Western Rally Championship Rolls Into BC
Specialty Subaru Pacific Forest Rally Presented by Yokohama Tires June 7th and 8th in Merritt, BC CANADA Round 2 of the Western Canadian Rally Championship For Immediate Release May 9, 2002 MERRITT, BC - The Western Canadian Rally Championship makes its debut in a new location this June as the second round of the 2002 series moves to British Columbia. The city of Merritt will host the Pacific Forest Rally on June 7th and 8th when rally teams from around western Canada come here to compete. This motorsports event for production-based cars has pre-qualified as a National status event for the 2003 Subaru Canadian Rally Championship. While last year's Western Canadian Champion, Janusz Komorowski, has already made his intentions clear by winning the opening round in Cochrane, Alberta, there are a host of local teams ready to challenge him for supremacy on some of BC's finest back roads. Local driver and last year's Pacific Forest Rally winner, Scott Trinder, will surely be among those to threaten Komorowski's plans. Competing against some of the best driver's in North America, Trinder followed-up his 3rd place finish at this year's Cochrane Rally with an 8th place overall at the grueling Rim of the World Rally, held May 3rd-4th in California. Meanwhile, the organizers of the Pacific Forest Rally are working feverishly to deliver a national-caliber event in and around the Merritt area. This year marks the final "dress rehearsal" for the event before it joins the national series in 2003 as part of the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship, which is broadcast regularly on TSN and the OLN. Many officials will be on hand to evaluate the rally and the city of Merritt promises to deliver a venue well-suited to events on the national stage. There will be plenty of opportunities to catch the teams in action, both on the mountain roads and right in Merritt. It all begins with a display at the Railyard Mall on the evening of June 7th and the rally officially starts there on Saturday morning. Later, teams will return to the mall for service stops throughout the day, before heading back into the hills and finally winding up at the Merritt Civic Centre at the end of the day. For those fans keen on trying their hand at driving their own cars sideways through gravel, the organizers have planned to hold a Rallycross on the Sunday following the Pacific Forest Rally. If the opportunity to slalom your daily driver around a large, dirt and gravel lot appeals to you, get in on the action at the Merritt Rallycross Challenge on June 9th! For more information about these events, check out the BC rally website http://www.rallybc.com or contact organizer Paul Westwick at (604) 682-3296, or mailto:paul@rallybc.com - 30 - For more information: Contact the organizer, Paul Westwick at (604) 682-3296, or Ken Kwong at (604) 808-0536 Rally Head Quarters will be at the Nicola Inn, Merritt. For Media Accreditation contact: Bill Westhead, Media Liaison (604) 707-3305 e-mail: bill@rallybc.com Full Entry Details and Supplementary Regulations are available at: http://www.rallybc.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to our 2002 supporters ----------------------------- Specialty Subaru http://www.specialty.subarudealer.ca/ Yokohama Tires (Canada) http://www.yokohamatire.ca/ OMP Racewear http://www.ompwins.com/ Vintage Rally Equipment http://www.rallyequipment.com/ Polaris Water http://www.polariswater.com/ Wilkinsons Automobilia http://www.eautomobilia.com/ Western Driver http://www.westerndriver.com/ Rocket Rally http://www.rocketrally.com/ Riverside Certigard Petro-Canada, North Vancouver ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~