Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard win the 34th edition of the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) and maintain their lead of the Rally America Championship. Despite dropping time on day one after their Rockstar Energy Royal Group Mitsiubishi Evo X lost power steering, L’Estage went on to finish the rally with a 1 minute 36.4 second lead over privateer Bill Bacon. L’Estage won STPR in 2008, but this victory marks his first outright win of the 2010 Rally America season.

Bacon and his co-driver, Peter Watt, secured a second place finish by deciding to drive conservatively after L’Estage began to develop his lead over them. The Bacon Motorsports team was happy with their result considering they dealt with a variety of mechanical issues throughout the weekend. Both L’Estage and Bacon qualify for an X Games invitation based on their placement in the championship points.

Ramana Lagemann and co-driver Chrissie Beavis of the Rally-Tire.com team rounded out the overall podium in their 2007 Super Production-spec Subaru. Lagemann is the third competitor ever in Rally America history to put an SP class car on the overall podium. Lagemann has proven his consistency and pace since returning to rallying this past April, but was given an advantage at STPR after two top contenders retired from the rally.

Subaru Rally Team USA’s Dave Mirra and Martin Headland blew their car’s turbo three miles into SS5 and then crashed out of the event. The Monster World Rally Team’s Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino held a promising rally lead up until SS10, when they were forced to retire due to fuel system issues and a failing gearbox.

Top Super Production class teams were embroiled in a fierce battle that lasted to the very end, trading positions in the standings throughout the weekend. Lagemann dominated the class, but the remainder of the SP podium was not determined until the final stage. The PMR racing team had their fair share of mechanical issues at STPR, but drivers Pat Moro and Tim Rooney finished the rally in second and third in class, respectively. During the final stage at the Tioga County Fairgrounds, Moro overtook his teammate Rooney and finished 11.2 seconds ahead of him.

In Two-Wheel Drive, Chris Duplessis made an impressive comeback after a flat tire early on the first day put him 30th overall and third in class. Chris Greenhouse and co-driver Christopher Gordon dominated the 2WD field until rolling their 1995 Plymouth Neon and giving Duplessis the opportunity to take the lead. Duplessis finished the rally ninth overall and first in class. Dillon Van Way and co-driver Ben Slocum finished second on the 2WD national podium while Greenhouse placed third. With this win, Duplessis clinches the 2010 national Rally America 2WD Championship.

Driver Joey Kale and co-driver Scott Nickerson won the Sherwood Forest regional rally 40.9 seconds ahead of Maciej Przybysz and Kristin Przybysz. Peter Hascher and co-driver Scott Rhoades finished third on the regional podium.

The next event on the Rally America calendar is the New England Forest Rally in Bethel, Maine on July 16-17.

To watch videos from the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, visit:
http://youtube.com/RallyAmericaSeries

Stay up to date with Rally America news and information via Twitter here: http://www.twitter.com/rally_america

Photo Credit:

Podium shot: http://www.WorldRallySport.com | Mike Proulx
L’Estage action: http://www.WorldRallySport.com | Mat Janiak
Lagemann action: http://www.WorldRallySport.com | Mat Janiak

About STPR:
The Waste Management Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally presented by Citizens and Northern Bank is based in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania with stage roads set in the scenic Susquehannock, Tioga, and Tiadaghton State Forests near the Pine Creek Gorge. STPR also boasts the heavily attended Subaru Super Special Stage at the Tioga County Fairgrounds. STPR is round 5 of 6 of the 2010 Rally America Series.

About Rally America:
Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier performance rally series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series. In 2010, Rally America will conduct six National Championship events at venues across the country, from Olympia, Washington to Newry, Maine. Rally America competitors reach speeds of well over 100 mph in modified street cars on natural-terrain courses consisting of gravel, dirt or snow. Additionally, through a partnership with ESPN, qualifying Rally America drivers will be invited to compete in ESPN’s Summer X Games 16, the annual leading action-sports event that’s broadcast live on ESPN. For more information, be sure to visit www.rally-america.com.

Rally America is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., BFGoodrich Tires, Danza del Sol Winery, Team O’Neil Rally School, Able Planet, Inc., Hawk Performance Brakes, RaceWatches.com, Exedy Racing Clutches, RECARO, Rally-Tire.com, Mazda.

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Rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard overcame a series of big challenges at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally last weekend to move into second place in the Rally America points race.

“It was a tough weekend for us,” said Comrie-Picard. “But every point counts in this championship and we’re in it for the season.”

Comrie-Picard and Irish co-driver Marshall Clarke fought back from 31st after a rollover crash to finish the race in 13th overall. The result gave them the handful of points they needed to climb up one rung in the tight championship race.

“Marshall and I were actually able to roll the car back onto its wheels and keep going,” said Comrie-Picard. “It was a soft rollover and with a new windshield, the car was back to 100 per cent – but we lost a lot of time.”

Comrie-Picard is in second-place overall after five rounds in the Rally America championship, behind Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana and ahead of Rockstar Energy’s Tanner Foust.

The Susquehannock Trail event has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the U.S. calendar. The 2009 running of the contest featured a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.

“The spectator stages at the fairgrounds in Wellsboro were huge this year,” said Comrie-Picard. “It was great for us to see so many fans out there.”

The contest is renowned as one of the toughest on the Rally America calendar and the team was not alone in having problems. Factory-backed Travis Pastrana lost a minute on the first day to a suspension failure, Polish ace Andi Mancin battled braking issues and the Swedish World Rally team of Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out with a blown engine on the first day.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The sport is also featured in the annual X Games, the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally. Comrie-Picard has been among the dozen invited drivers every year since the rally discipline was introduced to the contest, and he has already secured an early invitation to return in 2009.

The Rally America national championship includes nine events in a cross-continent season that extends from January to late October. The Canadian Rally Championship has six events from coast to coast. ACP Rally will contest a busy season, with rally events on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, select drift events — and the X Games.

The next U.S. event for the team will be the X Games in Los Angeles.

The ACP Rally program is made possible by: NOS Energy (www.drinknos.com), K&N (www.knfilters.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), Motul (www.motulusa.com), AMS (www.amsperformance.com), Works (www.worksevo.com), Brian Crower (www.briancrower.com), JE (www.jepistons.com), Exedy (www.exedyusa.com), Ohlins (www.ohlinsusa.com), Pfitzner Performance Gearbox (www.ppgearbox.com.au), Mishimoto (www.mishimoto.com), Oakley (www.oakley.com), Innovate Motorsports (www.tuneyourengine.com), Team Dynamics (www.teamdynamicsracing.com), Endless (www.endlessusa.com), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), Sparco (www.sparcousa.com), NGK (www.ngksparkplugs.com), Seibon Carbon (www.seiboncarbon.com), Piloti (www.piloti.com), and Skull Candy (www.skullcandy.com).

Find us on YouTube or Facebook under ACP Rally.

Photo by Pete Kuncis, www.onalimbracing.com

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Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ken Block set the fastest times on the opening stages of the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally and never looked back, taking his second win of the season at this notoriously tough event.

Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino have had their share of bad luck this season, with three DNFs in their previous four starts and Block said he was happy for the win – especially at an event that hasn’t been good to him in the past.

“STPR has been a struggle for me. I’m happy,” said Block. “I’ve rolled here, I broke last year, the year before that I crashed in shakedown and then made it a stage and a half.”

But he wasn’t ready to say he’d managed to shake off the season’s bad-luck streak: “I’m not going to say it’s over until I finish at least three or four more events.”

Block’s Subaru teammates Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom took second place. The duo lost a minute to suspension damage on Day 1, but managed to claw back into second place and hold it there to the finish.

Pastrana admitted the course was fast enough to be scary at times, but he was able to keep a cool head and extend his championship lead.

“The goal was win if you can, but podium for sure,” said Pastrana. “It was a good event.”

Third place went to Bill Bacon and co-driver Peter Watt, their first U.S. podium result together.

“We tried to push right from the get-go,” said Bacon. “Until now, our best finish in the States was fourth, so we’re happy.”

Bacon is running a limited season this year but with a pair of top-five finishes early on, he has secured enough points to be awarded an X Games invitation. If he is able to attend, this will be his first time in the high-profile Los Angeles contest.

In addition to battling for championship points, many teams are vying for a shot at X Games gold in August. Four top points scorers in the Rally America series will earn an invitation after this event.

Polish driver Andi Mancin and co-driver Ryszard Ciupka – who are also expected to receive an X Games invitation – finished fourth this weekend. The event started poorly for the duo, who took a rock to a brake line on Day 1 and were forced to run a stage without brakes, then lost even more time to an ailing clutch on Day 2.

Piotr Wiktorczyk and Grzegorz Dorman took the Super Production class win, finishing in fifth place overall. Wiktorczyk is also expected to make the trip to X Games this summer.

STPR is typically tough and often becomes a battle of attrition as teams fall victim to the challenging course and tough roads. The 2009 event was no different.

Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard – who took the win here in 2008 – reported trouble with their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X throughout the contest. After losing time on Day 1 to a blown turbo hose, the team continued to battle a variety of mechanical issues well into Day 2. Their transmission failed before the final stage but they pulled into the final service of the day on a tow-rope hooked to Andrew Comrie-Picard’s NOS Energy Mitsubishi and were able to finish in the top 10.

For their part, Comrie-Picard and guest co-driver Marshall Clarke found themselves out of the running for the podium right at the start after receiving a penalty for fueling procedures and then suffering a soft rollover on the fourth stage. They were able to continue after the roll and the team’s finish was enough to boost Comrie-Picard into second-place in the championship.

The rally ended early for BMX superstar Dave Mirra and co-driver Derek Ringer. The Subaru Rally Team USA’s Super Production class team took damage to their car after they struck a rock on Day 2 and were unable to continue.

The Swedish World Rally Team of Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out of the contest after only one stage with reported engine failure. It was tough luck for Sandell, who had been expected to challenge for the win at this contest. The driver has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006.

Rally newcomer Brian Deegan and his co-driver Chrissie Beavis also had a tough event. The team’s crew repaired a broken driveshaft after a rough Day 1 stage, then the duo went off-road on Day 2 and did further damage before they lost their brakes on the second-to-last stage. But the team managed to cross the finish line and Deegan says he expects to receive a so-called “at-large” invitation to the X Games Rally competition.

“It was different than I thought but I like it,” said Deegan of his debut rally driving experience. “I thought trophy truck drivers were really talented but I think rally driving is where you really learn to drive – better than anyone else.”

Deegan made his name as a supercross and motocross star, and founding member of the Metal Mulisha group of riders. Deegan is the latest action sports star to try his hand at rally competition, joining the likes of Pastrana and Mirra — both series regulars.

The Susquehannock Trail event has been running since 1977, and has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar. The 2009 running of the contest features a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The 2009 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN.

Six top drivers — Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt Johnson – have already accepted first-round invitations to X Games. The results after the first five rounds of the championship mean that Mancin, Bacon, Wiktorczyk and Gruszka are expected to round out the field, with two other so-called “at large” drivers yet to be named.

All results are considered informational pending official race processes.

Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

The next round of the Rally America championship moves east to the forests of New England for the New England Forest Rally July 17-18.

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A packed field including top X Games competitors and championship hopefuls will take to the challenging forest roads of Pennsylvania next month for the storied Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (June 5-6).

Series regulars including Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard will be back in action at the event, driving hard for the championship title.

But several notable newcomers will make their series debut, including Swedish World Rally competitors Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson, and Freestyle motocross champion Brian Deegan winner of 11 X Games medals.

Sandell has won two Production World Rallies so far this year, and was the Junior World Rally Champion in 2006. He and Axelsson will partner with NCRALLY and North Coast Subaru to compete in the Open class for this contest.

Deegan made his name as a supercross/motocross star and founding member of the Metal Mulisha group of riders. He is well-known to X Games fans as an eleven time medalist and commentator. Deegan is the latest action sports star to try his hand at rally competition, joining the likes of Pastrana and Dave Mirra — both series regulars.

Deegan will partner with Rockstar Energy Drinks co-driver Chrissie Beavis for a Super Production class effort. Beavis’s regular teammate, Tanner Foust, is sitting this contest out due to a conflict with a Formula Drift event.

In addition to battling for championship points, teams are vying for a shot at X Games gold in August. Four top points scorers after this event will earn an invitation and it’s possible that a win at STPR could translate to a starting spot at the Los Angeles contest.

Six drivers -Pastrana, Comrie-Picard, Block, Mirra, Foust and Matt Johnson – have already been invited to compete. The next four top scorers in the series are expected to receive an invitation. Two other so-called “at large” drivers have yet to be named.

The Susquehannock Trail event has been running since 1977, and has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the calendar. The 2009 running of the contest features a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.

Avid photographers will again have the opportunity to participate in Rally America’s popular photo contest where fans can submit their best shots for a chance to win great prizes.
Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The 2009 Rally America National Championship series consists of nine exciting events throughout the country in many different weather and road conditions.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. Eight top teams have already been invited to this August’s contest. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

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Wellsboro, PA, June 5th 2008: Arkadiusz Gruszka and Grzegorz Dorman representing Art Rally Team will compete in fifth round of Rally America National Series, Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR). This round will be also a part of Regional championship and the Polish team will be taking a part of it.

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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