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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2006 |
For more information, Contact: Kristopher Marciniak E-mail: webkris@yahoo.com Website: rallynotes.com |
Irvine, California -- This year the team kicks off a big season with a huge rally close to home. Living up to its name "The Rim of the World Rally" in Lancaster, California is one of the biggest and most well known rallies in the country. Covering over ninety stage miles, the freshly graded roads offer two days of high speed action. This includes an arena style super special stage where the team can show off their championship rallycross skills. With this event, the Rallynotes.com Team begin their quest for the United States Rally Championship!
The Dodge Rally Neon has received a number of upgrades since last season, the biggest being a full set of Bilstein Shock Absorbers. "What a difference! It’s a whole new car to drive. I always push what I have to the limit and I’m excited to test the Bilstein Shocks on water bars and jumps," said driver Kristopher Marciniak. Along with new suspension, several upgrades to the car’s performance were made. "There’s not a lot we can do with a production car according to the rules" but we’ve taken what we can do to the max," Kris said with a grin. This year the car will be riding on new Hankook Ventus rally tires which have just been introduced to the United States.
Setting a goal for the event, the team wants a strong showing. "I want to win. I want to push and have a lot of fun, but I also want to finish the rally and head up to Olympus unscathed. So, we’ll keep it real. If I’m comfortable with our pace and in the hunt, I’ll stay on it. If I start to stress things I’ll go into ‘finish the rally’ mode. Plus it’s my birthday weekend so I know I’ll have fun no matter what happens." said Kris. "I just want to have a good time and finish. Co-Driver Christine Wittish added, "Having driven up some of the stages as a volunteer last year I’m a little terrified, but hopefully the notes will keep my view away from the sudden drop-offs."
The volunteer crew will consist of people from various Dodge Neon car clubs and friends. "We have someone driving all the way down from Sacramento just to be here! We can’t thank them enough for their support," said Christine. The team only recently started to be active with the Southern California Neon America Club, and already the members are helping out the Rallynotes.com Team with various facets of racing a Dodge Neon rally car.
In a performance rally, each team consists of a driver and co-driver (or navigator) in each car, and the exact course is kept secret until just before the event. The cars then start at one-minute intervals and race at top speed against the clock over competition stages. For more information on what rally is all about, check out rimoftheworldrally.com
Kristopher is a computer technician and support analyst working for the Alteer Corporation in Irvine, CA. Christine is a molecular biology graduate student at the University of California, Irvine in the lab of Dr. Douglas Wallace.
We would like to thank the following for their support!