Monticello, NY -- Tom Lawless and Jason Gillespie, two Irishmen from New York State (Yonkers and Queens, New York City, respectively) were the clear winners in International Rally New York. After two days of competition in the Catskill Mountains, their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo was nearly three minutes ahead of the field. It was the first home-state victory for the team, who won the Cherokee Trails Rally in Tennessee back in March. Lawless complained of poor brakes early in the rally, but after attention to the hydraulics by the team’s mechanics, stopping power was at least adequate to hold off any challengers.

Seamus Burke (of Georgia) and Brian Sharkey (Clogherhead, Ireland), also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, placed second and captured the event-within-the-rally for the Eastern States Rally Championship (ESRC). A broken exhaust early in the rally cost some horsepower, but the car (and crew) ran reliably throughout.

A smooth, consistent run also came from Peter Workum (Phoenix, Arizona) and Chrissie Beavis (San Diego, California) in a Subaru Impreza WRX. This was the third rally for this duo and, according to Beavis, their performance, and the car’s, improved throughout the rally.

New Yorkers Daniel O’Brien/Stephen Duffy, in a Subaru Impreza WRX, placed fourth, ahead of the similar cars of Emilio Arce/Craig Thrall and Joan Hoskinson/Jeff Secor.

One of the fastest drives in the first leg of the rally came from Otis Dimiters, teamed with Alan Ockwell in a Subaru Impreza WRX. They took the lead on the third special stage (racing section), and held it until they slid off the road on special stage 6, and lost five minutes getting back on. They worked their way back up into the top ten, only to go off for good on the afternoon of the second day.

The rally started and ended in the town of Monticello, with competitive sections on the twisty dirt and paved roads of the Catskills. It was favored with sunshine and mild temperatures - perfect motorsports weather.

International Rally New York is a round of the United States Rally Championship (USRC) which is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC) and presented by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). All events in the USRC are listed as international rallies by the Federation International of the Automobile (FIA), the international governing body for motorsports. International Rally New York is also a round of the Eastern States Rally Championship (ESRC) which is sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport. The event will be broadcast on the Speed Channel cable television network as part of the "Motorsport Mundial" program. It will also be made available for webcast at www.revs.tv.