The weekend of June 16^th saw fire-breathing rally cars from the past join their more modern brothers in a fierce contest of car and driver skills at the Oregon Rally Championship aka the NASTE Carlo.

The NASTE Carlo gave 1:32 scale rally-style slot cars an opportunity to run an event befitting their nature.  Competition took place on four different tracks at local Portland area locations all on the same day. The winning car had the lowest combined time from all the tracks.  And these tracks tested rally cars – no super speedways or ovals here.

Early that Saturday morning entrants from both Oregon and Washington arrived at Rico’s Autumn Hills in Milwaukie.  During registration and practice laps, contestants were treated to a fine breakfast courtesy of Rico and Kelly.

Upon completion of registration seventeen drivers with a total of thirty cars were prepared to seize the day.  Once the action started on the track, it was clear there would be some interesting battles.

The Autumn Hills track is a beauty with tight turns and great scenery, originally designed with rally cars in mind. 

Taking the early lead in the Historic class was Monte’s Lancia Stratos with a seven second lead over AJ’s Lancia Fulvia. Greg’s vintage Alfa Romeo and Tony’s Porsche 911 weren’t far behind.

In the Modern class AJ’s Ford Focus held an eleven second lead over the Subarus of Sarah and Tracy and Bryan’s BMW.

But the real battle for top spot overall was shaping up in the ground-pounding Group B class with Rico’s Peugeot 205 T16 holding a two second lead over Monte’s Lancia 037, with John’s Ford RS200 and Scott’s MG Metro just seconds behind.

The Top 10 after Stage 1

At the completion of Stage 1, contestants drove across town to Fairview to Bill’s exciting new three-lane routed track, Too Bad MotorPlex (a great track name in true NASTE style).

While several of us had some experience on the Stage 1 track, everyone was new to Bill’s track. Drivers struggled to remain fast and on the road – a difficult balancing act.  The track has numerous short, short straights and many elevation changes.  To make a fast time you really need to be alert and have a car that handles the curves well.

Leading the Historic field in the second stage was Tony’s Porsche 911 with a two second lead over Monte’s Stratos.  AJ’s Lancia Fulvia and Chrissy’s Jaguar followed just seconds back.

In the Modern class AJ’s Ford Focus continued to lead, with Tracy’s Subaru and Bill’s Porsche trailing by a few seconds.

In Group B Scott made a huge move up the leaderboard turning in the top stage time, taking a six second advantage over Monte’s Lancia and ten on Rico’s Peugeot.

The Top 10 after Stage 2

After the completion of Stage 2, contestants proceeded to North Portland, home of Portland International Raceway and more importantly Drew’s Kilpatrick Ridge Rally track.  Drew’s track is another of those tight, twisty rally tracks.  In other words, it’s just what we’re looking for!

And charging up the leaderboard in the Historic class with the second overall fastest time on the stage was Tony’s Porsche 911.  AJ’s Lancia Fulvia followed seven seconds behind with Greg’s Alfa and Chrissy’s Jaguar a few more seconds off the pace.

The top time of the stage belonged to John’s now-scorching all-wheel drive Skoda that ripped through the course with relative abandon.  A hot second back was Bill’s 911, with home track hero Drew’s Citroen a few more seconds back.

In Group B there was once again another shuffle.  While Scott slipped off the pace Monte’s Lancia moved back into first overall, with Rico’s Peugeot 205 a half second back.  Rico’s Lancia 037 was a few more seconds back.  And hot on Rico’s tail was Victoria’s Audi Sport Quattro reminding us ( just a little) of Michel Mouton and some of her great drives at the Rallye Sanremo.

The Top 10 after Stage 3

At the conclusion of the third stage, drivers traveled over the Portland Westhills to Hillsboro where Monte and Victoria had a special rally stage – and pizza – waiting.  After rallying at three track locations, contestants arrived in Hillsboro hungry. Pizzas disappeared as quickly as they came out of the oven. Monte finally got some when the fifth pizza was done – he’d taken the timer with him.

With a single stage remaining, Team Lancia was tearing it up with four cars in the top ten.  And as it had been all day, the top Group B cars of Scott, Rico and Monte remained within seconds of each other.  The rally would be decided on the final stage in the hills of Hillsboro.

And what a stage!  For starters there were the bridges – a suspension bridge and a hump bridge.  Navigation of either “yump” could prove tricky.  Add in the sliding curve, a dirt section, and a couple of tricky off-camber turns. Opportunity for disaster was rampant.

In the Historic class Tony’s Porsche continued to set the pace.  Three seconds back Greg’s Alfa barely nipped Monte’s Stratos by a tenth of a second while AJ’s class-leading Lancia Fulvia fell a full ten seconds off the pace.

In the Modern class Tony’s Porsche 911 finally found the course it liked.  After trailing for much of the day, the Porsche turned in the top performance in the class and third fastest overall time for the stage.  Tracy’s Subaru followed two seconds back, with Bill’s Porsche 911 in third.

The Group B class was a close battle all day between Scott’s MG Metro, Rico’s Peugeot 205 and Monte’s Lancia 037.  To make things interesting Greg’s Peugeot raced to a quick 1:20.47 – the second fastest time of the stage.  Scott, needing to take back three seconds on the stage from Monte was able to only manage a 1:22.15.  Rico followed with the top time of the day at 1:12.46 – a full six seconds faster than the previous top time.  Needing a top time to keep the lead, Monte’s Lancia 037 flowed over the course “fast as possible, slow as necessary” to set a record time of 1:11.82.

The Top 10 after Stage 4

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