Contact: John Morris 416-963-3222 Jud Buchanan 905-873-7163		Date: August 30, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ontario - Major innovations in this year’s Canadian Rally Championship TV schedule will add excitement and prominence to the series. The Rally Development Group (RDG) has negotiated successfully with Sportsnet and RDS to bring Canada’s rapidly growing rally championship to television.

The six rally shows will be shown on regularly scheduled prime spots on Sportsnet and RDS with all the shows airing in bi-weekly succession. "By having scheduled dates on sports leading networks, we will capitalize on the expanding enthusiasm for performance rallying in Canada," says Jud Buchanan of RDG.

The fast paced half hour show will kick off on Monday Oct. 4 on Sportsnet primetime at 8 pm on each of the networks four outlets right across the country (For satellite viewers who receive all four, this means a choice of prime slots). The show receives a strong Sunday repeat block at 9 am beginning on October 10 and there will be at least one additional airing of each show in all four Sportsnet outlets.

The show will also receive premiere billing on RDS beginning on Saturday November 6 at 6 pm. The show will run on Saturday at a comparable time slot, every two weeks and there will be a number of re-runs that will be scheduled shortly.

"With the schedule published this far in advance, The CRC will be in all the television guides," Buchanan notes. "Our goal is to make it easy for rally fans to set their appointment to watch every show while making it easy to attract sports fans who have heard the buzz about the Canadian Rally Championship. Both Sportsnet and RDS have been great about finding regular large audience time periods for us. This will be a huge improvement over previous years," he adds.

Returning to the English language broadcast is its popular host Paul Chater joined by Andrew Marriott. Chater is a longtime motorsport commentator, having begun his television career with CBC Sports followed by racing assignments at CTV and ten years as TSN's rally analyst.

Based in London, England, Marriott is best known to North American race fans as a member of the Speed Channel's commentary team at LeMans. Andrew has reported on the British Rally Championship and WRC (World Rally Championship) for many years. He knows the Canadian Rally Championship and its drivers well having presented the series to his British audience since 1998.

New to the broadcast is journalist and performance rally driver herself, Jen Horsey who will get close up with the drivers to add colour and a woman’s vantage to each show.

Returning to RDS Didier Schraenen is one of Quebec's most popular radio and television personalities. He is also a very successful racing driver, currently leading the Honda Michelin series and a former Formula 1600 national champion.

Jean-Marc Alcaraz is one of Quebec's top rally drivers. In the late 90's driving a 400-hp Mazda Jean-Marc was always a contender for overall victory. Recently he has focussed on the Group 2 and has had some thrilling battles with Gord Olsen and Jon Nichols, all three in VW Golf Gti's.

Through their work on the rally broadcasts Schraenen and Alcaraz have become good friends. Their natural rapport and infectious enthusiasm have made the Canadian Rally Championship one of the most popular motorsport properties on RDS.

"The Canadian Rally Championship is taking aim to be Canada’s top motorsport series and this new television schedule is a powerful building block," Buchanan notes.

The Canadian Rally Championship is presented by Subaru and sanctioned by the Canadian Association of Rallysport. Rally Development Group (RDG) holds the marketing rights for the Canadian Rally Championship.

To see what a car can do, watch it rally.