More than expected - MozartRacing is ready for the Rim of the World
MozartRacing achieved a better than expected result in the Oregon Trail Rally, the weekend of April 19th to 21st, 2002. Beautiful sunshine, lush forests and smooth gravel roads invited MozartRacing to travel 1000 miles north to participate in the Oregon Trail SCCA ProRally. This was the first rally for the new team, the expectations were rather modest, especially in a brand new car, a Grp.N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII. The team's goal was to first finish the rally and hopefully within the top 60%, which would qualify MozartRacing to apply for a ProRally license for the next event, the Rim of the World Rally.
Classified as Seed 8, MozartRacing started the rally at the bottom of the pack as the 66th car on the road, out of a total of 78 competitiors. The butterflies had a field day in driver and co-driver stomachs, just before the first stage. The pair was fortunate to know a bit about course notes from watching the WRC coverage on TV (Speed Channel). Course Notes are new to the US rally scene this year. The numeric notation matched what the pair was used to, so no re-learning was necessary. Nevertheless the notes proved to be challenging on the first day. After the first couple of stages, however, the team felt much more confident and started to really enjoy the rally. The team also started to catch a few competitiors ahead of them, which was resolved during re-seeding in the service break. Our service crew kept the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII in perfect and clean condition during the entire event. MozartRacing finished the first day in 13th position among ClubRally competitors, well within the top 60%.
With less pressure and more confidence, MozartRacing started the second day in the middle of the pack, 29th car on the road. After the first stage the team picked up the pace considerably, taking more time away from competitors ahead throughout the next few stages. The team had to wait until the awards ceremony to find out that it had worked its way up to 3rd overall in ClubRally and 11th overall in ProRally on Sunday. Suffice it to say, MozartRacing was ecstatic to see the fruits of their labor rewarded with several trophies.
MozartRacing achieved what it had set out to do - finish the rally in a position to obtain a ProRally license and a better seeding position (Seed 5) for the next rally, the Rim of the World SCCA ProRally in Palmdale, CA. The MozartRacing Team would like to thank the Oregon Trail Rally organizers, Ben Bradley and his army of volunteers, for a well-executed rally in a beautiful part of the country. Sincere gratitude also goes to our service crew and Rhys Millen Racing for excellent service and professionalism throughout the rally. MozartRacing is ready to take on the challenging roads in the Angeles National Forest, May 3rd and 4th, be sure to check out this exciting event.
More information about MozartRacing can be found at:
http://www.MozartRacing.com
More information about Rhys Millen Racing Inc. can be found at:
http://www.rmrproducts.com
More information about Rim of the World SCCA ProRally can be found at:
http://www.rimoftheworldrally.com
Media/Partnership Contact:
Wolfgang Hoeck
626-617-0778
WHoeck@speakeasy.org
Last modification December 31st, 2005 - Created and maintained by MozartRacing Inc. - All Rights Reserved ©