Famously introduced with a simple “Hi” in a 1994 ad campaign, Neon is saying goodbye at a time when the small car segment is becoming more competitive, forcing automakers to rethink the way they reach entry-level car buyers.
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WRC Co-Driver Michael Park will be missed.
We here at rallynotes.com would like to send out our condolences to Michael’s family, friends, and Driver Markko Martin. During stage 15 of the WRC Wales Rally GB – Michael was fatally injured in a major accident. He was a Co-Driver at the top of his game and will be missed. We got the chance to watch Markko and Michael win in Mexico 2004 and this loss saddens us deeply.
Rally on Michael! Rally on…
– Kris & Christine
more from the BBC – more from Malcom Wilson – more from Google News
More Gorman video!
Some of the faster sections on The Gorman Ridge Rally 2005.
Gorman-good-run.wmv 43.2MB WMV – Please right click, save, and enjoy!
Plans and prep for Prescott.
The Dodge Rally Neon needs a few things: Front skidplate ‘work’, control arm bushings, exhaust wrap, new mud flaps, some dents removed, and a general ‘going over’. We’ve got a full set of Silverstone 505s from Gorman and with no punctures, I’m inclined to continue using them over the Kumhos. Not being able to get Kumho spares in time for Gorman really pushed me off. I even wrote a letter to them – pleading for help – and got a polite: “Nope – we don’t have’em… Can’t get’em.”
I found a trailer to rent from the rally community and I’ll be bolting the crazy heavy ‘class III’ hitch Christine ordered onto the back of the Blazer this weekend. I’d like to find a used car dolly for $500, but they’re nowhere to be found. If you know of one in the LA/OC area – drop me a comment.
The one thing we thought would be a problem was getting a crew out there. It’s a long drive and quite a commitment and expense for our volunteers in Southern California. Fortunately the AZ2GNT crew stepped up! It’s a tight knit group of 2nd generation non-turbo DSM guys. They run the same engine block (420A) as the Dodge Neon, and a bunch of them will be helping us in Arizona!
How close was it?
Our cool experience.
The desert is not my climate. There is no dry wastelands in Sweden. No Death Valley in Ireland. I don’t know of any sandy Polish beaches, or dry English weather. Never the less – here I am in sunny California.
When Christine and I worked The Tree Line Rally, we noticed a number of drivers sporting ‘cool suits’ – or ‘cool shirts’. Basically a T-shirt with 50′ of capillary tubing sewn to it. This shirt is hooked into a cooler with ice water packed into it. A 12v pump circulates the water through the shirt – or shirts in our case. It’s high and low tech at the same time.
Shortly before The Gorman Ridge Rally, we picked up a kit. We wanted a two person unit. We wanted the ability to run the ice water through my shirt first and then into Christine’s, and we wanted it to not cost a fortune. This took a little legwork, but we managed to save some cash on it. There are ‘Rally’ systems out there for deep into $900. 
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More from Gorman Ridge Rally.
I downloaded all the video off the camera.
Here’s a misc video of day into night stages: Gorman-misc-night.wmv 36MB
Here’s the SS1 video if you didn’t catch it: Gorman-SS1-1st-rally.wmv 50MB
Final short video of us rolling into our awesome service: Gorman-into-service.wmv 7MB
I have some more pictures up, including screen grabs, from the event: Motorsports Gallery / Gorman Ridge 2005
I have my rally report up at Special Stage: Gorman – Our first rally.
If you have any pictures or video of us, please let us know!
GOALS ACHIEVED AT GORMAN.
Finishing their first rally is what the rallynotes.com team came to Gorman to do. They did exactly that with style. Without getting stuck in several potential sandy areas and without any problems forcing them to stop on stage, they finished 20th out of the 25 cars that completed this tough event. “It worked out great. I started to slowly find the ability of the car while Christine and I acclimated to driving at decent pace with notes. You can’t try to push yourself to the max if your car and your co-driver aren’t ready and I wouldn’t want to overdrive the car with the notes if I wasn’t comfortable,” said driver Kristopher Marciniak.
The service crew consisted of friends and volunteers. “The crew was awesome! I felt like a movie star every time we came into service!” said Co-Driver Christine Wittish. Ryan Tilder served as Team Manager and John Black was the Service Crew Chief. Cyndi Stivers and Kaiser Chen dug in to help wherever they could. Over the course of 4 service stops they repaired and checked a laundry list of items ranging from air in the tires to re-attaching a loose battery box. “It’s not just the team inside the car, it’s the whole team ready for you at service that lets you finish the rally,” remarked Kris.
“Gorman served as a great starting point for learning everything you need to do as a co-driver, and for learning notes. I was a little overwhelmed with them at first – there were a lot of tight turns and cautions to highlight – but with the revised rally format there were really only four sets I needed to go through. I had a great time, and I’m excited about our first rally finish,” commented Christine.
The team will have the car back out this weekend for a CRS Rallycross ‘points event’ in San Bernardino. “I still want the rallycross championship, and I’m not going to give that away just because I started to stage rally the car.” It will continue to be a good test of the Rally Neon’s ability on dirt.
We would like to thank the following for their support!
rallydecals.com
We finished the Gorman Ridge Rally!
This is one tough rally that I’m proud to say we finished as our first. I certainly wasn’t setting any top stage times, but I wanted to drive the car home and that’s what we did. We placed 20th overall (out of 25 finishers).
I want to give a HUGE thanks to the help we got from our volunteer crew. John Black, Ryan Tilder, Kaiser Chen, and Cyndi Stivers made us feel like movie stars. 
The full story, more info, press release, and videos: coming soon!
Our service pictures are up here: 2005 rallynotes.com Gorman Ridge Rally pictures
If you have any pictures of us that you’d like to share – please contact us!
Update: Video of SS1 is up. 50MB WMV
Rally weekend – heading up!
Our bags are all packed and the Neon is waititng for us in L.A. We managed to get the spares, tires, stickers, and all the other essentials in time! Look for the report on how we did Sunday – and the full report and PR on Monday. Wish us good luck!
– Kris & Christine