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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 24, 2006 |
For more information, Contact: Kristopher Marciniak E-mail: webkris@yahoo.com Website: rallynotes.com |
Irvine, California -- Ten miles into stage seven, with three stages to go, the team was holding onto a second place in class when the Dodge Rally Neon’s computer failed. At that point an overwhelming five out of the six P-Stock competitors had dropped out of the Gorman Ridge Rally. The problem was related to an oxygen sensor that ground out, stalling the car on the transit between stages two and three.
“Of course we’re bummed, but it had to happen sometime. I’m happy we were able to at least finish all of the morning stages. It’s disappointing that our problem was most likely due to something we could have easily replaced on stage – unlike the whole transmission locking for example – but I’m also thankful the failure was not caused by something more major. I’m looking forward to getting out to our next event,” reported co-driver Christine Wittish.
“It’s our first DNF (did not finish), but we still had an awesome time! The car ate up all the bumps and jumps. The new damping in the rear Bilstein struts kept the back end from popping up and we landed flat every time,” said driver Kristopher Marciniak. “I didn’t give up when the car stalled during the transit to stage three. I pulled out the rear O2 sensor plug and got the car going again. I tried everything when she died on stage seven, but I knew when we heard the fuel pump and cooling fans running even with the keys out of the ignition that we were done.”
The Rallynotes.com Team finished all of the stages in the Hungry Valley ORV Park. These same stages were included in this year’s X Games competition. The crew of four: Harry Bushling, Jake Walters, Colten Becker, and Kevin Patterson did an awesome job of checking and repairing the car while in service.
Looking forward to their next event, the team re-joins the competition of the USRC in October at the Prescott Rally in Arizona.
Kristopher is a computer technician and support analyst working for the Alteer Corporation in Irvine, CA. Christine is a molecular biology graduate student at the University of California, Irvine in the lab of Dr. Douglas Wallace.
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