Coming straight off of Global Rallycross testing in Charlotte, NC DirtFish Motorsport driver, James Rimmer, will compete in his first stage rally of the 2017 season in the DirtFish Subaru WRX STI Open Class Car at the 2017 Oregon Trail Rally on April 21st through the 23rd. James has spent a vast amount of time training at DirtFish Rally School throughout the last two months preparing for the 2017 rally and rallycross season. The DirtFish technicians have been hard at work preparing the car and making a few new modifications since it’s previous stage rally, the Big White Winter Rally in Kelowna, British Columbia. James will be joined by DirtFish Motorsports Team Manager and Instructor, Michelle Miller, in the co-driver seat. The two have spent time in the off-season working on everything from pace notes to driving techniques and even nutrition.
Every year the Oregon Trail Rally is a great event, which kicks off the rally season on the west coast. On Friday evening the first four stages that are held at the Portland International Raceway are always a crowd pleaser, as thousands of fans fill the grandstands to watch over fifty race cars push for the fastest time to be seeded well for the start of the following day. Saturday, the race moves to the farm roads around Dufur, Oregon with long, flowing, high-speed stages. On Sunday, the rally moves to the beautiful Columbia River Valley with the service area based out of Goldendale, Washington where racers will be sliding through gravel while the picturesque river, wild flowers and unbelievable views try to distract drivers and co-drivers from the task at hand.
Oregon Trail Rally will be James’ second stage rally in the new DirtFish Subaru WRX STI. He is very much looking forward to competing in the all-wheel drive platform. This is the beginning of a very busy season for James, the following weekend he will be joining DirtFish teammate, Conner Martell, for the first round of the 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross season in Memphis, Tennessee. Both DirtFish drivers have been working diligently in the three-month off-season preparing and putting themselves behind the wheel of multiple race platforms, from karts, to formula cars to rally cars.
