VANCOUVER, BC -- The ALS Rally Team successfully survived the Rally of the Ranchlands held in Cochrane, Alberta, Sunday March 24th.

It was a tough debut for the Subaru Justy. "The driving conditions were the most challenging I have ever encountered," reports Driver, Martin Wilson, "alternating between packed snow, wet snow, sheet ice, gravel, mud and sometimes a combination of all these elements. I was extremely relieved to be driving an all wheel drive car."

With temperatures at -15C at the start of the rally, the Justy coped admirably. This was the car’s first real test in rallying, and both Martin and Navigator, Dennis Wende, were very pleased with their result. "Our aim was to finish and pick up championship points in the P1 class" says Dennis, "we did this very respectably, coming in 8th overall, losing to 7th only by one second". Being the only P1 car in this rally, the team came top of its class, in spite of suffering a flat on the last stage and having to change the tire on route. "Dennis just picked up the back of the car and I whipped the wheel off in no time" joked Martin, "another advantage of a small car".

After months of work getting the car ready, it was gratifying for the team to note that the technical inspector commented in the rally log book that the car was "well prepared". The team will now concentrate on making some minor improvements to the car in preparation for the two national rallies in Alberta in May. Look out for an even trustier Justy at Big Horn and Rocky.

The ALS rally team is rallying to raise awareness and funds for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) Society of B.C. For more information see: www.rallyequipment.com/alsrally/ and www.alsbc.ca.