78 teams make the Olympus Rally the largest entry list in Rally America's history Williston, VT — The Rally America National Championship season concludes with a bang with this year's largest assembly of top national and international rally teams at the Olympus Rally on September 22-23rd in Olympia, WA. Over 70 teams will return to the gravel logging roads once used in the 1980's World Rally Championship located just outside the Washington State capital and will extend into the picturesque Pacific Northwest peninsula. All eyes will be on the much anticipated rematch between Ford, Subaru and Mitsubishi's top rally drivers. The manufacturers previously met at the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood last February in Salem, MO where Monster World Rally Team's Ken Block from Park City, UT and Alex Gelsomino from Santa Clarita, CA won the event in their 2012 Ford Fiesta HFHV marginally besting Subaru Rally Team USA's David Higgins from Trefeglwys, England and Craig Drew from Forest of Dean, England. "I'm stoked to be back in my Ford Fiesta HFHV racing some rally stages in North America this month," said Block. "I'm looking forward to getting back to a Rally America race and going up against Higgins and L'Estage once again. Those guys are fast and it's going to make for some great racing at Olympus." The Olympus Rally is Block's second Rally America event this season and his entry adds a level of flair due in part of his hugely successful Gymkhana videos that helped place rally style racing on the map - not to mention the fact that Block is the only American driver competing in the World Rally Championship. (See Block's latest video: http://bit.ly/TJPg5N) Block and Gelsomino will once again face Subaru Rally Team USA's Higgins and Drew who are expected to throw everything they've got at the Monster World Rally Team to avenge the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. After already locking up the 2012 Rally America National Championship, Higgins and Drew can focus solely on beating the Monster World Rally Team. "It's great to be able to go to event without having to worry about points and looking forward to competing against Ken again," commented Higgins, "After five weeks with no rain I think dust could be a major problem. I'm hoping for some rain in the coming week, otherwise the luck of the draw will have an even bigger meaning! Ford and Subaru's battle will be joined by the Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team Mitsubishi EVO of Antoine L'Estage from St-Jean-sur-Richlieu, Quebec and longtime co-driver Nathalie Richard from Halifax, Nova Scotia. L'Estage and Richard actually tailed Block when he lead the 100 Acre Wood Rally and looked like the team that could beat Block until L'Estage suffered an untimely transmission failure that passed second place to Subaru. As the top of the leaderboard duke it out, the Olympus Rally will ultimately decide the winners of the 2012 Super Production (SP) and 2012 Two-Wheel Drive (2WD) National Class Championships as well. Rally America's national Super Production class leaders Lauchlin O'Sullivan from San Francisco, CA and Scott Putnam ofMinneapolis, MN hold the advantage in their Mitsubishi Evolution VIII as they just need to finish the Olympus Rally in order to take the class win. However, the possibility of Rally America's first real first place tie could become a possibility if second place's David Sterckx from Los Angeles, CA and co-driver Karen Jankowski from San Marcos, CA win the SP Class in their 2011 Subaru WRX STI and O'Sullivan and Putnam fail to finish - then both teams will share first place, even after tie breaker rules are applied. In Rally America's National 2WD Class, Chris Duplessis from Bethlehem, NH with co-driver Alex Kihurani from Philadelphia, PA are just five points away from winning the 2012 2WD National Championship. In order for Duplessis to capture his third 2WD National Championship, he needs to finish eighth or better which is almost assured considering his impressive finishing record. Right behind Duplessis is Andrew Comrie-Picard from Hermosa Beach, CA along with co-driver Jeremy Wimpey from State College, PA in their 2011 Scion xD rally car for a last chance effort at first place. The team essentially needs six points and Duplessis to not cross the finish line in order to complete the upset. However, spoilers may come into play with Australia's Will Orders and Toni Feaver on the entry list in their high-horsepower 1989 Nissan Silvia rear-wheel drive rally car. The Australian team won two national 2WD events this season and are a favorite to win Olympus as well. Their entry could potentially prevent Comrie-Picard and Wimpey from earning the much needed points they'll need to overcome Duplessis and Kihurani. The Olympus Rally will begin on the plaza in front of the Washington capital building in Olympia with a Parc Expose where fans can meet the drivers and co-drivers as well as take pictures of the rally cars on Saturday, September 22nd at the Olympia Capitol grounds at 9am. It's a great opportunity for fans to interact with their favorite drivers and get a few autographs. The Olympus Rally will then move to the newly built Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA where the Service Park for the Olympus Rally will be based for Saturday and Sunday. The event will host a Ridge Motorsports Super Special stage, which will allow fans to watch an entire stage from start to finish at one location. A free spectator guide will be available for download soon at http://www.rally-america.com, which include maps and directions to spectator areas, event schedules and more information. The 2012 Rally America National Championship is proudly supported by TeleBlend, VP Racing Fuels - the Official Fuel of Rally America, ParkNBlend, Subaru of America, Ford Racing, Exedy Racing Clutches, Hawk Performance Brakes, DMack Tyres USA, GrimmSpeed and RECARO seats.
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