The 2020 American Rally Association is about to start this week with the Sno*Drift Rally out of Atlanta, MI, but luckily for most of us in the Pacific Northwest, we still have some time on our hands. I figured I would share what we were up to in preparation of the start of our 2020 season at the Olympus Rally on April 25 in Shelton, WA.
New Car…. sort of!
Sorry to get carried away there, but I’m really excited for what’s happening with the car. We will be sticking to our tried and true 2004 Subaru STI but… it’s not exactly going to look the same. I don’t want to over promise and under deliver, but if you’ve been paying attention to my Instagram stories lately, you’ll notice it contains a lot of SolidWorks. Wide track, long travel. As easy as it is to sum it up in those four words, I can’t express how much work is going into this revision. Hopefully it’s done before Olympus, but no guarantees. We are also redoing the entire wiring harness and incorporating some new electronics to the car… more on that later. Here’s a sneak peak….
Sponsorship!
The off season is usually filled with renewing contracts and trying to find new support for the upcoming season. We just renewed with Motul USA and are stoked to have them on board again for the third year in a row. I am a huge fan of their products and trust our spendy RallySpec block to their oils. We are working on a couple more and hopefully there’s some announcements soon! Head on over to our Sponsors page to see who we are currently working with.
New Business Venture?
As some of my closer friends know, I’ve moved down to Portland, OR and am only instructing at DirtFish on a limited basis now. I’ve been trying to avoid the corporate world, so I’ve been trying to find that niche that fills the void between motorsports and income. So as of late, I’ve started working on building a Motorsports Consulting business centered on motorsports wiring and electronics.
I’ve always been keen on wiring (which apparently makes me odd) and programming said electronics to work right. While I don’t see myself getting a dyno anytime soon, I’ll soon be taking on some wiring projects from friends to help me figure out some business processes. I’ll also be redoing my rally car in its entirety to what I call “Professional” spec in that it will be completely sealed and will utilize lots of Deutsch Connectors. If you have a project that needs wiring, feel free to reach out to me at samalbertrally@gmail.com and hopefully we can get you sorted.
I’m looking at offering harnesses at the “street,” “club,” and “professional” level to cater to different budgets. Also, while I’ve done a bit of wiring before, I recently received certification from the guys over at the High Performance Academy on constructing wiring harnesses. I’m excited to help others out with their projects.
So while on the surface, that doesn’t seem like much, there’s a lot going on. We’re getting closer to the parts making stage and out of the design stage. Hopefully that means I’ll have some cool photos to share sooner rather than later. Rally on!