The first day of competition claimed last year’s winner, Antoine L’Estage who had to retire after stage 4 due to transmission failure. Crazy Leo (Leonid Urlichich) suffered a puncture early on stage 1 which put him out of the running, but had made his way back up to 4th spot, behind Krzysztof Holowczyc. But the battle would be between Higgins and Block on day 2.

Block took the first stage, but then suffered 2 punctures and significant damage to his left front fender on the 2nd stage and Higgins took the stage win by 42 seconds over Block. The 2 battled all day, but Block pushed even harder on the last 2 stages and took the victory by 29.3 seconds over Higgins who finished 2nd overall. The victory extended Block’s streak to 6 victories in 6 appearances. Third place went to 3 time Polish Rally Champion Krzysztof Holowczyc.

Lauchlin O’Sullivan put together an impressive come from behind win on the final 2 stages, edging out Travis Hanson by 43.9 seconds in the Super Production class. Chris Duplessis cruised to another victory in the 2WD class and Andre Comrie-Picard edged out 2nd place by just 2.8 seconds over Dillon Van Way.

Following his spectacular crash a few weeks ago in Canada, Crazy Leo was looking to finish strong again at 100 Acre Wood, but it was not meant to be. On stage 2 of Saturday, Leo hit a rock which damaged something in the steering. He attempted to nurse the car through the next stage to make it to service, but the steering gave out and the car ended up in a tree, ending their day.

2012 100 Acre Wood Rally Photos

Next up is the Oregon Trail Rally on May 4-6 in Portland, OR. Check out the Rally America site for all the details.

Just days remain before the deadline for manufacturers to sign up for the 2012 WRC season. Some speculation was swirling whether Ford would compete in 2012, but that speculation has been put to rest as Ford has signed on for at least 2 more years. They also have announced that Petter Solberg will be Jari Matti Latvala’s teammate for the 2012 season. This comes just days after Petter announced he would not be driving a Citroen in 2012, as he could not continue as a privateer any longer.

Ford also confirmed that Latvala would be the lead driver and Petter would be the second driver. It will definitely be interesting to see how the season unfolds and how Petter will deal with being a #2 after a few years on his own. Either way, Ford has made it clear they are gunning for the WRC Manufacturer’s Championship in 2012.

Ford is also wasting no time getting Petter accustomed to the WRC Fiesta, as he was involved in testing today already.

It’s going to be an exciting WRC season for sure.

Ken Block shed some light on his plans for 2012 recently and it appears he will be cutting back on his WRC appearances. Although he wouldn’t to commit to much of anything, he did make it clear he will be participating in as many Global RallyCross events as possible and will be limiting the time he spends on the WRC. This is somewhat sad news as he seemed to be making big strides scoring points in 2 WRC events near the end of the 2011 season, but it really doesn’t surprise me too much. I have speculated that Ken might be done with WRC altogether, but it does appear he will make at least a couple appearances next year.

Another confirmed event for the Monster World Rally Team is one that Block has had a lot of success at in the past, Rally America 100 Acre Wood. He has won that event 5 times in his career, with his last win coming in 2010, as he sat out the event last year. My guess is that he will then make the trip down to WRC Mexico which is right after 100 Acre Wood. Block also said that he would like to compete in the full Rally America championship, but some of the dates conflict with the Global RallyCross schedule. Hopefully one of those 2 organizations will move their schedule around, as it would be disappointing for drivers and teams to have to choose between the 2.

Look for a a complete schedule for Ken Block and the Monster World Rally Team soon.

I hope you enjoy the selections I made and I may add a few more if I run across some that deserve to be here. As always leave your comments and suggestions below.

Click an image to view them as a slideshow and to download the much larger resolution versions.

Travis Pastrana made an unexpected appearance at Rally America's Rally in the 100 Acre Wood after wrecking his Nascar Nationwide series car the previous day. It turned into quite an expensive weekend as Pastrana rolled the rented former Colin McRae Subaru STi on just the 2nd stage of the rally.

David Higgins made quite an impression in his 1st year on the US Subaru Rally Team, after replacing Travis Pastrana for 2011, by winning the 2011 Rally America Championship.

Dave Mirra nearly rolls his Subaru Rally Team STi at Rally America Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.

It was the last year that Pikes Peak would feature a gravel section, which made Monster Tajimas record setting run even more impressive. Monster was able to take is GoPro sponsored Suzuki up the mountain in under 10 minutes, the first person in history to accomplish this feat.

A bump on one of the corners on a very fast course at the 2011 SCCA ProSolo Finale caused some of the F125 Karts to catch some air.

The 2011 SCCA ProSolo Finale once again proved that grip is not an issue at the large concrete pad at Lincoln Air Park. Many cars were lifting wheels and Craig Wilcox even managed to get 2 wheels in the air in his D Stock Mini Cooper.

Tire care and temperature was a big issue at the 2011 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championships. The heat and rubber build up caused some unsusual strategies including lots of water spraying, swapping front to back and even a Super Stock driver using 3 sets of wheels and tires, 1 for each run.

Games were played in paddock throughout the 2011 TireRack SCCA National Championships, but kick the mufller was not one of those games. A CSP car lost a muffler on course and workers had to attempt to quickly remove the very hot object from course. Kicking it was the obvious solution...

It just isn't Nationals without at least one rainstorm. That rain came early delaying the start of competition on the first day of the 2011 SCCA TireRack Solo National Championships. Competitiors were wishing for rain as scorching temperatures set in for the rest of the week.

STU Competitor Pat Lipsinic looks on as some of his competition makes their way to the finish line on the final day of competition at the 2011 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championships.

It was a busy year for the Dirty Girls Rally Team of Brianne Corn and Christy Carlson. Brianne became the 1st women since Michelle Mouton to win her respective class at the Pikes Peak International HIll Climb. She also became just the 3rd women in SCCA history to win an open class at the SCCA Solo National Championships. Brianne also took home the regional championship in the Rally America Open Light class and was named an SCCA Star Performer.

The SCCA RallyCross National Championships moved to Tulsa, OK for 2011. The dry conditions at Tulsa Raceway Park made for a lot of dirt everywhere. Christy Carlson through up so much dirt she was forced to pause for a few seconds so that she could see the course. The delay on course ended up not costing her as she became the 1st women to trophy at a SCCA RallyCross National Championship. She also took home her 1st National Championship earlier this year at the 2011 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championships.

The new location in Tulsa for the 2011 SCCA RallyCross National Championship made for some great action as well. The slighty bumpier surface led to quite a few cars catching air and lifting wheels off the ground.

Level 5 Racing had a couple of their Ferrari F430s at Heartland Park Topeka to get some track time in at an SCCA Club Racing event.

Here are some quick comparison shots.

Which do you like best and why? Let us know what you think.

Kimi Raikkonen will be returning to Formula 1 for the 2012 season after inking a deal with Lotus Renault GP. The former Formula 1 World Champion has spent the last 2 years driving a Citroen in the WRC. In 2010, Kimi drove for the Citroen Junior Team and then took on the 2011 season as a privateer in the new Citroen DS3 WRC cars.

Rumors have been circulating for some time of his return to a Formula 1 car. He said, “I’m delighted to be coming back to Formula One after a two-year break, and I’m grateful to Lotus Renault GP for offering me this opportunity. My time in the World Rally Championship has been a useful stage in my career as a driver, but I can’t deny the fact that my hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP as I have been impressed by the scope of the team’s ambition. Now I’m looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid.”

Kimi was one of Formula 1′s most popular drivers before Ferrari cut him loose after the 2009 season. This coming just 2 years after winning the Formula 1 World Championship with Ferrari. He was replaced by Fernando Alonso after the 2009 season, despite having 1 year left on his contract. After negotiations to join Lewis Hamilton on the McLaren team fell through, Kimi decided to give the WRC a try. Raikkonen’s WRC career included a stage win in 2010 and a highest finish of 5th in at Rally of Turkey that same year. He struggled throughout his stint in the WRC suffering many set backs and retirements after wrecking his car multiple times.

Volkswagen Motorsports chief Kris Nissen announced today that Sebastien Ogier has been officially signed to drive one of the VW Skoda Fabias in the 2012 WRC season. Ogier will also be participating in world-wide testing of the VW Polo R car throughout 2012. This testing will include an altitude test in Mexico. Nissen said the “misunderstandings with Citroen” this season led to Ogier becoming available and it was Ogier’s decision to approach VW to join the team.

VW called on 2 time world champion Carlos Sainz to close the deal. Sainz was instrumental in VW signing Ogier to head its 2013 WRC campaign. “For me, Sebastien is one of the world’s three best drivers,” said Sainz.

Nissen also confirmed that Juho Hänninen is officially on the VW ‘watchlist’ for the final seat on the main VW team, but nothing is official yet. Jari Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg have also been linked to the VW team.

For historical PAX values visit Rick Ruth’s PAX/RTP page

Photos from the event can be found in the 2011 SCCA RallyCross National Championships Photo Gallery.

As rumored earlier this week, Mikko Hirvonen will officially be joining 8 time World Champion Sebastien Loeb on the Citroen WRC team for the 2012 season. Hirvonen inked a 2 year deal with the Citroen works team, which will put the top 2 drivers from 2011 on the same team. This is a huge shake up for Citroen and Ford, as Ford will need to scramble to find another driver to replace their former #1 driver.

It is unclear as of now what is the fate of Loeb’s 2011 teammate and fellow countryman Sebastien Ogier. Citroen could move him to a ‘Junior’ team like they have run in the past or Ogier could be making the move to Ford as was originally rumored or possibly a seat on the newly formed Volkswagen team.

In regards to who will replace Mikko, Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson said, “You know the drivers who are available but our priority is to get Ford over the line first and then concentrate on the driver side of things. In relation to drivers I’m still speaking to various drivers but it’s not a priority.” It seems Ogier is definitely a possibility and Mads Ostberg sure made his case for the newly opened seat at Wales Rally GB last weekend, finishing in 2nd behind Latvala.

Also up in the air is the futures of Petter Solberg and Kimi Raikkonen. Petter is deserving of a factory ride, but will he get one? There is now an opening at Ford and the VW team has not been finalized. Kimi has been rumored for a return to F1 and has also dabbled in Nascar this year.

I’m guessing there is still more excitement to come in the next few weeks.