Team Rally Pan America Press Release from finish of the Dakar Rally
January 22, 2007; In his first racing foray into Africa, Casey McCoy brought the PAi bike home in a very respectable 31st place. Casey circled the pink lake in Dakar yesterday afternoon, successfully completing the 29th Dakar Rally. He was the 2nd American and 5th rookie in a field of very talented riders.
Team Manager Charlie Rauseo's impression immediately after the rally was positive, "The Team did exceptionally well and proved that Casey is a world-class rally racer. I was a bit disappointed by several aspects of this Dakar: the organization changed the speed limit rule only hours before the start, hobbling the non-factory teams who had prepared bikes based on the existing rules; there were strangely few dunes along this rally route; the challenging Timbuktu loop was removed; and at least one top bike received unauthorized assistance late in the rally in obvious contravention of the rules."
The San Francisco based team's two Ford assistance trucks also arrived in Dakar unscathed, performing amazingly well for basically stock trucks carrying heavy loads through very challenging terrain.
Today, Robb McElroy and Charlie Rauseo, the drivers of the team's two assistance trucks, drove with Steve Huff of Wheels 2 Africa to a small village in Mbour, Senegal. They used the team's specialized equipment to deliver over 500 pairs of shoes to needy children in this impoverished area.
Check out the Team's website at www.rallypanam.com <http://www.rallypanam.com/> for detailed information about this year's rally.