Yo. How’s it going everyone? I just got back from one of the coolest things ever I’ve experienced in my ventures. I went up to Tim o’Neal’s rally school in New Hampshire and got the lowdown on how to go fast through the woods in a Subaru wrx. I met up with three dudes (which happened to race professional baja and off road trucks) in the hotel at breakfast where they informed me that we had to meet the instuctor at the Hampton Inn (which I didn’t know at the time) and follow him back to the compound which is like 600 acres in the mtns. Well, so we get started up with a little classroom briefings on safety and all that good stuff. So next, the fun is about to start. We head out to the skid pad, jump in some front wheel drive vw’s and learn some of the most important fundamentals on controlling the car the fastest through whatever god puts in front of you. I’ll tell ya what, I really never thought there was that much to it, but I was wrong. Let’s just say it’s all about left foot braking and the gas pedal. In a rear wheel drive you use the gas pedal to control the car, in a front wheel drive car you use the brake to control the car. Interesting huh. Well, it gets even more fun when they pulled out the all-wheel drive cars for a new technique in the art of rally. The all-wheel drive car is the monster of rally and is very popular for the fastest drivers in the USA like Ken Block and Travis Pastrana. So here’s the deal, to control an all-wheel drive it’s a little bit of both of the skills we learned between the front and rear wheel drive cars. Very fun and can be a lot faster if you know what you’re doing. So, we practiced slaloms until we got them dialed and then moved onto different types of braking methods. Braking is very important for cornering in rally and so if not good with the brakes then hopefully you’re good at missing trees in the woods. So, here comes the best part. Ken Block showed up on the last day with two of his Subrau wrx’s he rallys with and I got to drive one. First, Ken took me out and I was blown away on the speed and control he had to keep the car under control. Not to mention the confidence and commitment. Ken and Tim both took the time to explain what was important to keep the car on the road. Just for the record, I didn’t wreck it. Thanks to all the drivers from team o’Neal that showed me the right way from the beginning. The cars are way more elaborate than I ever thought and they are fast. The driving experience was insane and I got hooked on rally. Thanks to Subaru, Tim o’Neal, Ken Block, all the instructors that drive at team o’Neal rally school, and all the students that made the class a ton a fun. Peace. Dm
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 - 7:02 pm