WORKS Motorsports will be having a Lancer and EVO Meet on Saturday February 12th! This is to celebrate the DEBUT of the MITSUBISHI/WORKS Motorsports Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Touring Car. After several years of painstaking work, WORKS and Mitsubishi are finally going Touring Car Racing! The car will be entered this year into N.A.S.A.'s USTCC (US Touring Car Championship). With USTCC Champion Dave Brown behind the wheel we aim to WIN! Saturday will be the very first day for the car out on track, known as the 'Shakedown'. Please come out and support Mitsubishi and WORKS with the release of this new one of a kind chassis!
How does a 5 spd in a Ralliart sound?
WORKS made it happen!
You will also have the chance to meet WORKS Touring Car Driver - Dave Brown, as well as meet with WORKS Pro Rally Driver - Lars Wolfe and other Lancer/Evo enthusiasts from all over. WORKS Professional Drivers, Lars and Dave will also be signing autographs for all attendees of the meet and greet. And WORKS will be giving out free gifts to those that show up before 11am.
In addition we will also be having a WORKS Parts SALE for all new and used WORKS Parts that are IN STOCK. We will also have Non-WORKS parts for Lancers, Ralliarts, and Evolutions 8/9/10's on sale. ALL PARTS WILL BE AT SUPER LOW PRICES! Some rare parts for sale will include an ARC Intercooler and the C-West Carbon Hood and Trunk as well as many other rare and hard to find parts. WORKS deals in "cash and credit" ONLY, no personal checks please!
Depending on the amount of people that will be attending, we may also barbecue so be sure bring friends, family, and other Lancer/Evo enthusiasts alike.
We are located here:
WORKS Motorsports
Infineon Raceway
(Formerly Sears Point)
29673 Arnold Drive
Sonoma, CA 95476
See you there!
Lars Wolfe, Pro Rally Car driver for WORKS Motorsports got an invitation from BFGoodrich Tires earlier this year to take X- Games Pro Gold Medalist Shaun White out in the WORKS Time Attack Mitsubishi Evolution X and show him what the WORKS TA Evo X can do when teamed up with BFGoodrich R1 tires. '.....Shaun wants to drive.....' they said, well fortunately he has WORKS Pro Rally driver Lars Wolfe to help him out with that.
Here is the end result.
This is the same WORKS Evo X that took 2nd place at the second to last Redline Time Attack event at WORKS' home track Infineon Raceway this past October. Shaun learned what its like to be taught by a Pro Rally driver, and man does it look like he's having fun. We can't get enough of Shaun's face in this video!
WORKS would like to give a BIG Thank You to; BFGoodrich Tires for giving us the pleasure of teaching Shaun a thing or two about Driving.
More to come soon............
Newry Maine, July 19th 2010 - WORKS Motorsports traveled across the United States to compete in Round 6 of the Rally America National series. With two month between their last event in Mt hood Oregon Lars Wolfe, motorsports director and driver of the WORKS 2010 Mitsubishi RalliArt, made the decision to go for the last round of the 2010 calendar. “It’s a long drive for us and we do not have a chance for a championship or anything, but its important that we go.” Said Lars after arriving at Sunday River resort, the head quarters of the New England Forest Rally.
The team is coming off a disappointing 2009 season with 2 major crashes that set them back the entire season. But when Mitsubishi Motor America presented them with 2010 RalliArt there was only one direction to go. Along with BFGoodrich and GO PRO HD Camera’s a new team was built from the ground up. The first 2 rallies were shake downs for the car and the crew on figuring out what combinations would make the team faster. The team’s normal crew was not able to assist the team this year so a whole new team had to be put together. And with the help of WORKS employee Josh Hellem, friend Scot Langford, and Gary Grahn the team was complete for the trip to go cross country and compete.
Throughout the season there was the looming question of the new Mitsubishi SST duel clutch transmission. This transmission has never been driven under these conditions and was a big concern for the team. With help from South Side Performance the transmissions’ internals were enhanced to take the rigors of Rally. Next was the team in the car. With many ups and down pairing driver and co-driver this year, Lars’ biggest concern was getting the right Co-driver for this event. A chance introduction paired up Jake Blattner and Lars. Jake, a retired Pro Snowboarder turned rally Co-driver, has had success in many high level teams in past years and took it upon him self to help complete with this up and coming team. “I’ve seen Lars and his team for some time now at rally events; and after talking with him it just felt like the right thing to do, there’s an energy and excitement that I think is a perfect match for me and that I don’t see in many teams any more” Jake said before starting Recce on Thursday morning.
After a long 12 hours in the car together during Recce, or stage reconnaissance, Jake and Lars perfected the notes and communication that would make them fast during the event. This is by far the most important time for a new pairing. It’s when the driver and co-driver to learn what motivates each other at a comfortable pace and allows them to perfect certain corners, creating a language that will in the end enhance trust. And after two months of tireless car prep the team was ready for the 2010 New England Forrest Rally.
With the starting of 64 cars in the field, the largest turnout in years, the team found themselves starting 26th on the road. The first day went surprisingly smooth. At the first reseed, or reposition of start order, the team moved up to 23rd. A thunderstorm moved in late in the day keeping everyone on their toes and adjusted pace to meet the changing conditions. “That’s the most difficult thing about rally,” Jake said after stage, “you can start a stage in perfect dry conditions and half way threw it can start poring and we have to totally change our driving style to match the new conditions.” The heat and humidity was a huge surprise at over 100 degrees F and with 95% humidity. “Rally is a constant test, not only driving but weather and road changes, and focus has to be on at all times. That’s what keeps me coming back to this sport.” Lars said at the end of the first day of competition.
Saturday was the final day of competition for the rally. Jake and Lars’ communication rose to the next level and speed increased as they found themselves climbing up the leader board. Every stage was a challenge to the car and the team. The roads were rough and the choice had to be made on the fly to pick a path through the rough stages or power through risking a broken car and not finish. With over 100 miles of competitive road passed, Jake and Lars made their way back to the finish and after two days of grueling heat and humidity sporadic thunderstorms that changed stages from dust to mud, move from 26th to 11th overall and 5th in class. “This has been a huge learning experience this year. It has been a year of finding the right people and putting them in the right spot. I think we have that now and all we are going to do is get better.” Lars said at the finish of the 2010 New England Forrest Rally.
WORKS Motorsport would like to extend the greatest thanks to BFGoodrich this year for supplying the best bolt on performance and give them the biggest advantage possible. Go PRO cameras for giving us the ability to show the world what type of sport Rally is. This event would not have been possible without their help. We also thank Mitsubishi Motors for the car to show the world what it’s capable of competition. SSP Performance for giving us the best possible parts for an untested transmission, Hot bits suspensions, Lab 17 vinyl graphics, Whiteline suspension components, All points Petroleum, Anzo Lighting, As well as to all the family members, friends and co-workers without them this season would not have been possible.
Thank you and see you all next season.
WORKS Motorsports Team
Hey everyone, we have been receiving some questions and interest about the build of our rally car so we decided to go ahead and post the spec list for the ralliart! Let us know if you have any questions!
Engine:
Mitsubishi 4B11T motor
• WORKS High Flow Air Filter
• WORKS Cold Air Intake
• WORKS P2 ecu Flash (with anti-lag)
• 3” straight pipe exhaust made by WORKS
• EVO X turbo/piping/intercooler
• Royal Purple racing oil
Transmision:
• Mitsubishi TC-SST Twin Clutch Transmission
• SSP Transmission Cooler
• SSP 400 HP Power Package Clutch Packs
• SSP Oil Pan
Suspension/Wheels:
• Hot Bits Rally Coilover Suspension
• Whiteline Front and Rear Sway bars
• OZ Rally Wheels
• BF Goodrich Rally Tires
Brakes:
• WORKS Teflon-Kevlar-Stainless Steel Line Kit
• Front Endless Brake Pads
Exterior:
• Evo X Rear Wing
• Graphics by LAB17
Interior:
• Custom light weight dash
• Custom WORKS Roll cage built to Rally America specs
• Sparco Seats
• 6 Point Harness
WORKS Rally participated in their second event in the 2010 Rally America season, The Oregon Trail Rally. This is a particularly challenging race and the attrition showed just that. The event started on Friday night at Portland International Raceway. Covering some of the famous race track and much of the surrounding service roads, that makes some of the best spectator stages on the Rally America schedule. 63 cars participated Friday night, and by the end of Saturday’s stages only 24 competitors were out of the race.
Finishing the Olympus Rally a month earlier WORKS Motorsport was really excited to get to Oregon and show that the car and the team was ready to take the fight to the remaining Rally America season in Pennsylvania and Maine. With only minor servicing to the car by the team the car and Lars Wolfe WORKS rally driver was ready for the race.
Thinking the team was firmly in place, a scheduling conflict took Jon Burke out of the right seat. In the last moments before the cut off for not being able to make the event Tina Warner, a local of sorts, stepped into the co-driver’s seat. And once at the event Lars and Tina recced the stages and were super excited about what was to come.”The stages start super rough and are going to be car killers if not careful, but if you make it past those the rest of the weekend stages will be some of the most fun stages so far!”Lars Wolfe was heard saying after recce Thursday night.
Friday night at PIR was conservative for the team. “On these types of stages you can never win the Rally but you can lose the whole thing.” Crew chief Scot Langford, said after the only service of the night. WORKS went out on the new BFGoodrich KDW T/A to see if the aggressive design of the tire could stand up to the rigors of multi surface stages. The tires showed that they were up for anything as we clicked off consistent times for the night. By the end of the night the car and crew were in good shape and with only a quick check over they were ready for the two days of forest stages to come. Unfortunately, Tina Warner did not fare so well and came off the nights stages with a 104 temp and a visit to the local hospital.
Park expose started Saturday at 10am in The Dalles, Oregon. Fans came from all over to see off the 62 competitors to the day’s stages. Even after a visit to the hospital Tina Warner, the team’s co-driver, fought through what had happened and jumped in the car eager to start the days stages. The weather wasn’t going too much of a factor this weekend; sunny and hot was the forecast and we made the perfect choice of tires with the help of BFGoodrich.
As predicted, the first stages were some of the roughest encountered so far for the car and the team opted to pick and choose the carful path through the rough stuff to make it to the fast stages, where they know the car can really show its design. And by the end of the day, with no major issues, Lars’s prediction of the days stages being a car killer were seen by many competitor with nearly 1/3 of the racers out, Ken Block and Dave Mirra being just a couple of the names out for the weekend.
The last day started; much like the first at 10am but now in Dufur, OR. The sleepy little town pulled out all the stops for us. We made our way out to the stages where the fun was about to start. We battled our way up to 5th in class as Lars and Tina started to get a rhythm in the car. But with a communication error we received a 3:30 penalty for speeding on a transit from stage to stage. With this error we found ourselves drop to 9th in class. Without the race mileage left in the weekend we knew the only way to make up positions was to stay consistent and position ourselves for further attrition. With the weather getting hotter in the car communication became tougher and tougher for Lars and Tina. We did not find out until later that Tina had a case of pneumonia, but even through that she stayed in the car and gave her best. Communication between the driver and co-driver is of the most important aspect of this type of racing. These few mistakes can drop the confidence in the driver and slow them down. But in the end we finished the race moving up three more positions resulting in a 6th in class and 13th over all.
We are still learning how hard we can push the car and the transmission. The Mitsubishi RalliArt SST has been an exciting car to start rallying and we are looking forward to making it to the rest of the Rally America events. Special thanks to BFGoodrich, SSP, Hotbits suspension, Allpoints Petrolium, Royal Purple oils, Whiteline suspension components, and Lab 17.
WORKS will be at the Oregon Trail Rally with Rally America this weekend. Tonight the event will start at Portland International Raceway at 6. We have WORKS Grab shift knobs, license plate frames, and boost hoses for Brain Flashes. Come watch the Ralliart in it's second event!