Munising, Michigan --Team Yo! Rallysport will return next week to where it all started for them, the Houghton, MI based Ottawa and Keweenaw Challenge ClubRallys, run in conjunction with the Lake Superior ProRally. Team driver Jerry Brownell and co-driver Jim Windsor both attended Michigan Tech University, which is located in Houghton, in the 1980's and worked several Press On Regardless ProRallys as both marshals and later as reporters while working for a local radio station.

"This race is what got us started in the sport," says Brownell. "It's great to be coming back. We are familiar with some of the roads and know what to expect here. When we graduated, we made plans to start rallying after we established our lives. It took us 11 years, but here we are. It's even more gratifying to be coming here in a position to compete for second place in our class in the Central Division." The team currently sits in third place in Group 5. A second place finish would earn them a berth in the ClubRally National Championship to be held in Paris, TX in January.

"It's sort of like a homecoming for us," says Windsor. "This seems more real to me than any of the other events, because this is where it started for us so many years ago. Pro Rally and the Keweenaw are synonymous in my mind. And if Jerry didn't stumble onto the LSPR last year, we would probably still be sitting on the sidelines."

The Team YO! car is no stranger to these roads, either. The team, sponsored by Benteler Automotive Corporation, races a modified 1983 Chevy Citation X-11 (dubbed Oskar), one of the most unique cars on the ClubRally circuit. Brownell and Windsor first saw the car in its inaugural event, the snowy 1988 Press On Regardless when it was driven by former owner Gail Truess. "Oskar loves Mandan," says Truess. "While others are picking their way through the rocks, Oskar can just hammer through the stage." Indeed, Team YO! has had great success on rough stages this year, beating many powerful all-wheel-drive cars on Ojibwe's "Ranch" stages and Magnum Opus' "Airport" stages.

The Lake Superior ProRally (and associated Keweenaw and Ottawa Challenge ClubRallys) is known as the "oldest, meanest, toughest" rally on the schedule. The roads vary from rocky to sandy, twisty to straight, and include one tarmac hill-climbing stage. But what challenges the competitors the most can be the unpredictable weather. Past rallies have been known to be unexpectedly snowy, sometimes dropping over a foot of snow during the Friday night stages in the Ottawa National Forest. Bitter winds off of Lake Superior also challenge competitors and workers alike.

The LSPR ProRally and ClubRallys are the final events for the 2000 season. The 2001 season begins with the Sno*Drift ProRally to be held in Atlanta, MI, in January, 2001.

To find out more about ProRally/ClubRally, visit the SCCA website at www.sccaprorally.org.
To find out more about Ottawa and Keweenaw Challenge ClubRallys and Lake Superior ProRally, visit http://up-plaza.com/lspr/.

To find out more about Benteler Automotive Corporation, visit http://www.benteler.de/engl/index.htm.

Visit the Team YO! Rallysport website at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/webpages/teamyo.

Information:
Team Yo! Rallysport
1567 Coit N.E.
Grand Rapids, MI 49505
Phone 616-361-2516
E-mail: brownell@benteler.com