A Reconfigured 2097 Racing Tackles the Rim of the World Rally!

On Friday May 6th and Saturday May 7th, 2097 Racing finished the Rim of the World Rally, the most prestigious rally in the Southern California area. Driver Erik Christiansen took flawless instructions from rookie co-driver Amy Floyd to complete the 80 stage miles in what will be remembered as the roughest Rim of the World Rally in recent history. The heavy winter rains this year took their toll on the forest roads, forcing canceling of some stages and shortening of others. The organizers pulled through with several weekends of road repair and put together a world-class event. The team finished 47th overall of 58 entries (and 54 finishers) in Friday’s event, and 27th overall of 30 finishers in Saturday’s rally. Erik and Amy relied on the commitment of their crew members, Michele Cyr (Lead Structural Analyst), Seema Sutarwala (Chief Geologist) and Jason Turner (Team Health and Safety Officer), to keep car #872 in top condition. The skills of their crew members ensured that the car not only finished the grueling event without so much as a flat tire, but was also successfully driven back to Manhattan Beach the next morning.

The event started Friday night with an exhibition run around the super special stage, a closed loop set up in front of grandstands at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds just as the sun was setting and rain started drizzling. While the stage was not timed, it did give the team a chance to try out the 2097 Racing trademark La Cucaracha air horns. From the fairgrounds, the teams went out to the forest stages, running the famous Del Sur Stage in and out before finishing for the night. The team completed the stages without drama as Amy quickly settled in to reading course instructions from the route book and Erik relaxed behind the wheel after a seven month hiatus since the last event (Prescott).

Saturday morning started bright and early as the teams transited 50 miles out to the stages near Gorman. Due to the intense rain that week, one of the stages had to be canceled. Unfortunately, this was scheduled to be the only forest stage of the event accessible to spectator. During the Gorman stages, the team passed several cars that had retired on the rough roads, but fortunately the team finished and transited back to service without incident.

After the first service (a forty minute break from racing where crews can repair damage and make adjustments to the cars), the teams ran through the super special stage at the fairgrounds where our air horn was well received by the fans. We then transited south to the Messenger Flats and Magic Mountain stages, which are run in both directions. Magic Mountain is primarily a tarmac stage with patches of gravel and Messenger Flats is 100% gravel, so the surface changes provided quite a challenge. Combined with potholes, landslides and scenic (read intimidating) exposures, these stages were the real heart of the rally. By the end of Magic Mountain, the car that started a minute behind us had caught up, so we waved them ahead before checking in to the start of Messenger Flats. However, by the end of Messenger Flats, we were on their tail! I guess our car had a better gravel set-up and they had a decent tarmac set-up.

After another service break followed by a final run through the super special stage in front of packed grandstands, the cars went back out to Del Sur for another nighttime run in and out. The very last stage turned out to be the most eventful, when at the very start of the 7.8 mile long stage, the throttle became stuck in the wide open position, as if the gas pedal was held to the floor! While some argue that this is the correct way to drive a rally car, Erik made liberal use of the brake pedal and finished the stage two minutes slower than the previous run. With some quick repairs on the side of the road after the stage, Erik managed to get the car into drivable condition for the final transit.

With their finish in this event, Erik is currently in 12th place in the California Rally Series Open Two Wheel Drive Class Driver’s championship, while Amy is 10th in the Co-Driver’s championship. The next event on the calendar is the Treeline Rally, based in West Covina on July 16th, 2005. Treeline is known for being the tightest and twistiest event on the calendar, which should narrow the gap between the two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive cars. Hope to see you there!

For more information on the Rim of the World Rally, including results from the event, see http://www.rimoftheworldrally.com. Highlights from the Rim of the World Rally will be broadcast on the Speed Channel’s Motorsports Mondial. Check your local listings.