WLBZ2 NBC of Bangor, ME came out to cover the New England Forest Rally this year. The video acts as a nice introduction to rally for some of the newer fans out there. Watch the complete feature on their website.

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.

The final stage of the Rally at Fish Pond was anything but boring Saturday afternoon, with the stage taking out many of the top competitors.

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.”

Antoine L’Estage and Co-Driver Nathalie Richard have claimed victory in both the New England Forest Rally and the Rally America National Championship by outlasting the likes of Bill Bacon, Travis Pastrana, and Ken Block.

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.