WELLSBORO, PA — Rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard overcame a series of big challenges at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally last weekend to move into second place in the Rally America points race.

“It was a tough weekend for us,” said Comrie-Picard. “But every point counts in this championship and we’re in it for the season.”

Comrie-Picard and Irish co-driver Marshall Clarke fought back from 31st after a rollover crash to finish the race in 13th overall. The result gave them the handful of points they needed to climb up one rung in the tight championship race.

“Marshall and I were actually able to roll the car back onto its wheels and keep going,” said Comrie-Picard. “It was a soft rollover and with a new windshield, the car was back to 100 per cent – but we lost a lot of time.”

Comrie-Picard is in second-place overall after five rounds in the Rally America championship, behind Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana and ahead of Rockstar Energy’s Tanner Foust.

The Susquehannock Trail event has long been known as one of the most demanding events on the U.S. calendar. The 2009 running of the contest featured a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.

“The spectator stages at the fairgrounds in Wellsboro were huge this year,” said Comrie-Picard. “It was great for us to see so many fans out there.”

The contest is renowned as one of the toughest on the Rally America calendar and the team was not alone in having problems. Factory-backed Travis Pastrana lost a minute on the first day to a suspension failure, Polish ace Andi Mancin battled braking issues and the Swedish World Rally team of Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out with a blown engine on the first day.

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. 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.

The next U.S. event for the team will be the X Games in Los Angeles.

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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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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), Seibon Carbon (www.seiboncarbon.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.