(DJ) Harvitronix

My New Obsession: Rally Car Driving

I get obsessed with things quickly and dive into them at full throttle. Examples: boxing, DJing, blogging, hockey, and now, rally racing.

Some of these obsessions die off quickly, like boxing, while some live on, like hockey. When I dive in, I never know how long the thrill will last. The initial excitement is always the same, so it’s really hard to tell.

I’ve been wanting to race cars for as long as I can remember — always wanting to go to a driving school — but never really thought I would do it. For the last year or so, the idea in the back of my mind was rally racing.

When Peter Olenick called me up a couple months ago to say he had just bought a Dodge Neon for $1500 to rally with, I was intrigued. “You can get a rally car for $1500? Okay I’m in.” The next day, his axel snapped on a mellow turn.

Then last week, we went to the CORE track about 100 miles from here to rally his new car, a rally-ready 2002 WRX with STI engine and components. After one lap around the track sitting shotgun with Pete at the wheel, I knew that rally was for me.

So last week, I took $700 out of my bank account and picked up this pimp Audi 4000S Quattro. Tim O’Neill has been using 4000 Quattros for his rally school in NH, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong.

I brought the 4000 in to Slipstream Autocare here in Boulder to give the car a once-over and, as luck would have it, the head mechanic and owner there is an ex-pro rally driver! He’s the man. We talked about rallying, and how I wanted to track the car, and he was stoked. We took out the air conditioner and some other useless components, added some critical skid plates, and we were off to the races.

My good buddy Digi Dave and I hopped in the car this morning and headed due middle-of-nowhere to the CORE track. The place is awesome. It’s basically a farm field converted into a car-junky’s Disneyland. It has a 2.3-mile rally track, a rally cross track (which is where these photos and video are from), a rock-climbing area, motocross area, etc. It goes on forever.

So with my new $700 car (with an extra $1,000 of repairs), we set off. About a quarter mile in to the 2.3-mile track, I rolled my foot for a heel-toe, and nothing happened. “Dave! I think the gas pedal fell off!” We pulled over, borrowed a zip-tie, re-attached the pedal, and were back at it. Somehow, my 25-year-old car didn’t have another hiccup the entire day. It was smooth as butter.

Driving around corners at what feel like death-defying speeds (even though we’re probably slow as shit relative to good drivers) gives me the same thrill as jumping off a cliff or skiing deep powder. It’s actually quite a similar feeling: big grin, adrenaline pumping, edge-of-your-seat-OH-SHIT-am-I-in-control feeling. I highly recommend anyone who gets a rush from pushing themselves in any sport to try it behind the wheel of a car… in a controlled track environment, of course.

I can’t wait to get back out there. But it will have to wait, as tomorrow, I’m going to Laguna Beach for a week, kicking things off with my first flying lesson. This is shaping up to be one hell of a weekend.

Photos and video by David Amirault

Rallying the 1985 Audi 4000S Quattro from Dave Amirault on Vimeo.