L’Estage, the Rockstar Royal Group team driver, is looking for his fourth victory at the Rallye Perce-Neige after winning this challenging winter event three times in the past five years. “The Rallye Perce-Neige is an event that I always enjoy and the time I’ve had in my Mitsubishi Evo X in the past two weeks has left me really excited to contest this rally ” indicates Antoine L’Estage, who adds : ” even with a such a fantastic season last year, Perce-Neige was the only rally that we didn’t score points at. I want to redeem myself this year and come away with top points. Winning is obviously a main objective but the priority, as always, remains our need for important championship points “.

The Perce-Neige rally is known for its tricky snow and ice-covered roads, something that does not stress Antoine L’Estage, who relies on his Yokohama tires : ” having this lineup of Yokohama tires available to us is key, including the best intermediate winter tire for performace rallying ” he indicates.

At the wheel of his Rockstar Royal Group Evo X, Antoine L’Estage knows that repeating his record-breaking 2010 season will be difficult, but anything’s possible : ” winning the “Triple Crown” (Canadian, American, and North American titles) does not come by easily. I’d like to do it again but my priority is the Canadian championship. My entire team is geared up and highly looking forward to the Perce-Neige rally ” he explains.

Last weekend in the United States…

The Rockstar Royal Group team took part in last weekend’s Sno*Drift Rally in Michigan, Round 1 of the 2011 Rally America season, the premier American series that was won last year by the L’Estage/Richard duo. After winning the first three competitive stages of the rally and building up a 20 second lead, the team’s rally was ended early in a small snowbank. The contact resulted in a damaged radiator, causing the motor to overheat once the team got going again. ” It was a very positive start to the rally because we were able to show our speed but we couldn’t risk continuing after the car started overheating ” shared the Quebec driver. L’Estage’s main rival in the Rally America series also retired early from the rally, denying either team a points advantage in their hunt for the title. Antoine and Nathalie return to the American season at the end of February for Missouri’s Rally in the 100 Acre Wood.

Antoine L’Estage holds three North American championship titles (2007, 2008, 2010), three Canadian titles (2006, 2007, 2010), one American title (2010), and twenty-five overall victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie Richard holds six overall national championship titles (3 in Canada and 3 in the USA), as well as thirty-one overall rally wins on both sides of the border. She is also a six-time North American Co-Driving Champion (2004- 2010, excluding 2006).

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard participate in the 2011 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Royal Group, Yokohama Tires, Mitsubishi Canada, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Garrett Turbos, Energie Cardio, Libra Racing, Driver’s Edge Autosport (OMP), and VP Racing Fuels. For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit antoinelestage.com.

2010 champions Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, while leading Michigan’s SnoDrift Rally in their Rockstar Royal Group Mitsubishi Evo X.

Photo: Tim Williams

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Named after the storybook home of Winnie the Pooh, the 100 Acre Wood Rally is set in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Based in and around the town of Salem, the 100 Acre Wood Rally features very high-speeds on smooth and flowing gravel roads that are a favorite of many rally drivers. However, in recent years the weather has unleashed freezing rain, sleet or snow in the days leading up to and during the event turning the roads treacherously icy. Weather reports for this weekend’s event currently indicate clear and seasonably cool conditions.

“Subaru has won the 100 Acre Wood Rally four years in a row so we know we have the right car and the right setup,” explained Pastrana. “Our goal here is to win and extend our championship lead. I think if the weather holds out this will be one of the fastest, most tightly contested events of the year.” Pastrana leads the six-round 2010 Rally America National Championship after a win last month at round one, the Sno*Drift Rally in northern Michigan.

Subaru driver Dave Mirra will have veteran co-driver Martin Headland alongside at the 100 Acre Wood Rally in place of co-driver Derek Ringer, with whom he worked with in 2008 and 2009. Headland, a former two-time Canadian Rally Champion has 35 years of co-driving experience and has entered over 150 performance rallies. Headland was a long time co-driver of one of Mirra’s key rally tutors, driving instructor Tim O’Neil. “The roads in Missouri are very fast and I drove really well there last year, but I was in a lower specification Super Production class Subaru STI at the time,” said Mirra. “This year I will have more power and even better handling with Subaru Rally Team USA’s Open Class car and am looking forward to adapting to the new car this season .”

The rally action kicks off at approximately 4pm CST local time this Friday, February 26th, and continues through Saturday, February 27th. For daily event photos and news updates visit www.rally.subaru.com or follow the team at www.twitter.com/srtusa. Results and other event news can be found at www.rally-america.com.

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Vision X, Alpinestars, Motul, GReddy, Exedy, VP Fuels and Vermont SportsCar. For more information on Subaru Rally Team USA, as well as exclusive photo and video galleries visit rally.subaru.com and for the latest news follow the team on Twitter: twitter.com/srtusa.

Photos: Lars Gange | rally.subaru.com

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In the Atlantic Division and overall, the Irish crew of Daniel O’Brien, a former Eastern States Champion, and Brendan McCabe in a Subaru Impreza is leading the AWD Championship at midseason. They have been steadily climbing in the standings by finishing fourth at Rally New York USA and second at Rally Tennessee. Another Irish team of Tom Lawless with co-driver Brian Sharkey, who flies in for the USRC events all the way from Ireland, in a Mitsubishi Lancer is second after winning Rally Tennessee. Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino, in a Subaru Impreza, two-time winners of Rally New York USA are third in the AWD Championship. In the Pacific Division, Keith Jackson and Marra Estep in a Subaru Impreza are leading after winning Rally Idaho. Two more Subaru teams of Paul Eklund with Jeff Price and Byron Garth with Ron Crawford are second and third.

In the 2WD Championship in the Atlantic Division and overall, the Irishmen Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann in Nissan Sentra are leading after winning Rally New York USA and placing second at Rally Tennessee. They are the 2008 USRC runner-ups in the 2WD category. Josh and Jeremy Wimpey in a Volkswagen GTi are second with a second place at Rally Idaho. Wimpey brothers are the 2007 USRC runner-ups in the 2WD category. Brad Morris and Doug Nagy in a 2WD Mitsubishi Lancer are third. They won Rally Tennessee. In the Pacific Division, Lauchlin O’Sullivan, a former Mitsubishi USA Team driver, with co-driver Karen Wagner in a Dodge SRT-4 are leading after winning Rally Idaho. Aurimas and Amy Bakchis in an Eagle Talon are second and Cody Crane with Patrick Darrow in a Honda CRX are third.

Subaru driver William Petrow is leading the AWD Production Cup in the Atlantic Division with a win at Rally New York USA and a second place at Rally Tennessee. The leading co-driver is Austin Gager who has placed third and fourth in the previous events. Another Subaru crew of Byron Garth and Ron Crawford is leading the AWD Production Cup in the Pacific Division.

Michael Reilly and Josh Benthien in a Ford Focus SVT are in the first place in the 2WD Production Cup in the Atlantic Division. Alex Rademacher and John Stewart in a 2WD Subaru Impreza are leading the 2WD Production Cup in the Pacific Division.

The United States Rally Championship will continue with the remaining events that include Gorman Ridge Rally (www.gormanridgerally.com) in California, Prescott Rally (www.prescottrally.com) in Arizona and the final round of the Championship – International Rally New York (www.rallynewyork.com).

Pacific Division teams are competing for coveted cash travel subsidies that will be awarded to top six teams in the Division. The total of $12,000 in subsidies will be distributed to Pacific Division teams to assist them with travelling to the final round of the United States Rally Championship in New York.

The United States Rally Championship is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. This is the third season of the new Championship structure that minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship.

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United States Performance Stage Rally has shown one of its best faces last week. The third annual Idaho Rally and Round 3 of the United States Rally Championship took place in Idaho’s famous Banana belt. After two days of hard fought competition Lauchlin O’Sullivan and Karen Wagner placed first. The team managed to stay ahead of Keith Jackson/Marra Estep and Paul Eklund/Jeff Price and made history to win a National Event in a two wheel drive car. A total of 38 Car competitors started the field on Friday morning. Maximum driving skills where necessary as stage 1 was 17 miles long and one of the most technical in North America. Before the end of the Day 1 ten cars had to withdraw for either mechanical problems or had crashed. Day 2 with remaining forty miles of this 110 mile long event promised to be highly interesting. The roads character changed from slow and technical to fast and tricky. The rally organizers had also built a jump into the road which turned out to be a great spectacle for the spectators. Barrett Dash claimed the “Longest Jump”

but had to give up “Most Spectacular Jump” to Bill Holmes who nailed it at over 100mph just to end up skidding down the road on his nose.

The Bikes Competition was won by Roger Neth who set fastest time on all but the last stage of Day 1. Roger charged hard all weekend and gets bragging rights to win Idaho’s first Rally Bike Event.

The Organizers are very happy and consider the Rally great success. The four participating Championships United States Rally Championship – California Rally Series – Max Attack and Pacific North West Rally Championship made for a great team variety.

We would like to thank Larry Miller Subaru, JB Hospitality, Eibach Springs, RB Components and Stand21 for their sponsorship and all others involved.
See you next year.

IR Team

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After having competed in only a handful of rally
events, BMX legend Dave Mirra has won his first rally race, the 2009
Team O’Neil Rally, at the wheel of his 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
rally car. Mirra dominated the New Hampshire-based snow rally by
setting fastest time on all but one of the event’s eight stages and
finishing with a lead of fifty seconds. The wins comes just over one
year after Mirra began his burgeoning rally career that has since seen
him be named the 2008 Rally America Rookie of the Year as well as earn
a Bronze medal at last summer’s X Games 14 Rally Car Racing event.

“I’m really excited to get my first win, the roads were a lot of fun
here,” explained Mirra. “Running in these snowy conditions was
perfect preparation for the Sno*Drift Rally [which serves as the first
round of the Rally America Championship] next week, so I will have a
lot more confidence from the start.”

Mirra’s rally program will expand in 2009 with increased support from
Subaru of America, Inc. and Monster Energy that will see him join
Subaru Rally Team USA drivers Ken Block and Travis Pastrana at all
nine rounds of the 2009 Rally America National Championship as well as
X Games 15. Mirra will compete in the new Super Production class and
will debut a 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI early in the race season.

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America,
Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT),
DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Alpinestars, Motul, Exedy, GReddy,
and Vermont SportsCar.

About Dave Mirra:

Mirra became a pro BMX rider in 1992 and holds the record for most X
Games medals (including most Gold medals), and has medaled in every X
Games since its inception in 1995. With his current X Games medal
count at twenty one, Mirra is recognized as one of the World’s most
well known Action Sports athletes and is credited with bringing
freestyle BMX into the mainstream.

Mirra has always been a car enthusiast and became hooked on rallying
after friend and Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block introduced him
to the sport. Mirra completed a test and training program with Vermont
SportsCar in late 2007 and entered a limited number of rounds of the
2008 Rally America National Championship, making an impressive debut
season to earn 2008 Rookie of the Year honors. He surprised rally
veterans and casual fans alike on his rally debut at X Games 14 where
he earned a Bronze medal, after defeating two championship-caliber,
North American drivers in separate head-to-head heats.

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This will be the first start of team Gruszka / Dorman at STPR, but after winning the Gravity Park 2 event two weeks ago they build their confidence and hoping for at least podium finish in Pennsylvania, but they first will have to fight for it with over 40 other teams, which close to half of them will enter Regional event as well.

The rally will consist of 115 competitive stage miles divided onto 13 stages in Tioga County, PA. The roads used for this event are one of the best in the country, but the drivers have to be on top of their game the entire event, each and every stage to bring a high overall position to the finish.

Arkadiusz Gruszka: “From what I heard from other competitors that have competed here before, this rally won?t be an easy one for us, but the plan is simple: be at the finish, try to finish strong, gain more and more experience. This is the plan we set at the beginning of the year and we want to stick to it. All other positve facts are just a bonus to our 2008 season.”

Grzegorz Dorman: “This is my favorite rally in US by far. I feel like at home here. I think splitting the event into two days and addition of the Super Special stage will make this event even more interesting and enjoyable.”

Arkadiusz Gruszka and Grzegorz Dorman are currently second overall and in Open class in Rally America Central Region championship and fighting for the best positions at the remaining events.

Art Rally Team is sponsored by European Auto Exchange from Lombard, IL – Home of Certified Luxury Automobiles and supportes by Freight Kong and Art Logistics – One Stop for all Your Shipping Needs.

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BMX legend and burgeoning rally driver Dave Mirra got his
first chance to drive a top specification Open Class Subaru rally car in
competition on the final day of last weekend’s Oregon Trail Rally, after
swapping cars with Monster Energy teammate Ken Block. Mirra was northing
short of impressive at the wheel of Block’s BFGoodrich Tires-shod 2007
Subaru Impreza WRX STI, netting a 3rd and a 4th fastest overall stage
time on two of the four competition stages run on Sunday. Block, who
was leading the Rally America National Championship points standings
entering Oregon ‘stepped-down’ to drive Mirra’s lower spec, non-turbo
Subaru Impreza.

The swap was possible only after Block and Mirra found themselves
officially out of the Oregon Trail Rally, round four of the Rally
America National Championship, after they each slid their usual rally
cars into ditches and became stuck off the road. Neither rally car
sustained damage and the duo had the option of re-starting the event the
following day for the final four stages of competition. Although they
could not score national championship points the roads and the
competition would be the same.

So the two friends kept things interesting by arranging a car swap with
each other! Block literally signed his top-spec Open class rally car
over to Mirra on Sunday with a message on the hood that read; “Congrats
Dave, it’s graduation day here’s your new car. Keep the shiny side
up!” Block then spent some time with Mirra pointing out a few of the
differences and unique features of his car before handing over the keys.
Block’s Subaru Rally Team USA backed Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car is
built to the limit of the Rally America Open Class rules, with nearly
double the power of Mirra’s ‘rookie spec’ Subaru. Block’s car is also
lighter and features a dog-engagement transmission enabling quicker,
clutch-less gear shifting.

Mirra was slated to begin driving this higher-spec rally car at the next
round in Pennsylvania (the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, June
6-7th ) after having started off his rally career with a much lower
specification, non-turbo Subaru Impreza. After competing in five rallies
over the past six months Mirra recently earned a full unrestricted Rally
America competition license, allowing him the opportunity to drive a
much more powerful machine such as Block’s Subaru.

With a huge grin, Mirra and his co-driver Alex Kihurani jumped into
Block’s rally car and cautiously attacked the four remaining competition
stages on Sunday. “That Subaru was just amazing to drive, it’s a whole
different ball game than the car I’ve been learning with,” explained
Mirra. “I had to be really careful because I kept getting stuck in the
dust of cars that I was catching up with ahead of us, but we had a clean
run on one of the stages where I got 3rd fastest overall. It was an
amazing opportunity to get to test this car on some real rally stages
ahead of the next rally in Pennsylvania, where I’ll be driving this car
again. I’m still buzzing from this drive, it was incredible.”

Ken Block, with co-driver Alex Gelsomino, will debut the much
anticipated all-new 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI at the next round,
making his 2007 Subaru available to Mirra for the remainder of the 2008
season. Mirra will run a limited number of the remaining 2008 rally
events due to BMX competition schedule conflicts.

While Mirra was learning to tame Ken Block’s wildly powerful rally car,
Block had to contend with driving Mirra’s much slower Subaru through the
technical loose gravel roads of Oregon. “We had a good time with it,
even if it was painfully slow!,” said Block. “It was a good lesson in
how to keep momentum up through the turns, because the car just lacks
the raw acceleration of my usual ride. Most of all it made me really
appreciate my own Subaru! I was glad to see Dave didn’t put a scratch on
my car and he set a few very impressive stage times, so it was very
encouraging.”

Dave Mirra’s rally program is made possible with support from Monster
Energy, Vermont SportsCar, DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Exedy,
PIAA, Motul, Greddy, Alpinestars and Subaru of America.

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Practice and qualifying on Saturday greeted teams with one of the smoothest road seen in years, but with ominous weather. After wind and sporadic periods of rain made conditions less than hospitable for officials and course workers, two all-wheel-drive teams posted qualifying times faster than the standing record of 3:21.75 with three more teams within three seconds of the record. In two-wheel-drive the record wasn’t under threat, but five teams were within 10 seconds with a further two just 13 seconds off of top qualifier John Conley, with co-driver Keith Rudolph, in their Dodge Neon SRT-4.

Conditions improved overnight and Sunday greeted teams with a forecast of mid-70s with a slight breeze, ideal conditions for racing. On the first run, the competition in rally all-wheel-drive that had been building during practice and qualifying began to boil over with the top four teams within five seconds and all under the record with two additional teams just seconds more back. After the second run a total of 5.53 seconds covered the top 5 teams in rally all-wheel-drive with all 5 teams breaking the previous record and .52 seconds separating first from second. As the dust settled Jason Waples and JP Hodgson came out ahead, 0.52 seconds in front of their teammates Todd Moberly and Rebecca Greek to go 1-2 for JP Motorsports/Phoenix Autosport, with Mike Whitman and Aaron McConnell finishing just ahead of Dave and Allison Kern to finish third.

Rally two-wheel-drive saw John Conley and Keith Rudolph finish a comfortable 7.2 seconds ahead of Scott Leonard and Adam Kniepp, who just finished ahead of Jim Gillaspy and Chris Daniher and Jeremy Brown and Simon Branton-Housely. Further down the order the remaining five entries were all within six seconds forcing all teams to be on the limit and flat out on both runs. Unfortunately the rally two-wheel-drive class also saw the Texas-based entry of Fornari and Paipott suffer a race-ending crash after just starting their first run on Sunday, forcing the team out of the event and throwing into jeopardy the rest of the team’s season as they make repairs to their Mazda RX7.

Teams will have a short three week break, then will head to the Continental Divide Hill Climb based in Monarch, CO. After such tight battles at Temple Canyon, the competition is sure to be fierce as teams battle for Colorado Rally Cup points and Colorado Hill Climb Association results.

About the Colorado Rally Cup:
The Colorado Rally Cup is a multi-organizational championship. Formed by competitors for competitors, entered teams compete in eight events covering three different versions of rallysport-based competition in three different classes. More information on the Colorado Rally Cup can be found at: http://www.ColoradoRallyCup.org

About the Colorado Hill Climb Association:
For 37 years the Colorado Hill Climb Association (CHCA) has been putting on a series of all-dirt hillclimbs in Colorado. Host to a variety of different classes the CHCA will offer its brand of high-speed dirt racing at five events, promising something for just about every motorsport fan in the process. More information on the CHCA, as well as detailed results, can be found at: http://www.CHCAracing.com

Story & Photo (c) 2008 Kevin Hahn – Jason Waples with interim co-driver Jason Hodgson continued to show his prowess at Colorado Hill Climb Association events and took an impressive victory over team mates Todd Moberly and Rebecca Greek. Their .52 second victory is one of the closest seen in the rally classes at a CHCA event and put them just nine points back in Colorado Rally Cup standings after two events.

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