Contact:
DiRT Media
Email: info@demonrally.com

Feb 16th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CTS Turbo Boosts The Demon Rally Team To Group 5

The Demon Rally Team is proud to announce their partnership with CTS Turbo as the team moves to the unlimited two wheel drive rally class in North America.

The Demon Rally Team has been very successful in Group 2 competition, taking several regional group 2 wins and top stage times; they are most proud of their stage record on the famous Brooklyn Tavern Stage at the Doo Wop Rally, as well as a National Group 2 win at the final round of the inaugural Max Attack Two Wheel Drive Rally Series in 2008. Making the step up to Group 5 brings about several exciting new challenges for the team as well as the opportunity to compete with even faster opponents in 2010.

After completing their new Group 2 VW Golf GTI, the Demon Rally Team won at the Wild West Rally in group two competition, finishing 4th overall on day two despite encountering several mechanical difficulties. Upon arriving home after the event, the team was amped about their success, but still wanted the ability to compete at the National Level. Both Rally America’s National Championship and NASA’s United States Rally Championship now recognize two wheel drive vehicles as one class; competing in a regionally limited class like group 2 was holding the Demon Rally Team back. When considering their options, the Demon Rally Team contacted their friends at CTS Turbo. CTS Turbo chose to join the Demon Rally Team as they moved up into the Group 5 Class.

The addition of CTS Turbo as a partner allows the team to compete in Group 5 competition by using their newest line of turbochargers from RP Turbo. RP Turbo was founded on the principle of providing OEM performance and quality without the inflated OEM price tag. Adhering to this simple principle has helped them to design and re-design components for turbocharging that are often more simplified, but function better, and are more reliable.

RP Turbos are some of the best turbocharging components in the industry and are made to their own exacting specifications. Demon Rally Team driver Tom Burress exclaimed, “I am amped about adding CTS Turbo to the team. We are nearly doubling the amount of horsepower the car produced with our new RP Turbo; as a driver, if that doesn’t pump you up I don’t know what would!”

The team is yet again rebuilding their VW Golf from top to bottom to accommodate their new RP Turbocharger supplied by CTS Turbo. Look for the Demon Rally Team to debut the Group 5 Evolution of their VW Golf at the Oregon Trail Rally in Portland, OR May 14-16, 2010.

Special thanks to all of the Demon Rally Team’s partners, including Fine Tuning, who continues to support the team for the 5th Year in a row as their title partner. The team’s impressive racing graphics are supplied and installed by Meister Gauge Faces, their programmable engine management is supplied by Spitfire EFI, and performance tuning is done by Ralley Tuned. Product Apparel takes care of the Demon Rally Team’s clothing needs.

CTS Turbo

Home

sales@ctsturbo.com

For more information contact:
DiRT Media
info@demonrally.com

© 2010 DemonRally.com

After several changes to the back end system we now have a shopping-cart-enabled merchandise page. We have t-shirts and decals available for sale right now. Both items are really high quality and look great. Help support our efforts at the Wild West rally and future rallies by buying a t-shirt or a decal!

We’ll also be bringing some shirts and decals to Wild West, if you’d like to save on shipping costs.

Look for more items on the merchandise page, like spare rally parts, in the future.

Since the car isn’t finished, we did what we could to support our favorite rally and our sport in general. 

Tom volunteered to work some corners and brought a couple friends along with him who were new to spectating.  He got a couple pictures as well.

I co-drove for Californian driver Andrew Lockhart in car 394, a MkII GTI just like the one we’re building right now. I got to play with some nice toys (Peltor headsets and a Coralba rally computer, for example) and got a couple points for the co-driver championship. Andrew’s goals were to finish, have fun and learn some new things, and all of those goals were achieved.

Day 1 started off with a missed shift at the start line, getting the bugs out of the system early. Stage 1 and 2 are tarmac stages that I know well, so I told Andrew to go as flat out as he felt comfortable. He did well, finishing 2nd in Gp2 and then shaving 14 seconds off the second run. We headed up to Pico for some gravel fun. A couple 90 degree spins slowed us a bit, but we still managed 4th in Gp2. however, a quick look at the voltmeter showed that the battery was no longer charging. We headed back to service to diagnose and hopefully repair the problem.

After wrangling with the alternator and charging the battery for some time, we decided to risk another stage since there was no spare alternator. We headed back up to Pico left. We made it through the stage, but the car gave up about 500 yards from service at the bottom of a hill. We got a tow from the Tabor ladies back to service and proceeded to borrow a spare alternator from the other VW team of Meyers/McKenna and replace it. I offered a bit of help by turning a wrench or two and getting the lower alternator bolt out, earning me the nickname “Alternator Bolt” for the remainder of the rally. Thanks Dan!

The last two stages went flawlessly and we finished the day 2nd in Gp2 after Tennis/Trowbridge got stuck and gave up 1st to Crane/Nielsen. 13 Corners was a fun stage with some excellent banked and twisty turns. I look forward to going up that road again if they include it in the Olympus stages. After heading back to the HQ hotel and enjoying the lovely pizza party, we turned in for the night. We woke up to a dusting of snow and some cold winds.

The theme of day 2 was cold. While sitting the car warming it up before leaving parc expose, the heater fan started smoking a bit and stopped turning. Bad news. We made it out on time, but had a steamy window for a few miles. Luckily, the airflow from the rolled down windows was enough to pull the heated air from the heat system and defrost the window. On stage, you’re allowed 1 inch of window gap. We took advantage of this and braved the cold wind in order to have a clear windshield on the snow Smith Creek stage. We lost quite a bit of time due to the windshield and the snow, but made it through the stage and got ready for a shortened Brooklyn stage.

Even in the snow, and only running half of the stage, Brooklyn is still a great stage for rally. It was unfortunate that the road was not yet in rally condition after the major washout in recent winter storms. We set 4th fastest times on both runs, setting a consistent pace for finishing day 2. Others were not so lucky. At this point in the rally, 3 cars were out, two with major accidents and one with engine failure. By the end of the rally, two cars rolled and one car hit a tree and damaged the rear suspension beyond repair. One of the rolled cars would be tugged over and continue, however. Andrew had set a goal to finish and we were determined to reach that goal.

We took the last three stages well and finished 3rd once and 2nd twice in Gp2. During the last service, I found some loose bolts in an A-arm. After hearing a rattle the entire day, and searching all over the rear of the car, I was lucky to find it before anything catastrophic occurred. This lead to finding a loose wheel bearing and two stripped wheel studs as well. The rabbit guys again came to our rescue with two replacement wheel studs and we were back on the road.

After the last stage, the times were tallied up and we had finished as the 4th 2WD car and 4th on day 2. The competition between the Gp2 cars was amazing, with the top cars finishing within about 20 seconds each day. The awards dinner at the Oakville Grange was amazing as always, just like the whole rally is.

Thanks go out to the organizers and the volunteer workers for a great rally. I personally would like to thank Andrew and Dan for letting me be a part of their team for a weekend. The DemonRally team also extends thanks to our guests for the weekend for being so hospitable. Hopefully we’ll be seeing everyone from our new car at Olympus!