Teammax > Teammax's Blog Posts > Sandblast Rally Report - 6 Podium Finishes for BMW! Feb. 11, 2008

June 05, 2008 16:19

Sandblast Rally Report - 6 Podium Finishes for BMW! Feb. 11, 2008

With four RallyMoto events now under our belts, we’ve come to a definitive conclusion: hotel parking lots are a huge part of the rally experience. They’re equal parts social center, news forum and open air garage. And much of the drama in a rally begins and ends on the hotel’s patch of painted pavement.

For 4 AM on a Sunday morning, the parking lot of the hotel is surprisingly busy. After 10 hours of rallying yesterday, the competitors are moving stiffly toward their trucks to endure another considerable day of travel. When they climb out into the snow back in the northern states, fond memories and stray grains of sand will be the only remaining evidence of Sandblast. (Oh, and photos – we’ve got lots of those too!).

Saturday was an ideal day for a rally: 70 degrees, bright blue sky, and most importantly, a corps of volunteers ready to make sure the day went smoothly. Before we give you the full report, we need to extend our appreciation to all of the BMW MOA members who answered our call for volunteers for this rally. They arrived on old airheads, new RTs, big LTs, Adventures and GSes from all over the US and we can’t thank you enough for your help and support. Without the volunteers, events like this just wouldn’t happen.

Most of the volunteers missed the Parc Expose on Saturday morning as they deployed to their stage assignments, but it was an impressive sight. 48 out of 51 registered bikes made it to the starting line and were released into the first transit every 30 seconds:

Doug Morrison leaves the first control.

Ben Stratton, transit 1.

Two of the three DNSes didn’t even make it to South Carolina. One was forced to stand and watch as his time slot sat empty under the Red Bull arch at the start. The distinctive red and white R100 GS PD with the #80 plate would be spending the day sunbathing in the hotel parking lot while Jason Adams spectated a RallyMoto for the first time. On Friday evening after shakedown, Jason noticed that the GS was under considerable strain riding into the (wait for it…) hotel parking lot. After a brief assessment, the problem didn’t immediately reveal itself. But when you find bits of aluminum in your oil pan the night before a rally, hope quickly turns to disappointment. We’ve seen lesser men react vigorously to more minor setbacks, but Jason handled the situation with grace, class and a mature attitude. Jason became a dad for the first time six months ago and it’s nice to know he’ll be setting a good example for his daughter.

Speaking of learning from past experience, after long delays clearing the stage after the cars last year, it was decided to send the motorcycles out first. This proved to be a good idea for the schedule (the riders experienced no major delays all day) but it was tough for the early riders who didn’t have any tracks to follow. Between the terrain and the speed, reading a roll chart on the stage is nearly impossible and riders don’t have the benefit of a co-driver to provide navigational instructions. For the top competitors, reading the course ahead and negotiating the turns quickly were the keys to notching stage wins. At the end of the day, 6 of 9 podium spots in three classes were occupied by BMWs.

Mark Albertson TEAM MAX BMW 2nd place, Production 1 5th overall

Shawn Hamblin Pine Barrons RallyMoto Team 1st place, Production 2 3rd place overall

For most of the riders, managing to finish was a sweet victory. Nine riders failed to meet this goal, but knowing when to retire is a key element to safety in RallyMoto. Fatigue forced Mark Danielle to spectate the final stages after riding well early in the rally. It was a smart and safe strategy on Mark’s part, since the X Challenge he is riding is his first “dirt” bike and Sandblast was his first real off-road and sand-riding experience. An accomplished street rider who we often see at track day, Mark was slowly being seduced by RallyMoto during the past year. After watching the December sprint at Kearney Rally Village, Mark could no longer resist the allure and signed on for Sandblast. We’re glad to have him along.

Mark Danielle navigates the sand on stage 3.

Joe Warner tells a similar story, though for him, RallyMoto was love at first sight. Joe developed an immediate addiction to our Sandblast e-riders last year and spent an “unreasonable” amount of time on the Internet following the development of RallyMoto. By September, he had mounted an HP2 and competed in the Black River Stages rally. He had a good day at Sandblast, gaining ground on each stage, collecting dust from the riders he passed, and earning some hardware in his second RallyMoto event.

Joe Warner TEAM MAX BMW 3rd place, Production 1

If there were a trophy for sportsmanship in RallyMoto, Aaron Gibson would get one as big as his heart. After learning that Jason Adams had been forced to withdraw, Aaron thought that Jason might like to ride a stage or two on his bike to make up for some of the disappointment of having worked so hard and traveled so far only to be left as a spectator on rally day. Before offering this to Jason, Aaron approached rally master Anders Green to ask if Jason could ride his X Challenge for the remainder of the rally (with no score) if he withdrew after one of the mid-day stages. After learning of the situation and a brief negotiation, Anders agreed. Jason was touched by the gesture and considered it seriously, but told Aaron that he’d rather see him ride all of the stages. It was an awfully darn thoughtful and sincere gesture and we give Aaron two huge thumbs up for his sportsmanship.

Aaron Gibson completed every stage.

Many of our RallyMoto veterans were christening new bikes at Sandblast this year. Andrew Phillips, who rode to and rallied his R1150 Adventure at Black River Stages traded up to an HP2:

Andrew Phillips TEAM MAX BMW 6th place, Production 1

Chris Olsen and Keith Ciampa both swapped their F650 Dakars in favor of X Challenges for Sandblast and joined Jack O’Connor from the Pine Barrons and Bill Conger from the BMW Performance Center for all seven stages:

Christian Olsen TEAM MAX BMW 3rd place, Production 2

Keith Ciampa punishes the sand on stage 3

Jack O’Connor Pine Barrons RallyMoto Team 4th place, Production 2

Bill Conger BMW Performance

Our new Tennessee teammate Ben Myburgh and BRS vet Dan Dupre put their Dakars through their paces on Saturday:

Ben Myburgh accelerates on stage 3.

Dan Dupre looking for speed on stage 6.

The rest of TEAM MAX BMW have maintained the HP2 as their RallyMoto weapon of choice:

Doug Morrison TEAM MAX BMW 2nd place, Kings

Max Stratton TEAM MAX BMW 3rd place, Kings

Jimmy Doustou TEAM MAX BMW 4th place, Production 1

Steve Mauk TEAM MAX BMW 5th place, Production 1

A gorgeous day yielded a nice mid-winter sunset for the start of the final stage, but darkness came quickly. The bikes wound through the sandhill forest for the final time this year, each with varying amounts of candlepower.

After months of preparation and a great rally, we’re rolling north again, watching the GPS and wondering just how fast we’ll get home. Is our attention to the clock because the draw of home is so powerful? That’s part of it. But we also have to admit that RallyMoto has become a part of who we are, and until Rally Tennessee we’ll actually kind of miss that hotel parking lot.

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