ACP Rally hangs on for gutsy finish at Baie des Chaleurs

ACP Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X — ACP Rally EVO X powered by AMS Performance competes in the 2009 Baie des Chaleurs Rally

TORONTO (ACP Rally) — Rally driver Andrew Comrie-Picard overcame failing
brakes throughout the Baie des Chaleurs Rally to finish fifth overall,
clawing back from 11th overall after the first night.

“From almost the first corner of the rally it was apparent the braking
system wasn’t up to handing the weight of the car on these high-speed Baie
roads. We have the best pads and fluid in the business, but the rear rotors and
calipers couldn’t take the heat” said Comrie-Picard.

With the rear brake calipers weeping fluid and the rotors overheating and
cracking throughout the event, the team had to drive carefully to use the
brakes as little as possible and brake very early.

Guest co-driver Jen Horsey said the situation made for a wild ride. “Andrew
is usually very calm behind the wheel and I’ve never even heard him take a
sharp intake of breath going into a corner — but there were a few here when
the pedal hit the floor.”

After dropping to 11th place after the Day 1 stages, the team upped the pace
on Day 2, putting in top three stage times to move ahead of rivals on every
stage. Eventually they ran out of time and distance to move any higher than
fifth overall, in a very competitive rally. Fortunately they had no flats on
their Yokohama rally A035 tires while many of their rivals suffered
punctures on the rough roads.

The finish solidifies the teams third overall position in the Canadian
Rally Championship and keeps them in shooting distance for the championship
— now at its halfway point.

“We have our work cut out for us for the rest of the year, but the new
Mitsubishi Evolution 10 is getting better with every event as we develop it
system by system. We expect to be competing for the win at the next round,”
said Comrie-Picard.

The team also scored the biggest air over the event¹s famous big jump with a
distance of 112 feet, recorded by rally website www.flatovercrest.com.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is
often described simply as ³real cars, real roads, real fast.² This
all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road
cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover
hundreds of miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

The sport is also featured in the annual X Games, the premier action sports
event on the globe, featuring athletes competing for medals and prize money
in sports including BMX Freestyle, Moto X, Skateboard, and Rally.
Comrie-Picard has been among the dozen invited drivers every year since the
rally discipline was introduced to the contest, and he secured a first-round
invitation to return in 2009.

The Canadian Rally Championship has six events from coast to coast. The
Rally America national championship includes nine events in a
cross-continent season that extends from January to late October. ACP Rally
will contest a busy season, with rally events on both sides of the
Canada-U.S. border, select drift events — and the X Games. The team will
return to the Canadian championship in September for Round 4, Rallye Defi,
outside Montreal.

The teams next event will be the X Games in Los Angeles.

—

Andrew Comrie-Picard is a contender for the top of the
ranks in the American, Canadian, and North American rally championships and
will return to compete in X Games this summer for the fourth time. When he
isn¹t racing, Comrie-Picard works in film, television, and print media as an
automotive expert and divides his time between Toronto, Canada, and Los
Angeles, California.

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