NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- The Eurosport Manhattan Rally Team is finalizing the preparation of their 3 cars for competition in the prestigious 2001 Maine Forest Rally. The Maine Forest Rally takes place on July 27th and 28th over the scenic but demanding roads near the Rumford, Maine area. The event is sanctioned by the SCCA and will count as round 6 of the National Rally Championship, North American Rally Cup, and Northeast Divisional Club Rally Championships. With an expected entry of 120 teams, the 2001 Maine Forest rally promises to be the largest and most competitive event in North American Rallying history. In keeping with it's reputation as one of the most popular North American Rallies, the 2001 edition has already attracted the best teams from every corner of the US and Canada, along with several European crews.

Team leader Sakis Hadjiminas will be stepping down from his usual driving duties to co-ordinate what will be the first appearance of all three junior team drivers on the same event.

Andrew Hadjiminas will be at the wheel of the Open Class Subaru Impreza Turbo with hopes of further advancing his gravel driving experience. Andrew will be co-driven by Luis Figueiredo. Fresh from their last outing at the Sand Hills/Sand Blast Club Rallies where technical difficulties hampered their progress, they are looking forward to a clean run and are hoping to mix it up with the regular North East top runners. New developments in the car including a long awaited engine management system, turbocharger and complete new suspension should finally give the fast but fragile Subaru the reliability it has lacked over the last few months.

Newcomer Tony Birbilis will continue his learning process at the wheel of his usual Group N Ford Escort RS Cosworth. This time he will be co-driven by the latest addition to the Eurosport Manhattan Rally team, Mario Sokratous. Mario is no stranger to rallying, in his native Cyprus Mario was a regular on the local world caliber scene both as a driver and co-driver. His vast experience will not only be an asset to Tony, but also to the team. Also fresh from the Sand Hills/Sand Blast Club Rallies, where Tony contested his first ever Gravel rally with excellent results, he will be looking to once again take in as much information as possible to further enhance his driving ability. Tony's cautious approach to rallying has paid off so far. His first two outings ever in a rally car have given him enough points to hold the 7th open class position in the SCCA North East championship standings out of a total of 17 drivers.

The third car fielded will be the Open Class Volkswagen Fox V6 driven by Jose M. Vicente. The last time Jose was at the controls of the four wheel drive Eurosport Manhattan built machine was on the 2000 Rally of the Tall Pines. He and co-driver Peter Watt working together for the first time managed an excellent 1st place finish on both the National and Regional novice classes. Complementing the class wins where an 11th overall finish at the top National level, and a 4th overall finish at the regional, on what was Jose's first ever winter rally. One of the biggest reasons for such result was having the experience of Canadian co-driver Peter Watt. Peter will once again be handling co-driving duties in the Maine Forests. The main goal for this rally will be to finish and collect as many championship and seeding points as possible. Despite giving away some 100 horsepower to the average Open Class machinery, Jose hopes to be able to set some good National stage times and challenge for a top Club Rally position on his first 2001 challenge.

Eurosport Manhattan Rallying would like to thank all of its sponsors for their tremendous help during the 2001 season. This season we are supported by Corona Extra, Per Annum, Inc., KOLO Photo Albums, and MBF Risk Management.

For more information please visit our website:
www.eurosportrally.com

Or the official 2001 Maine Forest Rally website:
www.maineforestrally.com