Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category
(January 31, 2011) Subaru Rally Team USA driver Dave Mirra achieved a rally career best 2nd Overall finish at the season opening Sno*Drift Rally via a comeback late in the rally. Mirra, at the wheel of his 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car, patiently moved up the leaderboard after a tire puncture early in the rally dropped him down to 5th Overall.
Driving smooth and mistake free Mirra, with co-driver Marshall Clarke, caught and overhauled 2nd overall position on the penultimate stage of the rally. The 2011 Sno*Drift Rally, held in snowy northern Michigan was round one of the six round 2011 Rally America National Championship.
Mirra’s new teammate, multi-time British and American Rally champion David Higgins, co-driven by Craig Drew, made his competition debut with Subaru Rally Team USA at the 2011 Sno*Drift Rally. Higgins led the rally briefly before an engine issue forced him to retire from the event late on day one.
The Sno*Drift Rally featured nearly 130 miles of snow and ice-covered roads in northern Michigan with nearly one third of the miles run at night. Constantly changing weather and road conditions historically make this rally one of the most difficult in the Rally America Championship. The event is made even more challenging due to Rally America rules that prohibit the use of spiked or studded ice tires, placing a premium on traction.
In the late ’90s, Shaun Butler was part of a new wave of professional dirt jumpers. Sponsored first by S&M, and then later on by Schwinn, Butler toured the pro dirt comp circuit (including the X Games) alongside the likes of Brian Foster and Todd Lyons, Josh Stricker, and was featured on the covers of Ride BMX Magazine multiple times at his local spot, Sheep Hills. Butler returned to S&M after leaving Schwinn in 1998, and eventually moved out of the pro spotlight, but for over a decade, the name ‘Shaun Butler’ was synonymous with smooth dirt jumping and the Sheep Hills scene. Although it’s been some time since the BMX world has heard from Butler, he’s still getting it done in the So Cal scene. Here’s Goldie … Pictures & More