2. September 2009 12:50
By
Administrator
In
2009 | Co-Driving | Rallies | Ojibwe Forests
Ojibwe was exciting, fun, annoying, then fun again! Will hopefully post more details later, but here's the main scoop:
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Just about three-four weeks before Ojibwe, Mark and I rolled in the '88 Mustang at Nemadji Trails III - not good (set a record the first stage, then DNF mid-stage 2; video
HERE).
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Just about a week and a half before Ojibwe, Mark finds out he has won the "
2010 Mustang Unleashed" contest and will get a 2010 Mustang to run the rally from Ford.
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Furious prep is done by
Livernois MotorSports,
P-Sport (Thanks Bill!), and others to build the cage, install rally lights and computer, put in a rally-sensible cage, convert from an automatic to a 6-speed, perk up the engine, etc.
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Mark receives the car just before Ojibwe and furiously completes the prep.
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Car arrives in Bemidji with much fan and worker interest. Dyno session at the Tech College makes LOTs of noise
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On Saturday, not so good - a flat tire caused us a 5 or so minute delay, and then we got caught on a berm (also causing ANOTHER flat tire; luckily Dondingler/Parps pulled us out - after 4 attempts), so with only one spare it means we finish the rally well down in MaxAttack and the 2nd day regional, but we
FINISHED.
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At the end of Saturday, after the champagne sprays for the winners, there is a special presentation - Mark Utecht and Mike Hurst (my prior rally-driver) get a presentation from J.B. Niday, who says Friday and Saturday was Mark's "2010 Unleashed" program, but Sunday was J.B.'s event - Mark and Mike will compete in a special stage rally on Sunday in the 2010 Mustang, with the winner getting a Mustang for a year. I will navigate for both of them.
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The event was laid out as follows: Mark Larson has selected basically the last stage of Ojibwe as a special stage for this event; Mike will get one practice run up the 8.8 mile road and one practice run back (a turn-around stage). Mike will then race once up and back, Mark will run up and back twice, and then Mike will run up and back - lowest total time wins.
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The road selected was Stage 15 - Sugar Bush and Otterkill, and was 8.8 miles long; we had tons of camera crew, a director, sound, etc. etc. etc. plus full ATC/SS/FF/FTC/medical/sweep/radio crews, and "minder's" for each videographer (since they were unused to cars sliding past their cameras :-)
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The road selected was the same one Mark and I slid off on - not the most Mustang-friendly road - no big fast sweepers - all tight/twisty/narrow - a number of co-drivers tossed their cookies the day before.
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Mike does his practice run up, and then runs back - about half-way through, he slows and asks to talk with J.B. - we shorten the course to 2.2 miles each way (MUCH BETTER).
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Mike and I start his real run - he starts out faster than I expected (slightly rusty but came up to speed quickly), and we have a clean run; same for his return trip.
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Mark does his first run up, and we get a flat mid-stage
- on the same right-rear tire that has flattened each time during the main rally.
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We get to the end of the stage, call for a tire and jackstand (since the spare was removed for this stage), it arrives, and we race the return trip without event.
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Mark does the next trip out and in mid-stage we go completely off the road into deep brush and saplings (I keep thinking - what is there to hit, what is there to hit, what is there to hit), and we popup and continue on - I may have giggled
. He's faster that time, and his return trip is faster as well.
- Mike does his second trip running even faster, and his return trip is faster too - I think he gets faster on that last run because I get lost on the notes
half-way in and he always got quicker when he was mad 
- At the end, J.B. announced that Mark was faster the first run out and back, but then Mike had gained on his second run, but Mark's last run was enough to win the overall time by 9 seconds - a really close result, with less than a second per mile separating the two.
- I now no longer want to see the Sugar Bush/Otterkill stage for a very long time (ran it 10 times).
- Mark and Mike ran well, in difficult conditions, and the results make for a very close finish - perfect for television - can't wait to see the in-car and other videos - will be SWEET!
Gotta go!
