Contact: Michel Poirier-Defoy Tel: (450) 491-2480 E-mail: lpindfoy@sympatico.ca

Date: February 14, 1999

1999 Standings: Frank Sprongl, 20 points; Sylvain Vincent, 15; Jean-Sébastien Besner, 12; Tom McGeer, 10; Yves Barbe, 8; Éric Tremblay, 6; Stéphane Lévesque, 4

Class Leaders: Open: Sprongl, Group 2: Hammer,
Production GT: Vincent, Prod. Sport: Lévesque, Prod. 1750: Rosenshein

Leading Marques: Open: Audi, Group 2: Suzuki
Production GT: Eagle, Prod. Sport: Toyota, Prod. 1750: Suzuki

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

QUEBEC CITY -- Rally dynamos, Dan and Frank Sprongl, started the 1999 Subaru Canadian Rally Championship season the way they finished it off last year… with victory. The Sprongls put their Castrol Audi Quattro S2 well ahead of 25 other competitors to finish in top spot after 180 kilometres of special stages in Quebec City and surrounding region. This is their sixth straight Rallye de Quebec win.

Bonhomme's ice castle, at the Quebec Carnival, served as the starting point for the rally. Cars left for competition on the Plains of Abraham only after the Carnival's own Bonhomme fired-up the first car to initiate the event. After two stages on the Plains, the contest moved to the Portneuf area, where weather conditions became a key factor in the rally.

Mother Nature does it again
Heavy rain, combined with the colder temperatures of elevation meant slippery conditions for almost the entire event. At one point, severe snowfall forced organisers to cancel two stages north of Riviere-a-Pierre. Correct tire selection turned out to be a key advantage for some competitors. Montreal native Jean-Sebastien Besner, and Sylvain Vincent of La Plaine, Que., crossed the finish line in their Eagle Talons to take second and third spot behind the Audi on Friday night. Unfortunate off road excursions for Jon Nichols, Barry Latreille and Sakis Hadjiminas saw them end up at the bottom of the classification list. But newcomer Eric Tremblay, with a brand-new Subaru 2.5 RS, managed a sixth place finish and top novice. The performance of Tom and Trish McGeer's Subaru Impreza WRX was the weekend's big disappointment. A brake problem on the fourth stage cost the team 11 minutes; the McGeer's could only place as high as eleventh spot on Friday but recovered tremendously on Saturday to move up to fourth place overall. Jean-Marc Alcaraz had a frustrating weekend, too. Electrical gremlins in his Import Expert Mazda brought his rally to an early finish.

Trade horses for horsepower
A record crowd attended the two closing stages of the event at the Hippodrome De Quebec. The venue was a perfect one to demonstrate drivers' skill and capacity just like in World cup rallies. A few lucky spectators were even given the opportunity to lap the track at full speed in rally cars.

The next event, the Rallye Perce-Neige, takes place in Pembroke, Ont., in two weeks. The Subaru Canadian Rally Championship presents eight events in 1999, between February and November. It is sanctioned by the Canadian Association of RallySport and supported by Subaru Canada and Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. Additional information is available from the CARS website at www3.sympatico.ca/rally.cars

INFORMATION:
Michel Poirier-Defoy (450) 491 - 2480 lpindfoy@sympatico.ca
Terry Epp, CARS (905) 640 - 6444
Stephen Mostad mostad@onramp.ca

 #	TEAM			      CAR		    HOMETOWN	           CLASS    FINAL 
 1	Frank/Dan Sprongl	      Audi Quattro S2       Mississauga, ON        Open	    108:27

 2	Sylvain Vincent/D. Cyr	      Eagle Talon	    La Plaine, QC	   GT	    113:46

 3	J. S. Besner/P. Brasseur      Eagle Talon	    Montreal, QC	   Open	    114:18

 4	Tom/Trish McGeer 	      Subaru Impreza        Georgetown, ON         Open	    118:27

 5	Yves Barbe/E. Tremblay        Eagle Talon	    Laval, QC	           Open	    119:23

 6	Eric Tremblay/J.F. Guite      Subaru RS	            Quebec, QC	           GT	    124:04

 7	Stephane Levesque/H. Cyr      Toyota Corolla        New Richmond, QC       Sport    126:38

 8	Charles Hammer/P. Peloquin    Suzuki Swift	    Montreal, QC	   GR 2	    132:22

 9	B. Laverdiere/M. Duval	      Toyota Corolla        Laval, QC	           Sport    140:45

10	Antoine/Mathieu L'Estage      Toyota Corolla        St-Jean, QC	           GR2	    140:51

11      Eric Pratte/M. Dimock         Subaru Impreza        Miquelon, QC           Prod     145:04

12      John B./E. Clarke Paynter     Sub.Leg.Turbo         Lower Sackville, NS    GT       154:36

13      Jon Nichols/M. Koch           VW Golf GTI           Lachine, QC            GR2      169:34

14      Ilana Rosenshein/A. Wintle    Suzuki Swift GT       Waterloo, ON           Sport    190:27

15      Brad Hawkins/J. Dobbins       VW Jetta GLI          Wilmington, DE         GR2      209:20

DNF     Sakis Hadjiminas/B. Maxwell   VW Fox Kit Car        Floral Park, NY        Open      8/16

DNF     Barry/Sandra Latreille        Eagle Talon TSI       Williamstown, ON       Open     12/16

DNF     Jean-Marc Alcaraz/M.A. Alain  Mazda 323 GX          St-Lambert, QC         Open     12/16

DNF     Frédéric Labrie/R. Labrie     VW Golf GTI           Montmagny, QC          GR2      14/16 

DNF     Ulisse Pereira/T. Bartman     Toyota Corolla        Toronto, ON            GR2      15/16

• Domination of the Sprongl brothers
• Very good outings by Sylvain Vincent and Jean-Sebastien Besner
• Éric Tremblay becomes best novice with a 6th overall
• A large crowd attended Quebec's horsetrack special stages

The low points:

• A jammed brake caliper stalls McGeer for eleven minutes
• Weather conditions made some roads pretty hazardous
• One of the favourites, Jean-Marc Alcaraz, experimented electrical problems