Some workforces go rock climbing. Maybe they’ll start a book club.
At DirtFish, we go rallying.
Nine members of our team were on the start list for last weekend’s Oregon Trail Rally, and all nine of them impressed.
On his first rally in nine years, Brenten Kelly finished fourth overall in a Ford Fiesta R5. Sean Edwards was laying down some spellbinding times in a rented Volvo before a gearbox fault painfully forced him to retire one stage from home.
Michael Honn went to extraordinary efforts to keep himself in the rally, swapping out the starter motor in his Subaru with a street car before eventually having to concede defeat to retirement.
On just his second rally in seven years, Jack Harrison and Eric Schofhauser scored sixth in class in their Subaru, despite losing time through a watersplash, while Brian Miller (BMW 325i) and Kendra Miller (co-driving Steve Greer’s Subaru Legacy) both successfully made the finish.
And then there was Josie Rimmer, finding her feet behind the wheel of a rally car for the first time since hip surgery in 2024.
Josie and Michelle had an awesome time in their DirtFish Women in Motorsport-liveried BRZ
“It was awesome,” she smiled. “Since my hip surgery I’ve been in a rally car a grand total of three times. That’s not a ton of seat time! So I went into OTR not knowing what to expect.”
But in the end, she and Michelle Miller loved it, competing in a Subaru BRZ run by Element Rallysport.
“I’m a very naturally competitive person,” Josie confessed, “but having not driven for so long, I knew I needed to use this event as seat time.
“I was super lucky to have Michelle Miller in the co-drivers’ seat with me who helped me write the best notes I’ve personally ever written. I’m really excited to delve into the nuances of pacenotes and find some words and triggers that can make us faster in the future, but this was the first time I’ve ever truly trusted my notes and Michelle delivered them impeccably.
“The Tarmac stages that opened the rally were crazy because most of us in the US are gravel fiends, but it was fun,” she added. “Once onto the gravel I started off pretty slow but began picking up 18-20s per stage on the second loop which was reassuring, as I saw I could push once I got settled.
“The team at Element prepped this car so well, I never had to worry about it at all. She was a really great learning car for me, and what a professionally dialed team to be a part of! That made our jobs so much easier.”
Above all, DirtFish’s Women in Motorsport coordinator was proud to see so many women out there on the stages.
“To be able to fly the DirtFish Women in Motorsport flag while we were out there was such an honor,” she said. “There were so many women out there competing which was just so cool to see.
“I was getting texts from our DirtFish Women in Motorsport driver Aoife Raftery all weekend asking me how things were going, she was following the times online, so it’s really incredible to have this network of women in motorsport helping each other grow.
“To have so many DirtFish people out there flying through the dust was incredible too,” Josie added. “We got to come into service and see our team-mates and we were cheering for each other. Every time we were out of a stage Michelle and I were immediately checking the times not of us necessarily, but of our team-mates who were laying it all out there.
“I’m now just dying to do more events! It’s possible we might do an event really, really soon, but let’s see.”
