Rally Fans, The Fun is Starting

[Phishy]

I know a few of you follow the ARA, and WRC and the sport in general. I hope more owners of our cars and fans of this forum do, or start to take notice.

Barry McKenna a confirmed Fiesta and MSport fan boy turned up in MO this week for the 100 Acre Wood Rally in a real deal Fiesta WRC car. It's running a different motor to conform to our ARA class rules, but this is a big deal. Pastrana and the factory big time backed Scoobies are there of course. McKenna rented! his quite sweet Skoda R5 car to Ken Block.

After the first day McKenna, Block, and Pastrana are all about 5 seconds apart after a few stages, with the Fiesta WRC in the lead. This is exciting stuff for sure and the link between our lovely/lowely street driven FiST's is real.

Check the ARA schedule, these rally's might be in your neighborhood this year. These are really fun events to attend or volunteer at. It's an outdoors and/or camping time weekend for me, with great driving roads in my car and maniacs ripping through the woods to watch. So fun.

View: https://youtu.be/dXy9tutPyAw

 

[M-Sport fan]

SOOOOO glad that McKenna FINALLY brought over a real, live, Mk8 WRC, as he never even brought over an older used Mk7 Fiesta WRC, just his '11 S2000 class hybrid, which has an '08 (I believe?) Focus WRC 2 liter in it, and many Fiesta R5s/Rally 2s and even more FWD R2 Fiestas.

I am guessing that ARA made him convert it from steering column mounted paddle shifters (which ALL of the top Rally 1 WRC cars use, but not the R5/Rally 2 cars, like Block's Fabia, which also must use floor shifters by the FIA's rules), to a floor mounted shifter for the sequential gearbox, in order to conform to the ARA's Open 4 Wheel Drive rules which forbid them (unless they changed them this year for him and the top Scoobies, which I doubt??).

I work, help set up, and volunteer on (usually the start/finish controls) every ARA rally within about a 500 mile radius of my location (WHY I cannot lower the car even an inch, like everyone else on here does-LOL).

I was going to skip my 'local' rally, (or at least the only one in my state) this year STPR in Wellsboro, Pa., but now that I have the chance to see a bona fide WRC Fiesta running (and hopefully winning!) I will probably work that one as well as NEFR in Maine at the end of July.
Even despite it being so close on the calendar (9/17-9/18 and 10/2-10/3) to the rally which McKenna himself puts on, the 'Super Regional' (vs. a full NATIONAL rally, like STPR, NEFR, etc.) NYFR in Tusten/Narrowsburg, N.Y., that I am definitely going to, which is just about 115 miles up the Delaware River from me.

I REALLY want to see McKenna's Fiesta WRC on the Empire State Performance Rally (just west of Monticello, N.Y.) in the beginning of May 2022, which is supposed to be a TARMAC event, and as such it will the only FULL tarmac rally in this country.

 

[M-Sport fan]

And YES, the WRC/R5/R2, etc. Mk7 Fiestas are a big reason why I wanted to own this car so much!

I view this car as the base for a great rally car, and therefore AS a rally car, first and foremost, as far as motorsports go.

Even though yes, many have successfully campaigned them as open track/time trial/time attack and even drag race machines (besides obviously being the 'go to' car for SCCA H/Street autocross).

 

[HoloCoCos]

When I read the post subject I thought on this:

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^That was cute!!

I wonder if that had at least tarmac spec, R2 Reiger coil overs on it (it sat too low to be the gravel specs)?

It definitely had gravel tires and wheels on it.

 

[Phishy]

McKenna blew a tire badly which tore off a good amount of passenger side aero and body work Saturday morning. Lost a ton of time but came ripping back to finish in 4th I think.

There are protests to the legality of the car, likely by Subaru. Pastrana won the rally, Block and and the other Scooby with Semenuk made the podium.

If some rich guy like McKenna or Block want to pick a fight with Subaru I say let them. Subaru has basically crushed this series since they came in. The drivers want the fight and the challenge between more than two cars at the top. Let them.

The Dirtrtfish website and youtube channel have been doing a great job of covering ARA now so look there for cool video and updates.

Their are always Fiestas all over the Entry lists. Hell I think 3-4 were in the top ten in this rally.

This is fun stuff.

 

[M-Sport fan]

McKenna most definitely does NOT have 'the luck of the Irish' working for him in this series.
If he has a floor mounted shifter, and it meets all of the other ARA O4WD criteria, then let them protest away. LOL
I guess they are getting really worried about how quick he was on the opening day while leading.

I wonder if it was Lance Smith, the principal behind, and head of Vermont Sportscar/ Scoobie Rally Team USA, who filed the protest?

Looking at the videos on Dirt Fish, it looks like McKenna told M-Sport to build his Fiesta without that very delicate looking (and probably BIG $$$$$), massive, and very vulnerable rear splitter assembly used on the other WRC Fiestas, probably thinking that it would not last even a quarter of the way through our sometimes very rough rally stage roads here in the states.
(Or possibly the ARA rules forbid it? )

 

[M-Sport fan]

And YES, the growing list of various class/prep Fiestas is what brought me back into being involved with this series after losing interest so many years ago due to the whole 'Scoobie Parade' thing.

Also YES, KUDOS to Dirt Fish for teaming up with the ARA, and helping to cover and promote the sport here in this country in a great way.

I am even going to get some Dirt Fish stickers for my car to show support.

 

[LionsTooth]

I wonder if it was Lance Smith, the principal behind, and head of Vermont Sportscar/ Scoobie Rally Team USA, who filed the protest?

I watched all the DirtFish vids over the weekend and at one point the woman commentator says it was not the teams that protested. it was ARA.

 

[LionsTooth]

View: https://youtu.be/Jl_P-Jeefq8

 

[M-Sport fan]

I watched all the DirtFish vids over the weekend and at one point the woman commentator says it was not the teams that protested. it was ARA.

Funny how they never said anything at their very own tech inspection which takes place before every event, where they have the chance to look for any class/competition rules violations as well as blatant safety equipment rule violations.

 

[M-Sport fan]

View: https://youtu.be/Jl_P-Jeefq8

I forgot that one crew (Enda McCormack) brought over an I20 R5 car to campaign in this series.

I hope that ALL of this machinery shows up at NEFR in late July/early August!