Last Ditch Racing Blog

With over 180 photos on our flickr account spanning out entire career, we'll be adding more from our gigantic collection over time! All the way from the time of Fireball, our Honda CRX, to the 2007 season in T-4, it's all(almost) there. :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lastditchracing/

If you're one of the intrepid rally photographers that has snapped us in action, and you see one of your pic(s) on the site without credit to you, please e-mail me so I can credit you! :-)

Cheers! John

We've received our new tire changer and balancer. Purchased from Greg Smith Equipment, http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/default.asp , this is a HUGE upgrade from the team.

In the run up to a rally, we usually carry with us 12-15 wheels/tires. Most tires only last an event. So, the process in the past was: 1.) Load up 15 wheels/tires in the truck with 15 new tires. 2.) Drive to the tire shop and unload the whole lot, 3.) Pick up the whole lot and load them into the truck. 4.) Bring them back to Triple Caution Farm and unload them and then put them on the rally car and into the truck/on the trailer.

I'm not really interested in lifting 30 tires/rims 3 times prior to each event, thus the new machines. We can change tires in our spare time, on site and have control over the quality of the process. Vive le Revolution! :-)

As an FYI, our next event is the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in Quebec at the end of June. http://www.rallyebdc.com

Cheers! John

LDR got a couple new livestock at the farm this weekend! We received our new tire changer and wheel balancer from Greg Smith Equipment. After much research, we purchased these unit due to their quality/price combination.

The tire changer has dual assist arms, which should help us mount the difficult rally tires. A rally tire has such thick sidewalls, that mounting is difficult.

Why purchase these machines at all!? Well, it's a large investment in our infrastructure, but here's an example. For each event, we usually take 12 tires/wheels. This means that I get to load 12 mounted tires and loose tires in the truck and take them to the local tire shop. Then I unload them. Then, I return and load them all back in the truck for return to the shop. Finally, they get loaded into the rally truck and onto the trailer and car for the event.

Sooooo.....potentially 24 tires that I get to move 4 times. Not to mention the travel time. We've been thinking about this for some time, so it's an exciting upgrade for L'Equpipe!

In other news, T-4 is getting a new oil pan, fresh steering rack, an intercooler spray tank and some general TLC. Out Peltor intercom(which is on the fritz), has been sent out for service.

Out next event will be the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in Quebec June 27-28, 2008.

Cheers! John

Time for another Triple Caution Farm Update! :-) We don't stop moving for long here and the list of projects waiting in the wings is always long! :-)

Last weekend, we upgraded the trailer with a winch mount and some new tow rings. We found that we need to replace the axles on the trailer as the trip to Missouri a couple months ago destroyed one. We've put some miles on the trailer, so new axles will be a good upgrade.

We've been working on installing a Mercedes diesel engine in a 1960's Land Rover Series IIA truck and the engine is now in. Unfortunately, we need to replace head gaskets on two Range Rover P38 models, and it needs to get done soon!

T-4, the rally car, needs to get in soon for a rotated turbo system and possibly addition of a rotated intake manifold and front mount intercooler.

And what about the Ford Merkur?! We have parts, and a freshly rebuilt engine. We need to find time to work on the roll cage and other bits. It should put a big smile on our face when we're done! :-)

Cheers! John

A big congrats to Mark Fleming for his recent win at the Adobe Photoshop World 2008. conference. He won the Best in Show Prize/Guru Award for his photo of T-4 airborne at the 2006 New England Forest Rally. He also won in the photography category for a separate photo.

Photoshop World Winners

To see more of Mark's fantastic work, check out his blog site at:
Mark Fleming

Congrats Mark, and thanks for making us look soooo sexy! :-)

Cheers! John

Progress continues here at Triple Caution Farm, with T-4 being nearly ready to go onto the lift for a round of repairs and upgrades. We have to replace the front bumper cover and the oil pan due to damage from our recent events. She'll get a thorough battle damage assessment and we'll tend to other issues as they arise.

We're contemplating installing the Triple Caution Thong front mount intercooler that was on T-2, and installer our new 12L STi intecooler spray tank. Rotated turbo? Rotated intake manifold?! Perhaps! :-)

We just made a major investment in our shop infrastructure with the purchase of a tire machine and wheel balancer. With the number of rally tires and street tires we process in a year, it'll pay for itself in no time!

Just realizing how little time we have prior to Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in June!

Cheers! John

All our videos are now online. We're going to find a couple of older ones and try and get those up. I think we have a few from Targa Newfoundland and Rallye Quebec. Good stuff!

Spring has arrived here at Triple Caution Farm, world headquarters of the Last Ditch Racing team. :-) As the snow melts, piles of parts and tires emerge as if growing out of the ground.

The rally car will be getting some new parts and we'll be working on upgrading some systems prior to our next event, the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in Quebec in June. www.rallyebdc.com. If you want to spectate at a fantastic event, this is one of the best! It's one of the closest rallies to our home base and one of our favorites.

We had a difficult event there last year, with boost cut issues and the shift lever repeatedly popping out. The final blow was a broken outer tierod after hitting a skidder tire on the Super Special. Quel dommage! ;-)

We always have a line of various automotive projects here at the farm. My old Land Rover will eventually get a Mercedes diesel engine. My new(er) Range Rover will also get a new engine. We have our Merkur rally car project that's always on the list, and of course our street cars and the rally car! We need a couple more bays.

We'll be working on a spring video podcast soon, so look for that.

Thanks for visiting the site and checking in with us! Cheers! John

Join the lads as they contest the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs. One of their favorite events, the rally is held on the Gaspee Peninsula in Quebec each June.

Join John and Dave as they take their first career overall win(about time!) at the 2008 Team O'Neil rally in New Hampshire.

Testing my HANS device at the 2006 Team O'Neil rally. "Cassidy's Corner," is now in the route book! ;-)