Bangor, Maine, USA -- Last Ditch Racing is making a return to Canadia and the Canadian National rally series for the Rallye Defi-St. Agathe on September 5-6, 2003. At Defi in 2002, the team won top US team honors as well as an entry into the inaugural Targa Newfoundland. Targa saw the team bring home a class win.

The team recently upgraded to a 1998 turbo-charged Subaru Impreza that saw its first outing at the recent Maine Forest Rally. Despite a fairly hard hit after an excursion into a rock filled ditch there, the car will be in fighting shape for Defi. "We broke and bent a couple of things at Maine Forest, but that's not unusual in the life of a rally car-we don't pamper them," said Cassidy.

Driver/owner John Cassidy said that he and co-driver Dave Getchell, a fellow Mainer, are looking forward to the return to the Canadian National scene. "We've raced quite a bit in Canada over the last two years-our last race there being the Rallye International de Quebec earlier this year. We feel very much at home in Quebec and look forward to returning there more often in the future. The CARS(Canadian Association of Rallysport) organization and competitors are second to none that we've experienced!"

This will be the teams' fifth Pro/National event in a season that has seen them go from Quebec to California. 2003 has again demonstrated the team's consistency, while at the same time seeing their overall position in highly competitive fields improve with each successive event.

The team will have the opportunity to create their own pace notes for the special stages. This is a rare opportunity in North America, and Cassidy and Getchell are keen to take advantage of it. Said Cassidy, "Dave and I made our first pace notes at the 2003 Rallye International de Quebec and it's a skill we want to practice as much as possible. We consider it very important in our development as a team."

The team is very pleased to announce that Duncan Matlack, Camden Maine resident and long time crew member, has been promoted from within the team to the position of Crew Chief. Eric Wages has been promoted to Team Manager. Said Cassidy, "The team has been working well together for well over a year. We've been blessed with consistency among the crew. Duncan and Eric are two very key players in the Last Ditch family, and we're all looking to them to keep us on track and on the stages!"

For more information on the Rallye Defi.-St. Agathe, please visit http://www.rallyedefi.com/

For more information on Last Ditch Racing, please visit http://www.lastditchracing.net