March
6, 2001 Tigard, OR
The
Hairpin Racing Team, consisting of driver Lee Shadbolt and co-driver Brian
Smith, completed both days of the Doo Wops ClubRally.
This year’s event featured top ClubRally competitors from across the US
to compete in the Doo Wops ClubRally run-offs.
It was two days of fantastic competition with ideal road conditions for
the teams to showcase their skills.
The
Hairpin Racing Subaru Impreza, along with the Primitive Enterprises Subaru
Impreza, started its year in the manufacturer’s displays for Subaru at the LA
Auto Show. The show lasted 10 days
and the rally cars were present to tie the rally heritage of the
first-generation Impreza to the new 2002 Impreza WRX.
The Hairpin Impreza had never looked better despite the four previous
ProRally seasons which have taken the team to events in Maine, Minnesota,
Arizona, California, Washington, and in Canada to Hinton and Calgary.
Hairpin’s
regular co-driver, Bob Sherman, was forced to sit out Doo Wops due to shoulder
surgery earlier this year. He will
be fully recovered and ready for competition by April 7th in time for
the Oregon Trail ProRally. His
substitute, Brian Smith, is a regular team service crewmember and is fresh from
rally stage training in Great Britain at one of their top forest stage schools.
March
3rd, Saturday, took the teams to the Quinault Indian Reservation for
a 10 mile stage that was run once as a repeat, and then backwards. The Hairpin Racing Subaru Impreza launched cleanly on the
first stage and was immediately into second gear as it sped towards a marked
side road 0.40 miles into the stage. They
approached the 90 degree right turn in fourth gear where they downshifted and
drifted through the corner. Teams
averaged over 60 mph on this stage which had two chicanes added to slow the cars
on long straights. In spite of
this, the Hairpin Racing Subaru Impreza was periodically hitting 100 mph on the
short straights between corners. Shadbolt
commented, “Our Impreza has never been stronger”.
After the day was completed, Hairpin Racing was 5th overall.
There were 42 entries.
March
4th, Sunday, was on “traditional” Doo Wops roads near Montesano,
Washington. These included stages
used in last year’s event including the famous Brooklyn Tavern stage. The first special stages were slick in places and the Hairpin
Team had some difficulty on entry to a wooden plank bridge.
Any time lost there was quickly made up in the road to follow as they
executed four-wheel drifts on the hard packed gravel roads.
The team later took advantage of improving condition of the road surface
and ran the twisty 6.99-mile Brooklyn stage in 7 minutes 12 seconds.
The team finished a satisfying 9th overall on Sunday and
reported no problems with the car on any of the six stages thanks to extensive
refinement of the car during the off-season.
The
next event is the Oregon Trail ProRally in Tillamook, Oregon on April 7-8.
This will start at the historic Blimp Hangar and will attract top teams
from around the nation.
For
more information on Hairpin Racing, please contact Tamara Shadbolt.
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