LSPR - Reunion tour re-started

So being at a rally with ALL the drivers you rode with in a season is a little like being at a cocktail party with all your ex-wives. But all my ex-wives are pretty good people and so are Justin and Chris. This weekend I was in the right seat for Dennis Martin.

Now Dennis has a......reputation......and not undeserved, of wrecking cars. The last BIG off he had was in the '05 LSPR with Alan Perry running 3rd on the road when he REALLY regretted the used tires he was on...but that's a whole 'nuther story as they say.

I called Justin in late September and inquired about his LSPR plans and he said he had none. So we agreed that I was a free man to co-drive for Dennis and Bill Westrick said he would sit in with Justin, so it seemed like everybody was covered.

Dennis and I had tried this reunion at Ojibwe in August only to suffer the 10 year old car syndrome. But it was the "nice" kind of dnf!

Dennis has an honest good speed factor, so we started in 7th position out of 69 cars...we would be delighted to finish there. As a matter of fact we would take anything in the top ten. So after pooching up the new Super Special in Houghton we headed off for Herman Truck Trail. Not one of Dennis's best efforts, but we survived. See the video...pay particular attention about 3:06 into this video!!!

Pat Moro found this puddle a few cars later and completely ended his bid for the PGT Championship.Photo by Art Partyka!!

This was not either of our best events. Dennis was rusty and the Hankooks he had on didn't seem to be able to hook up with the new additional 35 hp he'd found at the wheels. To be fair these were the "old" soft compound (70's) and most were on the new "71's", but it was very difficult to keep the car in straight line.

However we look at our "rustiness", we had a couple of top 4 stage times and most fell in the top 8 and finished a very respectable 8th overall in a very competitive field.

But what else went on you ask?

Let's take my drivers by the numbers. The last guy I drove for didn't have too stellar an event.

Chris Duplessis has now "joined the club!". Martin was still grinning with a lap full of windshield!

And then there was my OTHER driver. Justin and Bill ended Brockway rather abruptly. Bill's GPS said they went from something like 60 to 0 in 1/10 of a second. Both were hauled away for observation, but seemed mostly unscathed. A testimony to HANS devices for sure. So it seems I need to go to a casino and gamble. I sure picked the right one for LSPR!




Another season wraps up. I took points in PGT, Gr2 and Open, so suspect I can be officially termed a rally ho. I ran with three great drivers and am certainly open for negotiation for the 2008 season (R-A, NASA, and maybe even CARS!!!)