Gumball STi Racing

So here's our long rally car jump story short ...

















We jumped "Godzilla" 139 feet through Red Bull arch breaking previous rally car jump distance record of 122 feet by 17 feet. This was done at the Baie des Chaleurs Canadian national rally ... pin it to win it!!!

Video --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eadojKZmL1c

We definitely achieved our goal of becoming one of the rally's fan favourites and crushing the Red Bull jump. There was quite a buzz and even our second 3 off jump was noticed.

Fans have been supportive of our team and have continued pouring in photo's and videos raving about our jump height and distance....as a new startup team in the sport of gravel rally racing we were happy to have put on a spectacular jump for the fans and Red Bull.

We were pinned at redline and topped out for speed 300 m before the jump and launched the most aggressive line through the Red Bull arch. Really we couldn't have gone an inch farther and I'm glad we landed it. Godzilla flew farther than the previous years distance record, and of course our team was really really happy the rally fans loved it!!!!

On the very last stage, we flatted a tire and ran 20km on the rim with NO brakes for last 10 km and still managed to hit the Red Bull jump, get good airtime, and only lose 3 minutes.

On this final stage we didn't break any records aside from furthest distance on 3 wheels, having zero brakes, and launching another crowd cheering spectacular jump!!!

The last stage tire failure and time loss moved us just a little back of achieving a solid top 10 finish in one of the toughest rally's in North America.

Baie des Chaleurs (BDC) was an amazing Canadian rally!!!

Team mechanics have been preparing Godzilla for our first Rally America event and I'm getting in some tarmac cross-training in our Blue Gumball Sti tarmac racecar to be fresh.

Come on out to support our team and the North American Rally Series.

Richard Burton
North American Rally Athlete
http://www.gumballsti.com/

And remember..... Pin it to Win it!!!!

On a cold October day, our team and a small film crew set out to attempt a sucessful rally car jump over a massive 70 foot X-Games spec gap jump in the team's newest rally car, "Godzilla"!!!!!

The build was sketchy, the run-in was too short, and the landing was way too narrow...with the odds stacked against us we pushed forward to take it on!!

Our teams newest car the "Gumball X" is done!! This rally beast has been built as a full blown, open class, rally spec. racing machine, and has now sunk it's teeth into it's first gravel event.

For myself and co-driver Dean, we are very happy to have successfully finished our first ever gravel rally event.

As an international tarmac stage racing team, going gravel was a big step in broadening our teams experience, increasing the number events we compete in, and expanding our sponsors overall brand exposure.

The GCFR (Galway-Cavendish Forest Rally) event was a two pass recce format and the perfect debut learning event for us.

On the first practice pass we wrote our own notes and driving instructions, starting from scratch with a blank piece of paper and documenting what we saw on each stage using a series of short codes and building what is called a set of PACE notes. A second pass with a max speed limited to 60kph is then run which allows teams to refine their notes for each stage and try to describe the many many turns, features, and exposures (ie rocks/trees/swamps!!)

The rally main event was then started and we raced the stages using our handmade PACE notes. We decided to start out driving at a reasonable speed using the event to learn as much as possible. In the early stages we made a few rookie mistakes, then working together we were able to go faster and faster, in dusty conditions, and consistenly we were setting respectible top 10 stage times.

FourStar Motorsports prepped our car and our fantastic support crew chief (Ivano) who kept us in check, went through our car, and had some great advice that helped us stay out of the red mist and get through the event.

Many thanks go out to all our team supporters and sponsors who have helped us to get here, it was the first time we had ever had the car on gravel and we worked well together and finished ....great team result... overall good fun!!

Gumball STI Racing will be competing in select National level rally events...

Stay tuned.....

Gumball STI Racing has just launched our team's new online social networking sites.

Now you can follow us, stay in touch, and access even more online content, along with racing features, photos, and news that's made available, just for our fans. We will try to keep you up to date on what's happening with our exciting rally team as season unfolds.

So now all you racing enthusiasts can come online and check us out. We welcome new visitors, friends, and our many generous supporters that help make our racing dreams possible.....and please don't forget to click "Become a fan" if you would like to join our Facebook Fan page. Below is our list of our online team sites...check them out:

Gumball STI Website: Visit our main home page

http://www.gumballsti.com/

Our official Blog: Find and read our major stories and events

http://gumballsti.blogspot.com/

Facebook Fan Page: Visit us today and click "Become a Fan"

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gumball-STI-Racing/58322571470

Follow me on Twitter: Get race tweets during our scheduled events with twitter feeds built right into our team website and facebook fan pages.

http://twitter.com/gumballsti

Email Fan Blog Feed: Subscribe and receive Gumball STI fan blog emails

http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=GumballStiRacing&loc=en_US

So now there are more ways to keep in touch.....pick your preference and follow us today.

And remember to always keep the shiny side up!!!

Gumball STI Racing.

Well the Gumball "Rally X", our teams newest gravel beast is finally back in Canada and undergoing pre-race prep for a fast approaching shakedown event.

Cleaning up and securing engine wiring (ie mess), installing race seats, and oh yeah fixing a severe downpipe exhaust gasket leak... we really don't want another engine fire... the Gumball STI fire during Gander stage was enough!!!

Other than some unplanned setbacks, the Rally X is ready to spit out any gravel or tarmac that Canadian Rally can dish out.

It has been outfitted with;

• 2.0 litre WRX (tuned) engine
• '05 STI drivetrain
• Rocket diff controller
• Cusco 1.5 front LSD
• Launch control (<--feature RULES!)
• Anti-lag and boost control
• DMS 50 rally suspension

Well fans, after 6 months and nearly a FULL rally rebuild the Gumball STI is alive!! It will be out of the shop within a week and once again ready to race!!!

At Targa Newfoundland our team successfully faced many challenges and finished third in the open class division...at one stage our engine was on fire (Gander), another stage was run with no steering (ZERO), then broken transmission, broken tyrod, no clutch, manual steering, blown shocks, no turbo, and no a/c..... we worked as a team to keep going. Loved it!!

I'm glad to report the Gumball STI is now even better than ever.....below are just some of the major upgrades that have recently gone into this rally machine.

• Rebuilt 2.5L Crawford engine with many, many, upgraded components including hardened race rods, pistons, kevlar timing belt....etc. Also new rad fans, hoses, intercooler locking clamps, wiring, and belts
  
• Double plated carbon clutch


• Quick steering rack


• Rebuilt tranny


• Replaced center diff (1-1 ratio)


• Rebuilt rear diff from 3.6 to 3.9


• And of course a "fireproof" straight slip joint exhaust header

The car will have the same Cosworth turbo setup with engine and diff changes giving more torque.....similar to a 40hp-50hp increase.

Can't wait to get this beast out to the track!!!

Well it's official, the boys at Gumball STI racing are going gravel.

After a two month heads down search, the Gumball Rally X is being officially announced. The Rally X is a new build Subaru open class rally car that will be completed in March with our first race being Black Bear in June. ... Buckle up!!!!