IRISHMEN LAWLESS, GILLESPIE VICTORIOUS IN INTERNATIONAL RALLY NEW YORK

OCTOBER 3, 2005

             Tom Lawless and Jason Gillespie, two Irishmen from New York 
State (Yonkers and Queens, New York City respectively), were the clear 
winners in this past weekend’s International Rally New York. After two days 
of competition in the Catskill Mountains, their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo was 
nearly three minutes ahead of the field. It was the first home-state 
victory for the team, who won the Cherokee Trails Rally in Tennessee back 
in March.

             Lawless complained of poor brakes early in the rally, but 
after attention to the hydraulics by the team’s mechanics, stopping power 
was at least adequate to hold off any challengers.

             Seamus Burke of Georgia and Brian Sharkey of Clogerhead, 
Ireland, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, placed second and captured the 
event-within-the-rally for the Eastern States Rally Championship (ESRC). A 
broken exhaust early in the rally cost some horsepower, but the car (and 
crew) ran reliably throughout.

             A smooth, consistent run also came from Peter Workum of 
Phoenix, Arizona and Chrissie Beavis of San Diego, Calif. in a Subaru 
Impreza WRX. This was the third rally for this duo and, according to 
Beavis, their performance, and the car’s, improved throughout the rally.

             New Yorkers Daniel O’Brien and Stephen Duffy, in a Subaru 
Impreza WRX, placed fourth ahead of the similar cars of Emilio Arce and 
Craig Thrall and Joan Hoskinson and Jeff Secor.

             One of the fastest drives in the first leg of the rally came 
from Otis Dimiters, teamed with Alan Ockwell In a Subaru Impreza WRX. They 
took the lead on the third special stage (racing section) and held it until 
they slid off the road on special stage six and lost five minutes getting 
back on. They worked their way back up into the top-10, only to go off for 
good on the afternoon of the second day.

             The rally started and ended in the town of Monticello, with 
competitive sections on the twisty dirt and paved roads of the Catskills. 
It was favored with sunshine and mild temperatures ­ perfect motorsports 
weather.

             International Rally New York is a round of the United States 
Rally Championship (USRC), which is sanctioned by the United States Auto 
Club (USAC) and presented by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). 
All events in the USRC are listed as international rallies by the 
Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the international 
governing body for motorsports. International Rally New York is also a 
round of the Eastern States Rally Championship (ESRC), which is sanctioned 
by NASA Rally Sport. The event will be broadcast on the Speed Channel cable 
television network as part of the “Motorsports Mundial” program. It will 
also be made available for webcast at www.revs.tv.