March 2008 Update Havspeed Engineering are pleased to announce that their new shop will be opening for business this April!!!
We can now offer comprehensive race, rally, and vintage motorsport services;
from basic maintenance, roll cage fabrication, to ground up car construction.
Our new 3000 square foot facility is conveniently located in Highland, NY, just six miles from Exit 18 on the NYS Thruway.
Details on our Opening Party will be posted soon.
Please email for more information:
havspeed@gmail.com  ESPN TV Coverage from STPR '07
Our Mazda appears at 5:28
And here's another short one (28 sec) with good sound:
(Thanks Matt!)
Update: December '07 Check out the interview with Andrew recently posted on www.max-attack.com/andrewhavas.cfm
We missed the opportunity to compete at the second and third rounds of the Max-Attack! Triple Crown, but still somehow managed to place 3rd in the final standings!
However, all that is overshadowed by the passing of our friend (and Max-Attack! chairman) Jake Himes after a sudden relapse of cancer. Our love and heart-felt best wishes go out to Jake, Danielle, and their four children.
Danielle and the kids still need our help, so please contribute what you can this Holiday Season, information on how you can donate can be found through this link: www.specialstage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28611
Thanks again for your support, and Seasons Greetings!! We hope to have some news for '08 soon...  STPR Orange Update!!! | 06/08 | by Andrew | Comments Strong Showing at STPR for Team Havspeed
Havspeed.com's Classic Orange Mazda Always a Fan Favorite!
Wellsboro, PA. Two weeks before the start of the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally ("STPR", round 5 of the Rally America national championship series), Andrew Havas of Hopewell Junction, NY pulled his Mazda RX7 out of storage and began preparing for competition. The entry was made possible thanks to the efforts of Widget Rally Team's John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA,) with help from Perforce Software. The June 2nd event would reunite Havas and Dillon in a car for the first time since 2006.
"Andrew and I really clicked last year at STPR, so we decided to give it another go. We finished second in Group 5 and wanted to move up one position in 2007." More recently, Havas had won his class at Oregon Trail, while Dillon co-drove to twin regional victories at the Olympus Rally, rounds 3 and 4 respectively of the R-A championship.
The RX7 required extensive work, including a new axle designed by Andrew’s race and rally car shop Havspeed Engineering. Side impact safety improvements were also carried out to comply with recent series rules changes. Andrew accomplished all the work in-house and with just hours to spare. With a little help from his all-volunteer service crew, the car arrived at the event ready to go.
On the first stage Havas struggled to settle back into his rotary-powered Mazda. He had won the two-wheel drive battle decisively in Oregon six weeks earlier, but in a vastly different machine: a Honda Civic beautifully prepared by Derik Nelson and Mike Barber. "Derik's car is a front-wheel-drive car, with completely different handling and horsepower characteristics," Havas said. "I can't believe how long it took me to get back up to speed in my car. It took three stages and a lot of mistakes before I was comfortable throwing the car into the tricky junctions this event is famous for. After that it was clear from our times that we were the fastest Group 5 car out there, and we dutifully set about to make up for lost time."
<<< view pics: http://www.rally-america.com/event.STPR.2007.php?section=photos&pic=1518&gallery=49 >>>
Havas and Dillon went on to set fastest stage times in Stages 4 and 5, and a comeback seemed eminent. However, the strong contingent of Havspeed’s supporters were ultimately denied their dream, when the team was forced to withdraw by a freak failure of the clutch hydraulic system after completing the fifth stage.
"We lost the use of the clutch midway through (stage) five, as well as our intercom. The fact that we were still nearly a second a mile quicker through the stage than any other two-wheel drive car shows that we had the pace to pull a classic come-from-behind victory here this weekend," said Havas.
"Everything fit just like a year ago. My seat belts, the odometer calibration factors, even the Perforce stickers on the car were exactly as we left them at the end of STPR '6," said Dillon. "We were pretty disappointed when the clutch let go, but we gave the fans a show while we could. We saw people everywhere waving Havspeed flags and wearing our shirts!"
"For sure, it’s a shame we had to pull out, especially because our main objective was to entertain our fans. But we have a strong "can-do" attitude within the team and we are motivated to come back stronger than ever. Besides, let’s face it, things do happen when you’re driving a 25 year-old car!" recounted a surprisingly buoyant Havas.
Next month, Dillon returns to a four-wheel drive car when he codrives for Brian Scott in the New England Forest Rally, while Havas is working hard to secure sponsorship to contest Rally West Virginia in early August, round two of the "Max-Attack!" 2WD championship.
Perforce Software http://www.perforce.com">www.perforce.com) provides financial support to the Widget Rally Team. Team Havspeed is supported by Havspeed Engineering, Nui Motorsports, and longtime associate partners PIAA http://www.piaa.com">www.piaa.com) and Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development http://www.mazdamotorsports.com">www.mazdamotorsports.com).
Special thanks to all our friends and fans, and especially the "Orange Team" from Québec, for making the long journey to provide us with a great service crew.
--- Team Havspeed at STPR 2007 | 05/30 | by Guillaume | Comments Two days to go and still a lot of work left to do before the race. Andrew is working day and night to get the car up and ready to go.
 
Finally, we will do the WRC cap give away at the reward ceremony after the rally. Who will be the lucky winner? A minimum donation of $14.99 + postage entitles you to a free t-shirt (while supplies last) and your chance to win the hat!
Come to visit us during parc expose and services.
--- There's Still Time To Enter and Win!! Help Team Havspeed, get a Free T-shirt, and enter to win this one of a kind Souvenier:
An official WRC Rally Sardegna hat signed by record-setting World Champions Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena!!! CLICK THE PICTURE for all the photos
There are 15 signatures in total, and include Loeb/Elena, Petter Solberg/Phil Mills, Henning Solberg, Francois Duval, Miko Hirvonen, and many others!
A minimum donation of $14.99 + postage entitles you to a free t-shirt (while supplies last) and your chance to win the hat!
Email Andrew for details on how to donate and enter to win!! havspeed@gmail.com
March Blog  March 25th- After a last two-day push we took back the time we lost, and Matt's new shell is caged! The car is loaded on the trailer and soon heading for North Carolina for paint and bodywork, right on schedule. I am headed for Europe about four days later than planned, so am rushing off to the airport within minutes of finishing the seat mounts after a brutal all-nighter... more stories and a photo gallery to follow upon my return in a couple of weeks!
March 21st- We're about two days behind, but things are rolling along now. All of the cage is fitted with the exception of the A-bar supports and Main hoop cross, and a bunch of sheet metal gussets. There is finally light at the end of the tunnel! Tomorrow will be a long day of welding, so at 2am Wednesday morning we're calling it a day...
March 18th- It's been another long weekend, with a total of 23 hours put in just Saturday and Sunday. The rotisserie build took a whopping 4 1/2 days which has really put us behind, but as of Friday night, the car was up and spinning on the motorised rig, which has made life alot easier. As of today, all of the upper tubes and supports are now completely welded, and the cage has been jacked into its final resting place and welded to the B-pillars. Jack points are drilled and welded in; the rear cage mounts are finished and the main hoop and A- bar mounting plates are fitted and tacked in place. We also drilled large access holes in the A-pillar (neccesary for complete welding of the upper door bar and forward reinforcing tubes) before the cage was jacked back into position. Matt and I finally called it a day after nearly five hours of final fitting of the rear support cross-bracing and lower stays. There is still a ton of work to do and only two days to finish, so the pressure is piling up. It's pretty nerve wracking because there is only one chance to get the fitment right, as the cage kit is sourced from the U.K., and we have no spare tubes!! But it's going well and looks really good. Now only if we had another week... but as the old motorsport addage goes: Q: How much time will it take? A: As much time as you have!
Today March 13th- Work is progressing nicely on the Matt Johnson project, the donor shell is prepped and the FIA cage kit installation is well underway, after a long weekend the main hoop, supports, roof cross, and windshield bar are properly fitted and partially TIG welded in place.
March 1st- Winter has finally arrived here in the Northeast, so our adventure to South Carolina was a welcome break. Myself and Frank Dekat performed "0" car duties for the http://www.sandblastrally.com">http://www.sandblastrally.com; and we (and a rather large contingent of Orange Fans), had a great time!!
I keep promising updates, but it has been the busiest winter in many years. I am hoping to get some photos and new words up this weekend
As many of you know, the Motorsport world is a dynamic one... things are always changing. As of 10am Wednesday, I was headed to the Mexico WRC round to help service a US competitors car; but by 2 pm, the deal fell apart. Then by 5pm, I had signed myself up to install a rollcage in a car that needs to be built and ready for the Oregon Trail Rally
The busy winter is about to get really busy!!
New pictures soon, and contest updates to follow as well...
Champagne Reward for Team in Pennsylvania
Widget Partners with Havspeed for 2nd Place on the Podium | 06/05 | by Andrew | Comments  Wellsboro, PA. Andrew Havas (Hopewell Junction, NY) of Team Havspeed brought out his classic Mazda RX7 and, with Widget Rally Team's John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA) navigating, finished second overall in Two-Wheel Drive (2WD) at the Susquehannock Trail Professional Rally (STPR) in Wellsboro, PA on 3 June 2006. It was an immensely successful first time partnership that came about because Dillon's usual driver Brian Scott and Havas' regular co-driver Amy Feistel were unable to attend.
"Competing at STPR was the result of an unusual sequence of events," reported Dillon. "Brian couldn't make it to the Olympus Rally a few weeks ago, so Andrew and I planned to run in a borrowed Galant. Sadly, we were forced to withdraw when a last-minute mechanical issue arose with the car, so we decided to run Pennsylvania instead. I wanted to give our sponsors exposure at a national-caliber rally, and it really paid off for us with a great result in the end."
As it turns out, STPR 2006 enjoyed the strongest field of competitors in North America since the height of manufacturer's involvement seen in 2001-2003, which makes Havas/Dillon's finish even more significant.
"To finish second overall in two-wheel-drive with a car nearly 30 years old behind a factory team is nothing to be ashamed of. As a matter of fact, beating them on two of the stages feels like a victory to me!" said Havas, who was battling a bad case of the flu as well as his competition. "With two stage wins and two records, we showed we can bring the fight to them. It's a shame we lost the differential and had our engine go sour for the last stages. Truthfully, we are lucky to have made it to the finish!"
In spite of their problems, Havas and Dillon built up enough of a cushion to finish in front of multi-time 2WD Canadian National Champion Jon Nichols, who was 3rd overall in 2WD. Jon has been a benchmark in North America for years because of his outright speed.
Havas is known for his crowd-pleasing sideways driving style and bright orange rally car. For this rally he gave out "hammerhead" noise makers to the spectators, who dutifully cheered and rattled each time the team went past. The car is covered with signatures from race fans. "It's become a tradition of the 'Orange Team'" said the driver. "People really love to be able to sign the car, especially the kids, and when they see us on course, they are really with us in spirit!!"
"It was a lot of fun racing with Andrew this weekend," said his codriver. "It's cramped, hot, and noisy, but man, what a ride! He's a talented driver. Even with the flu, a damaged rear axle, and substantial loss in engine performance towards the end, we still managed to twice set record-breaking times in class. I can only guess how great he'd be behind the wheel of a more modern rally car."
Havas is hoping to secure funding to contest the Maine Forest Rally with Amy Feistel in an Open Class car July 21-23rd; Dillon will resume his normal codriving duties with Brian Scott a week earlier at the Treeline Rally.
Be sure to visit www.havspeed.com to find out how you can get a FREE T-shirt and enter to WIN an Official WRC Rally Sardegna Hat signed by many top drivers including World Champions Sebastian Loeb and Daniel Elena.
Perforce Software (www.perforce.com) provides financial support to the Widget Rally Team. The team insists on brakes by Porterfield Enterprises (www.porterfield-brakes.com) and utilizes the web services of Shults Dot Com (www.shults.com) for its internet needs.
Team Havspeed is supported by Rallysport (www.rallysportonline.com) along with associate partners Mazda Motorsports (www.mazdamotorsports.com), the PIAA Corporation (www.piaa.com), and Japan Direct (www.usedengine.com).
Thanks to all our friends and fans, and especially the Havspeed Booster Club of Quebec, for making the long journey to provide us with a great service crew.
Prom photo © 2006 Team Havspeed
Action photo © 2006 Pete Kuncis of On A Limb Racing
Pictures are now available in the Photo Gallery section
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Car and Copilote | 05/30 | by Guillaume | Comments Copilote for STPR will be John Dillon and the old trusty RX7 will hit back gravel road. We're 39th on the starting line. You can't miss the orange beast!
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