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Rally: RallyUSA Postponed Until 2001

2 February 2000

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Due to unforeseen challenges associated with bringing
an international rally to a new venue in the United States, the
inaugural running of RallyUSA, originally scheduled for June 23-25,
2000 as a round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship on the FIA
international calendar, has been postponed until 2001, it was
announced today by Dennis Dean, Executive Director of the event.

        "We have been extremely gratified by the enthusiastic
reception the announcement of our event has received from every corner
of the international rally community," said Dean.  "Since the first
day of our effort, we have been totally committed to making our event
first-class in every aspect, as befits a top-level international rally
event.  We have encountered some obstacles that we feel would prevent
us from achieving that goal in the inaugural running of the event.
Since so many top level teams and competitors have indicated their
desire to participate in the event, we
felt an obligation to them to make this decision in sufficient time
for them to adjust their plans accordingly.  We want to emphasize that
this is a postponement of the event and not a cancellation.  We have
every expectation that the 2001 event will go on as scheduled and we
intend to re-apply to the FIA for a suitable calendar date in 2001."

        Support for RallyUSA remains strong throughout the rally
community.  Iwao Kimata, General Manager of Ralliart, Inc. who
operates the Mitsubishi factory team supporting four time defending
WRC Champion, Tommi Makinen, said "We wish very much to see
international rallying return to the USA and have been most impressed
with RallyUSA's efforts to achieve that goal.  We had planned on
supporting this year's event and have no doubt that we will be there
next year.  We wish them all the success in their important effort."

        David Richards, Chairman of Prodrive, Ltd., whose efforts have
turned Richard Burns into the up and coming star for Subaru, also
weighed in with strong support — "It is disappointing that RallyUSA
will not be conducted this year.  We were committed to supporting the
event this year and looking forward to international rallying's return
to the USA.  We remain very supportive of the organizers and have
every expectation that they will achieve a first class event in 2001 —
and we shall certainly be there when they do."
 
       Equally solid support came from Martin Whitaker, Director of
European Motorsport for Ford Motor Company, who is working so hard to
make this the year of the Focus with former World Champions Colin
McRae and Carlos Sainz paired together, said "We have been planning on
competing in RallyUSA's inaugural event since we first learned of it.
While it's disappointing to hear of the postponement, knowing the
talents available to the organizers, we fully expect to see a top
notch event in 2001 and we will do everything we can to support it."