Indianapolis, Indiana -- Mike Hurst (driver) and Rob Bohn (co-driver) put their Group 5 Pontiac Sunbird GT Turbo on top this weekend in the SCCA Sno and Drift ClubRallies, which ran in conjunction with the Sno*Drift ProRally, where they finished second, thirteenth overall.

Competitors were treated to what some said were the scariest conditions ever at the annual event, held in Atlanta, Michigan. Locals lamented that freezing rain fell the previous week, which formed the road base, inches of glaring ice, which was enhanced the night before the rally by a dusting of snow and freezing temperatures. "When you brushed off the snow, the road looked like a skating rink," said Mike. "Driving on it was like trying to steer a hockey puck. Once the first few cars ran the stage, the snow was gone and all you had left was ice. You really had to be conservative to make it to the end."

The wins didn't come easy for the team. Near the end of Stage 1, the torque converter clutch solenoid stuck in high gear. They had to make a quick stop to bypass it before continuing on, still posting the fastest two-wheel-drive time. The intercom also failed, making communication between the racers an added challenge.

Mike and Rob ran Stage 2 a little more cautious than in the past. "We went off three times in three years on that stage, so I had to get through it this time," laments Mike.

Stage 3 posed itself as the new nemesis for the team. While trying to make a left-hander at the end of a long, fast straight, Mike had trouble getting the car turned enough and stuck the Sunbird in a snowbank. Eventual ProRally Group 5 winners, Ohtake/Martin, stopped to pull them out, but valuable time, and the lead, was lost.

While charging back, on Stage 4, they missed another potential "Off" when the Sunbird hit a snowbank at high-speed, spun 360 degrees, and landed in the proper direction. They continued without serious damage.

The rest of the rally was simply a matter of playing catch-up with Ohtake/Martin. They swapped fastest times on various stages. "We couldn't make up the time we spent in the snowbank. I'm just happy we were able to finish and load the car on the trailer in one piece," Mike states. "We may have missed the set-up on the car for these conditions. We were set a little stiffer than last year, where we had an oversteer problem. It may have been too much of a change. The way we had it set last year, may have been ideal for these conditions."

A frightening moment for the team came in the dark hours, late in the event, when their headlights went out. "I've heard other teams talk about it happening to them, but this was a first for us. It was a little scary," Mike said. An earlier impact loosened a connection, which was repaired and didn't pose additional problems for the team.

"It was great to be able to run stage times with some of the all-wheel-drive cars. At standing starts, with two-wheel-drive, we lose so much time just getting up to speed in these conditions," said Mike. "We're obviously disappointed to not win the ProRally, but it was great to salvage the weekend with the ClubRally wins."

The Rev2/TuneTech Rally Team will now concentrate on completing the development of their Group 5 Mustang to challenge the remainder of the 2001 season. Their next stop is the International Cherokee Trails Rally in Chattanooga, TN, March 15-17, 2001.

The 2001 Sno*Drift ProRally will be televised on Speedvision in coming weeks. Check your local listing or www.speedvision.com for more information.

Series Background:
SCCA Performance Rally (ProRally and ClubRally) is a flat-out race over closed sections of rural roads by modified production automobiles. Competitors race one car at a time against the clock, usually at one-minute intervals. Flat-out racing is done on limited access roads, blocked off from "civilian" traffic, rather than on prepared tracks. Events are usually several hundred miles long, often lasting for several days. Each car has a driver and a co-driver (or navigator). In-between the racing stages, the cars travel over public roads and are required to obey all traffic laws. When ClubRally events are run in conjunction with a ProRally event, results are made up of an accumulation of specific stage results. The Group 5 class is an "Open class" made up of two-wheel drive, turbo, or supercharged vehicles, with a limited adjusted engine displacement of 5100cc.

Complete results are available at www.sno-drift.org.

Contact, Mike Hurst, TuneTech, 317.549.0361, hurst@indy.net.
Contact, Jason Baugh, Baugh Communications, 317.319.0680,
baughcomm@mindspring.com.

TuneTech Motorsports website: www.racertrader.com/tunetech (under construction).
Rev2/TuneTech Sponsors:
Rev2: www.rev2.com
TCOB Specialty Fixtures: www.choicemall.com/tcobdisplays
RacerTrader.com: www.racertrader.com