Maine: The Final Frontier To The X-Games

Neil McDaid Previews Round Five Of The Rally America Championship

It has all come down to the Maine Forest Rally, Round five of the 2006 Rally America Championship; the last chance for any of the US-based Irish Rally drivers to qualify for the 2006 X-Games. The inclusion of rally at the X-Games will signal the most significant step forward in US rally in years. The rally will be broadcast live on national television Saturday, August 3, 2006.

With Colin McRae and Nicky Grist ready set to take the start line in a US-prepared open class Subaru all that is left to do is to name the last two qualifiers. The question is, will there be an Irish man or two in the show?

So, it's on to the town of Mexico in the state of Maine. Scheduled time for SS1 on Friday July 21, is set for 2:51pm. The Maine forest stages tend to be tight going, they are mostly logging roads with medium to large stones. Cutting the corners is not an option as there are many large stones just waiting to catch you out. With soaring temperatures reaching well into the nineties and not a drop of rain in the forecast for the coming week dust will be a big problem, not to mention the biggest mosquitoes you will find anywhere!

A one-pass recce will be conducted during the day on the Thursday before the rally start. This is a first for Rally America as recce was banned up until this point.

For the Irish, we will again be tapping Seamus Burke to be on the pace. After a spectacular roll at STPR in Pennsylvania in June Burke has repaired the damage to his car. While in the shop Burke made some significant upgrades in power by installing a new Evo 9 motor and an improved management system. Burke welcomes the inclusion of recce at Maine, "It will give us a chance to fine-tune the notes." Burke will start fifth on the road.

Due to ongoing build delays Tom Lawless will not have his new car for Maine Instead, he will start 10th on the road in his current Evo 8. I don't expect to see Lawless fully committed as he has already sold the car he will be driving, but Tom is very capable of turning on the pressure if the opportunity arises. Further back, starting 14th we will see Mark McElduff from Loughmacrory Co. Tyrone, who now resides in Chicago, Mark is hoping for at least a repeat on last year's performance in Maine where he finished fifth overall.

Mark, who has had a disastrous year to date, is well aware that there is a much more competitive field in front of him this year. "The car is back together after our incident in STPR," said McElduff. "I have Donegal man Eddie Fries sitting on calling the notes. Eddie brings a great depth of experience. This will be my first time doing a recce so I am sure we will greatly benefit from that". McElduff and Fries will compete in an Open Class Subaru STI.

The odds-on favorite for the overall victory is Shelburne Vermont's Paul Choiniere. This is a rally that Paul can, and has, dominated. Choiniere has already received a free pass to compete at the X-Games but don't expect to see him holding back in the Hyundai Tiburon.

Canadian Antoine L'Estage also in a Tiburon will also be another contender looking for the top spot in the rally. Antoine is also looking for a ticket to the games. Fresh off a victory at STPR and more recently at the Baie des Chaleurs Rally in Canada in July, Matt Iorio in a Subaru out of Westmoreland New Hampshire will be hungry to keep his winning streak alive.

Expect the ever-improving performance of the Subaru USA rally teams young guns, Travis Pastrana and Ken Block, to be in the hunt on Friday evening coming out of day one. Pastrana is also leading the point's race for the 2006 Rally America Championship.

Otis Dimiters out of Great Neck, NY, was all the talk on the rally forums this week with his surprise entry of a new, yet to be unveiled 2006 Open class Impreza. Otis has stepped up from his regular GPN car where he was often matching, and sometimes beating, the times of the open class equipment. If Otis can get to grips with the new car early in the rally I fully expect him to factor in the fight for the Games and the overall top three. We will have to wait and see.

Further down the field, somewhat overshadow with all the buzz of the X-Games, will be the core of any rally; the true clubmen and women, battling it out for their respective class victory. At present there are some 52 cars entered of that 12 Irish teams will be taking the line for a go at the 2006 Maine Forest Rally. We will follow their ups and down and report all the Craic next week.