Attending her first ever rally this year, three months later Susan Cseh was behind the wheel thanks to DirtFish
Photography by DirtFish
Words by Luke Barry
Rallying is an art form in its purest sense.
Strip it all back and what you’re witnessing is a relationship between the car and the driver develop to the point where it becomes one beautiful, harmonious dance.
Sitting in our sitting rooms and brushing up on our dance moves on the simulator, we yearn to give it a go for ourselves. For real. And with enough passion, that’s exactly what we can do.
Allow me to introduce you to Susan Cseh – or Send_It_Suzie as she’s known on the internet. With a name like that, I already know I’m in for a good conversation.
She doesn’t let me down.
“Rally is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before,” she says. “Seeing, hearing, and feeling a rally car fly past you for the first time is unreal – and guaranteed to make you smile from ear to ear.”
I wouldn’t change a word of that myself. And they’re reassuring words for those of us who fear for rallying’s popularity, because Susan didn’t grow up a rallying obsessive.
“I had seen snippets and clips of rally back in 2017, but didn’t delve into it more until late 2021, which is when I got my racing sim,” she explains. “I started out with Gran Turismo 7 and Assetto Corsa, and always found myself preferring the dirt courses over any other track. Once I discovered rally sims such as DiRT Rally 2 and Richard Burns Rally, I was hooked from there on out.
“I’ve spent the past few years doing rally on my sim and tuning into numerous WRC events, but early 2025 is when I actually started going to rally events.”
Any good story needs its pivotal moment, and early doors this is Susan’s. Attending the Olympus Rally as a marshal earlier this year transformed her from growing rallying fan to actual rally driver.
“I found out about the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Summit when I went to Olympus Rally in April – props to Michele Abbate!” Susan smiles. “I talked to her at the DirtFish booth and let her know that I was interested in taking a class in the future, and asked about the course. She asked me if I’d be attending the Summit, which I had no idea existed at the time!
“A month after the rally, I eagerly headed from my home in Utah back to Washington for the Summit. It was an incredible experience. Not only was the LeMay Car Museum a fantastic venue filled with rich history, but there was something so special about so many people gathering and connecting under the same passion. Seeing so many other women in motorsports inspired me to continue pursuing my dream.
“After the Summit, I went to DirtFish and got a tour of the school. I was in awe of the facility, admiring the rally cars and various racing suits hung throughout the hallways. The next day, I booked the three-day AWD course, which in the end just fueled my passion for rally even more!”
Simultaneously this was the best and worst decision of Susan’s life. Booking a DirtFish Rally School class gave her world-class tuition and experience of what it actually takes to be a rally driver – we just hope she’s ready for the lifetime of brave financial decisions and emotional roller coasters that come with rallying!
“I wanted to get a real taste of what it’s like in the driver’s seat,” Susan continues, who took her class in August just three months after attending Olympus.
“I have four years of racing sim experience, but I have been longing to get into a rally car for quite some time. DirtFish is the closest school to me, plus the whole crew is the friendliest bunch of people I’ve ever met! I’m still so surprised by how fast everything happened, as February was the month when I really started dedicating my time and energy towards real-life rally. Six months later, my dream of driving a rally car came true.”
And what she learned was incredible. Longer classes are always encouraged by the instructors, as that enables the driver to really explore their limits and keep building on the steps they’ve made.
Susan has noticed benefits outside of rallying in taking a course at DirtFish
Susan remarks that “rally driving is totally different to street driving” where you “essentially unlearn how to drive and learn it all over again”.
She adds: “In a rally car, your brain is operating at 150%; there are so many things happening all at once. Listening to pacenotes, looking 3-4 cones ahead as vision is key, looking for surface changes or road degradation, making sure to apply enough brakes, modulating the pedals, shifting the weight of the car to the front and back, clutch kicking around a corner etc. It was so awesome.
“Rally is not only very physically demanding, but mentally demanding too. As the days progressed, I became faster and more confident with the car. You get different instructors each day, which I really liked because each instructor has their own unique teaching and driving style. Certain instructors really helped me dial in certain techniques, providing that sort of lightbulb moment. The course was very comprehensive, and is the perfect, controlled environment to test the limits of yourself and the car. You will be surprised by what you can achieve.”
And it even helps you be faster in the virtual world as well as safer on the road: “Once I got back on my sim after DirtFish, I ended up beating all of my previous best times!” Susan shares. “My best being 17 seconds faster. Transferring those techniques from DirtFish to sim racing has made a substantial difference.
“I have also been able to apply what I learned at DirtFish in the real world. A few weeks after my class, I traveled to drive Tail of the Dragon; a popular road among car enthusiasts that runs from North Carolina to Tennessee. It’s 11 miles long with 318 turns, with some sections dubbed ‘gravity cavity’ and ‘rhythm section’.
This is just the beginning of Susan in a rally car - all thanks to DirtFish
“Those names alone give you an idea of how twisty, narrow, and challenging this road can be. Because of my experience at DirtFish, this helped me to be properly prepared to drive a road that was very intense and demanding.”
Susan plans to transfer her skills to real-life rallying too, with work beginning on an AWD build to compete in local SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) and rallycross events. Eventually, she wants to compete in ARA Regional events while also taking the Advanced AWD course at DirtFish.
“Driving a rally car went from being a dream to reality for me,” Susan reflects. “I never imagined that going to Olympus Rally would lead into a domino effect resulting in me being interviewed by DirtFish.
“I feel like my real life rally journey has barely started, but I have already had incredible experiences and met an amazing community so far. I’m grateful for the knowledge and advice I’ve been given by drivers in the sport, like Travis Pastrana and Tracey Gardiner. DirtFish closed the gap between sim racer and rally driver for me, giving me the chance to experience such an intense and passionate sport.”
DirtFish Rally School offers a wide range of classes in both rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive. Explore the options and book today.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: DirtFish, DirtFish Rally School, Susan Cseh, Women in motorsport
Publish Date October 30, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/10/qtfWjDt7-1000020497-780x766.jpg October 30, 2025
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