TPi Rally Team wins at the Rallye de Paris

            Paris, Texas, USA,  November 28, 2006 –  After a long 7 years away from the event the TPi Rally Team returned to the Rallye de Paris for a successful run.

            TPi Rally Team driver Jowi Odero-Jowi had the privilege and almost unfair advantage of having the 2006 Rally America Series Production GT National Champion navigator, Kim DeMotte, navigating for him. The team overcame a puncture plagued rally to take 2^nd overall, 2^nd in class in the Paris by Day Rally and 1^st overall, 1^st in class in the Paris by Night Rally.

            The pair started the Paris by Day Rally at a relatively subdued pace, taking a little time to get accustomed to each other. On the second stage they got two flat tires on the driver’s side of the car about half-way through the stage. They opted to drive through the stage to the finish on the flat tires instead of changing them. They lost about 1 minute. Changing the tires on stage would have cost them more time, besides which they only carry one spare in the car. The team had two more flat tires on the Paris by Day Rally. The tire sidewalls were not holding up to the abuse of normal rally conditions. The team tried to remedy the problem by increasing tire pressures, to no avail. Eventually, Jowi decided that he would have to drive cleaner lines and attack the corners less aggressively…go “in like a lamb and out like a lion”, a phrase and approach used by rallying legend John Buffum. The change in driving style helped. They did not have another flat for the rest of the Paris by Day Rally. By the last stages of the Paris by Day Rally Jowi and Kim were in sync. The delivery of the route note instructions and their execution were spot on. The pair looked forward to starting the Paris by Night Rally. The only concern was for the increasingly limited visibility caused by the dust. The Rallye de Paris is known for its dust factor. After all, the event did coin the phrase “Caution Fugitive Dust”! The dust gets really thick when there is no wind to clear it… more so after dark.

            For the Paris by Night Rally the event organizers decided to start the cars off in

2-minute intervals (instead of the regular 1-minute intervals) in an attempt to help with dust situation. They eventually changed to 3-minute start intervals. The lingering dust was still a problem to all except the first car on the road. Kim’s experience came through for the team. To counter the dust problem he changed the way he was calling the instructions, resorting to counting down each instruction, which enabled Jowi to drive faster in the low-visibility conditions. The team had yet another flat tire, but fortunately it happened close to the end of the last competitive stage and they were able to drive to the end of the stage on the flat without losing much time. The pair set fast times all night, eventually taking the win as their main competition succumbed to mechanical problems.

            Service for the event was handled by a volunteer crew consisting of Dave Garland of Irving, Texas (formerly know as “Skippy”, now known as “Ajuoga” or “The Wizard” as of the past weekend) and Ronnie Ngure of Dallas, Texas.