SALEM, MO — Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and the ACP Rally team are looking to notch up another podium this weekend when they take on Rally America’s second round, the fast and flowing 100 Acre Wood Rally in south-central Missouri (Feb. 27-28). “This race is about putting your foot down and keeping it there,” said Comrie-Picard. “The course is high-speed and it’s a battle of the brave to the finish.”

After a strong start in the NOS Energy Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, the team is third in Rally America’s overall points standings and optimistic about this next round. Comrie-Picard finished on the podium at this event in 2007 and wound up a narrow fourth last year while nursing an ailing transmission during a fierce podium battle.

The early-spring event takes teams through a through Missouri’s scenic Ozark foothills. The course roads are consistently fast and flowing, but the big question mark is the weather. In previous years, conditions have run the gamut from balmy and sunny to below freezing, with pelting ice and snow. “Bring it on,” said Comrie-Picard. “We’ve got the car and the tires for whatever Mother Nature can throw at us.”

The team will be keeping a close eye on Subaru Rally Team USA’s Ken Block, who has chalked up three wins in three previous starts at this contest. “Ken’s the guy to beat, for sure,” said Comrie-Picard. “It’s time for somebody to end his winning streak and we’d like it to be us.”

ACP Rally is back in U.S. competition following a stop in Canada, where the NOS Energy Mitsubishi rally car was on display at a prestigious automotive exhibition, the Toronto Auto Show.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The sport is also featured in the annual X Games, the premier action sports event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money in sports including BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally. Comrie-Picard has been among the dozen invited drivers every year since the rally discipline was introduced to the contest, and he has already secured an early invitation to return in 2009.

The Rally America national championship includes nine events in a cross-continent season that extends from January to late October. Canadian Rally Championship has six events from coast to coast. ACP Rally will contest a busy season, with championship events on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, and the X Games.

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ABOUT THE DRIVER: Andrew Comrie-Picard is a contender for the top of the ranks in the American, Canadian, and North American rally championships and will return to compete in X Games this summer for the fourth time. When he isn’t racing, Comrie-Picard works in film, television, and print media as an automotive expert and divides his time between Toronto, Canada, and Los Angeles, California.

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ABOUT THE CO-DRIVER: Guest co-driver Robbie Durant is a dedicated competitor with recent experience in the top ranks of UK and U.S. rally racing. He discovered auto racing at age 12, driving ATVs and old cars on a farm. He began co-driving rally cars just a few years later, and hasn’t stopped since. A native of Oxford, United Kingdom, Durant has trained at the elite MSA (Motor Sport Association) British Rally Academy.

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The ACP Rally program is made possible by: NOS Energy (www.drinknos.com), K&N (www.knfilters.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), Motul (www.motulusa.com), AMS (www.amsperformance.com), Works (www.worksevo.com), Brian Crower (www.briancrower.com), JE (www.jepistons.com), Exedy (www.exedyusa.com), Öhlins (www.ohlinsusa.com), Pfitzner Performance Gearbox (www.ppgearbox.com.au), Mishimoto (www.mishimoto.com), Oakley (www.oakley.com), Innovate Motorsports (www.tuneyourengine.com), Team Dynamics (www.teamdynamicsracing.com), Endless (www.endlessusa.com), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), Sparco (www.sparcousa.com), NGK (www.ngksparkplugs.com), Piloti (www.piloti.com), and Skull Candy (www.skullcandy.com).

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For more information and video highlights, visit: www.acprally.com. To arrange interviews or find out more, contact team manger Jen Horsey at +1647-500-2729 or j-horsey(at)rogers(dot)com. Find us on YouTube or Facebook under ACP Rally.