Sunday night in America was all about big performances taking big prizes.
Turning heads, making the right noises and keeping folk absolutely rivetted with some outstanding action is what delivers recognition and reward.
No, we’re not talking about Christopher Nolan and Oppenheimer at the Oscars.
We’re talking about Sam Albert and DirtFish at the Wild West Rally.
DirtFish instructor Albert and his co-driver Krista Skucas gave the Scuderia something to smile about after an otherwise middling weekend of motorsport in Saudi Arabia. Sam took his 4.3-liter Ferrari V8-engined Subaru Impreza to victory in Washington on Sunday, starting the new season in the same way he ended last year – with a win on the Big White Winter Rally in Canada.
Albert’s Subaru was never headed through a damp Pacific Northwest Sunday, winning five from six stages to land a 49.2-second win over Derik Nelson’s Subaru BRZ. Andy Miller’s Impreza completed the top three with ARA regular and defending L4WD champion Javier Olivares fourth.
“We might have had the clean sweep [of stage wins] if I hadn’t bent the throttle pedal,” Albert told DirtFish. “We came onto a straight and I thought: “Let’s go!” I pushed it as far as I could and bent the limiter screw which triggered a fault on the ECU and kept on putting me in limp mode for 10 seconds every time that happened. It did it on stages three and four, then we fixed it in service. But it’s a good result, we pushed hard and we’re really making progress with this car now.”
That’s all very important, but equally key for Team DirtFish is the second school star in the top-six. Step forward Nate Tennis and co-driver Alexander Jardevall. Nate wheeled the big Volvo 940 Turbo to a hugely impressive sixth overall and O2WD class podium.
Tennis finished third in his class in the striking Volvo 940 Turbo
And our good news just kept on coming with ace instructors Sean Edwards and Kendra Miller delivering a stunning Volvo 242 Turbo to 15th.
DirtFish photographer Romain Beaulieu was on the fringes of the top 10 when his BMW 325 E36 hit trouble and dropped him down the order.
Chris Miller couldn’t match his stellar Ridge Rally outing from earlier in the season, where he placed his Ford Focus second overall, and retirement beckoned for his Volkswagen Golf this time around.
