Munising, Michigan -- To say the Sno*Drift ProRally, held this past weekend in northern lower Michigan, was challenging, would be a vast understatement. Treacherous, hair-raising, and next-to-impossible would describe the experience more concisely. Driver, Jerry Brownell and Co-Driver Jim Windsor of Team YO! Rallysport approached the race with optimism, expecting to be able to apply some of the winter driving skills learned in the 1980's while they were students at Michigan Tech University in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Most competitors agreed that the roads were the most difficult ever in the history of the event. Heavy snowfall in December coupled with mild temperatures in January made for glare ice over nearly the entire 106 stage miles of competition. The experience was more than the pair bargained for. "I'm humbled," said Brownell. "I've got a lot to learn about driving on ice. It's gratifying to have made it to the end, but through the whole experience I just wanted it to be over."

"At least we scored good points toward the overall Group 5 ClubRally and ProRally Championships," continued Brownell, "and the car came through relatively unscathed despite a 10 minute 'off' on stage 4 and a close encounter with fellow competitor, Scott Harvey Jr." The pair came together when Team YO! spun their car on an icy downhill midway through the event. Little time was lost and Team YO! went on to claim 4th in Group 5 in the ProRally and 4th and 3rd respectively in the Sno and Drift ClubRallys.

The Sno*Drift ProRally was the first of 10 National ProRally events on the 2001 schedule. This event took competitors through some of the most challenging back roads of Michigan's Montmorency County, east of Gaylord. The next event on the ProRally schedule is the 3-day Cherokee Trails ProRally to be held in the Cherokee National Forest near Chattanooga, Tennessee, March 15th-17th.

The SCCA ProRally series is a "stage" or "performance" rally series that stretches across the nation. It is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and televised on SPEEDVISION. This form of motorsport is experiencing incredible growth in the United States and is the 2nd most popular spectator sport in Europe. Competitors race flat out against the clock on a course of back roads closed to public use. The team is given a route book prior to the start, and the 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.

To find out more about SCCA ProRally, visit the SCCA website at www.sccaprorally.org. To see results of the Sno*Drift ProRally, visit www.sno-drift.org. To find out more about the Cherokee Trails ProRally, visit www.cherokeetrailsrally.com.
Visit the Team YO! Rallysport website at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/teamyo.

Information:
Team YO! Rallysport, 1567 Coit N.E. Grand Rapids, MI 49505
Phone 616-361-2516
E-Mail: brownell@benteler.com