anthonyvop
21st September 2010, 21:18
Rally America National Awards Banquet presented by BFGoodrich Tires
Officials with RallyCar, the premier sanctioning body for performance rally in North America, celebrated the closing of the 2010 Rally America National Championship with a lavish awards ceremony at the first U.S. Rallycross Championship event held at the Officer’s Club at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
The “Who’s Who” from the nation’s top rally drivers gathered from around the United States and Canada to honor the season’s year-end award winners and recount the highlights of a very busy season at the Rally America National Awards Banquet presented by BFGoodrich Tires.
It was a dramatic season that ultimately crowned a new overall Rally America Champion following Travis Pastrana's streak of four consecutive National Championships, a new Super Production Class winner and a show of dominance in the 2 Wheel-Drive Class.
http://www.rally-america.com/contents/photos/article_cache/777.1_300.jpg
See more Banquet pictures at http://www.rally-america.com/events/2010/NJMPRC1/gallery/photo/2/
RallyCar honored each class’ podium winners with the aid of Rally America sponsors BFGoodrich Tires, Racewatches.com and Able Planet providing special awards at the year-end awards banquet.
BFGoodrich Tires Performance & Achievement Award
Dan Passe, Public Relations Manager from BFGoodrich Tires, presented a Performance & Achievement award to Subaru Rally Team USA’s longtime driver Travis Pastrana from Davidsonville, Maryland, for his outstanding record-setting achievements in Rally America competition over the past five years.
In the past five years Travis Pastrana has amassed the following results:
- 22 wins and 37 podium finishes in 51 rally events
- 152 stage wins in 475 stages
- 2 gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medals in 5 X Games Rally events
- Rally America Rookie of the Year
- 4 consecutive Rally America Championships
201 Jeff Moyle Cup “Rookie of the Year”:
From seemingly nowhere, Joseph Burke of Powder Springs, GA, silently appeared at the 100 Acre Wood Rally and soon landed his first overall podium with a third place finish at the New England Forest Rally in his Super Production Class 2003 Mitsubishi EVO VIII. At just 19-years of age, Burke has shown amazing consistency and driving maturity as well as turning his talents into results. Though, some will argue that Burke’s success isn’t a surprise because he comes from a rally family whose father, Seamus Burke, started rallying at a young age in his native Ireland and has been rallying cars for years in the United States and Canada.
Keep an eye out for this dynamic talent as Joseph Burke hits the Rallycross tarmac and dirt in the U.S. Rallycross Championship.
Rally of the Year:
The New England Forest Rally (NEFR) was overwhelmingly chosen for “Rally of the Year” by RallyCar staff and national drivers.
Drivers specifically enjoyed the fast and technical roads the New England Forest Rally is known for and putting on a show for fans at the annual Super Special that’s held at the Mexico Recreational Park with an entertaining jump that was sponsored this year by Red Bull.
“The New England Forest Rally staff organized a well run and well executed event,” said RallyCar Managing Director, J.B. Niday, “With the addition of the MaxAttack! Two-Wheel Drive Series, the New England Forest Rally was a fitting background to finish the 2010 Rally America National Championship in dramatic fashion.”
2010 John Woolf Cup and Grant Whittaker Cup:
These two prestigious awards are given to the overall Rally America Champion driver and co-driver each year. The team the award is named after made a huge impact when John Woolf and Grant Whittaker won the 1980 Golden West Rally (featured in the BFGoodrich film “Race Against Time” ;) in their very first competition appearance.
In 2010, the Woolf and Whittaker Cups were presented to the Rockstar Energy Drink team of Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, both from St. Jean-sur-Richelieau, Quebec, Canada.
L’Estage, a seasoned veteran of rally competition in his native country of Canada along with his co-driver, Nathalie Richard, have been contesting the Rally America Series off and on for a number of years, finishing as high as 7th overall as a team in the 2008 Rally America national Championship. Richard however has taken the co-driver Championship two times in the past.
This year however, L’Estage & Richard finished on the podium at each of the six Rally America National Championship events and won the last two events outright to cap off an exceedingly strong finish against privateer and fellow Mitsubishi pilot Bill Bacon from North Chelmsford, Massachusetts and 4-time Rally America National Champion Travis Pastrana from Subaru Rally Team USA.
Claiming the 2010 Rally America National Championship is particularly sweet for L’Estage & Richard who are also contesting the Canadian National Championship as well as the North American Rally Cup championship – and they’re doing this with one car – a 2009 Mitsubishi Evolution X – built, prepared and serviced by the legendary John Buffum from his Libra Racing workshop in Colchester, Vermont. L’Estage even made an appearance at X Games 16 in 2010 and walked away with a bronze medal in the Rally Car Racing event!
2nd Place Overall: Driver: Bill Bacon
3rd Place Overall: Driver: Travis Pastrana
RaceWatches.com from Homestead, Florida showed their support of this year’s Rally America National Champions by presenting both Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard with custom-made Louis Chevrolet watches from Switzerland which were specially engraved with Rally America logos, the word “Champion” engraved on the side of each watch as well as the names of the winners – each watch was worth in excess of $2,500 each. Tony Castaneira from Racewatches.com made the trip from Florida to personally present the one-of-a-kind watches to the 2010 overall Rally America National Champions, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard.
Joseph Burke, the 2010 Rally America Rookie of the Year from Powder Springs, Georgia, was also presented with a similar Louis Chevrolet watch by Tony Castaneira as he was selected through a year-end drawing to be the recipient of the 2010 Rally America Racewatches.com Contingency Award.
The Jon Woodner Cup – Two Wheel Drive:
After a dominating 2010 performance with four National 2WD wins and two second place finishes, the Jon Woodner Cup was presented to 24-year old Christopher Duplessis of Mason Township, Maine. This was Duplessis’ second Woodner Cup win in just three years as he won it previously in 2008 as well.
Beginning the 2010 Rally America National Championship season driving his familiar 1990 Volkswagen GTi with his longtime co-driver, Catherine Woods from Chelsea, Quebec, Canada sitting in the right seat, Duplessis won the first three Rally events of the year before switching to a SPARCO and 0-60 Magazine supported 2009 Scion xD at the Oregon Trail Rally to help with the car’s development. Switching back to his familiar Volkswagen for the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in June, Duplessis claimed the top spot on the 2WD podium once again before switching back to the ’09 Scion for the last Rally of the year, Duplessis’ home event, the New England Forest Rally in Newry, Maine where he finished 2nd in class.
With the 2010 Rally America 2WD Championship and X Games 16 in the record books, Duplessis is now setting his sights on honing his skills in the first-ever U.S. Rallycross Championship driving a Subaru WRX STI in the AWD class.
2nd Place 2-Wheel-Drive: Driver: Dillon Van Way
3rd Place 2-Wheel Drive: Driver: John Conley
The Roy Donison Cup – Super Production:
The Roy Donison Cup and Super Production Class honors were awarded to Patrick Moro from Dublin, Ohio and longtime Co-Driver Ole Holter from Long Beach, California.
Pat Moro overcame early season challenges at the Sno*Drift Rally in northern Michigan in January and the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri in February before stringing together a pair of podium finishes in his PMR Motorsports-prepared 2005 Subaru WRX STI at the Olympus Rally in Ocean Shores, Washington and the Oregon Trail Rally in Portland, Oregon, while holding off a hard charging Ramana Lagemann at the New England Forest Rally. As a result, Moro’s success not only allowed him to capture the 2010 Super Production Championship, but also allowed him to return to Los Angeles, California in late July alongside teammate Timothy Rooney for ESPN’s X Games 16.
2nd Place Super Production: Driver: Ramana Lagemann
3rd Place Super Production: Driver: Jimmy Keeney
RallyCar will introduce the 2011 Rally America National Championship calendar in the coming month in addition to a new 2011 U.S. Rallycross Championship. Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.
RallyCar is proudly supported by the following corporate sponsors: Subaru of America, the Danza del Sol Winery of Temecula, California, BFGoodrich Tires, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, Able Planet, Inc., Racewatches.com, Rallytire.com, RECARO USA, Ford Racing & Mazda.
Officials with RallyCar, the premier sanctioning body for performance rally in North America, celebrated the closing of the 2010 Rally America National Championship with a lavish awards ceremony at the first U.S. Rallycross Championship event held at the Officer’s Club at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
The “Who’s Who” from the nation’s top rally drivers gathered from around the United States and Canada to honor the season’s year-end award winners and recount the highlights of a very busy season at the Rally America National Awards Banquet presented by BFGoodrich Tires.
It was a dramatic season that ultimately crowned a new overall Rally America Champion following Travis Pastrana's streak of four consecutive National Championships, a new Super Production Class winner and a show of dominance in the 2 Wheel-Drive Class.
http://www.rally-america.com/contents/photos/article_cache/777.1_300.jpg
See more Banquet pictures at http://www.rally-america.com/events/2010/NJMPRC1/gallery/photo/2/
RallyCar honored each class’ podium winners with the aid of Rally America sponsors BFGoodrich Tires, Racewatches.com and Able Planet providing special awards at the year-end awards banquet.
BFGoodrich Tires Performance & Achievement Award
Dan Passe, Public Relations Manager from BFGoodrich Tires, presented a Performance & Achievement award to Subaru Rally Team USA’s longtime driver Travis Pastrana from Davidsonville, Maryland, for his outstanding record-setting achievements in Rally America competition over the past five years.
In the past five years Travis Pastrana has amassed the following results:
- 22 wins and 37 podium finishes in 51 rally events
- 152 stage wins in 475 stages
- 2 gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medals in 5 X Games Rally events
- Rally America Rookie of the Year
- 4 consecutive Rally America Championships
201 Jeff Moyle Cup “Rookie of the Year”:
From seemingly nowhere, Joseph Burke of Powder Springs, GA, silently appeared at the 100 Acre Wood Rally and soon landed his first overall podium with a third place finish at the New England Forest Rally in his Super Production Class 2003 Mitsubishi EVO VIII. At just 19-years of age, Burke has shown amazing consistency and driving maturity as well as turning his talents into results. Though, some will argue that Burke’s success isn’t a surprise because he comes from a rally family whose father, Seamus Burke, started rallying at a young age in his native Ireland and has been rallying cars for years in the United States and Canada.
Keep an eye out for this dynamic talent as Joseph Burke hits the Rallycross tarmac and dirt in the U.S. Rallycross Championship.
Rally of the Year:
The New England Forest Rally (NEFR) was overwhelmingly chosen for “Rally of the Year” by RallyCar staff and national drivers.
Drivers specifically enjoyed the fast and technical roads the New England Forest Rally is known for and putting on a show for fans at the annual Super Special that’s held at the Mexico Recreational Park with an entertaining jump that was sponsored this year by Red Bull.
“The New England Forest Rally staff organized a well run and well executed event,” said RallyCar Managing Director, J.B. Niday, “With the addition of the MaxAttack! Two-Wheel Drive Series, the New England Forest Rally was a fitting background to finish the 2010 Rally America National Championship in dramatic fashion.”
2010 John Woolf Cup and Grant Whittaker Cup:
These two prestigious awards are given to the overall Rally America Champion driver and co-driver each year. The team the award is named after made a huge impact when John Woolf and Grant Whittaker won the 1980 Golden West Rally (featured in the BFGoodrich film “Race Against Time” ;) in their very first competition appearance.
In 2010, the Woolf and Whittaker Cups were presented to the Rockstar Energy Drink team of Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, both from St. Jean-sur-Richelieau, Quebec, Canada.
L’Estage, a seasoned veteran of rally competition in his native country of Canada along with his co-driver, Nathalie Richard, have been contesting the Rally America Series off and on for a number of years, finishing as high as 7th overall as a team in the 2008 Rally America national Championship. Richard however has taken the co-driver Championship two times in the past.
This year however, L’Estage & Richard finished on the podium at each of the six Rally America National Championship events and won the last two events outright to cap off an exceedingly strong finish against privateer and fellow Mitsubishi pilot Bill Bacon from North Chelmsford, Massachusetts and 4-time Rally America National Champion Travis Pastrana from Subaru Rally Team USA.
Claiming the 2010 Rally America National Championship is particularly sweet for L’Estage & Richard who are also contesting the Canadian National Championship as well as the North American Rally Cup championship – and they’re doing this with one car – a 2009 Mitsubishi Evolution X – built, prepared and serviced by the legendary John Buffum from his Libra Racing workshop in Colchester, Vermont. L’Estage even made an appearance at X Games 16 in 2010 and walked away with a bronze medal in the Rally Car Racing event!
2nd Place Overall: Driver: Bill Bacon
3rd Place Overall: Driver: Travis Pastrana
RaceWatches.com from Homestead, Florida showed their support of this year’s Rally America National Champions by presenting both Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard with custom-made Louis Chevrolet watches from Switzerland which were specially engraved with Rally America logos, the word “Champion” engraved on the side of each watch as well as the names of the winners – each watch was worth in excess of $2,500 each. Tony Castaneira from Racewatches.com made the trip from Florida to personally present the one-of-a-kind watches to the 2010 overall Rally America National Champions, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard.
Joseph Burke, the 2010 Rally America Rookie of the Year from Powder Springs, Georgia, was also presented with a similar Louis Chevrolet watch by Tony Castaneira as he was selected through a year-end drawing to be the recipient of the 2010 Rally America Racewatches.com Contingency Award.
The Jon Woodner Cup – Two Wheel Drive:
After a dominating 2010 performance with four National 2WD wins and two second place finishes, the Jon Woodner Cup was presented to 24-year old Christopher Duplessis of Mason Township, Maine. This was Duplessis’ second Woodner Cup win in just three years as he won it previously in 2008 as well.
Beginning the 2010 Rally America National Championship season driving his familiar 1990 Volkswagen GTi with his longtime co-driver, Catherine Woods from Chelsea, Quebec, Canada sitting in the right seat, Duplessis won the first three Rally events of the year before switching to a SPARCO and 0-60 Magazine supported 2009 Scion xD at the Oregon Trail Rally to help with the car’s development. Switching back to his familiar Volkswagen for the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in June, Duplessis claimed the top spot on the 2WD podium once again before switching back to the ’09 Scion for the last Rally of the year, Duplessis’ home event, the New England Forest Rally in Newry, Maine where he finished 2nd in class.
With the 2010 Rally America 2WD Championship and X Games 16 in the record books, Duplessis is now setting his sights on honing his skills in the first-ever U.S. Rallycross Championship driving a Subaru WRX STI in the AWD class.
2nd Place 2-Wheel-Drive: Driver: Dillon Van Way
3rd Place 2-Wheel Drive: Driver: John Conley
The Roy Donison Cup – Super Production:
The Roy Donison Cup and Super Production Class honors were awarded to Patrick Moro from Dublin, Ohio and longtime Co-Driver Ole Holter from Long Beach, California.
Pat Moro overcame early season challenges at the Sno*Drift Rally in northern Michigan in January and the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri in February before stringing together a pair of podium finishes in his PMR Motorsports-prepared 2005 Subaru WRX STI at the Olympus Rally in Ocean Shores, Washington and the Oregon Trail Rally in Portland, Oregon, while holding off a hard charging Ramana Lagemann at the New England Forest Rally. As a result, Moro’s success not only allowed him to capture the 2010 Super Production Championship, but also allowed him to return to Los Angeles, California in late July alongside teammate Timothy Rooney for ESPN’s X Games 16.
2nd Place Super Production: Driver: Ramana Lagemann
3rd Place Super Production: Driver: Jimmy Keeney
RallyCar will introduce the 2011 Rally America National Championship calendar in the coming month in addition to a new 2011 U.S. Rallycross Championship. Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.
RallyCar is proudly supported by the following corporate sponsors: Subaru of America, the Danza del Sol Winery of Temecula, California, BFGoodrich Tires, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, Able Planet, Inc., Racewatches.com, Rallytire.com, RECARO USA, Ford Racing & Mazda.