OLYMPIA, WA -- Australian driver Andrew Pinker was fighting hard for his second win of the season Sunday at the Olympus Rally, reclaiming his lead over challenger Ramana Lagemann late in the day.

But the race victory was anything but decided heading into the final stage. With just three seconds separating the top two crews, both drivers were expecting to push hard while trying not to make any mistakes.

"We have to go for it," Pinker said after pulling into the final service break of the day. "We'll try and go as fast as we can, but we don't want to throw it all away."

The win would come down to the final, critical 26-mile stage. Under a steady downpour that began at dawn, conditions on the course were deteriorating and the unusually long stage was expected to be treacherous.

"It's still pretty scary out there. It's pretty wet and slippery," said Pinker, who is co-driven by Robbie Durant.

Teams have already seen the section of the race, having run it earlier in the day. During their first attempt at the stage, Lagemann and co-driver Mark Williams surged ahead to finish more than 20 seconds in front of the rest of the field and take over the race lead.

Lagemann is hungry for a win. He has suffered a series of poor showings this season due to mechanical failure with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution he drives.

Pinker's Syms teammates Tanner Foust and co-driver Christine Beavis, were in third place -- some 25 seconds off the lead. But with the frontrunners pushing hard and tough conditions on the course, they remained in the hunt for the lead.

"You can't say what's going to happen with that long stage out there," said Foust. "That stage has three of everything."

Notably absent from the top three were the two Subaru Rally Team USA cars, both of whom began to struggle in the early stages of the contest.

Late Sunday, Ken Block and co-driver Alessandro Gelsomino found themselves in fourth, more than three minutes off the lead. Travis Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom -- already out of the game on Day 1 after they apparently ran out of fuel midway through the seventh stage -- crashed hard and had to retire from the contest. They were unhurt, but their car is believed to have suffered significant damage.

Also struggling was Matt Iorio, who found himself in fifth overall. And seven-time U.S. champion Paul Choiniere, who began the day with engine trouble, was consistently losing time to his challengers. Likewise, Andrew Comrie-Picard was also well off the pace after dropping well back on the first due to problems with his turbocharger.

In addition to the 2007 Rally America National Championship title, drivers are competing for entry into X Games 13. For the second consecutive year, rally racing will be featured in the Summer X Games, with the first five races of the 2007 Rally America season serving as qualifying events for the popular action-sport competition.

Entering the Olympus Rally, the top four drivers in the 2007 Rally America standings were separated by just 10 points. After three of the series' nine events, Subaru Rally Team USA's Block is in the lead, followed by Foust, while defending champions Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom are third.

Although a new addition to the Rally America schedule for 2007, the Olympus Rally was a World Rally Championship race from 1986-1988. Rally racing legends such as Rod Millen, Juha Kankkunen and American John Buffum have claimed victories at the famed event.

Rally America drivers compete in street-legal vehicles that are modified for safety. Six vehicle classes, ranging from stock to highly modified, compete under the Rally America banner. Eleven different automobile manufacturers are represented in Rally America events, led by Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

Media Contact:
Alan Perry
Olympus Rally
[email protected]
206-499-5501