Photo Courtesy: Sebastian Krywult
Prescott, Ariz. ~ The Prescott Rally made a triumphant return this past weekend with two days of high-speed action as part of the American Rally Association's West Regional Championship. After Chris Miller made his mark by winning Friday's round of racing, it was a spectacular showdown for Saturday supremacy between Kubo Kordisch and Jacob Despain for the championship's sixth round of competition.
Jacob and Michael Despain were heavy favorites to sweep the week in Arizona. The defending ARA West NA4WD champions were fresh off their Rally Colorado overall, and subsequent National class win at this year's Oregon Trail Rally. Friday was a night to forget as they retired early with a mechanical. But Saturday, they were quick out of the gate and looking for redemption, winning the first stage by 14 seconds over Friday runner-up Tim Wickberg.
Photo Courtesy: Lorne Trezise
The rally would reset itself on the second stage, as Friday's third-place driver, Kubo Kordisch (co-driver Drew Carlson), found a spark. Kordisch sat 50.4sec behind Despain after SS1 but laid down a heater on the second stage. He took the stage win by 9secs but also erased Despain's lead and took a 1.8sec overall lead.
Despain responded with wins over Kordisch on the following two stages and headed into the final service with a 28.9sec lead. But Kordisch came out that service focused and again erased Despain's lead by winning SS5 by 30.5secs and retaking the lead by 1.6sec. The final stage was a drag race between the leaders, with Kordisch eking out a 2/10ths of a second advantage and a 1.8sec overall win.
Photo Courtesy: Sebastian Krywult
With the top two finishers set, the race for third overall saw Miller (co-driver Crystina Coats) swap stage times with Camerion Gholson (Jeremy Agostino) throughout the day. Their actual stage times were only 6.1 seconds apart, with Miller finishing third overall. But Gholson was also penalized for time control infractions, finishing a minute back and fourth overall for the second straight.
All of the top four drivers also won their respective classes on Saturday. Kordisch drove his 2015 Ford Fiesta to the Limited 2WD win. Jennifer and Terry Stonecipher were second in class, finishing ahead of James Besing (Travis Harrell), who was competing in his first rally.
Despain locked down NA4WD honors on Saturday, as Trenton Koury (Ryan Bohannon) finished in the runner-up spot. Koury was also competing in his first rally and finished sixth overall. Kurt Northrop (Andres Bautista) was third in NA4WD (eighth overall).
Photo Courtesy: Sebastian Krywult
Miller and Coats took their second O2WD win of the season and fifth straight podium finish. The class win also secured them the 2023 ARA West Regional O2WD Drive and Co-Driver championships, placing them into the Overall West Regional lead. For the second straight day, Erik Christiansen (Amy Floyd) finished fifth overall and second in O2WD at Prescott, with Tony Chavez (Ryan Bakeman) in third.
Photo Courtesy: Sebastian Krywult
Gholson earned his first ARA class win, taking the honors in Limited 4WD. Santiago Caballero (Richard Dickson) capped their weekend with a second podium finish, improving from third to second on Saturday. On Saturday, Friday's runner-up, Scott Crouch (Ryan Scott), retired after SS2.
Arto and Mary Ylikangas won their first career class by being the top Open 4WD car on Saturday. Tyler Munger (Craig Fellers) backed up their Ridge Rally class win with a second at Prescott. Friday's winner, Flynn Baglin (Marc Moscowitz), retired early on Saturday.
The Lake Superior Performance Rally will conclude the ARA's Green APU National Rally Championship on October 13-14 in Marquette, Mich. Up next for the American Rally Association is the ARA West Regional Tour de Forest in Shelton, Wash., on October 7. For more information on the American Rally Association and the Green APU National Rally Championship, go to www.americanrallyassociation.org.