DETROIT, MI -- The back roads of northern Michigan are covered in ice and the temperatures are staying well below freezing. What great conditions for an automobile race!

The Burmeister Rallysport team of Eric Burmeister and Mark Buskirk are well prepared for the 2001 running of the Sno*Drift ProRally this weekend in Atlanta, Michigan. The rally is the opening round of the SCCA ProRally Championship that spans across the United States and tests drivers and co-drivers in all road conditions and many different climates.

The team are again campaigning for the Group 2 championship, a class for 2 wheel drive cars under 2.4 liters displacement.

"Last year really gutted us," said Burmeister. The 6'4" driver affectionately referred to as "Lurch" by friends and some racers explains, "I've matured a bit, now. Last year we worked our way up to 10th overall with a ten minute lead on the nearest Group 2 competitors... Then I threw it all away because I couldn't pace myself." The team continued on three wheels for several miles before reality set in that the damage sustained would spell the end of their rally. The pair are prepared for a different approach to the rally after two years of poor luck.

Again for 2001, Nokian Tyres will provide the tire of choice for the Burmeister team. Quaife America is also on board this year along with Sachs Race Engineering.

"Atlanta (Michigan) is special to me," Burmeister exclaimed. "I grew up on the gravel roads just south of there and used to ride dirt bikes all over that area. I have a fair knowledge of the road characteristics...but everything's different in winter."

The SCCA ProRally series is a "stage" or "perfomance" rally series that stretches across the nation. Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and televised on SPEEDVISION, this form of motorsport is growing by leaps and bounds in the United States. Competitors race flat out against the clock for hundreds of miles on a course of backroads closed to public usage. A co-driver or navigator tells the driver where every jump, dangerous turn or other obstacle is to the hundredth of a mile. There is no practice and the pair has not even seen the road prior to competition.

Burmeister Rallysport can be reached at: (313)792-2397 or e-mail Eric Burmeister at: lurch3@prodigy.net

For information on Nokian Tyres, go to: http://www.nokiantyres.com

For information on the SCCA ProRally series, check:http://www.sccaprorally.org

For information on the Sno*Drift ProRally, check: http://www.sno-drift.org