2019 Missouri Ozark Rally
- unamusedrallysport
- Feb 3, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 2, 2020
Well another rally is in the books! The inaugural American Rally Association Missouri Ozark Rally in beautiful Eminence, Missouri was a smooth operation thanks to all that helped coordinate and volunteer! The stage of choice had a little bit or everything and proved to be a great shakedown for the fast approaching 100 Acre Wood Rally . We are already looking forward to next year!
We set an awesome time on the first real stage. The car was stable, predictable, and felt like it was on rails. We think that we have finally found a good setup and combination of parts that compliments our driving style. If we could keep it up, we would be looking at a 1st in class and 2nd overall finish.
Unfortunately, even though the stages had a little bit of everything, there were quite a few water crossings. The first time through, we got some water on the MAF which gave us some trouble for a mile or so after until the problem cleared up. The second time through, we came in hot... Too hot. This caused the car to continually lose power until it died on stage about 2mi later.
While Rachel got the triangles and OK sign, I was able to do some quick troubleshooting to get us back in the race. The car wouldn't restart with the MAF sensor unplugged so we thought something had to be blocking the air. Turns out we were right. The water pressure from the water crossing not only soaked the air filter but jammed it up the intake and wrapped it around the MAF sensor. We yanked the dissolved filter out and we were able to continue. Unfortunately, that hiccup cost us roughly 3min and, ultimately, our goals for a great finish.
At service, we had to replace the the ruined filter. Luckily, we had spares. Since we did not want the same issue to happen, we used safety wire to reinforce the filter and tie it to the air box so it could not go anywhere. This resolved the water crossing issue and we were able to press on and set more fast times on the remaining 2 stages.
We ended up 2nd in class and 4th overall at the end of the day. We have already started compiling a list of items that need servicing, ordered, or replaced before our next rally in just over a month. Thanks again to the host of the event, Echo Bluff State Park and all of the coordinators, workers, and volunteers. We hope to see everyone at #100aw !
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