Minneapolis, Minn. -- Rally America is bringing an exciting new rally challenge to the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. "It is already one of the most spectacular events in the extreme motorsports calendar. This makes it even better," says Rally America spokesman J.B. Niday. No guardrails keep competitors from the edge as they race to the clouds each year in a 12.4-mile sprint up the 14,110-foot matron of the Rocky Mountains.

For 2005, the event will also include around 100 miles of additional special stages run in a traditional rally format in the Hartsel, Colorado, area -- only a 45 minute drive from Pikes Peak. "We wanted to help turn this great event into a real rally," says Niday. "Phil Layton and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb organization have bent over backwards to assist us."

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb rally is the fourth round of the 2005 Rally America Championship and is part of this year's North American Rally Cup. Organizers hope to see a record number of Canadian and other international teams on the entry list. All classes of rally cars are welcome.

Timing and scoring for the Hartsel stages will be performed by Rally America. Control workers and marshals will come from the Colorado Cog rally, the Colorado Hill Climb Association, as well as other experienced rally workers from around the U.S.

The rally will be chaired by former Ojibwe Forests Rally organizer Beryl Ann Burton with help and support from Colorado Cog organizer Jim Gill and his team as well as Ryan Oerter and members of the Colorado Hill Climb Association.

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will sanction and insure the event on the Pikes Peak Highway and at Fan Fest, while Rally America will sanction and insure the transits and the stages away from Pikes Peak.

The Rally America, Inc., based in Minneapolis, Minn., holds the sanctioning and marketing rights to the Rally America Championship.

For further information:
J.B. Niday, Managing Director Rally America, Inc. Tel: +1.763.553.2742; [email protected] www.rally-america.com