Middle Village, New York -- Team Artex Motorsport began the 2000 rally season with a disappointing Susquehannock Trail ProRally in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. In his first rally after recuperating from knee surgery, Driver Arthur Wojcik was showing one of his strongest starts on the notoriously fast roads of STPR. However, only 6 miles into the first stage, the transfer case of the Mitsubishi Galant GSX Turbo rally car failed, stranding the team for the remainder of the rally. Driver Arthur Wojcik lamented, "That was only our second DNF in almost 14 events. I'm disappointed, the transfer case just gave up on us 6.5 miles into the first stage with no warning." Co-driver Chuck Cox was heard to say, "STPR was like a bad date, hours of preparation for a few minutes of fun."

The transfer case wasn't the only challenge that weekend. On the way to the event, the water pump in the service van failed, resulting in a coolant leak. Fortunately, Arthur was able to concoct Artex Antifreeze from Windex, Rain-X, Snapple, Saranac pale ale and river water. Prior to scrutineering, Arthur discovered a problem with the Galant's rear differential that required immediate repair. Of course, the van's water pump still had to be replaced before the rally started. Finally, on the way back to NYC after the rally, one of the trailer tires blew. Co-driver Chuck Cox had his travails too. His private jet had mechanical problems and he was forced to charter a smaller jet to the rally. This forced him to leave behind his massage therapist and half of the Chimay ale.

Team Artex Motorsports' next rally will be the Maine Forest Rally in Rumford, Maine on July 28-29 (www.rallyracingnews.com/maine). Artex Motorsport is holding a photo contest, see the team website (artex.cjb.net) for details.

Upcoming events:

 Date                       Event                           Location
 July 28-29                 Maine Forest Rally              Rumford, ME
 Aug 19                     Bradford Summer Rally           Bradford, PA
 Sept 23                    Black River Stages              Harrisville, NY
 Sept 29-Oct 1              Rally of the Voyageurs          Parry Sound, ON
 Oct 21-22                  Lake Superior ProRally          Houghton, MI
 Oct 27-29                  Rallye Auto Charlevoix          Pte-au-Pic, QC
 Nov 24-25                  Rally of the Tall Pines         Bancroft, ON

Team Artex Motorsport is a professional performance rally team and are the 1999 NEDiv Open-class champions. They rally an Open Class Mitsubishi Galant GSX Turbo in SCCA and CARS events in the Eastern United States and Canada. Driver Arthur Wojcik lives in Middle Village, NY, where he works for a major telecommunications company. Co-driver Chuck Cox lives in Cambridge, MA, where he is a computer engineer and a part-time Harvard student. Team Artex Motorsport is sponsored by The DSM Shop, an Internet parts supplier; MOTUL, an innovative French high-tech lubrication company located outside of Paris; Artex Motorsport, a rally car preparation shop located in New York City; and SynchroSystems, a motorsport computer developer located in Cambridge, MA.