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Birmingham, Michigan Latest News: December 9th, 2008 OK, so I'm a Tarmac Specialist The above comment was heard muttered by Team Illuminata Motorsport's Paul Eddleston after a dismal performance at the recent Detroit Region's season ending event.
and some pictures from Kenneth:
October 11th, 2008 RallyCross? Oh, I Remember That
Next Outing Bob's Family Raceway at night! October 9th, 2008 Mixed Bag at Black River Stages
August 11th, 2008 Bound for Black River Stages This weekend, TIMAlba Rallysport will tackle the 4th and final round of NASA's Atlantic Rally Cup (ARC) at the Black River Stages rally in Harrisville, NY. In spite of missing the first round of the championship in February, the team has enjoyed a fantastic rookie year in their 2004 WRX and will start the final rally of the season leading the Super Stock class. Sadly, co-driver Tammy will not be competing in this event due to medical reasons as the husband and wife team are expecting a new addition to their crew early next year. "We're so excited at the prospect of becoming parents but I'm really going to miss co-driving in the rally car.
http://www.rallywv.com/ August 11th, 2008
August 8th, 2008 Astonishing Appalachian Success NASA Rally West Virginia, August 1st -2nd, was the first gravel rally for the TIMAlba Rallysport crew in their Super Stock WRX. In the weeks running up to the 2 day event the team prepared the car for the 19 twisty, rocky stages throughout the hills above the town of Elkins. The prep time paid dividends with many cars literally being torn apart by rocks and trees that lined the narrow stages. There was no room for error and of the 33 entries only 21 finished the event, many cars succumbed to the unpredictable, sharp turns and endless drop offs. Despite the carnage and starting 13th on the road (unlucky for some) TIMAlba Rallysport achieved a remarkable 1st in class and 5th overall. "Our goal was simply to finish the rally by driving cautiously along the middle of the road" stated co-driver Tammy at the end of two long days in the car. "I can't believe it!" exclaimed driver David Allan when he heard the final result early Sunday morning, "It's a shame our class competitors Scott Wilburn and Jimmy Brandt went out so early with mechanical failure. We were really looking forward to seeing how our times compared on gravel. Next time…" During day 1 the husband and wife crew traded times with car #10 but the #28 car of Eixenberger/Slocum was snapping at the WRX's rear bumper until an unfortunate puncture moved them back down the order. "We had great fun swapping seconds with the O'Leary lads in the #10 Evo but they were consistently faster than us on Saturday." said David. Following heavy rain on Saturday morning the second day's 10 stages (2 were dropped due to delays) proved a challenge for the crew who decided that a calmer-calmer strategy was in order. "I'm amazed the car took the abuse it did." stated David who quietly admits to giggling uncontrollably on the fast, smooth 6.6 mile Boney Turk stage, "SS9 was the first time we had the chance to open the car up properly. It's got some grunt in it and that stage is bloody fantastic." As usual, Paul Eddleston, Team Illuminata Motorsport owner was on hand in the service parks with Mark Buskirk. "It was a bit boring actually. We just swapped the Team Dynamics wheels front to rear once and checked the oil level a couple of times." jested Paul who continued, "The most mechanical work we did all weekend was on the tow rig on Sunday morning as it needed new brake pads before the drive back to Michigan. I consider that a successful weekend's rallying." The TIMAlba Rallysport team would like to thank; Chad @ Racecraft Engineering Jan and Tony @ speedindustry.biz Stan @ Delta Subaru of Grand Rapids See you at Black River Stages on September 26th- 27th! http://www.rallywv.com/ TIM Heading for the Hills of West Virginia This
weekend, TIMAlba
Rallysport
will face the challenging gravel stages of NASA Rally West Virginia,
the 3rd round of the Atlantic Rally Cup (ARC). Following a successful
first outing to Tennessee in May where the husband and wife crew achieved
a pleasantly surprising 2nd place in class, the rocky forest roads
around Elkins, WV will require quite a different driving strategy.
"I grew up driving twisty tarmac roads in the highlands of Scotland
so I felt quite at home on the stages in Tennessee." said driver David
Allan who continues, "Gravel is a completely different game. There's
a lot more that can go badly wrong and we have a great http://www.rallywv.com/ July 28th, 2008 SuperMoto Rally-X Comes to Michigan On August 16 Team Illuminata is going to try it's hand at a new form of motorsport-SuperMoto Rally-X.
Some of you may have heard about this, others may be hearing about
it for the first time. Cash prizes $2000,
5 deep, $1000 first! This event will be held at Auto
City Speedway in Clio, Michigan, August 16th, late afternoon/early
evening. Schedule is to If you want to join the fun and win some cash here are some details: No tire restrictions. Cars accepted at discretion of the promoter, photo required with entry, He's looking for "proper" rally cars and those that look a bit like them. Clean, loud, fast machines. No demolition derby type stuff. All panels and lights present etc? If you are getting this email then I feel you have a car that fits the bill. Must have mud flaps on driven wheels though. Need 10 entries min, 20 max, first come, first served. Driver entry fee is $75 - all access, crew pass $25 - all access, grand stand seating only is $15. A white number panel and numbers are required if not already on the car. Official number panel and numbers can be had from David Allan at www.rcmvinyl.com. Promoter's decal package is also required (free). Not too much stuff I understand. Insured event. No special safety gear required except for your helmet. Now we just need cars. Please feel free to spread the word to other owners of suitable vehicles. Entry form is available here: It's a bit SuperMoto bike oriented but do your best with it. Please include a photo of your car with your entry. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or the promoter. For your information, neither myself nor Team Illuminata Motorsport are part of the organization. Just doing our bit to get us all more ways to play with our cars and perhaps earn a bit of prize money. June 30th, 2008 Wagon on a Roll Despite
a lack luster start to the season the Team Illuminata Motorsport Outback
wagon has tasted success on its last two outings and all hopes are
that this trend will continue. Guest driver, Steve Baumbach started
the roll with victory in the Detroit Region SCCA RallyCross at Victory finally came Eddleston's way on the tarmac of the Summer Solstice Autocross held at The Palace of Auburn Hills later in the month. Running in EP class he took an amazing 2 seconds off his time on his fifth and final run through the long, fast and fun course to beat David Moser by just 0.35 seconds and Scott Harvey by 1.92 seconds. This despite destroying many cones in his previous slow runs. "I guess it just came together in the last run" he said afterwards. "Thank God there were five runs this week" he added. Hopefully the car can keep up its winning streak when it takes on the Great Lakes Divisional RallyCross at Bob's Family Raceway on July 12th. May 30th, 2008 A
Memorable Memorial Day NASA Rally Tennessee, May 24th, was a rally to remember for the TIMAlba Rallysport team. It truly was a rally of firsts for the new team. First time on tarmac, first event using stage notes and the first rally in the freshly built Super Stock class WRX. "We aimed for nothing more than a finish and to bring the car back in one piece", said driver David Allan who continued, "Our crew did an outstanding job putting the final touches on the car right before scrutineering on Friday. It wouldn't be rallying if it wasn't last minute!"
With modest goals for the weekend the team was overjoyed at being awarded 2nd place in SS class and 8th overall out of 22 entries. "We're speechless", commented co-driver Tammy, "We made some small mistakes during the day but generally we just took it easy and kept the car on the road. Forgetting to switch the intercom on for the long 8 mile Hohenwald stage was the biggest hiccup and that caused us to overshoot the L1 about 6 miles in". With a nonfunctioning computer the crew was glad they had the opportunity to complete recce. To the relief of the service crew there was very little drama during the day although for the car crew the lengthened transit mileage in the latter stages made getting to the next stage on time somewhat entertaining. Team Illuminata Motorsports (TIM) owner, Paul Eddleston, summarizes the weekend, "It was a great experience working with Tammy, Dave and the experienced service crew. It is amazing they finished so well up in the rankings considering how carefully they were driving, a testament to their skill and the well built, superb looking vehicle; a work of art. We are very proud to be associated with this team and look forward to more fantastic experiences in the future."
The team attributes a successful first event to car preparation, "The Speed Industry tuned engine was superb right from the start and the Hankook tyres held up well on the twisty, high temperature, coarse road surface", said David with a grin. The car is still in the early phases of development and the team identified some areas for improvement but nothing that can't be resolved before the next event in West Virginia on August 2nd, which is the third round of the Atlantic Rally Cup. See the Grass Roots Motorsport story. The
TIMAlba
Rallysport
team would like to thank; May 19th, 2008 TIM To Tackle the Tarmac of Tennessee This weekend, NASA Rally Tennessee will be the first event for the TIMAlba Rallysport team in their freshly built Subaru WRX. The joint partnership between Michigan based Team Illuminata Motorsport and Alba Rallysport began with local Detroit SCCA rallycross and TSD events. “Stage rallying, it’s the obvious next step ain’t it?” stated TIM owner Paul Eddleston. The team has set themselves modest goals in their first stage rally together, “We are looking to learn but equally important is getting out there and having some fun.” said driver, David Allan who continues, “I’ve been around rallying since I was a wee lad so although it’s great to finally have the opportunity to drive we’ll be happy just sitting at the back of the pack, biding our time and doing our best to keep the car on the road.”
Since completing two rallies in 2007, Galway-Cavendish and LSPR, the husband and wife crew have been eager to get back out on the stages; the team has 3-4 events on the calendar for 2008. Team co-driver, Tammy, clarifies the crew’s strategy, “What happens in the car stays in the car! We had a couple of heated moments at LSPR but are better for it and now we’re looking forward to this season in the new car. As long as my driver keeps his mouth shut and does as he’s told we’ll be fine.” The last 4 months have been filled with long hours and late nights in preparation for the TIMAlba Rallysport trip to Linden, Tennessee. David highlights, “Paul at TIM has been instrumental in getting us up on all four wheels so to speak. He’s supplied many of the parts required in putting together a safe, reliable package from brakes to seats and harnesses, even Team Dynamics wheels.” Paul enthuses, “Team Illuminata Motorsport is very excited to be involved with Alba Rallysport in their campaign to participate in Rally Tennessee and other rally events throughout 2008. We are looking forward to great challenges, great fun, great camaraderie and great feedback on our performance products.” The TIMAlba Rallysport team extends their thanks to Chad Klungle from Racecraft for a cage that is quite simply a work of safety engineered art. Thanks also go to Stan in the parts department at Delta Subaru of Grand Rapids for sourcing many of the OEM spares. Of course a huge thanks to the whole RCM gang, you know who you are! www.rallytennessee.com/2008/ February 20th, 2008 Mini SnoDrift RallyCross a Huge Success It was our honor to once again host the Detroit Region SCCA season opening RallyCross this year called Mini SnoDrift in deference to the Sno*Drift Performance Rally which took place in Atlanta, Michigan just a few weeks ago. Indeed, all signs were that it would be a mini version of this years arduous snow rally but when our site owner plowed the course a few days before the event he was amazed to find patches of unfrozen ground. In fact, the whole sand drag area was not frozen which is a shame as we use that to extend our course beyond the main track. Bob's Family Race way defies the laws of physics! Undaunted, we pressed on regardless in true rally tradition and had a great event anyway. This was the first event in the Region's season long championship presented by Team Illuminata Motorsport. With
a record turn out of 48 entries and a slightly compressed course we
were a bit concerned about running the event as smoothly as we have
become known for. In fact, we were even worried that there might not
be enough The
morning runs were on a mostly snow covered course with the back straight
being a little muddy. This soon turned to ice as it remained below
freezing during the entire day, which made for a very interesting
braking zone into turn 2. If you watch the videos you will see This year's awards were kindly provided by some of our suppliers and ran two deep for most classes. Team Dynamics and Moosejaw donated tee shirts and Rally Armor kindly gave us some of their hats, scarves and sweat shirts too. Race Rochester gave away free sessions at their karting facility. A new sponsor for the Fastest Time of the Day award was Drakes Fine Coffee who gave away a pound of their High Octane Roast beans to Bob Martin who trounced the field with his first lap time of 31.464 seconds. As
for Team Illuminata Motorsport, event chair Paul Eddleston took advantage
of his ability to delegate himself out of a job by running not only
his M4
Outback but is daily driven Jeep
Cherokee in SA class. It's all terrain (except apparently, snow)
tires proved no match for the conditions but it was fun to see what
the thing could do and seat time is seat time, though j We were also delighted to host some of the staff from Mitsubishi R&D who came out to see what all the fuss was about. They also provided the bags fro the driver's packets which helped to constrain the fliers and coupons donated by T.I.M., Batteries Plus and Moosejaw. The Team Dynamics Challenge was once again in effect (see last years winner below) and had a record take up of participants though I still think some people don't yet understand how it works and miss out on their opportunity to win a free set of wheels. A new competition this season is the Cone Free Competition presented by RCM Vinyl who are giving away small crossed out cone decals to any competitor who avoids hitting a cone all day. A full third of the filed managed that distinction mostly due to the lack of cones used to delineate the course this time round. Recipients of these decals are encouraged to display them on their vehicles a la fighter pilots, the one with the most at the end of hostilities wins a "mystery" prize. Rumors that this will be a fully stage prepped 2004 WRX were neither confirmed nor denied. As
usual, various photos and videos are beginning to pop up on line.
Here are few for your viewing pleasure: From
Chris Lanctot four videos: Classes SR
and PR SF and PF SA
and PA & M2 and M4
Chris
Amos, besides being an ace photographer
appears to be a videographer as well with PA
& SA runs and his own in
car runs on offer. Visit Chris's
site for even more fantastic photographs. For those of you who are interested, the event results can be found here and details of the next event at Fowlerville Fairgrounds on March 15th here and on MyAutoEvents.com. Hope to see you all there. January 22nd, 2008 Team Dynamics Challenge Winner Team Illuminata Motorsport would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Doug Harvey on winning a brand new set of Team Dynamics competition wheels in the Team Dynamics Challenge drawing held at the Detroit Region SCCA banquet last Saturday. Just to remind you, the Team Dynamics Challenge awarded competitors drawing entries for carrying decals and/or using Team Dynamics rims in Detroit Region RallyCross events during the 2007 season. The highest placed qualifying driver in each class received 1 drawing ticket for carrying decals and three for using Team Dynamics wheels. Photo
by Chris Amos
You can see the entire range of Team Dynamics competition wheels here and here. Team Illuminata Motorsport would like to thank the folks at Team Dynamics USA for their generous support of the Detroit Region SCCA. Archives |
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