Press Release

Contact: John Morris
416-963-3222
Jud Buchanan
905-873-7163
Date: June 7, 2004


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Six Teams Jostle for the Canadian Rally Championship
Canadian Rally Championship Update

Ontario - With two rounds of the 2004 Canadian Rally Championship complete, Patrick Richard of Whistler, BC driving for the Subaru Rally Team Canada in a Subaru WRX STi, has a hammerlock on the series but is not guaranteed the crown just yet. Two former champions and three up-an comers could yet accumulate enough points to take the title. Competitors count their best four finishes and there are still four events to go!

Unofficial rankings after two events show Richard with 40 points, Frank Sprongl, six time CRC Champion of Georgetown, ON in his Mitsubishi Evo VI, in a second place 15-point tie with "ACP" - Andrew Comrie-Picard of Edmonton in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV. Antoine L’Estage, from St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que. driving a Hyundai Tiburon, is tied at 12 with Sylvain Erickson of Gatineau, Que. whose Mitsubishi Evo IV got him to the podium in Round One but did not compete in the Calgary event. L'Estage’s points are based on just one event - he missed Round One, Perce-Neige Maniwaki, to help his wife, Chantel, in the arrival of their second child!

The status of one perennial contender and also six time CRC Champion, Tom McGeer, is currently up in the air. That’s because his Subaru Rally Team WRX STi got seriously airborne itself when McGeer rolled just 12 km into the first ‘04 event he entered, last week’s Rocky Mountain Rally. McGeer’s car was ‘plenty bent-up’ but mechanically it remains sound. The team is still assessing the vehicle’s future.

The pressure is on for Round 3 - Rallye Baie des Chaleurs event in New Richmond Quebec.

The Manufacturers’ Championship standings also remain interesting: Subaru leads unofficially with 40 points followed by Mitsubishi at 30, VW at 18 and Hyundai at 12.

The series will be broadcast nationwide on Rogers Sportsnet and RDS this fall, check www.CRC-Rally.com for more information.

Comrie-Picard secured the number two spot by 47 seconds over L’Estage, overtaking him in the later stages.

The Canadian Rally Championship is presented by Subaru and sanctioned by the Canadian Association of Rallysport. Rally Development Group holds the marketing rights for the Canadian Rally Championship.

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