CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF RALLYSPORT (CARS)
Press Release


Contact: Michel Poirier-Defoy
Tel: (450) 491-2480
E-mail: lpindfoy@sympatico.ca
Date: May 26, 1999


SUBARU CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
presented by
YOKOHAMA TIRES OF CANADA


EVENT:Rocky Mountain Rally
LOCATION:Calgary, Alberta
STATUS: Fourth event in 1999May 28-29
STATS: 12 special stages176 Km of speed sections
TOTAL RALLY DISTANCE: 595 KmOne day event


1999 Standings: Frank Sprongl, 60 points; Sylvain Vincent, 42; Tom McGeer, 25; Yves Barbe, 20; Éric Tremblay, 14; Jean-Sébastien Besner, 12; Jon Nichols, Jeff Smith, 10

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

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


1999 SUBARU CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
May 28 - 29Rocky Mountain RallyCalgary, AB
July 2 - 3Rallye Baie des ChaleursNew Richmond, QC
Sept. 10 - 12Rally of the VoyageursParry Sound, ON
Oct. 29 - 31Rallye Auto CharlevoixPointe-au-Pic, QC
Nov. 20 - 21Rally of the Tall PinesBancroft, ON


NEXT RELEASE: Sunday, May, 30
Results and scoring


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Round Two of Western swing moves to Calgary

Calgary, Alberta- The teams that took part in the Bighorn Rally last Sunday, are making last minute preparations for the Saturday morning start of the Rocky Mountain Rally. Competition stage is set west of the Claresholm area in the Porcupine Hills, where the fourth event of the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship is about to take place.

Among the cars at the head of the pack: Frank and Dan Sprongl in their Audi Quattro S2. They’re 18 points ahead of second place Sylvain Vincent and Dominique Cyr who will be campaigning their Eagle Talon for the last time before debuting this summer a fresh Yokohama / Subaru RS in the GT category. Sitting in third place is Tom and Trish McGeer. They finished second at Bighorn, but still remain 17 points behind the Vincent/Cyr team. The McGeer’s Subaru Impreza WRX has been a strong performer this year, and the battle for top spot promises to be a close one in Calgary.

Subaru entries on the rise
The healthy contingency program offered by Subaru Canada has spawned a whole host of teams using the robust all-wheel drive vehicles this year. Jeff Smith, in his Subaru RX took fourth place last week and is looking to build on that success at Rocky. Eric Tremblay, currently behind Vincent/Cyr in the GT category, is only in his second full season and is regularly among the top ten with his Subaru RS. Lee Shadbolt, eighth in Bighorn and a top competitor in the United States; rallies a similar RS. John and Clarke Paynter took the Canadian rally GT championship in 98 in the former Legacy of Tom and Trish McGeer. Finally, Ontario’s Mark Krawczyk will head for the top of the 1750cc category in his Subaru Justy, following a win at the Perce-Neige rally two months ago. His Justy is the smallest all-wheel drive vehicle to ever participate in the Canadian championship.

For more than 20 years, the Porcupine hills used in the Rocky Mountain rally have been considered the fastest in the country. It is normal to see cars descend the slopes with considerable speed in excess of 160 kilometres per hour. Organisers will likely place artificial chicanes on the course in order to slow the cars down and keep safety to a maximum.

The Subaru Canadian Rally Championship is presented eight times in 1999, between February and November. It is sanctioned by the Canadian Association of Rallysport and is supported by Subaru Canada and Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. Additional information is available from the CARS website at www3.sympatico.ca/rally.cars

INFORMATION:
CARS (905) 640 6444
Stephan Mostad smostad@hotmail.ca
Michel Poirier-Defoy (450) 491 2480
lpindfoy@sympatico.ca


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