Image: 

Houghton, MI, USA — This year, 17 year-old Dillon Van Way took the leap from supermoto motorcycle racing to rally cars shortly after receiving his driver’s license with a goal to learn the ropes of this unique series described as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” Now, he is the 2009 Rally America Two-Wheel Drive (2WD) Class Champion. With two wins and four top-three finishes, all Van Way had to do at the final round in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was to simply start the event. Although he had a mechanical setback, he still managed to earn third-place points at the final to secure the title.

Van Way has been racing motorcycles for a few years including at the professional level, primarily in the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship. However, the Rally America title is his first-ever national championship. Starting from zero with no rally races under his belt, Van Way set out to try the nine-round nationwide Rally America Championship in his 2002 Ford Focus. His goal was to finish the rounds and gain experience—it went even better than anticipated, earning his first national championship.

“The season was epic!” said Van Way. “I never would have thought I would win a national championship as a rookie. We learned a lot this season and are already looking forward to next year.”

Fellow Carencro, Louisiana resident Joshua Knott has been Van Way’s co-driver throughout most of the Rally America events. A co-driver gives directions using a provided route book and heads-up to impending obstacles on the course. Knott earned second in the co-driver final standings. Benjamin Slocum from Petoskey, Michigan served as Van Way’s co-driver for the final round and two additional rounds. He earned third in the standings.

“The final race was really rough,” said Van Way of the October 16-17 Lake Superior Rally. “The car was still in bad shape from when it rolled over in Colorado [in September]. The steering wasn’t working too well and the whole alignment was tweaked. Because of this, we couldn’t really go for a win. It was all I could do just to keep it on the road. Luckily, we had enough points earned throughout the season that we only needed to start the race to secure the championship.”

The nine-round Rally America Championship is becoming popular across the country and around the world due to the success of action sports star Travis Pastrana who is now the four-time overall champion. Pastrana is Van Way’s favorite sports star. This season more action sports athletes started racing the series including famed BMXer Dave Mirra and freestyle motocross rider Brian Deegan.

Considered the extreme sport of automobile racing, rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

2009 Rally America Championship - 2WD Class Results:

Round 1 – Sno*Drift National Rally, 3rd
Round 2 – Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, 2nd
Round 3 – Olympus Rally, 1st
Round 4 – Oregon Trail Rally, 1st
Round 5 – Susquehannock Trail Rally, DNF
Round 6 – New England Forest Rally, DNF
Round 7 – Ojibwe Forests Rally, 3rd
Round 8 – Rally Colorado, 2nd
Round 9 – Lake Superior Rally, 3rd

2009 Rally America Championship - 2WD Final Standings:

Dillon Van Way Carencro, LA 122
John Conley Monument, CO 87
Chris Greenhouse Cincinnati, OH 44
Gary Wiggin Savannah, GA 35
Burak Tuglu Bethesda, MD 24

Van Way also finished 13th in the overall Rally America Championship standings.

During off-weekends, Van Way competed in three of the five rounds of the XTRM AMA Pro Supermoto Championship in the 250cc Lites Class. The series features the unique discipline of motorcycle racing on a mixed course of asphalt and dirt. Van Way raced an independently-sponsored KTM250SX-F, also competing in select regional rounds.

Van Way added this about supermoto, “I’ve done almost as many supermoto races this year as the Rally America rounds, between the AMA and regional events. It was a blast and kept my coordination and throttle control sharp that has helped in the rally series. I even moved up in the standings from last year to a top 10 finish.”

With the off-season underway for both series, Van Way and his family are in the process of making plans for the 2010 season.

VISIT THE WRS FORUMS AND DISCUSS – Click Here

End

Image Copyrights: World Rally Sport, Credit: Francisco La Torre
Photo: Dillon Van Way wins the 2009 Rally America 2WD Championship in his rookie season

Back to Main Page - World Rally Sport