SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA -- Carl Jardevall returns to the Sports Car Club of America's (SCCA) ProRally circuit this weekend for the Oregon Trail ProRally with an aim toward a top five finish. That's just what Jardevall (of Half Moon Bay, California) and co-driver Amity Trowbridge (of Seattle, Washington) did last year at Oregon Trail when they finished fourth overall in the Jardevall's ProRally debut in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV. Jardevall was the highest placing driver/owner at the 2002 Oregon Trail, behind winner David Higgins in a well-financed AV Sport Subaru and factory teams from Mitsubishi and Hyundai.

"Our car has been completely gone over since last season," said Jardevall. "The engine has been rebuilt and it has a new transmission and transfer case, the Proflex front shocks have been rebuilt, and we have added several modifications to improve reliability and comfort. The car also has a new paint job, so we expect that will make it faster as well." Jardevall and his crew upgraded the brakes and cooling system last season, so the Mitsubishi is much stronger than it was at last year's Oregon Trail. Since the expertise of the Nordic Motors crew is in Swedish cars, they have turned to TAD Motorsports of Illinois for technical assistance. TAD Motorsports maintains several Mitsubishi Lancer Evos for independent rally teams. Technical and parts assistance has also been provided by San Rafael Mitsubishi in San Rafael, California.

This is Jardevall's second season in the Mitsubishi after many years of rallying a Volvo 740 Turbo. He often finished in the top five aboard that car, but with more all-wheel drive turbocharged cars being entered in ProRallys, he felt it was time to join them because it was going to be harder to beat them. Oregon Trail was the only ProRally finish for the Nordic Motors Mitsubishi last season, but he had two ClubRally victories overall, and was running in the top five when mechanical failure brought the car to a stop near the end at last September's Wild West ProRally in Washington.

"Even though I now live in California, I feel like the rallies in the Northwest are my home events" said Jaredvall, a native of Sweden. "The roads are great and they suit my driving style. With all-wheel drive and more horsepower I am able to drive much faster, so I have been able to remain competitive with the teams that are pouring a lot of money into their cars. I don't have any major sponsorship; our rally budget is dependent on the business at Nordic Motors, our Saab and Volvo repair facility."

However, Jardevall understands that it will not be an easy run for the Nordic Motors in Motion team. "The factory teams and sponsored independents do have a bit of an advantage as they have run all of the ProRallys this year," he said. "Oregon Trail will be my first rally since last September. Driving every few weeks will be in their favor, but I hope that my experience with the rally roads in Oregon will give me a bit of an edge."

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV was a considerable step up in horsepower and traction from the Volvo that Jardevall used to rally. Over the past four seasons many teams in the SCCA ProRally Championship have switched to cars built to compete in the World Rally Championship such as the Mitsubishi Evo or the Subaru WRX.

rally.nordicmotors.com:
Nordic Motors in Motion has a dedicated web site to promote the team's rally efforts. Located at rally.nordicmotors.com, the new site features many photos of the team's rally cars in action, going back to Jardevall's early rally exploits in Sweden driving a series of Saab 96s. The web site was designed and is maintained by the Wink Timber Media Agency, a public relations concern specializing in promotion of motorsports teams. (www.WinkTimber.com)

The team
Nordic Motors is an independent Volvo and Saab repair facility, owned by Carl Jardevall and located in San Carlos, California. Co-driver Amity Trowbridge lives in Seattle, Washington, and is an engineer for the State of Washington Department of Transportation.