Nick Allen’s not going to forget the last time he climbed out of his Ford Fiesta Rally3. How could he? He’d just crossed the finish line on the final Saturday stage of the Oregon Trail Rally when his world turned upside down.
The Dalles Mountain stage was being used in the direction of Goldendale for the first time, having run the opposite way twice earlier in the day. The start became the finish and Allen’s Fiesta was pitched off the road in ruts created by a full field of cars leaving a startline which had become a flying finish.
The Fiesta has been completely rebuilt since that crash and the opening round of this season’s ARA National Championship presented by Kubota was his first time back in the car. Allen came back strong, with an outstanding third place overall and a dominant, nine-minute class win in L4WD.
Talking to DirtFish in Michigan, he admitted he didn’t know how the event was going to play out.
“I really wasn’t sure,” he said. “I thought I had it, but you never know after something like that. Sure enough, night one, we came right out and attacked and built a bit of a lead. And then on day two, just kept extending that lead.
“Towards the end I was playing it a bit safer. The roads were tricky, especially with the heavy snow which was falling. It was like driving on a super-slick layer of mud. It was a tough event; I’m happy to be at the finish.”
Allen's Fiesta was in a sorry state after last year's Oregon Trail Rally
Reflecting more on his return to the sport, he added: “It was a tough choice, really. I won’t go into too many details of what happened last year, but I wasn’t thrilled with why it happened.
“And honestly, just making the justifications to myself and to my family [to get back in the car], it’s tough. But at the end of the day my wife said: “You need to rally…”
“She was right and I’m glad that I got back in the seat and happy to be here, and it was really a lot of fun. Honestly, hats off to Derek James and the guys who rebuilt the car – it’s immaculate. It looks just like it did before Oregon.
“Right off the line, the nerves settled. There’s something about being in a rally car that’s just calming to me. It’s kind of weird. People say: ‘You must be an adrenaline junkie,’ but really, when you get in the car, everything else fades away.”
What next? Is this a full-time return?
“I think it’s event-by-event,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes. Last year I wanted to commit to every single event and that was the plan, but it got disrupted. This year I’m taking more of an organic approach, but I’ll definitely be out for 100 Acre Wood next time.”
