Detroit SCCA, Rallycross III

November 5 , 2005

We had a disappointing day at the Detroit Rallycross number III this weekend. The venue was at the Washtenaw County fairgrounds. We ran 1.5 laps around an extended figure 8 track constructed on what would normally be the location of the demo derby! Little did we know, but the “demolition” part really came true for the Team Shadowrally driveline later in the day!

It was an exciting day and we were planning on giving “rides” to members of our service team who normally don't get to sit in the right seat for competition. Fabie had come along with Tom, Peg, Alan, and Robert. Robert brought along his high-speed digital camera and shot the pictures you see here on the page. Thanks Rob. The plan was to get everyone a fast lap!

The surface was fairly high traction and we were running full throttle in first gear. The Shadow came out strong and ran the fastest first lap of any two-wheel drive car. On the second lap we overloaded the right front driveshaft, actually fracturing the outer CV joint cup! We were disappointed, but knew that if the event was scored by taking into account only the best lap of first direction runs, we might still have a chance at a good finish.

Fortunately we had brought a spare driveshaft that was left in the service truck from LSPR two weeks earlier. We borrowed some tools from our competition in the “'98 Neon POS Barney”, Steve Couture, and were able to get the Shadow back on track for the afternoon session. Thanks Steve!