Waterloo, Ontario -- Black cats, broken mirrors and the number 13, all things associated with bad luck. Well, when the Two AM Rallysport VW Golf was assigned #13 for this past Saturday's Swift Rapids Rally, it proved unlucky indeed.

Trouble came only 2 km into the first stage of Saturday's rally. A hairline crack in a suspension control arm that had gone unnoticed in the pre race inspection caused the control arm to collapse. This caused the handling of the car to be seriously affected. Driver Andrew Miller and co-driver Martyn Appleford however, did manage to finish the stage in less time than seven other cars out of the 24 car field.

But the bad luck didn't end there. "We decided to limp it out and see if it could be quickly fixed at service," said Miller, "but it wasn't going to happen." Just 1 km back out the stage, the drive shaft failed due to the stress the collapsed control arm had put on it.

Still More. When the team finally caught a ride out to the service area after the Rally finished up, their service vehicle wasn't there. Two AM Rallysport service chief Paul Moisse had confused the route taken by spectators with the service route and had parked the truck in the wrong place.

Once the truck was found (12 km from where it should have been) the team had to head off down the stage to retrieve the disabled car. The bumps and bangs took their toll on the teams trailer. A fender on the trailer dislodged itself after about 2 Km (in the same area the rally car had begun to break) and had to be removed.

The last chapter in the story came the following morning when Andrew awoke to find the service truck in the driveway with a flat tire. "I never used to be superstitious, but I'm giving it some second thoughts," was all Miller had to say about the affair.

The Ontario Performance Rally Championship, which consists of 6 events run from February to November, is about the most challenging racing series in Ontario. Teams compete in timed runs over narrow twisty closed roads at high speeds. Two AM Rallysport competes in the Production Sport class with help from its sponsors AM Innovations Inc., Volkswagen Waterloo, Dave's Tire Discounter, and Pennzoil 10 Minute Oil Change Center.

Information:
Two AM Rallysport
A-18 550 Parkside Drive
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 5Z4
Phone: 519-883-8288
Fax: 519-883-0356
E-Mail: twoam@aminnovations.on.ca

Swift Rapids Rally
www.mlrc.on.ca/mlrc

Ontario Performance Rally Championship
www.rallysport.on.ca