DETROIT, MICHIGAN -- The Burmeister Rallysport/Mazda ProRally Team fared well in the twisty mountain roads of Tennessee this past weekend with the team of Eric Burmeister and Eric Adams taking 3rd in the Group 2 class.

The Cherokee Trails International Rally is the only rally in the US that provides for reconnaisance of the course and the use of team specific pace notes that help to describe the road to the driver. Though the team was relatively inexperienced with writing and using pace notes, they came to grips with it as the rally wore on.

The first few stages proved treacherous. The team chose the wrong tires for the wet clay slop that awaited them in the forests after an early morning storm. As the roads dried out, they were much more to the team's liking.

"The stages here are continuous hairpin turns, one right after the other," explained Burmeister. "I had a hard time seeing around my left window net on the long left handers."

The rally was a true event of attrition with only 39 of the entered 76 national competitors completing the event. "Our times certainly weren't on fire," admitted Burmeister. "We were a bit lacking in horsepower and braking ability for the mountain roads, but we made sure we were there in the end."

By the end, it was a race between local heroes Randy Bailey and Will Perry and the factory Mitsubishi team of Lauchlin O'Sullivan and Matt Chester for the lead. Bailey/Perry wound up taking the honors with Team Mitsubishi in second and the Mazda team in third.

This puts the Group 2 Manufacturer standings at Mazda: 32 points., Mitsubishi: 25 points. In the Group 2 Driver's and Co-driver's races, it puts Burmeister/Adams 1st at 36 points and O'Sullivan/Chester 2nd at 29 points.

The next rally on the SCCA ProRally calendar is the Oregon Trail ProRally in April. Watch for the SCCA ProRally series to be televised on SPEED Channel starting with the Sno*Drift ProRally in April.

The SCCA ProRally series is a "stage" or "performance" rally series that stretches across the nation. Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and televised on SPEED CHANNEL (formerly Speedvision), this form of motorsport is one of the fastest growing racing series 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.

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

Burmeister Rallysport can be reached at: (313)792-2397 or e-mail Eric Burmeister at: lurch3@prodigy.net

Mazda Competition Parts can be reached at: http://www.mazdamotorsports.com

Sachs Race Engineering can be reached at: http://www.sachs-ag.de/english/motorsports/index.htm

Eibach Springs can be reached at: http://www.eibach.com

KC HiLites/P-sport can be reached at: http://www.p-sport.com/

American Graffiti Graphics can be reached at: http://www.vinyl4all.com

Racecraft Engineering can be reached at ckracecraft@softhouse.com

Burmeister Engineering can be reached at apburm@sch-net.com

DJT Motorsports can be reached at dstocker@ameritech.net