Image: 

Much of the attention at the New England Forest Rally will be on the front of the field where there’s a battle for the national championship. Further back in the field there’s another battle for cold cash!

NEFR is round two of the MaxAttack! Series and $15,000 in prize money is at stake for the Top 5 crews at the finish. Maybe that’s why 27 2WD cars are entered at NEFR.

Leading the pack is former Open Class contender Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP), the 2009 North American Rally Champion. He’s entered at NEFR in the 2011 Scion xD ACP drove to victory in Oregon.

“I love rallying,” ACP said after OTR where he won overall last season in an AWD Mitsubishi Evo. “I love battling. I love the difficult conditions. It’s just as exciting for me to drive this as it is to drive overall.”

All of that aside, there’s money on the table this weekend. We’ll see who’s standing when the dust settles in New England. Entered in the NEFR battle is a formidable field including 2009 Rally America 2WD champion Dillon Van Way, 2010 Rally America 2WD champion Chris Duplessis and potential 2011 Rally America 2WD champion Wyatt Knox. That’s not to mention another blazingly fast 2WD veteran Doug Shepherd who is entered in the field in a well developed 2003 Dodge SRT 4.

In short, get out of the way when the Open Class cars roar through the woods in Maine. There’s another battle coming right behind them and each of these 2WD crews doesn’t have the habit of leaving money on the table.

END

Written By: Bill Wood - http://ByBillWood.com

Photo: WorldRallySport.com | Aaron Kathman