GOLDEN VALLEY, MN — PMR Motorsports’ duo, Patrick Moro and Ole Holter, won the 2010 Rally America Super Production (SP) Class Championship after overcoming a slow start to the season and acquiring the points needed at the recently held New England Forest Rally in Newry, Maine to secure the Super Production Class Title! All year the Super Production Class has been a source of excitement with a dramatic lead change in the standings, new competitors entering events, and top teams overcoming, or succumbing to, mechanical failures that changed the course of the SP battle. Throughout the season the SP Class became harder and harder to predict the outcome, but it was Dublin, Ohio’s Pat Moro driving a 2005 Subaru WRX STI that prevailed as the Super Production Class winner as well as 5th overall in the Rally America National Championship. Early in the 2010 season, Hanson Motorsports’ father and son team, Terry, from Michigan and his son Travis Hanson, from Littleton, NH, were the team to beat when they took significant wins at January’s Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan and 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri in March and set the tone in Super Production. It appeared that the Hanson’s were unstoppable as other competitors in the class struggled to string along consistent finishes. The Super Production Class podium saw a mixture of drivers in 2nd and 3rd place during the first two events of the season with Travis Hanson the only consistent finisher in 1st place. However a string of mishaps plagued Hanson Motorsports thereafter. The team secured a 2nd place finish at the Oregon Trail Rally in Portland, Oregon in May, but they weren’t able to finish the other three events remaining in the season. “I was happy for Travis (Hanson) with his early wins,” said Moro, “I seriously thought Travis was going to walk away with the SP Championship this year and we were already in the mindset of winning 2nd place.” But the SP winds changed drastically and Patrick Moro saw his chance materialize following a successful West Coast tour combined with Hansons’ unfortunate difficulties. Moro went on to secure a class win at the Oregon Trail Rally, gain 2nd place points at the Olympus Rally in Washington and Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in Pennsylvania, and secure the points needed to secure the class championship at the New England Forest Rally in Maine. “This SP Championship was won by perseverance. This is what makes this season so special,” reflected Moro. “Last year we were just 1 point away from winning the Super Production title. We were so close that we worked even harder this year building our own cars and running the whole team by ourselves. This win validates everything we worked so hard for.” “We could not have gotten through this Championship without the support of Subaru’s contingency program,” continued Moro. “The award money really helped, but we also owe Rallyspec a lot of credit for crewing with us and providing technical expertise. Exedy Racing Clutches also stepped in with parts, that was a big help.” The Super Production Class is only two years old, but it has seen a slew of notable and extremely competitive team entries that Pat Moro had to fend off for his title. At the end of the season a spread of only 3 points separated 2nd through 4th place! Last year’s returning SP Champion, Jimmy Keeney from Colorado Springs, Colorado, used consistency to win his 2009 SP title and relied on the same strategy again this year. Though, Keeney only finished once on the podium all year, he was reasonably within striking distance of Moro at the New England Forest Rally. At season’s end, Keeney settled for third overall in class and 10th in the Rally America National Championship. Rally America’s Super Production class attracted new teams this year that challenged the podium, most notably ex-Subaru Rally Team USA driver Ramana Lagemann, who returned to competition after a two year absence driving a Subaru WRX STI for the RallyTire.com team from Maryland. Lagemann from Boston, MA, arrived almost halfway through the 6-event season and immediately began nabbing SP 1st place finishes at the Olympus, STPR, and New England Forest Rallys. He suffered mechanical problems at the Oregon Trail Rally, which could have cost him the SP Championship, instead settling in for 2nd overall in class for the year. Lagemann’s strong showing in an SP car got him on the overall Rally America Championship podium at the final two events of the year. Though, Lagemann came in 2nd to Moro in the Super Production Championship, he beat Moro in the overall standings by taking 4th place overall. The Super Production class will be well represented at the Summer X Games 16 in Los Angeles this year as well. Returning to ”Rally Car Racing”, Moro, Hanson, and Keeney will rely on previous X Games competition experience to challenge for an X Games medal. New to X Games in 2010 will be fellow PMR Motorsports teammate and Subaru WRX STI driver Timothy Rooney from Dublin, Ohio, making his X Games debut in “SuperRally”. SuperRally is a new rally event being added to the X Games docket featuring 4 cars racing wheel-to-wheel in fast 4-lap heat races on the L.A. Memorial Coliseum floor. Fans can catch the live Rally Car Racing and SuperRally action LIVE on ESPN, Saturday, July 31st from 4:00pm – 7:00pm PT, and 7:15pm – 8:00pm PT.
About Rally America, Inc.: 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 introducing “Rallycross” to America for the first time on August 27-28, October 9-10, and November 6-7 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. Fans will be able to watch two-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive rally cars compete wheel-to-wheel on a closed-loop 1.3 mile tarmac and gravel circuit in timed heats from the comfort of grandstands and special viewing areas. Rally America is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., BFGoodrich Tires, the Team O’Neil Rally School, Able Planet, Hawk Performance Brakes, Rally-Tire.com, RaceWatches.com, Exedy Racing Clutches, RECARO, Mazda and the Danza del Sol Winery. New England Forest Rally recap video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbI3W0yNUS8 For Results from the New England Forest Rally visit: http://rally-america.com/events/2010/NEFR/results
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