A challenging weekend at Oregon Trail Rally in the United States came to a bitter-sweet end for the Summit Rally Team. Will Orders and Toni Feaver did a fantastic job over the course of the weekend, finishing in an outstanding 4th outright and 1st in 2 wheel drive class. Ross and Scott Allan we not quite as lucky, suffering from electrical problems on the transport to the second last stage, forcing them to retire and watch the rally slip away from their grasp.
Friday night’s stages saw the team quickly climb up through the ranks, posting top ten times and running within the top four two wheel drives. The four stages contested comprised of 50% gravel and 50% tarmac in and around the Portland International Raceway.
The crowd was highly captivated by the power and control of the 400 horsepower vehicles and the team rapidly became the focus of the spectators’ attention. The loud, crisp exhaust note combined with some excellent driving had the crowd cheering every time the cars passed. Even with some minor dramas Orders/Feaver still managed to finish Day One in a remarkable 2nd in class and 10th outright, with Allan/Allan backing them up in a fantastic 3rd in class and 13th outright.Â
Saturday morning saw the team starting from The Dalles (80 miles south of Portland) and competing on some of the roughest and fastest roads that they have ever seen. It was inevitable that the team was busy during services with the rocky roads taking their toll on the under-body of both cars and causing damage to the lower control arms and steering arms. Even though SRT was only a four strong service crew with only one experienced mechanic , they still managed to pull together in a mega effort to ensure the cars were fixed and out of service on time.
With the damages fixed to a driveable level, Orders and Allan went out into the afternoon stages determined to make up for anytime they had lost. And they did just that with Orders and Feaver finishing day two with a 20 second lead over Andrew Comrie-Picard in the two wheel drive class and 4th outright.
The Allan Brothers finished 4th in class and 9th outright after suffering a flat tyre and snapping a bolt out of the lower control arm on the last stage. Needless to say that after a long day on rough roads there was plenty of work to be done to the cars overnight and with no Park Ferme, the team spent until the early hours in the morning servicing the cars ready for the Sunday stages.
Orders and Feaver entered the final day of Oregon Trail Rally with confidence and determination to hold their position in class and on the outright ladder. Traversing the fastest stages of the event, Allan was recorded to be doing 93 miles per hour and Orders was clocked at 98 miles per hour entering the spectator point on SS14, only five miles per hour slower than the lead Open Class car, David Higgins in his 2012 Subaru WRX STi. This kind of driving was nothing short of impressive and committed, and for Will Orders and Toni Feaver it paid off, after battling with Comrie-Picard all weekend, they finished the event in an outstanding 4th outright and 1st two-wheel drive (G5) doing the team extremely proud.
Sadly the Allan brothers forfeited their potential 3rd in class and 9th outright due to electrical problems, but nonetheless the Summit Rally Team are extremely proud of both crews and cannot wait to come back and fight it out at the next round of the series, STPR on the 1-2 of June.
The team would like to extend their gratitude to everyone who helped us out over the weekend, especially the guys from Nameless Performance Inc, they were a true help to the team and we are excited to be working with them again at STPR.
See the Summit Rally Team in action at the New England Forest Rally by joining the Summit Rally Team Spectator Tour. Find out more here.
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