I moved to an inside view for this rally, and I’m pleased to see that my steering wheel antics are not that bad. Two hands on the wheel except to shift. You can see the tach and how pinned I had it up the hills. Right around 12 minutes in, Christine gets a little nervous as we slide a bit for a caution right 4.

2008 North Nevada Rally - SS4 - 108.6MB WMV
Low-res preview of SS4

And as a little bonus:
2008 North Nevada Rally - outside hairpin video - 12.1MB WMV

Ben Simpson took some fab shots of the rally - check out his gallery here!

The Rallynotes.com team makes this their first stop on a trip continuing on to the USRC Rally Idaho in July. Driver Kristopher Marciniak explains. “It didn’t make sense to drive all the way up to Reno and back to Southern California, and then head up to Idaho three weeks later. As we really want to support this CRS regional event, we made plans to do both rallies in one round trip.” To do so, the team will instead tow to Boise, Idaho following the North Nevada Rally on Sunday, then fly home and back later. “Needless to say we booked our flights early and we’re saving a lot of money over the cost of towing and time off work. With the cost of fuel you can’t expect to get there for cheap anymore; it now has to be budgeted like tires and parts, but we’ll be out on the stages!” added Kris.

Co-Driver Christine Marciniak started her season early by co-driving for John Black in his recently purchased Ford Ranger pickup at the Plan B rally in Ridgecrest, California. “I was more than happy to help John, and get some early season seat time. Our goal was to have fun and finish, but we also managed to go fast and place first in class. It was also a great opportunity to navigate for a different driver in a different type of vehicle.”

The Dodge Rally Neon will be in top shape, driving on new Tuff Rims! These strengthened steel wheels use laser cut rings to support the outer and inner edges of the rim. This design will help prevent punctures, leaks and damage to the rally tires. For those of you who missed the silver wheels on the car, the new Tuff Rims have been powder coated to match!

One trip for two rallies means everything will need to be accounted for and triple checked. The team will need to make sure extra spares and parts are packed for the long haul. Amateur radio APRS tracking will be on and the Rallynotes.com team progress can be tracked before, during and after the event. Check out: http://rallynotes.com/rallycar-tracking/

Rallynotes.com is ready to have some fun at the North Nevada Rally!

Getting back on track here: John said getting a HANS and helmet for me would be no problem - he would be buying one for “his co-driver” (whomever that would be) to use for this and future rallies. I have to say, that was a super-generous thing for John to do! As soon as Kris and I got home from the rallycross, I emailed the other teams, and everyone told me that not only did they not mind losing me from their crew, but that they would be excited to race with/against me at Plan B. So I gathered my co-driving items together, made plans for the drive up, and I was pretty much ready to rally!

We got up at 5:00 AM for the drive up to Ridgecrest. Since the car has pretty much been packed the night before, we were ready to leave right away, with a minor detour just off the 405 to pick up Amy. Having another person in the car made the trip go by pretty fast, and we were in Ridgecrest a lot earlier than we were hoping by 8:30, just as registration was about to open. The process went pretty smoothly, but things were a bit more mis-mashed than I am used to. I had to move all my things to other vehicles (usually the Neon has my stuff pre-packed and ready to go), I didn’t have all the documentation to take care of registration for my driver nor did I have any pre-filled out forms (I tried, but they apparently are no longer available online), I hadn’t made up a movement plan (I wanted to, but with my crazy work schedule I hadn’t had any time to do so), and this was the first time I’d known in advance that I’d be co-driving for someone else.

Tangent part 2: This is NOT (contrary to popular belief) the first time I have co-driven for someone other than Kris. If you’ve read my bio, you know that back in 2005, Michael Taylor asked me to co-drive for him on the Sunday Super Special at what was then the Ramada Express Rally, because his son had to leave to get back to school for finals. I said yes, but had to borrow his son’s suit & helmet, and hence became “the sexiest Steven Taylor anyone had seen.” This is important to the story here because Michael Taylor sold his truck to John Black last year, and at Plan B we joked a) that I had co-driven for 3 different people, but only in 2 different cars and b) that a co-driver had not originally been part of the things that had “come with the truck.”

But registration (for the most part) went smoothly, so I got myself over to the tech area. I had to give John my driving suit for him to pass tech, and I also had to sign the CRS Production Classes Meeting sheet because John had to go look for something. (That was my first time I had to do that too, usually I don’t even go to the tech inspection OR production classes meeting.) After a minor problem getting through tech, we were able to pack everything up to head over to the motorsports area in Ridgecrest where the actual Rally(sprint)s would be taking place. We arrived just after Paula Gibeault’s recce` class started. As an experienced co-driver who has only run notes and run recce` several times myself, I was flattered when Paula asked for my input. I showed the group the pillow I was holding and planning on using to place my writing surface on so my writing would not become unintelligible during the two-pass recce`, and told everyone doing this for the first time not to go overboard - just write down the most major turns.

Since John would have had to unhitch his trailer to be able to run recce` in his truck, I asked around for anyone that had extra room in their vehicle. Odi & Amy said yes, and so we got in their Subaru for the two passes for both the forward and reverse courses. The course was easy to notate, and John was pretty easy-going, so I noted as close to “Jemba-style” as possible to get him used to hearing notes at his first event as a driver. Before I knew it, we were done with recce` and it was time to change into our suits and get to the drivers’ meeting. After getting our timecard and checking our in-time for the first stage, I went over to get my event t-shirt, another unexpected rally moment as they were provided complimentary for all the competitors from the motorsports park owners.

John and I got in the truck and drove the twenty feet to our place in line. Kris came over and took some pictures of me highlighting my notes, and helped me get the HANS (lovingly referred to as “stupid neck thing” for the rest of the day) both on my shoulders and attached to my helmet. I’m sure I could have figured it out eventually myself, especially if I’d had time to practice, but it was so nice to have my hubby to help me with it! Kris took some more team pictures of me and John in the car, and at the stage start - after waiting nearly an hour to do so! (Since John was a rookie driver we started last.) I told John our primary goal for the day would be to accomplish the first two “Fs” of rally - having FUN and FINISHing.

John did a great job, and we accomplished the first “F” on our very first stage! I did not have to try hard to be positive and encouraging. I just had a huge smile on my face, one that I probably haven’t had in a long time since I usually get pretty serious in the car with Kris. It was almost an hour until the check in for the next stage, so we pulled back in line and removed our helmets and got out of the car. I left the helmet and HANS attached until the end of the day, since I remembered some people recommended doing that. We got to shoot the breeze with everyone else in line between pretty much every stage, which was a lot of fun too. As we pulled up for the second run at the same course, I told John of our secondary goal - to go faster and improve on our stage time. I was so pleased and excited as we pulled into the finish control - we were able to beat our time by 21 seconds! Just two stages, and we had already accomplished the third “F” of rally - going FAST! After that second stage, it was time for service, but we didn’t have to do anything to John’s truck, so we got something to eat. The third stage was in reverse, so I had to make sure my notes were properly highlighted, and before long it was time to go. The third stage was pretty uneventful, but the on fourth stage (repeat of stage 3 and end of the “day” event) we passed the only other car in our CRS class. I was super excited now, because both John and I had no preconceptions about being able to beat Michel Hoche-Mong in his truly Group-2 car, and we were able to fulfill the fourth rally “F” which is FIRST, and all four “Fs” in John’s very first rally!

There was a midday break between the “day” and “night” events, so we all got some food from the motorsports park owners, who had stepped up to fill in for the Habitat for Humanity people who’s originally volunteered but fell ill at the last minute. It was really great to see Darren North again, and finally meet Mark Bullock, whom we’d heard so much about. I really wish we had had more time to talk to both of them about the property and present and future plans.

Soon enough, it was time for the second event, so we gathered together back in our cars and back in line. John had gotten the A/C up and running in the truck, so we were able to sit with our suits on in line in the cool breeze of air. This second event was uneventful for us for the most part, but there were tons of rocks pulled up and into the middle of the course that I knew would have been a problem for Ze’Neon. I could tell John was getting more and more comfortable with his rallycar, and even though it was a little on the edge for me, I still laughed at our small excursion into the shrubbery. It was an awesome feeling when we pulled into the final finish control of the evening, knowing I’d helped a novice driver finish not one, but two of his first events, and that we’d been able to accomplish more than just one goal in those two events.

Kris and I gathered everything together, and left with John following us back to the hotel. I really wanted to shower before the awards ceremony, but we noticed that the pizza had just arrived so we immediately went down to grab some hot food. We stayed as the awards ceremony followed shortly thereafter. I accepted the actual cash prizes for John, saying “thanks for the ride” and just handing him the envelope. You could tell it had been a long day because Denise McMahon kept calling our class “Preferred Stock” (because the abbreviation for the CRS Performance Stock class is “Perf Stk”). This was quite funny to John, Kris, and myself (as well as to a bunch of others, I’m sure) because we would prefer if it was a truly stock class only.

Our evening ended shortly after the celebration of awards, and since it had been such a long day for us, Kris and I took the time to sleep in and take a leisurely drive home the next day. Thanks again to John Black for the experience and opprotunity, and to the Stage Notes Radio crew for another fun event together!

Here’s my preliminary to-do list. A little bit of welding, a bunch of new parts and replaced items, and some cosmetic items. I have a little less then 2 months to get the car buttoned up for the big trip to North Nevada and Idaho.

Underbody:
Front skis need to be re-enforced and tied to the frame.
New front skidplate made out of 6061 3/16″ Aluminum.
Side sill angle iron needs to be replaced and re-drilled.
Front tow hook re-attached.
Rear strut towers cracking on fold - need to weld.
Build gas tank molded skidplate.
Add bars that support the gas tank skidplate.

Suspension:
Replace ball joints.
Replace control arms.
Check wheel bearings.
Flatten front strut towers. (Starting to bubble. If that makes sense.)
Install new Billstein strut inserts.

Drivetrain:
Replace left axle and find a right axle for spare.
Send 3.94 transmission out to be rebuilt.

Safety:
Fire Extinguisher re-certify.
Tighten bracket or replace.
SFI padding check.
New headlights.

On this segment of Rally Tech, I tackle the age old question that every aspiring rally driver has to decide:
Buy it or build it?

The easiest and fastest way to get into this sport is to buy a used rally car. It’s pretty much always a buyers market. Deals pop up on specialstage.com, ebay, and even craigslist from time to time. You can find yourself a tried and true rally gem, or if you’re not careful - someone’s else’s DNF.

Let’s talk about the pro’s and con’s - and what to watch out for.
The price: If you have the cash you can get yourself a two wheel drive rally car and a garage full of spares and tires for $5 - $8,000 dollars. It’s usually worth it. Even a car that needs a few mechanical and safety upgrades is going to be cheaper then one you build yourself. A good rule of thumb for building a car is a budget of around $8,000. So that’s the price of the car + $8K = Your rally car and all your gear. (helmets, suits, etc) This formula works for most of the classes except for open. The sky is the limit for an open class car and I don’t recommend starting at the top. Watch out for cars that break that formula. For example a heavily used SRT-4 might run you $11,000 - so in rally trim expect to pay $19,000 - $20,000 for a car like that. Ask a lot of questions about exactly what spares you are getting should the list price be over $20,000.

Tested and ready: Used rally cars are sometimes lost projects, cars that were used a couple of times, or cars that have been beaten over pretty good. If the car has never passed tech and rallied, there may be a whole long list of small items that need to be installed. These can add up quick. Even if it just needs a rally computer, triangles, fire suppression, first aid, and an intercom - that’s $600 worth of extras and a few hours of labor to install them correctly. Are you positive the cage will pass tech? Cage work is $100 an hour typically. You may consider looking at a car that has done stages before, but not too many stages. A car with more then 10 rallies on it may be in for a tear down. Rally is unrelenting abuse to the chassis and cracks and broken welds are hard to spot when the engine is in and the skid-plates are on.

Meet your new friend - the seller: Some people realize how much of a project this is, and some don’t. It’s like a complicated train set. A seller should not just drop a box of train parts at your feet and say “There ‘ya go!” You are going to want to be able to contact him after the sale. The sale will be final - but figuring out why the fuse to the wipers was re-routed to an un-used switch under the dashboard is going to be critical. I once sold a lightly modified WRX and was surprised that I forgot I installed an OEM looking switch to enable and dis-able the ABS. This is a perfectly normal modification for the ice racer & rallycrossers out there. The new owner called and was confused when his ABS light came on when he toggled this unlabeled switch. “Ohh - Yeah…” I thought and then explained it’s function - apologizing for not mentioning it. So, Make sure the seller knows that you’ll want to contact him for information after the sale.

Non-mechanical people: You may want a ready to run rally car for the sheer fact that you are not a mechanic. This is perfectly acceptable. Keep in mind that this car is going to need more then an oil change and a new set of tires after the race. Do you have a friend / mechanic that will help you take this on? Are you ready to dole out $100 an hour on rebuilding suspension and mangled bits?

So how about the other side of the fence? The long way. Build it.
That cost thing: As I mentioned, the $8,000 rule - you can now set your budget. What’s nice about building a car is that you can spread out the payments. Instead of getting a loan, liquidating your 401K, or putting off that engagement - you can plan to spend $500 a month for the next 16 months. When I was building my car I found that just about every month I could spend $500. Rally computer, intercom, seats, helmets, lights, etc, etc. In the beginning I got away with keeping the car in the driveway, but eventually you will long for a heated garage to replace the tranny, or fix a broken axle. Whether you buy it or build it - you’ll always need a place to store it.

Need it but can’t find it: People often ask me this question: “Kris - Would [name of car] be a good rally car?” As I’ve seen everything from a Ford Festiva rally car to a 1960’s Corvette Stingray rally car, my answer is this: You can turn ANY car into a rally car. Is it a good idea? Who knows? Talk to people that run cars like the one you want to buy or build. Are the parts cheap? What breaks ALL the time? Did you just happen to open a portal to the 1960’s in your garage? Car guys are usually pretty straight about this stuff. The rear shock towers of Golf, the wheel bearings on a Neon - you’ll get a clear picture of what parts you’ll be ordering or scouring the junk-yards for. There is a lot of times where you’ll want to buy a particular type of car that just isn’t on the used market. You can wait it out, you can be less picky, or you can build it yourself.

Learning it all: Mikko Hirvonen is known for his WRC performance driving for Subaru and Ford. Did you also know that he’s a capable mechanic? This ability has served him well on the stages - keeping his complicated rally car moving while other drivers simply gave up. It’s often rather handy to know just how something goes together when it all falls apart at a rally. Sure, this takes more time and there are lots of things to learn but don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Know where your limits are too. I won’t port heads or balance crankshafts myself and I fear when opening up transmissions that the ‘magic’ will fall out. Leave the cage building to the cage builders and get lots of advice on the stuff you think you can handle.

I hope that gives you a better perspective in the choice between buying or building. Whatever you decide - I wish you good luck in obtaining your rally car.
This has been Rally Tech - I’m Kris Marciniak for Stage Notes Radio

Turns out that the Dodge Neon (and I’m sure most cars) doesn’t like it when the camshaft position sensor stops reporting its position. After pulling the codes it reported this error and sourcing a replacement from Harry’s garage, it’s fixed! I ditched the Blazer and drove it home.

Tomorrow - We’ll be at Cars & Coffee in Irvine bright and early!

Getting the car together for this car show was a good excuse to make a list of all that needs to be done over the next couple of months. If you haven’t seen it, we updated the Upcoming Events page. Our first event this year will be the all new North Nevada Rally!

I have been asked by several people to provide a turn-key kit for rally. I only want to make enough to cover the cost of my time and shipping. I provided all the links to various items - there are no doubt other ways to build one of these - but I feel this would be your best bet. If you have the ability, I encourage you to go out on your own or modify what I have here. Seeing 10+ cars at a rally with APRS beacons on a big screen in service is my goal. Following the action of a US national level rally from the internet would be cool too.

We’ll be out there again this year to instruct and support this great program. Christine will help with the co-driver class, notes calling, etc. I will be covering the car prep section as well as instruction out on the driving course. We should have the Rally Neon out there.

Here is the link to sign up for the CRS Rally School 2008