“We were determined to bring our overall speeds up during this rally and I am very pleased to see that we obtained our goal,” explained the crew chief Doug Nagy from Streetwise Motorsports www.streetwiseparts.com. “This specific rally is quite demanding for the whole team. The race starts with night stages and the visibility is often limited by the standing dust in the desert. The huge exposures (drops next to the roads on the sides of the mountain) are quite unsettling for most drivers and this will reduce the overall speeds. The long 21-mile stages on Saturday morning are demanding for the drivers and it will be difficult to focus through the longer stages. This is approximately twice the length of a typical stage here on the west coast. ”
“The long straights might be the fastest here on the west coast. We, for example, obtained speeds of 93 mph on loose gravel!” continued the co-driver John Dillon. “This team is a true pleasure to work with and I am impressed to see how quickly Katianna is improving as a driver. Also, because we can fully trust the quality work of Doug and the crew, Katianna and I can fully focus on our jobs within the team. We were lucky to have Steve McNaughton, Ken Shaver, Jon Coltrane and Ralph Kosmides (a former national rally champion) turning wrenches with Doug when we needed help replacing a wheel bearing. They are a big part of our success.”
“We, the whole team, were hoping for slight rain for Friday night to keep the dust down in the darkness and sunshine for Saturday,” mentioned Katianna. ”Luckily the weather man granted our wishes and we had a wonderful weekend at Prescott Rally 2011.” PikaSports campaigns a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX built and prepared by Streetwise Motorsports (www.streetwiseparts.com). Lights are provided by Anzo USA (www.anzousa.com). PikaSports races in partnership with the Widget Rally Team www.widgetracing.com. Photos courtesy of Motorsports Memories www.motorsportmemories.com

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (June 27, 2011) – Despite an abbreviated race schedule, Streetwise Motorsports and Lauchlin O’Sullivan have managed to clinch one 2011 rallycross championship and are tied for the lead in another. Thanks to a strong performance at the Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) “Last Chance” event June 17 – 18 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, O’Sullivan and Streetwise will go down in history as the year’s Two-Wheel-Drive (2WD) Limited Class Champions. Meanwhile, at the midpoint of the season, O’Sullivan and Streetwise are tied with Cody Crane of Milwaukie, OR, at the top of the U.S. Rallycross Championship 2WD Limited class points standing.

“We entered the Global RallyCross Championship and RallyCar’s U.S. Rallycross Championship to showcase our team’s ability to be successful even when time and other resources are limited,” said Streetwise principal Doug Nagy, a veteran team manager and crew chief who has led professional sports car efforts at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, among many others. “We’ve achieved that by winning our class championship in Global RallyCross, but we’d love to put an exclamation point on our 2011 season by winning the U.S. Rallycross title.”

The inaugural GRC season included three events: “The Revolution” at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale (CA), March 25 – 26; “Twin Peaks” at Old Mill Rally Park in Seattle, April 15 – 16; and “Last Chance” at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, CO, June 17 – 18. Streetwise contested the first event, building a 1987 Toyota Corolla FX-16 in just two weeks and then overcoming a race-day engine failure to win 2WD Limited and finish third overall in 2WD.

The team missed the second event due to budgetary constraints but then rebounded at the “Last Chance” round – so named because it was the last opportunity to win points to secure an invitation to participate in the prestigious X Games 17 in Los Angeles, July 31. Again winning the 2WD Limited class, O’Sullivan and Streetwise secured the 2011 class championship and wrapped up sixth place in 2WD overall.

Points scored in two of the three 2011 GRC events also count towards the U.S. Rallycross Championship, which runs its remaining three events in conjunction with The Off Road Championship (TORC): Bark River (MI) International Raceway, Aug. 13 -14; Crandon (WI) International Off Road Raceway, Sep. 4 – 5; Chicagoland Speedway (Joliet, IL), Sep 15.

“We’re hoping to be able to put together a program to finish out the U.S. Rallycross season and have a shot at that second title,” said Nagy. “But even if we don’t make it this year, being part of the inaugural Global RallyCross Championship was a great experience. We proved that we know how to win, and we were a part of the launch of a brand-new form of motorsport in this country – one that I think has a bright future. I’m proud of Lauchlin and the rest of the team for what we were able to accomplish together. We’re looking forward to continuing our involvement – and our success – in rallycross, whether this year or next.”

Based in Orange County, CA, Streetwise Motorsports specializes in high-performance automotive projects, including rally, rallycross, off-road racing, drifting and road racing. Streetwise offers professional-grade performance parts at www.streetwiseparts.com.

Lauchlin Crossing the Finish Line

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (June 8, 2011) – It took Streetwise Motorsports just two weeks to build a car, get it to the track and finish on the podium in the first round of the Global RallyCross Championship at Irwindale Speedway back in March. As the team returns to GRC competition at Pikes Peak International Raceway June 17 – 18, they are still making every second count.

We were thrilled to finish on the podium at Irwindale,” said Streetwise principal Doug Nagy, a veteran team manager and crew chief who has led professional sports car efforts at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, among many others. “But the short timeline meant that our weekend was a bit more dramatic than I would have preferred. This time, we’re not starting from scratch. We’re still operating on a shoestring budget, but we have time to address the dozens of little details that can make the difference between winning and losing.”

Nagy explained that he and his team are spending the run-up to the Pikes Peak event reducing weight, enhancing handling and increasing power for the 1987 Toyota Corolla FX-16, which started life as a road-racing entry and then sat unused for more than a decade prior to its arrival at the Streetwise shop in Orange County, California. A furious fortnight of fabrication and preparation for the GRC opener earned the little Toyota a first place finish in the Two-wheel Drive Limited class, third overall in 2WD – and the affectionate nickname of “Two-Week Wonder.”

Champion rally driver Lauchlin O’Sullivan will once again be behind the wheel of the Two-Week Wonder. The San Francisco native is no stranger to high speed in the Centennial State. His racing resume includes a third-place overall finish in the open class of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb during his time as a Mitsubishi factory driver, as well as numerous successful outings in Colorado rally events.

Streetwise Motorsports will provide updates on the team’s progress at Pikes Peak via Facebook (Streetwise Motorsports) and Twitter (@sw_ms) throughout the event. Full coverage of the Global RallyCross Championship “Last Chance” in Colorado will be broadcast on ESPN June 25 at 9 p.m. EDT, with live streaming and video highlights available online at ESPN3.com.

Lauchlin Charging ahead at Round One of the Global Rallycross event at Irwindale

I took on this project to showcase the abilities of Streetwise Motorsports,” said Nagy, a veteran team manager and crew chief who has led professional sports car efforts at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring, among many others. “The idea was to prove that a low-cost program could be competitive. But we only had two weeks to put it all together – and that was a busy two weeks!”

Nagy and his crew started with a 1987 Toyota Corolla FX-16 that had been built as a road racer in the ‘80s, competed periodically during the ‘90s and then been parked for the last decade. The car was stripped and painted. A new roll cage was built and installed, as well as new suspension, brake system, engine and transmission, and rally-style skid plates. And the effort came down to the wire.

We just made it to Tech Inspection on Thursday night before the event,” said Nagy. “Other than making sure the engine started, the transmission shifted and the car turned and stopped, we had no time for testing.”

Fortunately, Nagy had engaged the services of champion rally driver Lauchlin O’Sullivan, a San Francisco native whose vast experience behind the wheel – including time spent as a Mitsubishi factory driver – would be invaluable as the team attempted to compress a full testing program into the first two Global RallyCross practice sessions.

With the two veterans doing what they do best, the “Two-Week Wonder” was fastest among the two-wheel-drive “Limited” cars and third overall in 2WD during practice. In qualifying, they remained quickest of the 2WD-Limited cars but slipped to fourth overall.

The next step was head-to-head “Elimination” rounds as part of the Super Rally event, but their promising start ended with the Corolla running on three cylinders as first the car lost oil pressure and then a spark plug wire came loose.

Day Two brought more bad news: with all plug wires in place, the car was still down on power at the start of morning practice, the oil warning light was still flickering and the car was blowing blue-white smoke. After only two laps, the trouble that started the day before came to a head, and the car spun to a smoky stop with a rod through the side of the block.
We had two choices at that point: quit or send someone back to the shop to pick up the original engine that had been sitting in the car for ten years,” explained Nagy. “We just had to hope that we could get it changed in time to make the race – and that it would last long enough to finish.”

Despite the odds, nobody wanted to quit. Two members of the crew lit out for the Streetwise shop, while Nagy and three others set about removing the damaged engine and readying the car to receive the transplant.

From the time that the new/old engine arrived, it took Nagy and his team – with a crowd gathering to watch the show – less than two hours to perform the installation and get the car running again. And if they hadn’t had to troubleshoot and replace the fuel system, which had become gummed up after years of disuse, Nagy maintains they would have done it in less than 90 minutes.

During the repairs, the team missed a practice session and the first of two points-paying heat races, but the car returned to the grid for Heat #3, and O’Sullivan made the most of the Streetwise crew’s efforts, earning a second-place finish and qualifying for the B-Main.

O’Sullivan proceeded to win the B-Main, racing his way into the 2WD A-Main. And after an eventful six-lap drive, he claimed third overall, first in 2WD-Limited.

“I couldn’t be happier with the results,” said Nagy. “I’m grateful to Lauchlin and all of my guys for a truly heroic effort. We started out attempting to show our skill, but in the end it wasn’t just about ability. It was about spirit and teamwork. And that’s what makes this team successful.”

March 3-6: Desert Storm Rally (1,3,2) Blythe, CA
April 9: High Desert Trails Rally (3) Ridgecrest, CA
May 21: Plan B Rally (3) Indio, CA
June 18-19: Idaho Rally (3,2) Boise, ID
July 8-9: North Nevada Rally (2,3) Lovelock, NV
August 6: Mendocino Rally (2) Ukiah, CA
August 27: Gorman Ridge Rally (3) Frazier Park, CA
Sept 30 – Oct 1: Prescott Rally (2,3) Prescott, AZ
November 5: Seed 9 Rally (2) Jean, NV

The California Rally Series is the premier performance rally championship in the southwestern United States. The Series incorporates events from various sanctioning bodies in order to create a meaningful regional championship for its members. The Series celebrates more than 35 continuous years of performance rally, making it the longest running rally series in the United States. To learn more about the California Rally Series visit www.californiarallyseries.com and follow @crspress on twitter.