SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA -- Engine failure led to the retirement of the Nordic Motors in Motion Mistubishi Lancer Evolution IV after only a few stages at the Sports Car Club of America's Oregon Trail ProRally. Though the car had a major overhaul during the off season, problems started on the first competitive stage. Driver Carl Jardevall (of Half Moon Bay, California) and co-driver Amity Trowbridge (of Seattle, Washington) were left stranded alongside the road after a cascade of mechanical problems.

"About halfway through the first stage the turbo started to go bad," said Jardevall. "We were still twelfth fastest on that stage, but gave up quite a bit of time. On the next stage the car ran so badly that we were very slow; it was all we could do to get to the finish. We were able to make repairs in service, thanks in part to a spare turbocharger that Leon Styles loaned to us, but the damage was apparently already done. On the third stage the car was running pretty well when all of a sudden there were flames coming out from under the hood. We quickly stopped and were able to put the fire out with our on board extinguishers, but we were done for the weekend."

The Oregon Trail rally was the first event this season for the Nordic Motors in Motion team. Jardevall and crew spent the off season going through much of the car, rebuilding the engine, installing a new transmission, and performing many other upgrades to make the car more competitive with the latest rally machinery. Jardevall intends to have repairs made in time to enter the Wild West ProRally in Washington in September.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV is a 1997 model. The Evo is based on Mitsubishi's compact Lancer four-door sedan, but with all-wheel drive and a turbocharged engine. Finland's Tommi Mäkinen drove variants of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo to over 20 victories and to four consecutive World Rally Championships from 1996 through 1999.

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 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.