Some comments from all the remaining MaxAttack!'ers as they pulled into the last major service at Errol, New Hampshire.
Karen Wagner, Co-Driver, #90 Dodge Neon SRT-4 – Stages 9 and 10 were an absolute blast. The SRT-4 is performing great, Lauchlin's got the car dancing on the tight, twisty stuff, and it's a pleasure to be in the car. They had a few challenges, their odo decided to quit working in the same spot on that stage both times. Maybe it was scared. Other than that they're doing good. They were very excited to get no flat tires, they brought two spares just in case. It's all good.
Catherine Woods, Co-Driver, #70 Scion XD – The long stages were pretty good, They did a good time on the first of the last two stages. On the last stage Rooney was towing Pat Moro, so they got caught in their dust for about 30 seconds or a minute. Then they caught up to Viorel Dobasu and they were behind him for about a mile of trying to pass him. The dust definitely affected their time on the last stage.
Josh Wimpey, Driver, #213 VW GTI – The long stage was really fun. We got held up on both runs through. The first run through Dillon Van Way was having some motor trouble, and in the last of the stage we were stuck behind him for a couple of miles and lost a bunch of time. The second running through Pat Moro was being flat-towed and we caught him. He didn't hold them up very much, which is great. Then they caught the black Subaru, Vio, somebody said his brakes were out. The whole end of the stage was the same thing again. He almost drove off the road on a straight because he couldn't see anything.
Eric Burmeister, Driver, #42 Mazdaspeed3 – They had a real wild ride, things are finally really shaping up with the car, with his driving, everything's gelling. But the real story is that right now they have a three-way battle for second place. Lauchlin's kind of in his own little race up front, but Chris is 13 seconds up on Eric, and Eric's two seconds up on Josh. They've got a 15 second battle for second, third, and fourth. That's what MaxAttack! is all about!
Martin Walter, Driver, #22 Nissan 240 – They're exhausted. The two long stages were great, they loved those stages. On those two stages they took a minute out of Healey and Johnson, who they're usually battling with. They had to stop at the lake and have a swim on that last long transit, that was good!
Geoff Clark, Co-Driver, #501 VW Rabbit – These last two stages were really rough. They popped the right rear tire on the first pass through, they're not sure where they did it, probably about mid-way or maybe earlier. The car was just getting really loose. They made it through and pulled out onto the pavement afterwards and the car hardly turned. That's when they knew they had a flat. The second time through they popped the tire maybe five miles in and really destroyed it. The tire wasn't supporting the rim or anything. It became de-beaded and they drove eleven miles on it that way. It just kept getting worse and worse. But it was on the right rear again, and they popped a hole straight through the wheel with a rock, it was jammed in from the inside of the wheel.
Greg Healey, Driver, #280 Datsun 280Z – The two long stages did not go real well. They had a little problem with their clutch, they think. They're having a problem selecting gears, so they ended up on some of the tight stuff stuck in third or something, and not really being able to make much time. They lost time to most of the competitors around them. This rally is pretty consistent, it's running pretty close to on-time. It's fun, but they have to see if they can get the shifter sorted at service so they can get out there and maintain their place in MaxAttack!.
Rob Sockalexis, Co-Driver, #689 Subaru Impreza – The last two stages were long, technical and rough. As a relatively new co-driver, it really put him through what he has to do to stay on pace.
Josh Jenny, Co-Driver, #699 Saab 99 – The last two long stages were very challenging in a lot of ways. The attrition was pretty heavy those two stages. He told Luke [the driver] to get through this and they were going to pick up some spots. There were a few cars off, a few cars facing the wrong way, a few cars with a few parts missing. They fared pretty well. They bounced off some big rocks, and kind of looked at each other like "Uh oh!" They had a flat tire after the first one, and they changed it between the stages, and everything seems to be going OK. The transmission is suddenly without first gear, so that might prove to be challenging for the starts of the remaining two stages. All-in-all they're just trying to put it in conservancy mode and get through the rest of the rally.
Marcel Ciascai, Co-Driver, #311 Ford Focus – The last two stages were smooth for the beginning, then there was a rough part of the stage. But this is all part of the game. If you don't like it, just stay home and play golf or watch tv. "That's why we are here, because we love it. We LOVE what we are doing!" They still have the 2x4 under the motor for safety just in case, but he fixed the motor mount yesterday.
Mike White, Driver, #900 Saab 900 – "This is the first time you've talked to me when I haven't broken something." The last two stages were a carnage carnival. He can't remember what mile it was, but there were four cars off within about three or four tenths. The second time through there were at least another two or three. Unfortunately there were a couple MaxAttack!'ers, he saw a couple of Golfs, and Caswell was out. Caswell had a heavy hit and a spin, he was blocking the road.
Erika Detota, Driver, #91 Subaru Impreza – Things were good today, up until the first run through the 17-miler when they got a flat. They did a bit of damage, just a fender. They came over a "Left Five crest over rocks," and she was trying to avoid a rock. She used the edge of the road a little too much and it got really soft and they got sucked in and kind of launched back on the road over this big, like jump thing. And consequently they got their flat, so they lost a lot of time on that stage. That was the stage that everyone seemed to have a problem. Then they had to run the same stage over and they got to see what they had launched over, which was pretty funny. She knows they were sideways in the air. Everything's fine, they're going to finish.
Darlene Jones, Co-Driver, #724 Toyota MR2 – They did real well with the car on the long stages. They were really happy with their times. They made it through, there not sitting on the side somewhere, and that's a good thing. The first time through there were four or five cars at the side of the road, the second time though they don’t' recall seeing any. They're happy they made it out, it was rough, very very rough.
Kristin Przybysz, Driver, #148 Subaru Impreza – She loved the long stages. Those are the best stages of the whole rally. They were definitely pushing the whole time, it was rough but that doesn't seem to bother her very much. She's really surprised they didn't get a flat. She was like, "Oh, that's a flat. Nope, this one's a flat. No, I guess we're OK." She thinks the strut repair from yesterday held on, although when she turned in to service she heard some strange sounds, so she's going to have the crew check it out.
