Knoxville, Tennessee -- Irishman Tom Lawless and co-driver Jason Gillespie took the win of the Cherokee Trails International Rally, the first round of the United States Rally Championship. Driving a four wheel drive Open Class Mitsubishi Evo VIII, they completed the grueling 115 miles of special stages in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 33 seconds, averaging just a tick over 45 miles an hour on the twisty and technical roads that have gained the event the reputation as the best drivers rally in the United States.

Following on Lawless' heels were Canadian native Peter Workum in the Autosport Engineering Subaru WRX STi, and Californian Matt Iorio, also in a Subaru. All took advantage of the retirements of the Libra Racing Hyundai's piloted by John Buffum and Irishman Seamus Burke, Buffum suffering from a broken suspension upright on Special Stage 3, and Burke rolling on Special Stage 5.

In the two-wheel drive Open Class, Californian Craig Hollingsworth and co-driver Jason Grahn drove a clean rally in the CTM Racing Volkswagen Jetta, finishing first in class and ninth overall on a rally that rewards driving skill over horsepower. Finishing out the top three in two-wheel drive were Bruce Davis and co-driver Jimmy Brandt in the HTM/Motorsports Marketing Dodge SRT-4, and former Formula Ford national champion Justin Pritchard and co-driver Kim Demotte in their Volkswagen GTI.

Other finishes of note were Irishman Danny O'Brien and co-driver Stephen Duffy, fifth overall and first in the GT class, and Josh Chang and co-driver Alex Kihurani 11th overall and first in Super Stock class.

The next round of the United States Rally Championship is the Subaru Rim of the World Rally, taking place on May 5-6, 2005, and running on the roads of the Angeles National Forest just north of Los Angeles, California.

For more information, contact Wilson von Kessler, (423) 265-2020, [email protected], or visit www.usrallychampionship.com.