| Contact: Michel Poirier-Defoy Tel: (450) 491-2480 E-mail: lpindfoy@sympatico.ca | Date: May 26, 1999 |
| EVENT: | Rocky Mountain Rally | |
| LOCATION: | Calgary, Alberta | |
| STATUS: Fourth event in 1999 | May 28-29 | |
| STATS: 12 special stages | 176 Km of speed sections | |
| TOTAL RALLY DISTANCE: 595 Km | One 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 - 29 | Rocky Mountain Rally | Calgary, AB | |
| July 2 - 3 | Rallye Baie des Chaleurs | New Richmond, QC | |
| Sept. 10 - 12 | Rally of the Voyageurs | Parry Sound, ON | |
| Oct. 29 - 31 | Rallye Auto Charlevoix | Pointe-au-Pic, QC | |
| Nov. 20 - 21 | Rally of the Tall Pines | Bancroft, ON | |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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