ABERDEEN, WA — Rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard is set to defend his lead in the Rally America national championship at the challenging Olympus Rally in Aberdeen, Washington this weekend (April 18-19).

“We’re looking forward to a strong performance at this technical event,” said Comrie-Picard. “These are the kinds of roads that really suit our team.”

The team took back-to-back podium finishes in their NOS Energy Mitsubishi during the first two events in the season and are now tied with Rockstar Energy’s Tanner Foust for the championship lead.

The rugged course this weekend promises to test competitors’ range of skills, with roads that transition between twisty and tree-lined, to fast and flowing – with daunting drop-offs always a possibility should drivers end up off-course. The rally will be based in the ocean-side community of Aberdeen, with day-long Service Parks in Taholah on Saturday, April 18, and South Bend on Sunday, April 19.

“The NOS Energy car is in terrific condition, and we found 30 horsepower more on the AMS Performance dyno last week with fairly simple mods,” said Comrie-Picard. “We’re looking forward to continuing our championship charge.”

With fairly cool weather and the possibility of rain, this event could be especially challenging, particularly for the leading teams who will claw tooth-and-nail for fractions of a second advantage over the two-day contest.

The event will see Robbie Durant return to the co-driver’s seat after his podium debut with the team in Missouri.

In addition to Foust, Comrie-Picard will also be looking to ward off a challenge by the factory Subaru Rally Team USA drivers – Red Bull’s Travis Pastrana and Monster Energy’s Ken Block -- who are tied for second place overall in the championship.

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.

Driver Comrie-Picard is also slated to begin running select events in the prestigious Formula D drifting series in the coming months.

“The two sports are awesome demonstrations of car control and I’m looking forward to this new kind of competition,” said Comrie-Picard. “It’s a different kind of driving, but there are a lot of complimentary skills and it’s an exciting challenge for the team.”

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