TORONTO, ON — Canada’s only all-girl rally team is in the lead of the national Production 3 championship after a class win at the Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs last weekend in New Richmond, Quebec.

“Baie is an awesome event,” said Horsey. “Great roads, enthusiastic spectators and the biggest jump in the series – we couldn’t have asked for more here.”

It was the second outing this season for driver Jen Horsey and co-driver Elise Racette in their new 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer rally car.

“Mitsubishi’s contingency program is what gets us to the starting line of every rally,” said Horsey. “We are grateful for their support.”

The challenging weekend saw the crew forced to battle rough roads on an ailing suspension on Day 2 – with the car seeing a distinct bounce on the famous Baie jump.

But with the help of the team’s crack service crew – and the assistance of many other competitors’ mechanics – the team was able to make adjustments to a spare shock and fit it in the car so the girls could complete the contest.

“It’s the beauty of the sport that we are supportive of each other,” said Racette. “We owe our top finish to so many people; at one point we had 12 mechanics working on a solution for the broken suspension – we only brought one!”

The team made an effort to return the favour later in the day when class competitor Aurélia Dalbera broke a shock in her P3 Ford Focus and needed some help getting back onto the road. The co-operation ensured Dalbera her first national finish.

“A big congratulations to Aurélia. Just getting to the end is no mean feat and we were happy to celebrate with her,” said Horsey.

In addition to top class honours, the team was awarded a prize for good sportsmanship.

Driver Horsey and co-driver Racette have been competing and working in a rally car racing environment for a number of years. As the only all-girl crew competing on the national stage, they can hold their own with the boys while being proud ambassadors of the girl-power aesthetic.

As rare women in motorsport, this team has come together in 2008 to promote a sense of empowerment for the girls and women out there who still don’t believe they can do it all. This team knows they can and strives to lead by example every time they pick up a wrench or belt themselves into the car.

The team is leading the P3 championship in both the national and the Ontario regional series. The crew competes as the sister car to the leading Team ACP Rally.

Horsey is next scheduled to compete at the New England Forest Rally on July 11-12 with guest co-driver Jim De Champ. She will also swap seats this August to co-drive for partner Andrew Comrie-Picard at X Games 14. Horsey and Racette will be back in the action together for the next round of the Canadian Rally Championship, the Rallye Defi Ste-Agathe on September 5-6.

Rally racing is one of the most challenging motor sports and competitors are widely considered the most skilled drivers in the world. Teams race against the clock on variable terrain in modified cars that closely resemble those that the average consumer can find at their local dealer. The sport requires intense teamwork between driver and co-driver and extreme skill behind the wheel.

THANKS TO: Service chief Jeff MacDonald, Mobil 1 (www.mobil.com), Mitsubishi Canada (www.mitsubishi-motors.ca), Clearwater Design (www.clearwaterdesignboats.com), Yokohama Canada (www.yokohama.ca), NBB (www.nbblights.ca), ACP Rally (www.acprally.com)

For more information: www.jenhorsey.com. To arrange interviews or find out more, contact Jen Horsey at +1 647-500-2729 or j-horsey(at)rogers(dot)com. Photo courtesy of Bill Lockwood.