NEWRY, ME — The X Games 14 “last chance qualifier” and the overall Rally America Championship lead were on the line as the New England Forest Rally began with a super special at the beautiful Sunday River Resort. Spectators came out in the cool morning to greet the rally drivers at the Parc Expose before the first Super Special which included a fast, dirt-throwing 90 degree left turn. All the drivers, except Seamus Burke with a blown motor, made it through that first stage. The rest of the field moved on to the Mexico Rec Super Special with its spectacular jump which has become a New England Forest Rally fan favorite.

By Stage 3, the top 6 drivers in the Rally America Championship were just separated within 18 seconds of each with Andy Pinker taking the early lead. Tim O’Neil, who entered the rally in a Group 5 Mazda 3 finished the third stage in dramatic fashion with power steering fluid burning in the stop control and used his emergency fire extinguisher to continue the rally.

Andy Pinker, who has seen mechanical difficulties the entire rally season, entered the New England Forest Rally as a favorite for the X Games 14 last chance qualifier spot, again found himself losing valuable time on stage 4. Pinker broke his gear shift lever 3 miles before the finish and gave up 30 seconds to Niall McShea, the most likely contender to Pinker for the final X Games 14 invitation. “I needed the fifth and sixth gears because the last 3 miles were long straights…” said Andy Pinker.

Andrew Comrie-Picard, who leads the Rally America Championship by a single point over Ken Block, experienced a right front half shaft failure on Stage 2 and was penalized 10 minutes for illegal repairs. ACP now sits in 6th place after day 1. Ken Block, has fared better then ACP, sitting in the second position in the NEFR standings but was towed into the final service by Travis Pastrana. Before entering the final control zone, Ken Block’s co-driver, Alex Gelsomino popped the hood on the new 2008 Subaru WRX STi and soon the rally car motored into the service area under its own power.

Niall McShea, entered in the NEFR with a Mitsubishi Evolution 9, took command of the entire rally after stage 4 and now sits in first position. The former Production World Rally Champion has a 9 second lead over Ken Block, and a 39 second lead over Andy Pinker for the last X Games spot.

Tomorrow the New England Forest Rally begins early in the morning in Berlin, New Hampshire with five more stages to determine who gets into the X Games and the who will sit at the top of the Rally America Championship standings.

The X Games 14 Rally Car Racing competition will take place on Sunday, August 3rd on ABC. Check www.rally-america.com for competition time closer to the event.

Based in Golden Valley, Minn., Rally America sanctions the premier rally racing series in the United States, the Rally America National Championship Series.