Thousand Oaks, California -- Lauchlin O'Sullivan (San Francisco, CA), 1999's winningest U.S. rally driver, and John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA), PGT co-driver champion for the Southern Pacific Division, announced Saturday that they plan to race at the Sno*Drift ProRally January 28 and 29 in Atlanta, Michigan. Sno*Drift is the first SCCA National rally on the 2000 U.S. schedule. "We completed the paperwork at the [January 15] California Rally Series awards banquet, where Lauchlin was also crowned CRS champion for 1999," said Dillon.

While details of their effort remain sketchy until sponsorship is finalized, the two are optimistic about their chances. "With the exception of moderate snow in Laughlin, Nevada, neither of us have raced in severe winter conditions," commented the driver. Added Dillon, "Though this will primarily be a shakedown run for our new team, we nonetheless have set our goals to the highest mark--why strive for anything less than absolute victory?"

With the rally less than two weeks away, you can be sure there's a lot of last minute preparation going on. "Even though we're still putting a full package together, we've proven before we can respond quickly to opportunities," claimed O'Sullivan. Last year the team did not secure a deal until five days before the Ojibwe Forest ProRally in Minnesota, yet the pair proved their competitiveness with a second place PGT finish. Lauchlin had not even driven that car, a Mazda 323 GTX from the Tabor Rally Group's stable, until the day before the race when he drove it around the block a couple of times. For the record, this was also the first time O'Sullivan and Dillon had ever raced together.

"I'm excited to be racing with Lauchlin this season," declared Dillon. "He's one incredibly fast driver who, if given the right mount, can dominate the 2000 series." O'Sullivan won more U.S. rallies than any other driver in 1999, despite racing in a 15-year old Audi. "I feel privileged to be calling the route book to Lauchlin in the coming year," added the navigator.

The teaming of O'Sullivan and Dillon also represents the teaming of Wagen Werks Racing and the Widget Rally Team. Wagen Werks is reknowned in the American northwest for building reliable rally cars and for exhibiting an incredible "can-do" attitude when service is required. Wagen Werks will address all the mechanical issues, vehicle preparation, and support requirements for the group, while the Widget Rally Team will act as the group's media liason and public relations arm, as well as handling the background paperwork necessary to field the entry. Widget also brings sponsors Shults Dot Com (Internet services) and Porterfield Enterprises (brakes) to their rally effort.

You can follow the team's exploits by watching http://www.WidgetRacing.com.

Keep your eyes on these guys--you're watching champions in the making!