27 two-wheel-drive rally cars battled over the fast New England Forest Rally stages; second through fourth were separated by eight seconds going into the final stage.

The New England Forest Rally has finished, and here are a few MaxAttack! presented by Danza del Sol post-rally interviews, recorded on Saturday night in Parc Expose just after cars checked in to the final MTC.

Some comments from all the remaining MaxAttack!'ers as they pulled into the last major service at Errol, New Hampshire.

In big MaxAttack! news, Dillon Van Way and Ben Slocum, who had been running second in MaxAttack!, have withdrawn from the rally following Stage 9.  Ben reports that 4.5 miles into the stage the engine cut out completely.  It came back on, they ran for a bit, and it cut out again.  It did this about a dozen times before the end of the stage.  The oil pressure was off the chart, and the temperature was skyrocketing.  After a conference with some experienced ralliests at the end of the stage it was concluded that it would be most prudent to withdraw.  They suspect the ECU, but don't have a definite diagnosis.

Lauchlin O'Sullivan, Driver, #90 Dodge SRT-4 – The first two stages went OK, he doesn't feel like he's in it yet. Today is just kind of getting back into it. It's been so long, it's just tough to come back to rally overall. It's just feeling kind of funky today. They were really fast stages, and he just wasn't committed, and that's where it's got to be on those 5's and 6's over crests, he just wasn't as committed as it should be. It gets a bit interesting out here, and he needs to be clean on the rough stages coming up. He's got a nice little lead. There are some rough areas in the next 16 mile stages. They broke two rims yesterday and didn't even know it. He plans to keep it clean and fast, and just do his thing. With the lead they don't really need to push too much.

Lauchlin O'Sullivan

I found out, after my last posting from the Mexico service area, that Jim McClelland and Darlene Jones were forced to retire due to a broken tie rod end. They have made repairs and will return for the Saturday stages.

Sorry, I am too tired to post results tonight. They can be found at http://www.rally-america.com/events/2010/NEFRMAX/results/standings/

Here are some driver and co-driver interviews following the first day of MaxAttack! competition at the New England Forest Rally.

Mike White, Driver, #900 Saab 900 – South Arm long was a really rough stage, they ripped a shock right up through their new stronger shock mount. They are having some fuel starvation issues, new-car teething issues, but the crew got the welder out and like magic it was fixed.

Erika Detota, Driver, #91 Subaru Impreza – The forest stages were pretty rough, they had some suspension problems, blew a strut top mount. They got it replaced and they're ready for the big jump. They still have a few noises she would like to get checked out, but she guesses she's going to hit it. And she caught the all-wheel-drive turbo car in front of her on the last stage.

Simon Wright, Driver, #311 Ford Focus – Their makeshift motor mount repair was brilliant. They kept an eye on it, they stopped at the beginning of each stage to check it, and everything was good. They did have other damage, which was a major zip-tie or bolt holding the under-body protection on It came off and the underboy protection folded under the car, so they were scraping the road along. It was just noisy, it didn't really affect performance. They're still in the game, there were a lot of cars out with flat tires on this last stage, very rough stage. They were able to keep it on the road.

Signing off, and heading to the final MTC at Sunday River.

Rumors of the demise of Dillon Van Way and Ben Slocum were grossly exaggerated.  The scores from Stage 4 had been sent back by text messages, and for some reason they were missed.  The are still running, and are running very strongly.