Prescott, Arizona -- Lauchlin O'Sullivan (San Francisco) and John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA) won the Production GT (PGT) class at the Prescott Forest Rally the weekend of October 6th. The duo, recently named "Rallyists of the Year" for the San Diego Region, finished seventh overall despite campaigning a stock Mitusubishi Eclipse. (In PGT, only safety equipment and minor suspension improvements are allowed, meaning the Eclipse is much heavier than most other rally cars.) The two day long event included over two hours of racing through the incredibly rough terrain of the desert southwest.

Prescott marked the newly independent Widget Rally Team's first victory and was especially gratifying for the group. The result vaulted Dillon into second place in the National championship, while O'Sullivan moved up to third. O'Sullivan and Dillon posted a dominate win at the Cherokee Trails Rally last March while partnered with M&M Motorsports, but since then the team has struggled with electrical and transmission problems, as well as an engine failure in a rented car in Pennsylvania.

"Despite some setbacks earlier in the year, we've remained optimistic for success," noted co-driver Dillon. "This win vindicates our positive attitude and reinforces the strength of our team." This was only the second outing in the Widget Mitsubishi. They recently purchased the car from Paul Dubinsky's FLX Racing Team after M&M closed up shop. "We had some teething problems in Washington," noted driver O'Sullivan, "but now that our crew chief Tom Laeng has had a chance to go through the car, we were able to prove the strength of the Mitsubishi on the incredibly punishing stages near Prescott. The crew worked on durability rather than speed for this event, but will be improving the performance in time for the Laughlin Rally in December."

One reason the Eclipse did so well was because of their Porterfield brakes, allowing O'Sullivan to get on the binders later and carry more speed into the corners. Berdoo Transmissions was a big help too--they replaced the entire unit after the tranny was punctured at the Wild West Rally in September. "We're pleased that our sponsors stayed on board with us when the Widget Rally Team went independent," noted Laeng. "Fleet Glass, Clutch Masters, Budget Auto Works, Shults Dot Com and all the others have been a great business partners and have really helped to keep the car on the road."

With the national season winding down, the Widget Rally Team is making plans for 2002 and seeking additional business partners to move into a faster class of car. Meanwhile, the team plans to defend their PGT victory in December at the Ramada Express International Rally, hosted in Laughlin, Nevada. You can watch the Prescott Forest Rally on the Speedvision cable network on October 29th. (Check your local listings.) Stay tuned, and keep on watching the Widget Rally Team.