DEARBORN HEIGHTS, MI -- Burmeister Engineering Rallysport announced today that they will be partnering with Nokian Tyres for the first round of the 2000 SCCA ProRally series, the Sno*Drift ProRally in Atlanta, Michigan. The Sno*Drift has proven over the years to be a rally that can be won or lost by tire choice. The road surfaces are usually glare ice on gravel with an occasional slush and mud stage. The rally is scheduled to run January 28-29, 2000.

"Nokian Hakkapelita tires have always been a necessity on our street cars in the winter," claimed Eric Burmeister, driver of the #42 Volkswagen GTI. "When the new Hakka Q came out, we naturally wanted to try them on the ice. The traction is amazing."

Nokian Tyres is based in Finland where snow and ice performance is a must. The company is well known in rally and ice racing circles here in the United States as providing premier passenger car and light truck tires.

The SCCA ProRally series is a "stage" or "perfomance" rally series that stretches across the nation. Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and televised on SPEEDVISION, this form of motorsport is growing by leaps and bounds in the United States. Competitors race flat out against the clock for hundreds of miles on a course of backroads closed to public usage. A co-driver or navigator tells the driver where every jump, dangerous turn or other obstacle is to the hundredth of a mile. There is no practice and the pair has not even seen the road prior to competition.

Burmeister Engineering Rallysport is a two-car team of Volkswagen GTI's owned by Art and Eric Burmeister. Based in Michigan, the father/son team, along with co-drivers Randy Moore and Mark Buskirk, plan to attack the 2000 rally season with great improvements to their cars from 1999. Eric and Mark placed third in the 1999 Group 2 championship and hope to do even better in the new year.

For information on the SCCA ProRally series, check: http://www.sccaprorally.org

For information on the Sno*Drift ProRally, check: http://www.sno-drift.org

For information on Nokian Tyres, go to: http://www.nokiantyres.com