The weather was warm and clear, the views were breathtaking, but in the end the “Trunkmonkey Run For The Border” road rally was all about the driving. The event took place over 160 miles of Vermont’s best driving roads. Approximately 80% of the course was dirt, but there were some twisty tarmac sections thrown in just to keep participants on their toes. CAS was a little higher than the average NER event, challenging each driver’s ability to stay on time.

While the rally took place by the New Hampshire/Vermont border, the rally got its name from the fact that contestants followed a portion of the route used by some of the booze runners in the 1930’s. Prohibition spawned a new job opportunity, namely transporting alcohol down from Canada to major cities such as Boston and New York. It was not uncommon for booze runners to stick to the back roads in order to avoid detection by law enforcement. The rally passed through one of the major hubs where alcohol would be transferred from one transport vehicle to another.

Competition on the rally was extremely fierce. The teams of Alan and Kathy Moody, as well as Cara and Alan Dennis both made strong showing in novice class. Their Rallycross skills obviously got a workout on this extended course. In the end however, John Parsons and Andrej Gaspari would edge out the team of Don Grant and George Harding to take the top podium spot by a slim 16 point margin. All the novice teams did an excellent job following the course and none of them maxed out a single checkpoint score. Each team could easily be competitive in stock class.

Speaking of stock class, the competition here was even closer. The team of Ramon Gonzalez and Greg Viscomi edged out the team of Lisa and Howie Lyhte by a mere eight points. That’s less than five seconds over the entire length of the course using a watch and stock odo gear!

Both teams running in class C were formed just days before the event. While each participant was seasoned at road rally, it was their first time out with their respective driver or co-driver. The team of Brett Rudolf and Hal Denham made a strong showing, especially when you calculate in the need to fix a flat tire on course. In the end however it was the team of Tim Chevalier and Steve McKelvie that took the top podium spot in lucky car number 13. Chevalier and McKelvie had an amazing run, pulling single digit scores at 70% of the checkpoints.

There was only a single team competing in class B. This was the team of Mike White and Andrew Steere. Despite the lack of competition they still hit it hard and pulled a respectable score.

Finally, the biggest competition was in class A. The team of Daren Jones and David Schickedarz make the trip all the way down from Ontario and made a strong showing. The team of Scott and Jamie Beliveau also did well, especially when you take into consideration that this is Jamie’s first year out. Just edging them out was the team of Pego Mack and Mark Ziburis. Not only did Mack and Ziburis take the third podium position, but they also won the drawing at the end of the event for the two lamp auxiliary light bar donated by Rally Ho! Racing. This will certainly come in handy on their next night rally.

The top two spots in class A could not have been closer. Mike Friedman and Marc Goldfarb took second with a mere 19 points. Top spot went to none other than Stephanie Gosselin and Fred Mapplebeck with 18 points. That’s just over .5 seconds worth of error separating these two teams. Talk about tight competition!

Other highlights of the rally included a swimming hole at the break area, numerous covered bridges, and free food at the end of the event. By the end of the event, everyone seemed to be grinning from ear to ear, which is what really matters in road rally.

Team Trunkmonkey would like to thank our two generous sponsors for helping to make this event such a success. Thanks to Rally Ho! Racing for raffling off the beautifully made auxiliary light bar. Rally Ho! makes an awesome two or four lamp light-bar for the Subaru Impreza that requires no drilling that can easily be installed or removed as needed. For more info, drop a note to [email protected].

Finally, we would like to thank Finer Touch Auto Body of Manchester, NH. They have been big supporters of both the Trunkmonkey team, as well as multiple SCCA events within the region. Without generous financial supporters like Finer Touch, our sport would be far more cost prohibitive. More information can be found at www.finertouchautobody.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, HAVERHILL, MA (07/31/2005) — New England-based motorsports team Trunkmonkey Racing successfully completed Maine Forest Rally which hosts River Valley Rally and Bethel Rally of the Rally America Eastern Regional Championship. Competing in Production GT Class with their 1996 Subaru Impreza 2.2 L, the team placed 3rd in class at Bethel Rally and 5th in class at River Valley Rally. Over the two-day event driver Sean Sosik-Hamor and co-driver Andrew Hobgood traversed 88 miles of special stages and 260 miles of total distance through the picturesque landscape of Maine.

Trunkmonkey Racing has been extremely active in the New England motorsports community for the past four years both competing in and helping organize autocross, ice racing, rallycross, and road rally events as well as marshaling and crewing performance rally events. Their inaugural performance rally, Maine Forest Rally was a turning point in the team’s history.

Said Sean Sosik-Hamor, “As rookies running on novice competition licenses our primary focus was to simply finish the event with an undamaged car, gain experience, and acquire the coefficients required to move up to full competition licenses. Although our stage times got faster and faster over the two days of stages as Andrew familiarized himself with the routebook and solidified his calls I was intentionally taking it slow and braking early while playing dodgeball with watermelon-sized rockadillos. In essence, Maine Forest Rally was simply a long shakedown session to see exactly what the car could do.”

Andrew Hobgood later added, “I still don’t fully realize that we’re done with Maine…it’s been so long in coming and to manage a solid finish in our home rally was an absolute blast.”

Running with dual-layer shimmed skidplates constructed from 1/8″ aluminum and 3/16″ high density polyethylene (HDPE), the Trunkmonkey Pink Impreza survived Maine with minimal damage including a lost exhaust tip, two bent wheels that were easily banged out in service, and many broken skidplate zip ties.

The Trunkmonkey Racing crew was the backbone of the weekend consisting of Dan Oliver, Nick Rabchenuk, Kelly Sosik-Hamor, John Tourville, and Sabrina Vollers who rolled into service early and were ready and waiting to inspect the car and rectify any issues. Team members Brian Batty, Chris Brenton and James Mackey were instrumental in preparing the Trunkmonkey Pink Impreza in the weeks leading up to Maine Forest Rally. Many thanks also go out to Josh Bressem for helping out the team for the weekend after his driver retired during shakedown.

Trunkmonkey Racing would like to thank their 2005 sponsors and partners:

Finer Touch Auto Body: http://www.finertouchauto.com/

RallyDecals.com: http://www.rallydecals.com/

Arcamedia Corporation: http://www.arcamedia.com/

RallyHo Motorsports: http://www.rallyhomotorsports.com/

For more information about Trunkmonkey Racing, please visit:

http://www.trunkmonkeyracing.com/

For more information about Maine Forest Rally, please visit:

http://www.maineforestrally.com/

Photo Copyright © 2005 Pete Kuncis, On A Limb Racing Rally Photography

Trunkmonkey Racing has joined forces with Finer Touch Auto Body located in Manchester, NH! Specializing in collision repair, detailing, and automotive sales, Finer Touch Auto Body is now Trunkmonkey Racing’s exclusive body shop and did an absolutely outstanding job repainting the 762 PGT Trunkmonkey Pink Impreza with its new paint scheme! If you’re looking for body work check out FinerTouchAuto.com or call Gene at 603-668-4713.