Having completed the first 3 events of the 2008 season, the 2005 Impreza 2.5RS wagon campaigned by T. Williams (williaty) and M. Carlton is making a strong showing thanks to support from Turn In Concepts.
The season opener for the Central Ohio Rally Club was the Mad River Run rallymastered by Willams and sponsored by Turn in Concepts. Taking place over 120 miles of twisting, blind, and narrow gravel and tarmac roads in Union, Champaign, and Logan counties in Ohio, the rally saw twice the usual number of entries due to Subarus competing for a generous prize donated by Turn In Concepts and the promise of challenging driving.
Round 2 of the 2008 season was the annual River Run, rallymastered by Eric Jones, retired pro-rally (including WRC) driver and navigator. The Run followed more than 300 miles of the most challenging and technical roads in Ohio. 93 cars started the event in Canal Winchester and 92 of them finished in Zanesville (1 Triumph was lost on course, we suspect it's in someone's pocket). Along the way, the route took teams along US-33, through Hocking Hills, portions of Wayne National Forest, along the Ohio river, and up State Route 555. Defending the Subaru name against many British sports cars (including a Lotus Esprit Turbo) were 3 Imprezas from Central Ohio Subarus and a brand-new 08 STi from Cleveland. The 4 cars quickly formed a convoy led by the TiC-sponsored RS wagon of Williams. Only Williams had remembered to bring
a navigator. Over the course of the day, the convoy was given the point-by from every other car, failing to finish 1st only due to the small matter of the STi nearly running out of gas miles from the nearest 93 octane pump. However, all 4 Subarus counted the day a major success and well worth running again.
The Champaign T Party made up Round 3 of the 2008 season. Held in Champaign county, Ohio, the rally covered 75 miles of back roads. Many roads were repeats from the season opener. However, ODOT had decided to smile on rallyists everywhere and had liberally coated the entire
county in fresh gravel. Roads that had been clean tarmac in April were an inch deep in gravel in June. The target speeds had been set when the roads were tarmac, so the actual pace necessary for the rally was, to say the least, brisk as it wound through blind square left after blind square right. Williams and Carlton fared well, placing 1st in Class as well as 2nd Overall. Running in the least-equipped class, Seat of Pants, Williams and Carlton recorded a 0 (perfect time!) on
Stage 4 and a 3 the very next stage, scores typically only seen by the highest Class of computer-guided cars. Williams and Carlton are hoping to continue this success throughout the 2008 Season, putting the TiC Rally Cow on the podium each month. With 3 events remaining in the 2008 Season, including the Ohio Forest Rally which takes place on the historic Sunriser Rally pro-rally stages, Williams and Carlton are determined to make a strong showing for the honor of wagons, NA's, and TiC.
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