Stop five on the ARA National event calendar took the team to Rangely, Colorado. Incredibly hot and technical days were the name of the game. The event kicked off with Parc Expose followed by a unique parade right in the heart of the town. The turnout was immense!
Def Leppard fans were out in full force and the support in the community was over the top! Viv and Michael spent a bunch of time with fans sharing the excitement for the weekend and feeling the massive support of this wonderful town as well as adoring fans.
The team was working to keep their cool amidst the heat and elevation but a persistent but sporadic fuel pressure problem was causing some drivability issues right from the start of the first days stages.
Viv and Michael were pushing for a finish and to enjoy their seat time at this event. despite the car issues, the heat and taking it easy, they were setting very impressive times on the stages. Some of the stages really took concentration with large ravines and massive boulders lining the roads. The team was having fun amidst the challenges and reveling in the technicality of the stages. By the first and only service of the day multiple cars had to be towed in, most of the cars were showing battle scars. The R4 arrived fine and dandy so the TRF crew worked to address the fuel pressure issues.
Almost to the finish of the second running of stage 4 the fuel pressure issues came back nagging and were enough to throw the intense concentration these demanding stages called for. Viv missed a note and it was too late. The R4 slid just wide enough on a left hander over a small crest, caught a rock that sent the guys into a double barrel role. After both rotations the car landed gracefully back on its wheels but suffered enough damage that they couldn’t finish the stage.
No stranger to rolling cars, Viv marked this one as one of his favorite rolls because they didn’t end up upside-down in the car. Luck was on their side, if they had started into a third roll, they likely would have ended up at the bottom of a 40 foot ravine. The safety systems all performed well. No injuries to report. The guys even noted that it was “pretty casual”.
The car was deemed safe to compete but still required some immense work. The crew at TRF would have been working through most of the night and working with limited replacement parts. The decision was made to take the final day of the rally off.
Rally Colorado proved to be quite challenging. The top team of Subaru and Travis Pastrana also suffered from fuel pressure problems. Countless cars earned multiple flat tires and significant damage throughout the course of day one alone. The leaderboard was constantly in flux. While recovering Viv’s R4, a pop up rainstorm soaked the event and caused massive flooding and washouts leading to the cancelling of several stages. This event is not one for the faint of heart. A finish here is a proud accomplishment. Viv and Michael can’t wait to try this one again!
Head on over to YouTube for the full event ReCap Video – ROCK&ROLL