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Tabor Rally Team takes class win at Inaugural round of Western States Rally Championship |
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| Full Silverstone Event Results here..... | |
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Hoquiam, WA:
In an impressive two day finish, the Silverstone tyre shod Nissan Sentra
SE-R of overall on Saturday and 9th overall on Sunday, out of 44 starters. |
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The Tabor Rally Team Nissan Sentra SE-R (left) and Geo Metro(right) |
The Silverstone Nissan ran flawlessly on Saturday's event, until the last stage, where a control arm snapped on the rear of the car. This caused the car's handling to be off through much of the final stage of the event. The team finished the stage without much consequence and stopped into the last service before the final transit to effect repairs. The team was assisted by Todd Lengacher and his crew, who's competing car had retired from the event. Lengacher welded the control arm, which allowed Tabor/Poirier to make the final transit at normal highway speeds to the finish. "It was looking a little bleak when we came into the last service. If we went above 30mph, the wheel moved back and forth in the wheel-well. Luckily, we had Todd and his welder, which worked perfectly" said Poirier of the break. Later that evening, with the use of a local repair shop's lift, Lengacher and crew welded the arm again, with reinforcements. |
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The crew were very confident that the repairs would hold through Sunday. At the end of Saturday, Tabor/Poirier had won the Production class by almost 7 minutes to finish 10th overall! "We went into the event with the knowledge that we had everything set up perfect for the event. With the most ideal Silverstone tire for the event, coupled with the DMS suspension, we were very confident of a class win" noted Tabor.
Sunday's event was made up of roads that the Northwest cherishes as some of its' favorite rally stage roads, including the Brooklyn Tavern stage, a 6.99 mile stage of smooth gravel, with twisty turns and flat out straights; the Montesano Watershed stages, a loop stage that starts near where it finishes; and the newly added Smith Creek stage, similar to the Brooklyn Tavern stage, but featuring a flat out crest near the finish.
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How the control arm appeared on Sunday, repairs holding up nicely! |
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The Tabor Rally Team Geo, with Driver Kristen Tabor & Co-Driver Jan Tabor, prepare for the start of the Doo Wop 4 rally on Sunday. |
Sunday's start saw the rain return, which promised an interesting event, with plenty of mud wet gravel and slippy conditions. The first stage, run in the Montesano Watershed, has seen many teams retire throughout the years. In the past two years, the Tabor Rally Team has lost one car off the road and had a mechanical problem on another car. Tabor Rally Team's second car entered in the weekend was piloted by Driver Kristen Tabor and Co-Driver Janice Tabor, in a Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift, also in the Production Class. "I feel more confidence this year in my driving, so my goal is to push myself past my comfort zone. It's been two years since my big crash, which was on this event and I'm ready to keep my foot to the floor!" commented driver Kristen Tabor. With repairs to the team Nissan, the goal was to be fast, but smooth, as to not break the temporary fix. The stage started smoothly, until 6 miles into the 9.5 mile stage, where Tabor/Poirier ran into trouble-the control arm seemed to have broken again. After the stage, upon inspection, it seemed that the control arm had broken in a different place. A stroke of luck found them some cellular service, where they called the Tabor Rally Team Crew and arranged for a welder to be standing by at the Service Park. It turned out to be Todd Lengacher and his crew, ready and waiting when the team pulled in! More welding and Tabor/Poirier were off again, without incurring any late penalties. |
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The team went on to the rest of the days stages with the same goal: Fast but smooth. They achieved their goal, breaking the Production class record for the Smith Creek stage, which was set by Tabor's brother, Jon Tabor, 3 years prior. The Tabor Rally Team's Geo Metro had bettered most of their stage times on Sunday by 2 minutes from the previous year. An outstanding improvement indeed! For more results on other Silverstone customers, click here. |
 Co-Driver Kevin Poirier prepares the route book for Sunday's stages |
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The Tabor Rally Team's result at the Doo Wop rally weekend would not have been possible without these people and companies: Silverstone High Performance Tires: www.taborrallyteam.com/silverstone/silverstone.html Providing tires to all of the Tabor Rally Team's competition vehicles. Enviro-Pak/Tech-Mark: www.enviro-pak.com Providing TRT's skid plates and other aluminum parts. America's Tire, Tigard Branch: www.americastire.com Providing mounting, balancing of rally tires. Tabor Accounting Group: Providing superior tax and accounting for the small business or personal client. Tabors' Pacific Foto/Supply, Co: www.taborspacificfoto.com Your source for archival photo products
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With special thanks to: Tim & Stephen Maples for excellent crew work; Todd Lengacher & crew for welding. Ray & Janice Damitio for another wonderful event!! Russell Palmer for all of your help with Silverstone products; AND A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE WORKERS!!!
JOIN THE TABOR RALLY TEAM AND SILVERSTONE AT OUR NEXT EVENT --THE RIM OF THE WORLD RALLY!! |
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The Tabor Rally Team is a proud member of the Silverstone The TRT "Big S" Truck, service truck and tire truck. International Motorsports family.
The Tabor Rally Team Geo Metro, ready for action.
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