Nissans at the Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally...

So now we're into the '14 racing season proper...stage rallies, Baja events, rally-raids, etc.

This past weekend was one of the more unique events on the annual schedule.  The Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally has been going on for a number of years and is part of the FIA's calendar of cross-country raids and Baja rallies.  Held in the typically deep snow of NorthWestern Russia, nearly on the border of Finland--closer to Helsinki than to Moscow, it runs a tight course through icy forest trails.

The best finish for a Nissan this weekend was the eighth place finish (of 41) of Dmitriy Ievlev and the PEC team Nissan Navara T1.1

Four Nissans entered the event and three finished in the aforementioned 8th, 12th and 24th positions.  Of note here is that this event drew some efforts from fairly far away including Reinaldo Varela of Brazil with an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, Yazeed Al Rajhi who traded in his Robby Gordon Hummer for the weekend for another Overdrive Hilux and a couple of Italian teams.  In terms of vehicles there were a few oddities like FJ Cruisers, a Jeep Cherokee, a Ford Raptor and a Dakar spec Mini.

So we have a Dakar spec Mini as well as Toyotas and a BMW all out getting some early mileage in on the vehicles and their drivers...

Tesla Model S Completes Coast to Coast Winter Trip...

Calling it a "rally" is a bit much but this two car team did just complete a crosscountry trip in a pair of Model S Teslas using only the Tesla Supercharger network for power/recharging.  No ancient decayed dinosaurs were used to fuel this process (well...not directly anyway!!)

They set at least one "record" in the process including " fastest trip across the US in an electric vehicle".  The vehicles reported no mechanical or electrical issues and drove through the snow, sleet and ice without a hiccup...

The final checkin for the team was in NYC and included a photo op with Mr. Elon Musk.

Tesla S team completes cross-country trip in winter...

Return of Red Bull Frozen Rush!

Remember back earlier this year when I attended and covered for OffRoad.com the Red Bull Frozen Rush event up at Mt. Snow?

Well, looks like Red Bull liked the event enough to put it on again.

This time at a bigger ski area and with EIGHT trucks racing each other rather than just one for demonstration purposes!

The 2014 version will feature both '13 Frozen Rush alum Ricky Johnson plus his Menzies Motorsports teammate Bryce Menzies (he of Baja, short course and Global Rallycross fame) and I guess six other invitees!!  Who will get the invite??  Likely other Menzies and Red Bull drivers such as Travis Pastrana (I'm guessing) who have short course truck experience.

The course will be gated (like a ski race course) and trucks will compete against one other vehicle at a time in a single elimination format.  Relocating the event to Sunday River in Maine gives the event a good deal more real estate to work with, a better chance of good snow conditions and putting it on a Friday in the middle of Sunday River's "College Week" virtually guarantees a good/rowdy crowd of target age consumers--though it does move the event a bit farther geographically.

So Ricky wasn't just blowing smoke when he said that having a full race on the snow with these trucks would be a really cool idea and Red Bull and Menzies look to make it happen.  I'm already looking to book that day off and attend!

Red Bull Frozen Rush 2014!!

Red Bull Frozen Rush Update...

About one week away now from the big event up at Mount Snow and preparations are underway.  icky Johnson will be arriving early next week to do some testing and course building before testing out the course on Thursday.

As with any event as complex as this one, there are hiccups.  In this case the hiccup came in the form of the US Forest Service who control the top portions of Mount Snow and who put the kibosh on the event running on "their" turf (problems with the Feds are certainly not restricted to tortoises and Western state events).  So instead of using the whole mountain for Johnson's Pro4 to race up, down and over, the Red Bull event will utilize solely the bottom half.  While this might limit some of the videography opportunities for the Red Bull crew it will likely keep the action closer to any individual attendees.

Also on hand will be the BFG tire crew who have installed half inch spikes on the big Pro4's tires, something never attempted before.

And if you're wondering if the snow and cold in the Red Bull Frozen Rush intro video is fake--its not.  The video, with Johnson exhaling some frosty breaths, was filmed up at Lake Tahoe after Red Bull approached Ricky with the idea for this promotion.

Ricky has graciously agreed to submit himself to a few questions regarding his efforts and this event at some point next week, so if you have anything (intelligent) you'd like to ask of Ricky, please shoot me a message here or send me an email at: dwspalinger@comcast.net and I'll try and fit it in.  Hope to see some of you up there!

Mount Snow homepage...

240SX at Perce Neige...

Once again it is Martin Walter blazing a trail for Nissans.  The long running 240SX of Mr. Walter and his codriver Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff were at it once again.

This time they were up in their Canadian homeland running on the snow and ice of the Perce Neige rally.  Walter finished the event in 18th out of 20 National entries in the event.  Which might not sound so good until you realize that he was the only RWD entry in the event.  Walter usually makes at least one or two visits South of the border each year so I'm hoping to see him at a warmer event later this year.

Perce Neige website...