The MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Series Roars in West Virginia

Elkins, WV (August, 4, 2007) – Rally West Virginian Organizer Mark Bowers warned the MaxAttack! Triple Crown Rally Championship teams at the drivers meeting that the stage road that made up Friday’s rally route were tough. The unpredictable nature of the narrow mountain tracks put the skills of the drivers and codrivers to the test through tight hairpin turns and extreme elevation changes As was expected, many cars in the rally suffered mechanical damage serious enough to put them out of the rally.

Local favorites Josh and Jeremy Wimpey were one team to experience mechanical difficulties but were able to overcome them. While charging hard over a crest, with the accelerator peddle flat on the floor, their VW Golf GTI was floating slightly above the road surface and was unable to attain the traction needed to make the hard right handed corner that awaited them. Luckily they escaped with only bent rear suspension. The team did their best at the service halt to straighten the beam and planned to swap a new one in overnight. The team currently sits in second place in the MaxAttack! standings. They will conquer their troubles and are within striking distance to take the lead today.

The car they will be chasing is the CPD Racing Ford Focus of Kyle Sarasin and Mikael Johansson. Its been all smiles for them so far. They have had a near perfect rally so far and are leading MaxAttack! by 35 seconds. Hailing from the town of Marquette in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Kyle Sarasin is running flawlessly as he is coached by his experience Swedish codriver Johansson.

Close behind in third place is the team of Eric Burmeister and Dave Shindle in their Mazdaspeed 3. After battling overheating brakes and a variety of other problems the team is ready to attack the smoother stages today with what is surely the one of the most powerful cars in this event. The Cosworth powered tubocharged Mazdaspeed 3 is capable of producing 450 horsepower Eric and Dave are an experienced team and know what is needed for them to make up the 96 second gap to take the lead. The rally fans are flocking to the woods sensing that an epic battle for MaxAttack! honors will take place between the top 3 today.

In 4th place is an interesting entry. Randy Zimmer usually runs an open class Subaru with all wheel drive. However to run MaxAttack! the car must be 2wd. No problem for the ever creative Zimmer. He simply welded the center differential and dropped the front drive shafts to create a rear wheel drive Subaru Impreza RS. So far its got he and codriver Russel Strate in a position to take home some cash.

As the day progresses 5 other teams are in a good position to drive well and finish in the top six for a cash payout. Evan Moen’s screaming Acura Integra Type R leads Hampton Bridwell in a Ford Focus by 23 seconds for 5th place, Luke Sorenson, Joseph Burke, and Grege Healey are all on the bubble to make it into the top 6 positions for a payout.

It’s a special event with great rally teams. So far the show has been spectacular. But there is a lot of racing left and things can change very quickly on the roller coaster stages of Rally West Virginia.