The Somerset Subaru Rally Team takes on The Maine Forest Rally
 Author SSRT Media
Photo Ralal Listopad
Newry, ME
July 25, 2006 The Somerset Subaru Rally Team returns from the Maine Forest Rally with two regional finishes
4th overall in Friday's race and 2nd in Saturday's race. The team began Friday in Mexico, Maine
where a spectator stage including a large jump had been constructed. Hitting the jump the
crowed roared as the Subaru launched about four feet off the ground. This was the first taste
of the excitement jumps and speed to follow.
Spite this being the first time that driver Maciej Przybysz and codriver Robert Amato had
competed together there was no need for adjustments. The team gelled from the instant the first
stage start clock went green. Calls of each corner flowed from Amato and Przybysz absorbed the
info, executing each instruction flawlessly. Smooth and flowing from corner to crest the team
raced down the stage and then began to roar as they lost their muffler to a large rock. From
that point the team was one of the loudest out there and with no spare muffler crew members Jay
Yargeau and Paul Lourenco fabricated a pipe to direct the exhaust away from the underside of
the car. The team finished Friday in 4th place and went to sleep anxious to go even faster on
Saturday.
One of Saturdays stages had a long 500 yards straight that the team reached an impressive 120
MPH on. At this speed as the car begins to float on a wooded gravel road. After the first two
stages of Saturday's race the team sat in 4th place 28 seconds behind Downs/Obry. "With 29
miles to go we decided to see if we could push hard make up some ground and catch Downs on the
last two stages," said Przybysz as he discussed the strategy going into the last two stages.
After pushing hard on stage 8 and the team still lost an additional 2 seconds to Downs but now
found themselves in 2nd with O'Brien/Wimpey and Sherrill/Bressem not at the finish stage 8. "We
were pushing as hard as we could but were unable to make up any time so we decided to let Downs
go and not risk an off" said Amato after reviewing the scores at the end of stage 8. "But then
we realized that Brennan/Duffy were only 20 seconds behind in third and then we knew we could
not back off." Pushing all the way to the finish the team defended second place on the last
stage.
The podium finish bumps Przbysz to seed 4. For the next events the team heads to Monticello,
New York for The International Rally New York September 22-23 and then to Saugerties, New York
for Black River Stages on October 6-8.
SOMERSET SUBARU
Subaru Parts & 2006 Outbacks, Foresters, Tribecas & Impreza on sale now.
http://www.somersetsubaru.com/en_US/
More info on The Maine Forest Rally
http://www.rally-america.com/event.maineforest2006.php
More info on The International Rally New York
http://www.rallynewyork.com/intrny06-index.html
More info on Black River Stages
http://www.blackriverstages.com/index.html
Winter/Spring Catch up Blog Style
I haven't written in a while so here is the skinny on what has been happening since I set off to NY with Blake Yoon.
Blake and I had a solid day on Friday and if my memory server me we were sitting in 10th overall Saturday morning.
I remember Saturdays first stage well. The sun had just risen and the stage winded to the east. Every once in a while we would reach the top
of a crest to be blinded by the sun. Well soon after disaster struck and we were late out of a Left 4 that went into a
Right 4. This left the front left wheel off the road and the control arm snapped on a rock. As you could
imagine this
had a negative effect on our ability to steer and the car continued off the road into a tree.
This winter I went to the Maine Forest Winter Rally with Dan Brosnen besides
there being no heat in the car we were doing great. We ran middle damn
road in and out twice making it a nice compact rally with decent number of miles. Near the end of
stage 2 we crossed an unfrozen brook that splashed onto the windshield freezing
instantly. Unable to see Dan rolled down his window and
drove the last few miles with his head outside. We finished the day 3rd in Group 2 and 9th overall.
Next I ran Rally West Virginia with Brian Street. Brian is a new driver with a lot of potential.
It is exciting to teach him how to trust the codriver and not lift over those blind crests and turns. We
were doing fine until the car stopped on stage 7. I turned out to be a fuel pump issue. I look
forward to racing with him again.
Pit Bull Racing travels coast to coast for The International Rally
New York
Author: Pit Bull Racing Media
Photo: Wayne Flynn www.pdxsports.com
September 26, 2005
Driver Blake Yoon of Hollywood , California teams with Co-driver Robert
Amato as they make there way to round three of the United States Rally
Championships, The International Rally New York, taking place on
September 29 through October 1, 2005. The team will be competing in an
Open Class Subaru WRX. The event will be a lot of fun for competitors
and spectators with five Super Special Stages in the Monticello Raceway
that can be view from indoor seating. There will be a total of twenty
five stages, half of the stage miles will be on tarmac (paved surface)
and half on gravel!
Most of Blake Yoon's experience is on paved road circuits and will
translate nicely to the tarmac stages. In preparation of the gravel
stages Yoon has been training with Pro Rally Driver Leon Styles in the
deserts of California mastering the techniques that he used to finish
first in Open Class at The Treeline Rally this year. There are currently
over 55 teams entered in the event with competitors representing many
countries including the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Poland, Turkey, Latvia,
Argentina, and Greece. The competition is experienced and top notch, Pit
Bull Racing is excited to see how they will match up. To ensure the car
is in top shape the entire event PitBull racing has partnered with
Mathew Iorio's, Paladin Rally Race Team, for joint vehicle support at
the event.
This event promises to be an amazing experience with some of the easiest
and comfortable spectator viewing in the entire country. For more
information on the event including spectator guides see The Rally New
York website:
http://rallynewyork.com/rnyusa05-index.html
If you are interested in coming to International Rally New York but have
questions about the event don't hesitate to ask us before we leave
9/28/2005
PitBull@RobertAmato.com
International Rally New York will be broadcast later this year by the
Speed Channel cable television network, as part of the "Motosport
Mundial" program. Consult their web site,
www.speedtv.com for the date
and time. A webcast of the show will be available at
www.revs.tv.
Pit Bull Energy Drink:
www.hiphopbev.com
Co-Driver Robert Amato www.RobertAmato.com
Mathew Iorio's Team Website:
www.paladinrally.net
What is Auto Rally?
http://rallynewyork.com/rnyusa05-pr-9-19-05.html
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Fast racing at Rallye
Draveurs, Maniwaki,
Québec
Author: Team Motorcycle Factory Media
Photo: Maxime Poirier
8/25/2005
Team Motorcycle Factory traveled to Maniwaki,
Québec Augest 12th-13th to compete in the last round of the
very completive, Québec 2-wheel drive Performance Rally Championship,
The Rallye Draveurs. The race shares a portion of the roads from the
CARS winter national rally, Perce-Neige. The roads are very fast and
very clean with a few interesting jumps. Team Motorcycle Factory was to
use the event for experience building and as a benchmark test to see how
their speed compared to a large group of two wheel drive teams.
The team was very happy with the results finishing second place in two
wheel drive car and fourth overall.
The race starts with two stages each approximately
fifteen miles long then a service and the same two stages repeated. Team
Motorcycle Factory confidently placed tenth overall on both stages one
and two. After the service the team decided to pick up the pace and
completed stage three seventh overall and stage four fourth overall. “I
really noticed the change in pace as we started stage four,” Co-driver
Robert Amato said, “The read of the notes was much faster and corners
called much earlier.”
This is the second year of the Québec Performance
Rally Championships and it has matured nicely. This year there was
television coverage that included generally available numbers for
demographics and audience sizes. This is valuable to teams competing
when they make their pitch to potential sponsors. As most of the
competitors have been competing since the beginning of the cup many feel
attached to it as take personal ownership and responsibility for its
promotion and improvement as Yohan Tessier, the winner of this years
Cup, said “this is our cup.” Tessier personally invited Team Motorcycle
Factory to the rally and helped with logistics such as hotel
recommendations and point of contact for questions before the event.
Organizers workers and competitors all went out of
there way to make us feel welcome and have a great time, Eric Tremblay
translated the notes for us, Worker Mélanie Chagnon helped
translate the route book and co-driver of team Alpha François Morin
translated the drivers meetings. Team Motorcycle Factory had an exciting
and fun race. Mark Spence recalls the last few moments of the last stage
“I looked down at the odometer and realized that there was only one mile
left on the stage… I didn’t want it to end.” The series is looking for
new two wheel drive talent for next year and the team is considering
entering.
Next race for Team Motorcycle Factory will be the
all tarmac Rally Tennessee, former team Co-driver Jeremy Wimpey will be
returning to the team for this race.
Special thanks to:
Our Ever reliable Crew chief Jay Yargeau and crew
member Lonnie Fadley
For more information on Codriver
www.RobertAmato.com
Thank you for the support
www.motorcyclefactoryinc.com
Info on our next event
www.rallytennessee.com
Info on our last event
www.chaosdev.ca/RallyeDraveurs/index2_en.html
Yohan Tessier’s team alpha website
www.alpha-rallye.com
Photos
www.maxpoirier.com
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Team Motorcycle Factory overcomes difficulty in Maine
Author: Team Motorcycle Factory Media
Photo: Bret Wilber
August 1, 2005
Things started out very well for the team as they ripped down
the first two stages on Friday with a twenty second lead over the next
group 2 team of driver Robin Jones and codriver Alex Kihurani. “Two
exciting events happened on stage 2; First while approaching a chicane
the car came in way too hot and Mark (Spence) turned the car at first
sideways then completely around as we slid backwards toward the tape and
stretched it across our back window, breaking the tape would have cost
us a minute penalty. The second notable event on stage 2 was catching
and passing a Subaru Impreza," noted Amato. The team was surpassing its
goal of just shaking the car down for Saturday’s race and on its way to
producing a solid finish. Stage three was not run due to the an earlier
accident and Team Motorcycle Factory was now looking at defending a
twenty second lead with only 5.6 stage miles to go when rally gremlins
struck. On the transit from stage 3 to a short service before stage 4
the car shut down. After an unsuccessful attempt to get going the car
was towed to service and pushed through the check-in control. The
service crew was not able to diagnose the problem within the ten minute
service and the team was forced to withdraw from Friday’s Rally. The car
was brought back to Sunday River and worked on for over 6 hours when at
2:30 am Saturday, crew chief Jay Yargeau with assistance from Yohan
Tessier, discovered that the off road module chip had popped off the
ECU.
Saturday started off with a 12 mile stage
(Middle Dam IN) that ended with all the cars turning around and running
the same road in the opposite direction for the next stage (Middle Dam
OUT). “One half mile into the stage there was a right hand turn with a
rock on the inside we went wide and the rear driver side wheel hit a
rock on the outside of the turn. We stopped and I grabbed the triangle
and made a mad dash up the road as it sounded like we had a flat but
Mark (Spence) discovered that the tire was OK. We had bent the rear
spindle. Out of breath we jumped back in the car and continued,” Amato
said as he describes the trip down Saturday’s Stage 1. The car pushed to
the right for the rest of the stage and Spence adjusted his driving by
turning early on left hand turns and giving room as the car pushed to
the outside of the turn. This went well and the team was able to keep a
decent pace until mile 10 were a large rock pulled onto the road sat on
the outside of a left turn. Unavoidably the right wheel hit it causing a
flat and steering damage that was cautiously driven for the last two
miles.
“While waiting to start the return stage we
were able to change the flat and inspect the steering. Upon taking the
right front wheel off we discovered the tie rod was bent at a ninety
degree angle,” Amato said. Spence managed to wedge the scissor jack
between the fender-well and the bent corner of the tie rod and expanded
the jack bending the tie rod closer to straight. With the steering still
far from perfect and the rear still bent Spence and Amato decided to
drive carefully through the next stage and have the service crew make
the proper repairs during the lunch break.
Team Motorcycle Factory’s service crew along with help
from Team O’Neil’s service crew managed to replace the tie rod and
partially straighten the rear at the lunch service. With the rear still
damaged the team managed to put down a very fast time on the next stage
Dillon Success I but at the end of the stage the low oil pressure horn
and warning light came on. It seemed to be a faulty sensor as there was
oil on the dip stick and no visible leaks. The horn and light went off
after turning the car off and back on again. Spite the damage to the
rear end Spence and Amato really started to click and set the fastest
Group 2 time on Marigrande the fourth stage. “You are reading each
corner a littler earlier and I drove faster trying to catch you before
you read the next note” Spence said to Amato after finishing Marigrande.
The low oil pressure horn and warning light came on again at the end of
the stage this time the car didn’t start after turning it off. Spence
and Amato rolled down a driveway and pop started after the finish time
control. The final stage of the day was met with a challenge as one mile
from the finish the car was caught up in a series of washouts and
stalled. Without a good battery the team was stuck for five minutes
until driver Dan Brosnan and codriver Dave Banville in their 1991
Mitsubishi Galant pulled the car from the washout and got the team
rolling so it could be pop started and driven to the finish. Facing all
of these obstacles the team was very happy to finish the event.
The next event for Team Motorcycle Factory is the
team’s first Canadian event, in the highly competitive two wheel drive
Quebec Performance Rally Championship the RALLYE DES DRAVEURS DE
MANIWAKI 2005 85mi north of Ottawa, ON August 12th-13th, 2005. Rallye
Des Draveurs is an event totaling 190km (118mi) with 90km (56mi) of
stages on swift and winding gravel forest roads.
Special thanks to:
Dan Brosnan and codriver Dave Banville - for pulling us from the washout
Team O’Neil service crew - for help with the tie rod replacement
That dude that gave us a quart of oil at the end of Stage 7 Dillon
Success I
Yohan Tessier for help trouble shooting our electrical problems
Our Ever reliable Crew chief Jay Yargeau and crew member Lonnie Fadley
For more information on Codriver
www.RobertAmato.com
Thank you for the support www.motorcyclefactoryinc.com
Info on our next event
www.chaosdev.ca/RallyeDraveurs/index2_en.html
Info on our last event
www.maineforestrally.com
Maine Forest Rally results
www.Rally-America.com
Yohan Tessier’s team website
www.alpha-rallye.com
www.TeamOneil.com
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Team Motorcycle Factory gets a new team member and heads to Maine
Author: Team Motorcycle Factory Media
Photo: Peter Kuncis
July 25, 2005
Providence, RI USA
Codriver Robert Amato teams with Driver Mark Spence and Team Motorcycle
Factory for the Maine Forest Rally July 29-30 in Bethel, ME. The Maine
Forest Rally challenging with its large rocks consist of 9 stages
ranging from ½ to 13 miles with a total length of 90 stage miles split
over two days. "I really love this event it can be so rewarding when
things are going well," said Amato. The Maine Forest Rally is the home
event for Robert Amato with a Group 2 Podium finish in 2003 and a tough
off while attempting to ride out a flat in 2004.
Team MFI along with outstanding assistance from Art Starbird and Wayne
Curtis of ASA automotive have rebuilt most of the drive-train, motor,
and body after Spence and codriver Jeremy Wimpey tested the stump
removal capability of the GTI at Rally New York. Spence and Codriver
Jeremy Wimpey were leading group 2 by over four minutes and in the top
ten overall just before the crash. Driver, "Pat" Mulleady and codriver,
Robert Amato also competed in Rally New York and retired after three
stages with engine failure. At that point Amato became a spectator in a
race suit. "I watched as they (Spence/Wimpey) went off into a cloud of
dust and hit that stump hard. After I found they were OK, Mark (Spence)
and I discussed his next event and the possibility of us getting
together and so here we are. Mark is very quick with two wheel drive and
I am looking forward to competing with him and not against him," Amato
said. This wasn't the first time Spence had competed against Amato. Mark
Spence gave Driver Preston Stempler and codriver Robert Amato a very
close race for first in Group 2 at 2005 Sandhills Sandblast. Without
accounting for road points Spence had acquired, only twenty seconds
separated the two teams at the finish.
Jay Yargeau will be the Chief Technician for Team MFI making sure that
all is in top shape during the race and after Fridays stages in
preparation of Saturdays.
Team Motorcycle Factory thanks the efforts of John Buffum, Ted Goddard,
and other Maine Forest Rally Organizers and appreciates the challenges
that they have overcome with regards to land and road rights to make the
Maine Forest Rally happen. The team is excited about the new stages for
this year's race..
Follow the team live Friday and Saturday at
www.Rally-America.com
Car 929
To Subscribe to this newsletter visit:
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Please know that your Privacy is important to us. When you subscribe
your email will only be used for this newsletter and nothing else.
For more information on Codriver Robert Amato visit:
www.RobertAmato.com
Thank you for the support from our partners:
www.motorcyclefactoryinc.com
Find more information about Maine Forest Rally visit:
www.maineforestrally.com
Thank you Art Starbird and Wayne Curtis of ASA automotive!!
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