ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE. Georgia -- The Air Force Reserve Rally Car driven by Tim O�Neil with navigator Alex Gelsomino finished out of the points in the Wild West Rally in Olympia, Wash., for round eight of nine races in the 2003 SCCA Championship Sept. 6 after crashing in the third stage.

"The car was going well in the early part of the rally, but then I just came around a corner way too fast and went off the road," said a disappointed O�Neil. "I went so far off the road that we couldn�t get back on course and I bent an axel as well, so our rally was finished right there."

The rally was won by Finnish racers Pasi Hagstr�m and co-driver Marko Taskinen. The current 2003 SCCA ProRally Champion David Higgins, also encountered trouble during the rally and didn�t finish. Despite not being able to finish the event, O�Neil was upbeat about the take-away from the experience.

"We were not quite as fast as they (Hagstrom and Taskinen) were, but we were keeping pace with them. They sure put in a strong performance " it�s encouraging to have at least been keeping them in sight. Alex and I continue to work on our performance together and I keep working on getting everything out of what we have so we can come back and be even more competitive in 2004."

O�Neil and Gelsomino were hoping to score some points at Wild West as they worked to secure their position in the championship as the top-finishing private entry, and still have the opportunity to secure that position at the Lake Superior Rally in October.

It would be great to score a podium to finish the season off, said O�Neil. I think we have all the tools we need to get that done in Michigan."

The Air Force Reserve Rally Car will race again Oct. 17-18 at the Lake Superior Rally in Houghton, Mich.

U.S. Air Force Reserve
HQ AIR FORCE RESERVE COMMAND RECRUITING SERVICE
1000 Corporate Pointe, Warner Robins, GA 31088
Telephone: (478) 327-0655 Fax: (478) 327-0138 DSN Prefix: 497
Release No. 15-09-03

www.afreserve.com/racing
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