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.”

The New England Forest Rally (NEFR) is a two-day motorsports event headquartered at Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine, that will take place Friday July 13th and Saturday the 14th 2012.   In addition to spectator race stages taking place right at the ski area, additional spectator areas include the Mexico Recreation Area in Mexico, ME, locations in and around Errol, NH, and other sites across Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire.  2012 promises to be an unforgettable event!  Stay tuned as we add information about the competitors, exciting activities for spectators, the stages, the sponsors and exhibitors, and more!

In 2012 NEFR will be the 5th Rally America National Championship event in the series of six rallies, and the last rally just before the Summer X Games. Always a competitor favorite due to its challenging roads and stiff competition, the event expects to welcome back the sport’s top competitors including last year’s NEFR Champion Antoine L’Estage, 2011 Rally America Super Production class champion and 3rd Overall Travis Hanson, 2011 Rally America 2WD class champion Wyatt Knox and 3x Rally America 2WD Champion and last year’s NEFR 2WD winner Chris Duplessis. Chris Duplessis takes his R2 through the turns at the JML Super Special in Errol.

This event also includes two Eastern Regional competitions held concurrently with the national. The Mexico Regional Rally takes place on Friday.  The L.L. Cote New Hampshire Regional Rally will again take place on Saturday.

This event is free to the public, and it’s a great time of year to visit the beautiful regions of Western Maine and Northern New Hampshire. Explore our site to learn all about where to stay, how to spectate, and what to do while you’re here.

ESPN action sports contributor, Jen Horsey, recently took a look back at NEFR 2010 in her rally themed blog, now with the Summer X Games just around the corner, Horsey gives us a glimpse of the hectic and crazy schedule of a rally team going from the North Woods of Maine all the way out to sunny Los Angeles in a matter of ten days! “Rally Drivers: don’t call, they’re busy.”

Last week at NEFR during the awards ceremony I caught up with Kristin Przybysz, a fellow Mainer, to find out how she got her start in Rallying.

“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

 Rally America has released the 2010 NEFR recap video featuring highlights and a complete breakdown on this year’s event. Check out this and other event videos in the “Rally Videos” portion of the site.