Last Ditch Racing Blog

For Immediate Release

July 4, 2008

Bangor, Maine USA

Last Ditch Racing flew high and far at the recent Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs, in New Richmond Quebec. Round three of the Canadian Rally Championship, the event, is known for it's driver's stages, combining technical sections with fast flowing sections. Conditions this year were especially difficult due to recent rain.

Finishing 10th overall, the team set 8 top 10 times out of 17 stages. A record 46 competitors took the start of the event, 27 finished and 19 DNF'd, attesting to the difficulty of the stages.

The team took the DC Shoes sponsored, "Longest Jump Award," after flying their 2003 Subaru WRX STi 116 feet off the famous jump at the end of the Camp Brule stage. Said driver John Cassidy, "The first time through Brule, we had a flat on the rear so couldn't take the jump with any speed. We only had one more pass and wanted to give the fans something to remember, so took the jump in fifth gear!" The team landed hard, nearly knocking co-driver Dave Getchell unconscious. Said Getchell, "That's the biggest hit I've taken without crashing!" DC Shoes principal Ken Block, suggested the award and won the rally outright in his 2008 Subaru Impreza STi, driving for the Subaru USA Rally Team. Block's jump was 115 feet. "Ken has really progressed in his driving over the past few seasons and devoted himself to the sport. His progress has been impressive and I think we'll see a lot more of him in the years to come," said Cassidy.

The event was universally praised by the crews. "We've been coming to the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs and have encouraged other US teams to do so. It's almost like one of those secrets you don't want to share with anyone, but we love the event and encourage all our fellow US teams to come up. It's clearly the top event in the North American calendar at the moment. We'll be back in 2009 and I'm sure more US teams will as well!"

The team's next event is their home event-The New England Forest Rally. Held in Rumford, Maine and based out of the Sunday River ski resort, the event is known for it's fast and flowing roads that are also filled with car breaking rocks. Said Cassidy, "This was our first event in 1999, and we've been there every year since. Because it's our home event, we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Coming so soon after Baie adds another degree of difficulty as there's car re-prep to do as well. The Fourth of July weekend will be a work weekend here at Triple Caution Farm!"

The team is hoping for a repeat of their 2006 10th place finish. "Erik and I finished 10th that year after a really clean run over the two days. We're hoping for a repeat and will do our best to give the home fans something to cheer about this year!"

Last Ditch Racing would like to thank their 2008 partners:
Triple Caution, LLC, http://www.triplecaution.us
Hydra EMS, http://www.hydraems.com
Team O'Neil Rally School, http://www.teamoneil.com

A special thanks to Planet Motorsport for their on site support at Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs. Thanks to Subaru Canada for their support of the Canadian Rally Championship in 2008.

Dave and John would like to thank their crew for the event: Duncan Matlack, Ken Anctil, John Cassidy and Drew Simpson

For more information on Last Ditch Racing, please visit: http://www.lastditchracing.com
To Purchase Last Ditch Racing Gear, please visit: http://www.cafepress.com/lastditchracing
For more information on the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs, please visit: http://www.rallyebdc.com/
For more information on the New England Forest Rally, please visit: http://www.newenglandforestrally.com/

An update from the LDR crew in New Richmond, Quebec!

We arrived at about 01:00 after an 8 hour drive from Triple Caution Farm, LDR World Headquarters in Bangor, Maine.

Staying at the lovely Cascapedia Lodge in New Richmond. In spite of the late(or early) hour of our arrival, our host greeted us in his bathrobe and graciously showed us to our rooms.

Today, John and Dave(and John, John's son) did recce and found the stages muddy, wet, and very rough. After a 9-10 hour day on the stages making their own notes, the team hit the Bayou lounge at the Hotel Francis for some good food and networking with rally friends.

Duncan and Ken spent the day running errands and looking after gear and last minute details on the car.

Our new Dodge Sprinter van hauled the car and gear with aplomb and is a vast improvement over the Ford box truck we've hauled with for the last couple years. A big thanks to George at Bangor Chrysler/Dodge for getting a new turbo installed the morning of our trip! :-)

Another BIG, BIG thanks to Bronson, chief fabricator and pontificator, for getting the truck together with a push the day of our departure. The push saw John and Bronson turn the lights off in the shop at 04:30. The team could truly not perform at the level we do without Bronson's help and contributions!

Crew present at this rally include: Duncan Matlack, Ken Anctil, Drew Simpson, John Cassidy, Dave Getchell and John Cassidy V.

Up tomorrow AM for an early breakfast and setting up the service area. We know from the conditions of the stages, that there'll be carnage this weekend-we just hope it doesn't involve us! ;-)

Check the Rallye BDC site for results as the day progresses. http://www.rallyebdc.com

Cheers! The LDR crew

Been a bit quiet of late, but wanted folks to know that it's because we're working our butts off trying to get the team in shape for our rally in Quebec next weekend!

Our new Dodge Sprinter service vehicle is getting aluminum shelves, tool boxes, fuel drum holder, tire holder, air bag helper suspension, tow hitch, rear step, etc, etc! Of course, it's all custom, and taking more time that we had hoped, but we're doing it right and not cutting any corners!

T-4, our rally car is getting LOTS of attention. New front bumper cover, new rear wing, new windshield, intercooler water spray system, etc, etc.

In short, everything we own is getting a lot of attention and a thorough going-over!

We're starting 12th out of 50 or so cars at Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs, and we think that's a good place for use to be. We hope we end the rally a bit higher than that, but the event truly is a shakedown for the car and service rig in preparation for the New England Forest Rally, our home event.

Thanks for checking out the site and listening to our rants! :-) We hope we can put on a good show for those of you at Rallye BDC and NEFR! :-) If you can't make it to an event, we'll try and update you during the event via this site. Be sure and subscribe to the RSS feed! :-)

Cheers! John

Well, I finally realized that improved fitness might help me on the special stages, and certainly will help me with my every day wellness.

Got a membership to a local gym and convinced a trainer with a great Scandinavian name to torture me periodically! :-)

So, have only been going sporadically, but due to a change in work schedule, have been going more often the last couple of weeks.

Thought I'd share my experience from RPM class tonight. Started the day with a Body Combat class, and then decided to be brave and try the RPM class for the first time tonight.

Armed with my settings for the bike given to me earlier by my trainer(who teaches this particular class as well), I showed up early to make sure I got a bike. Apparently people enjoy the torture he dishes out in class as well.

Not wanting to be on the bike for the first time when class was full, I hopped on and tried to clip my cycling shoe into the pedal. I've had the shoes for awhile, but haven't used the clips on the mountain bike. Up on the bike I go, then tried to clip in-no joy. I get off the bike and take my shoe off and get down where I can see how everything meshes. Clip the shoe in, and then.....can't remove it.

One shoe on, one shoe off. Not wanting to look like more of an imbecile than I am, I take the other shoe off and head out to the main gym area and hope that Scott(said trainer) will show up a bit early and help me rescue my shoe, and my dignity.

Of course he laughs at my plight, then asks which bike I was set up on-then he replies, "Oh yeah, the one with the shoe hanging off of it." He's very supportive! ;-)

Scott gets me set up and class is about to begin. I had brought some padded gloves with me due to my carpal tunnel. I had bought them at Dick's Sporting Goods last year, and with my luck, they were two right hand gloves! Thinking they were my replacement gloves(which were anatomically correct for a person with one each of left and right hand), I brought the, "special gloves."

Strike two. This wasn't looking good! ;-) So, class begins and I'm muddling my way through, spinning the tension knob on the bike when Scott tells us too. More tension, less tension. He really can't seem to make up his mind. Why are my thighs and ass on fire?!

Get to the end of the 60 minutes and we're done. Some stretching on the bike and my right quad starts to cramp. Visions of my leg locking up and me dangling from my clipped in shoes appear in my head. Cramp passes. Scott tells us we can get off the bike when we're ready and do some stretching.

Oh yeah, don't know how to unclip, but have a vague idea. Spin for a bit more, trying to look like I'm just cooling down-wondering if I'll be spending the night on the back of a Lemond gym bike. Twist my ankles outward and the clips release. Thank the big guy!

Stretching and we're done. Scott asks how the class was and I tell him it was long....little does he know! :-)

As I've gotten a bit older, um, wiser, I've come to appreciate these types of experiences and find the humor in them. I'm feeling stronger and feeling fitter, but there's plenty of work to do yet. Year's of working out with my two trainers, Ben and Jerry, have given Scott lots to work with!

Cheers! John

Work continues at a furious pace here at Triple Caution Farm! We're outfitting our new(used) 2006 Dodge Sprinter cargo van with custom shelving and a seat for crew. We're fabbing everything out of aluminum and it should be a sweet ride once it's done! :-)

Moving from one rally service vehicle to another is almost like moving from one house to another. The tow rig is our, "mothership," and has to be our home away from home, and even our lifeboat if need be.

T-4 is also getting some love prior to our next event in about 3 weeks.

Wicked hot working today(about 90) and Bronson was working up a sweat with the welder in the shop.

We'll be hard at it between now and Baie, making sure everything's as perfect as it can be!

Cheers! John

Ride along with LDR's Dave Getchell as he guides driver John Cassidy through the hairy Concord Pond stage at dusk. Filmed during the 2007 New England Forest Rally. Concord Pond is one of the best rally stages in the East.

After a few weeks of negotiating, we closed the deal for a 2006 Dodge Sprinter 3500, 158" wheelbase. This truck will replace our 2002 Ford E-450 box truck as LDR-1UH(UH=ultra heavy). Since the Sprinter is made by Mercedes, we like to call the new truck, LDR-1 Uber Heavy! ;-)

We'll be working on making the truck into the perfect rally support vehicle for us and we'll be thinking about the layout long and hard before cutting/welding/fabbing.

Next race is the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs at the end of June. Check out the event website at www.rallyebdc.com

Cheers! John

LDR Podcast #1 2007.m4a

Musings on the 2006 season and the outlook for the 2007 season.

LDR_2006.mp3

Our first crack at a podcast. Many thanks to my close friend and rock bandmate Dave Goff for supplying the music you hear in the background. We try to use as much original music as possible. A lot is dependent on our time...and talent.

LDR Corona 2006 Final Report.mp3

Tune in to see how our daring duo-driver Senor Spank and his intrepid co-driver El Diablo Blanco get on!