October 29, 2004
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom Barker
Phone: (203) 229-0718
E-Mail:ThomasVBarker@netscape.net.
Champions Enter Rally New York U.S.A.
Many-time Canadian and North American champions Frank and Dan Sprongl have
entered their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo in Rally New York U.S.A., which starts and ends in
Monticello on November 6. The brothers from the province of Ontario plan to use this as
a tune-up for their "home" event, the Rally of the Tall Pines, a few weeks later. They will
be accompanied by team-mate John Kemp in an Audi Quattro. (Kemp’s co-driver will be
named later.)
Frank, tall, lanky, and older by about three years, is the driver. Dan, a little shorter, is the
co-driver (navigator). They have been rallying since their teens, and became national
champions for the first time in their 20s, in 1991. They followed this with Canadian titles
in 1994-95 and 1997-99. Four times they have also claimed the North American Rally
Cup, given to the team who collects the most points on both sides of the border. The bulk
of their success was achieved in an Audi Quattro and an Audi S2, which was built in their
own Four Star Motorsports shop in Ontario. They have used primarily Mitsubishis since 2002.
In the last few years they have run fewer events per season, but they do not seem to have
slowed down. For instance, in June they were leading the Susquehannock Trail Rally in
Pennsylvania, but were sidelined by a blown motor.
Dan says that they are looking forward to a well-fought event in Rally New York U.S.A.
"There has always been a lot of competition in the U.S.," he notes, and points toward a
high-quality 50-plus-car field. In particular, he is expecting competition from the Irish
team of Tom Lawless/Jason Gillespie, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
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