the experienced Tony Chavez & Raquel Salas. Chavez would go on to set fast times and secure 1st in P-Stock and 5th overall! 2nd in P-Stock would be Sarkis Mazmanian & Arin Hovsepian in an Acura Integra.
The DirtFish Power Stage spurred on the competition to the finish. There was no stopping 4WD Driver Keith Jackson and Co-Driver Marra Estep all day. They won every stage, and this one was no exception, grabbing the top prize from Leelyn Pritchard and Logan Mineer. Bill Holmes and Sean Gallagher also stayed in complete control of 2WD to emerge victorious and take the $100 from Tony Chavez & Raquel Salas. Jackson and Holmes then celebrated with a spray of champagne.
Teams are off to Rally Idaho for the next event in the California Rally Series Championship on June 9th & 10th. See you next year at High Desert Trails when they celebrate their 40th anniversary!
BMW M3 – It’s Electric!
This is the 2012 Pikes Peak entry for EV West. 1995 BMW M3 (currently) running on a Net-Gain HV11 and a Evnetics Shiva. For more information please visit evwest.com or visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/electricVehicleWest
EVD Open Drift – May 6, 2012
Here are a few shots from Last weeks Evergreen Speedway Open drift. These open drifts are great for the novice driver and pros a like to either get their skills honed or helping dial in their car. Programs like these help keep drifting off the streets and creates a safe fun environment.
Newly FD Licensed Kory Keezer was out getting more seat time in his new LS powered S13 coupe. Kory was looking very solid all day long. Unfortunately he suffered engine problems that ended his day a little early.
One of the local favorite Canadian drivers Ian Fournier was on hand tearing up tires in his VK powered R32 Skyline.
Ben Whyte buttoned up his V8 powered S13 build and made his way out to the track to work out some bugs.
Another driver who ran into troubles early in the day was Galen Callahan. 
First thoughts were Galen spun a rod bearing, but later on that night he reported that his head lifted and separated from the block.
Despite all the problems drivers were running into spirits stayed high in the pits. Old school drifter or brand new to the track one thing in common is everyone is out to have fun doing what they love.
Preview – Formula Drift Atlanta 2012
RMR Formula Drift Round 2 Road Atlanta Rhys Millen 2012
Recap of the 2012 Formula Drift Round 2 Road Atlanta with Rhys Millen. Finished 5th for the weekend and moved into 4th in points.
High Side Save
Rider: Genki Hagata #422
AMA round 3 West Coast MotoJam – Infineon Raceway, Incedent durring Supersport Qualifying 2 on Saturday morning.
From Genki Hagata – in his own words-
“Saturday morning, in Qualifying 2, I came in to make a few suspension adjustments after about 4 laps, and as I went back out, the fun began. I was on my out-lap and as I came up through Turn-3a the tires didn’t agree with how much throttle and lean angle I was asking them for and the rear tire slipped out quickly. Just as quickly as it lost grip, it regained it, resulting in the bike catapulting me out of the seat and over the front tire! I remember thinking “this is going to hurt” then thinking, “there’s NO way I’m going to crash…again!” the next things that happened are only believable because there is video evidence!”
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