INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (April 14, 2022) – After scoring another class podium at 100 Acre Wood Rally in March, Era Motorsport heads to Olympus Rally for the third round of the American Rally Association Championship presented by DirtFish. In addition to the return of the full season pairing of driver Kyle Tilley and codriver Martin Brady, the ranks of Era Motorsport will be strengthened by another well-known and highly revered competitor: David Higgins. With ten American Rally titles to his name, Higgins is one of the top rally drivers in the world, and a talent Era is excited to welcome.
Higgins, joined on the notes by Irishman James Fulton, will be piloting a Citroen R5. “I can’t wait to join Era Motorsport for the Olympus Rally driving the Citroen R5 car. It will be my first time competing in the States not in the open class, but as R5s are the premier class in every other series, it’s great to get some event experience in one of them,” says Higgins. “I have made it no secret that I want to get back to a full time programme, and although fairly new to rallying, Kyle and Era know how to run top class teams, and I hope I can help them further develop their Rally programme.”
The rally, taking place April 23-24, 2022 will be held in the Green Diamond Resource Company’s private working forestlands in Washington State. Comprising of nearly 347 total miles, competitors will face 136 special stage miles of predominantly gravel roads. From hard packed to loose and potholed, teams will combat tricky conditions accented by elevation changes, sweeping corners and twisty turns, long straights and a mix of on and off-camber surfaces. The weather, too, will play a large part in the handling of the vehicles, a factor Higgins is confidently prepared for.
“The weather at Olympus can be very much like Wales when it’s wet. I’m hoping that conditions will be tricky again this year so we can take advantage of having the smaller cars.”
Tilley says of Higgins, “David is a renowned professional rally driver, especially here in America. His experience with top level teams as well as his skill driving on the stages here in the U.S. will help bring the whole Era team, myself included, to the next level.”
The rally is open to spectators and will have live timing and scoring accessible through the Rally Safe app available to download on both Apple and Android platforms. For more information, visit www.olympusrally.com/.
Rally 101:
In the discipline of rally, the event schedule is composed of reconnaissance, termed “recce” during which competitors write their own pace notes. Participants drive the course at slow speeds before the official competition stages begin, composing their own road map for the team to follow. Even with expert notes, competitors must always remain alert and aware as road conditions can change at the drop of a hat. During competition, competitors are set off at minute intervals with the goal of setting the best time for each sector. To win the rally, the team must complete all stages in the least amount of time.
Comments