Having already contested two events in the Rally America series, drivers Will Orders and Ross Allan have their sights set on a third podium finish in three events.
Driving a pair of powerful rear-wheel drive Nissan Silvias, the Melbourne drivers have set the American rally scene alight in their short time in the States.
Orders won the two-wheel drive category at their first event in Portland, Oregon, and was on track to repeat that performance in Pennsylvania until mechanical problems intervened.
Allan made up for his team-mate’s misfortune, finishing second in the two-wheel drive class.
This weekend, after a successful test session, they plan on keeping the foot to the floor to collect even more silverware.
“We have done some comprehensive testing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and tried a lot of different settings and found some extra speed in the cars,” Orders said.
“The team is happy with how the cars are running. We will test once more prior to the rally at Team O'Neil’s Rally School in New Hampshire.
“We are aiming to please in this last event. The cars have been tested extensively and drive perfectly. We have proved that we have the pace, now we want to finish with both cars on the two-wheel drive podium,” he added.
The battle between the Summit Rally Team Nissans and local star, Chris Duplessis, is set to be an enticing one. While Orders won their first event in Oregon, Duplessis and his Ford Fiesta R2 won round two, so the Maine event is set to decide one of this year’s most entertaining battles.
Duplessis was born and raised in the area and will be determined to win on home soil, but his Aussie rivals would like nothing more than to spoil his party.
The New England Forest Rally is based at the Sunday River Resort during the skiing off-season and will feature a super special stage on both Friday and Saturday, July 13 and 14.
The rally is a favourite event among many rally drivers for it’s technical, flowing gravel roads set among a picturesque mountain landscape.
Competitors will tackle 11 special stages over the two days of competition, with a total stage distance of over 138 kilometres.
Summit Rally Team’s fans can follow their progress at www.rally-america.com, while a complete schedule of the event is available for download at rally-america.com/VenueFiles/2012_NEFR_NEFR%202012%20Spec%20Guide_Web.pdf
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