Joey@WORKS On Thursday, February 19, 2009








Day 3: Saturday
Sno Drift Day 2
Outline
1. Ken Block Retires
2. Wake up a bit late
3. Biscuits and Gravey!
4. Morning Staging Area at Local High School
5. See Type R
6. Walk around morning lineup
7. Go Find Crew (no where to be found)
8. Find crew in cafeteria
9. Get Ready for Service
10. Mirra’s tranny get replaced
11. We replace tires
12. Go Watch Special Stage
13. Take Photos and Videos
14. Return
15. Service Car Once More
16. Go Watch Special Stage Again
17. Go to the Podium
18. Award Ceremony
19. Then off to Bar
20. Award Dinner!

The next morning, the crew moved their service station to Atlanta High School where they were positioned for the remainder of the rally. An intriguing morning parade of the cars revealed a nice mixture of WRXs, EVOs, Neons, a Dodge Shadow, a Jetta, an Integra Type R, and a rare Hyundai Tiburon AWD.
During the length of the day the ACP vehicle was strong. Most of the efforts were made to make only incremental changes in order to alleviate minor issues with the car. Our service to the car mainly consisted of tire change, fuel refuel, de-icing, and light pod attachment. Unfortunately Dave Mirra, in the Subaru Sti, had to perform a transmission change during one of the service stages.
The reliability of the ACP vehicle allowed the WORKS crew to enjoy the opportunity to get familiar with their surroundings and allow them to watch the stage. There was a large turn out of fans for all the different cars, even the Dodge Shadow! A few members of the crew were able to watch ACP during the last stage where they secured a third place podium finish for the season opener. See the included pictures to see photos of the last stage.
In the end ACP shared the podium with Travis Pastrana, in the factory-backed Subaru Sti, and Tanner Foust, in a ex-factory Hyundai Tiburon.

Joey@WORKS On







Day 2: Friday
Sno Drift Day 1
Outline
1. Muffins
2. Shake Down
3. Meet Crew
4. Replace Clutch
5. Stalling Problem
6. Off to Stage one
7. We drive to Staging Area
8. Get Acquainted with Field of Cars
9. Grab Pizza (Early Afternoon)
10. Help Set up Service Area
11. Team grabs lunch
12. Car Comes in for service for Night Runs
13. Team Cleans up
14. Puts Item away
15. Team Grabs Dinner
16. Go Back to Garage to Service Car
17. Oil Change
18. Service Car
19. Figure out Idle Problem and Go Over Data Log

ACP and Goldfarb started off Friday morning with drivetrain difficulties which emerged during shakedown. The crew needed to replace the clutch after a few runs and 3 hours until the start of the rally. Lars Wolfe, the WORKS technician, jumped in and assisted the crew of ACP with the replacement. Due to their teamwork a typical 8 hours service, was executed in just under 3 hours! During the same time David, WORKS engineer, worked to resolve some idling issues with AMS owner, Martin Musial.
During shake down the crew noticed a braking problem. Due to the higher priority of replacing the clutch, the team waited to sort out the problem until a later service stop. Fortunately with a bit of nurturing from the driver and a watchful eye from the crew, the brakes survived to run the length of the rally.
After the first day of events, ACP was within the top 5. Ken Block, in Car 43, was stuck on SS10 and later retired the race. During the nighttime maintenance, the crew with Lars Wolfe changed the fluids on the car. While David and Martin worked to resolve the idling issue once more, which eventually turned out to be a faulty idle stepper motor.

Joey@WORKS On Friday, February 13, 2009





Day 1: Thursday
Traveling
Outline
1. Airport
2. Oakland-Denver(Colorado)-Detroit
3. Rent Car
4. Drive To Showcase Mitsubishi
5. See SCCA National Car
6. Drive To Bed-in-breakfast



Rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard started a strong season at Sno Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. Sno Drift Rally is the first of 9 circuits on the Rally America Series. This year around the rally had plenty of snow, averaging mid to low 20s, giving way to slippery conditions without the benefit of studded tires. (Rallies in North America prohibit the use of studded tires.) Within these challenging conditions ACP and co-driver, Marc Goldfarb snatched third place in NOS Energy Drink Mitsubishi Evolution IX.
The WORKS crew started its first day flying into Detroit. After renting a car from Hertz, we drove four hours north to Atlanta, Michigan where the Rally was to take place. Along the way we had the opportunity to stop by Showcase Mitsubishi, an authorized WORKS dealer. We got to spend some time with Andy Lieber and see their national SCCA EVO. See pictures.

Joey@WORKS On Tuesday, February 10, 2009





INFINEON RACEWAY February 15

After a couple track sessions we're sure most attendees of the NASA track day will be looking for a place to relax. Given this, WORKS is hosting a lunch get together for friends and family between track sessions on Sunday, February 15. WORKS will be open all weekend to tune your track vehicles and provide support. If you're curious what a track day is like or you just love to watch racing; stop by the shop this weekend to hang out, watch classic rally racing videos, and catch lunch with us on Sunday.

Joey@WORKS On Monday, February 9, 2009

Andrew Comrie Picard sporting WORKS

Podium finish for ACP at Rally America season opener

ATLANTA, Michigan (ACP Rally) – Rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard made a strong start to the season this weekend with a podium finish at the Sno*Drift rally in wintry northern Michigan.

He and co-driver Marc Goldfarb overcame early handling problems with their NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX to pull into third place late on Day 2.

“It was a classic snow rally,” says Comrie-Picard. “We stayed in it and didn’t make any big mistakes.”

Sno*Drift is the only true winter rally in the series, and the typically slick conditions reward a measured approach and excellent tire choice. The rules for rally competition in North America prohibit the use of studded tires and finding traction at high speeds poses a particular challenge on ice and snow.

“Winter rallies are a constant balance of deciding how hard to push against how to take as few risks as possible,” said Comrie-Picard. “Our Yokohama tires give us confidence across the whole range of these tough winter conditions -- from deep snow to glare ice.”

A braking problem with the team’s competition vehicle emerged early in the contest and cost them some time, but the crew of technicians -- supported by specialists from AMS, in Chicago, and Works, in California – were able to nurture the car to the finish.

Comrie-Picard and the NOS Energy Mitsubishi shared the podium with Red Bull-backed Travis Pastrana, the winner in his factory Subaru WRX STi, and second-place Rockstar Energy’s Tanner Foust in the ex-factory Hyundai Tiburon.

ACP Rally’s next competition will be at the Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki in Quebec next weekend (February 6-7). They are favored for a top finish at the Canadian season opener; they won the event in 2007 with a measured drive and finished second there last year.

Comrie-Picard and co-driver Marc Goldfarb contested Sno*Drift in the NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. The team is also developing a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X that they debuted last November in Canada. They will run the Evolution X in select events in 2009.

The team is pleased to announce the return of key sponsors NOS Energy Drink, K&N Air Filters, Yokohama Tire Canada, and Mitsubishi Canada, who again partner with ACP Rally in the 2009 season.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The sport is featured in the annual X Games, the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally. Comrie-Picard has been among the dozen invited drivers every year since the rally discipline was introduced to the contest, and he has already secured an early invitation to return in 2009.

The Rally America national championship is a challenging, all-season series comprised of nine events across the country, beginning with Sno*Drift and wrapping up in October with the Lake Superior Performance Rally. The Canadian Rally Championship has six events in a cross-Canada season that extends from early February to late November. ACP Rally will contest a busy season, with championship events on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, and the X Games.


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