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Matt Iorio's Paladin Rally Team claimed their first victory of the season at the Susquehannock Trail Pro Rally using an engine and driveline components developed by New Jersey-based tuner RalliSpec Ltd. STPR marked the public debut of a technical partnership between the two companies that began earlier in the year. This extremely positive result amidst the fierce competition of the strongest field in years bodes well for the remainder of the season. Iorio, who hopes to reclaim the Rally America open class championship, is up against the Subaru factory-backed cars of Travis Pastrana and Ken Block as well as several other very strong contenders.

RalliSpec was approached just prior to the 2006 season about assisting in the development and maintenance of Paladin's engines, gearboxes, and differentials. The company immediately set about identifying where to best focus their efforts. Dave Anton, RalliSpec's Managing Director says, "We have nearly seven years experience developing Subarus for rally and were very eager to showcase our efforts through this partnership. We have built a number of engines for overseas rally clients with very good results. We certainly felt up to the task." The company built two engines and developed a special turbo and restrictor package to maximize useable torque and driveability within the limitations of the 34mm restrictor rules. The second engine, which Paladin chose to debut at STPR, was finished just one week before the event with barely enough time to get it on the dyno. The company was also responsible for tuning the limited slip differentials to maximize traction and handling characteristics.

The results were entirely positive. According to Iorio, "The difference in the motor from before to after was really dramatic. Even when I thought I'd bogged the motor, it had enough torque to pull.". He believes the improvements are "good for seconds per mile". Iorio also comments that the differentials were well set up for the event helping the team avoid sliding off the road in the slick conditions.

Iorio and co-driver Ole Holter traded seconds with Travis Pastrana early on trailing him just slightly until mid-day. The crew then proceeded to win three stages in a row to overtake Pastrana for the lead. According to Iorio, "He was maxing out his car, but I still had more in reserve, and it let me pull away to take the win". As night fell, they further extended their lead finishing over a minute ahead of the Subaru Rally Team USA.

RalliSpec's own team lead by owner/driver Anton and joined by co-driver Dominik Jozwiak claimed second place in Group N despite having to overcome many difficulties not the least of which was a nasty stomach virus. The points earned slides Anton into 2nd place just 10 points behind Group N leader Andrew Pinker who had switched to Open class at Oregon Trail.

Both Paladin Rally and Team RalliSpec now shift their focus to the rock-strewn stages of the Maine Forest Rally while Paladin Rally will also be competing at the invitation-only X-Games rally event.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Harvey (andrewharvey.ca)