Sno*Drift: Dave Mirra summary

BMX LEGEND DAVE MIRRA MAKES RALLY AMERICA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT

(Jan 28, 2008) BMX legend Dave Mirra has successfully finished the SnoDrift Rally in 18th position overall at the wheel of a Monster Energy Subaru Impreza rally car. The SnoDrift Rally, held in snowy northern Michigan, is round one of the nine round 2008 Rally America Championship. This was Mirra's first national level rally race in the USA and he plans on competing in most of the 2008 Rally America National Championship with team backing from Vermont SportsCar.

The SnoDrift Rally was held on over 117 miles of snow and ice- covered roads in northern Michigan. Constantly changing weather and road conditions historically make the this rally extremely challenging, and this year was no exception. The forest roads featured fresh snow over layers of ice, making tire choice and road position huge factors in the results. Over 40 of America's best rally drivers took part in the event.

"We had one goal for this rally, and it was to just finish and get some experience," explained Mirra. "The roads were slick everywhere and although we were not pushing hard it was definitely a huge challenge to stay clean and out of the snow banks. This was such a good time, now I'm really looking forward to the next rally where we'll be on gravel."

Mirra is starting off his fledgling rally career in a slower, non-turbocharged Subaru Impreza entered in the Open Class. The series sanctioning body, Rally America, requires that rookie rally drivers, like Mirra, start in lower power or two-wheel drive rally cars. Only after finishing several events are rookies allowed to drive faster turbocharged AWD rally cars. Therefore it is essential for Mirra to start off slow and finish rallies, which is exactly what he has accomplished at the SnoDrift Rally.

-credit: www.vtcar.com