About an hour north of Los Angeles, Hungry Valley is home to a very special rally called Gorman Ridge. It’s a rougher event that makes for a well rounded championship. Just to finish this rally takes planning, effort, struggle, and patience. If you cross the finish line here you are ready for anything that a southwest rally will throw at you – exposures, boulders, rough washes, embedded rocks, water bars, etc. Unusual that it’s often the beginner rally of choice for those starting out in the California Rally Series. Last weekend saw a number of retirements as the crews raced through the rocky terrain.
The team planned some careful strategy for this event. A loss here would force them to be perfect at Prescott against teams that may not have entered Gorman. Finishing would guarantee a prize tow fund to the USRC final – International Rally New York. With that on the line, the Rallynotes.com team took it easy on the rough stuff and brought it in to a champagne finish. Driver Kristopher Marciniak talks about the strategy, “As a rally driver you need to know when to go slow and when to go fast based on conditions. If you destroy the car, it’s over. At Gorman you can destroy a car in seconds. It was tough for me to sit back and have teams catch us, but I settled into a good pace, and stayed there for a consistent drive to the finish.” When asked about the pace, Co-Driver Christine Marciniak said, “I wanted to go faster! But locking in the USRC tow fund was more important. I’m really excited for Rally New York!”
This is the 15th rally the team has entered with the Dodge Rally Neon. The new Tuff Rims have now passed the endurance test with flying colors. The volunteer crew stayed sharp throughout the entire event, checking and double checking tires, skidplates, suspension, and fluids on the rally car. We would like to thank: Harry Bushling, Dan Green, Judd Barber, Darrin Simmons, and Dave Clark for their efforts at the event.
The team is set for the penultimate round of the United States Rally Championship, the Prescott Rally in beautiful Arizona. Fast and fun, Kristopher and Christine Marciniak will be pushing for top times at their favorite event of the season!