Irishman, Martin Brady recently wrote about his experience traveling to the states to compete in the New England Forest Rally.

This is a great inside look at the competition, but with an interesting twist, Brady ends up co-driving for two different teams. Check out the complete story at Handbreaks & Hairpins.

And for all you competitors thinking about NEFR 2011 take note of Brady’s remarks on the event: ”I say without disrespect to any other event in the championship but this was the best event I have competed on in the USA so far.”

Newry, ME (July 18, 2010) — The 2010 New England Forest Rally (NEFR), the sixth and final round of the 2010 Rally America National Championship, ended with spectacular drama that kept fans and competitors riveted. Once the champagne popped, it was Rockstar Energy Drink’s Canadian duo, driver Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard, celebrating a New England Forest Rally victory and their claim to the 2010 Rally America Championship title.

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“I discovered Rally online and knew I definitely wanted to be involved, so I volunteered for the summer and winter events. I worked and made connections”

One of those connections being Travis Pastrana’s co-driver Christian Edstrom, “Christian thought I definitely had what it takes to be a co-driver. He taught me all about co-driving.”

After much hard work Kristin finally got the chance to be a co-driver in a rally event. ”During the Oregon Trail Rally I was finally given the chance to sit in and co-drive when last minute a team’s co-driver bailed. From there I co-drove in rally cross events. I was a co-driver for 5 years.”

When asked what is what like to switch from Co-driving to Driving in an event Kristin said “It’s actually easier! Being co-driver helped me to get used to the rhythm of the event. It helped me get used to the notes and the technical aspects of rallying, so when it came time to drive in the event I was less stressed.”

When asked who helped inspire her to start driving Kristin said, “Tim O’Neil was a huge inspiration and mentor. He taught me a lot.”

For more information on Tim O’Neil’s rally school in Dalton, NH check out www.teamoneil.com

Writer, Spencer Hall, has a great gig. He goes around the country attempting various sporting activities for the first time. In his most recent addition Hall runs into a sport he wont soon forget.

Exerpt: “RALLY CAR: a type of racing invented by malevolent, highly intelligent trees who crave the taste of metal and thus encourage men to race recklessly on roads so they fly into the trees and feed them.”

The writer spent the weekend taking in the action at NEFR and was treated to a press ride where he experienced an up-close and personal taste of rally alongside Travis Pastrana.

Check out the complete story at SB Nation.

First out of the stage was Travis Pastrana, although he had a strong start, he was soon taken out at mile six of the stage due to mechanical problems and was not able to finish the rally.

Shortly after that another incident occurred when Andrew Comrie-Picard’s Mitsubishi Evolution X suffered an exhaust leak that melted his shifter cables and wiring causing him to not be able to finish the race

Before the awards ceremony I caught up Alessandro Gelsomino to find out why he and Ken Block had to withdraw from racing the final stages of the rally.

“It was a mechanical failure that occurred about two miles from the end of the stage. We managed to clear the stage with no power steering.”

Despite facing a turbo failure in the early stages of the rally Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard are the 2010 New England Forest Rally Champions.

During a press conference held shortly after the winners were announced L’Estage said he felt awesome about the win and he hopes to carry this to an X-Games gold.

Ramana Lagemann and Chrissie Beavis came in a strong second place. When asked which driver worried him the most he answered Burke, but then could only say good things about his competitor.

Coming in third were 19 year old Joseph Burke and Alex Kihurani. The pair ran a remarkable rally with Alex co-driving with a broken arm and a broken ankle.  The team lost some time during stage nine after hitting a rock, but managed to maintain a third place finish. 

Local Mainer Chris Duplessis placed 2nd in 2-wheel drive and 10th overall, while New Hampshire native Bill Bacon landed 6th overall after facing some technical difficulty.

Check out www.rally-america.com for the complete results listings.