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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 11, 2007 |
For more information, Contact: John Cassidy Last Ditch Racing E-mail: John@lastditchracing.net Website: www.lastditchracing.net |
Bangor, Maine, USA -- Last Ditch Racing, Maine's top Open Class rally team has brought home the 2007 Rally America Eastern Championship in their Subaru Impreza WRX STi!
Strong performances at the New England Forest Rally and the recent Rally of the Tall Pines in Ontario saw the team push to a late-season victory. LDR's John Cassidy took top Open Class Driver over Irish hotshoe Patrick Brennan, with Dave Getchell taking the top Open Class Co-Driver spot over Brennan's navvie Noel Gallagher.
Cassidy and Getchell are ecstatic. Said Cassidy, "Dave and I are very excited and proud that we've been able to bring this Championship home to Maine! We drove a strong race at the New England Forest Rally, despite exhaust and power issues and followed that up with a measured drive at the snowy and icy Rally of the Tall Pines. We had a very difficult 2006 season, with many development issues with the new car. It was a situation we weren't used to being in, and frankly I'm glad we're on the other side and picking up speed!"
Getchell said, "This season took a whole lot of wrenching on the car, many long tows, and hours of hurtling through the woods trying not to hit things, but in the end it all worked out. One advantage we were able to capitalize on was our experience at recce (scouting the stages beforehand) which we developed over several seasons racing in the Canadian National Series. Recce is an important skill-set for this sport, and we hope that Rally America continues to offer recce at both national and regional events going forward."
Last Ditch Racing is planning to cap their championship season with a visit to the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri in February. "All the top regional teams from across the country are invited to 100 Acre Wood for an annual Regional National Championship showdown, and we're ready to go!" said Cassidy.
The team would like to thank their fantastic crew for such an amazing season. "We are a team racing at the highest level on a shoestring, and we couldn't do it without the support of our families, sponsors, friends and most of all our crew!" Crew for 2007 included; Bronson Crothers, Duncan Matlack, Rob Sockalexis, Nate Sockalexis, Tim Chevalier, Alan Moody, Zach Gerry, Steph Jazlowiecki and Mike Rademacher.
The Last Ditch Racing team would like to congratulate fellow Mainer Chris Duplessis, who took the Overall driver spot in the R-A Eastern championship and also won the Group 2 National Championship. "Our hats are off to Chris and co-driver Martin Headland for an awesome season."
2008 will see the team tackling the Team O'Neil rally in Dalton, New Hampshire in January prior to 100 Acre Wood. "Although we ended our race after a brief encounter with a tree at last year's event, we're looking forward to some more snow and ice experience on some great roads!" The remainder of the season will see the team contesting both US and Canadian events as support allows.
Last Ditch Racing would like to thank their 2007 team partners:
They'd also like to express gratitude from the support and technical expertise of: Iain and Nam at www.planetmotorsport.com
Dave and Gen at Rallispec, www.rallispec.com/
For more information about Last Ditch Racing, please visit: www.lastditchracing.com
To Purchase Last Ditch Racing gear, please visit, www.cafepress.com/lastditchracing