Exclusive coverage of the 2010 Olympus Rally — Round 3 of the Rally America Series Championship featuring AMS sponsored Andrew-Comrie Picard and AMS tuned Rockstar Royal Group Mitsubishi Evo 10 driven by the current points leader Antoine L’Estage.
AMS Performance sponsored ACP Rally team battling icy conditions at the 2010 Sno*Drift -Photo courtesy of Mike Proulx, www.worldrallysport.com.
ATLANTA, MI (ACP Racing) — Defending North American rally champion Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard earned some strong early-season points with a fourth-place finish at the icy U.S. season opener this weekend in northern Michigan.
The NOS Energy-backed rally team of ACP and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey took a cautious approach to the start of the contest in some of the most challenging conditions ever seen in U.S. rally competition.
“It was like a luge course out there,” said Comrie-Picard. “The first few stages were the iciest I have ever seen… and the rally just got icier from there.”
The ACP Rally EVO X is currently running the tried and true AMS Sleeved Short Block, AMS Short Ram Intake kit, AMS Exhaust, AMS Surge Tank, AMS Air Conditioning Delete kit and AMS shifter bushing kits. These products were run all season and put through grueling rally conditions without skipping a beat, a true testament to AMS quality and reliability.
Last weekend Andrew Picard took the overall win for the Colorado Rally in his AMS Powered EVO IX. Andrew is now in the top 3 for the Rally America series and this whole season was run on the same untouched AMS engine!
Video about the event: http://www.amsperformance.com/acp_evoix_rally_car.php
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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 team’s 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 team’s 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.
The ACP Rally program is made possible by:
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For more information and video highlights, visit: www.acprally.com. Photo credit: Pierre Yves Lacroix http://www.alakazoo.com/flickr/
ACP NOS Energy Drink Rally EVO IX powered by AMS Performance - photo courtesy of Ryan Taylor
WELLSBORO, PA Rally driver Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard overcame a series of
big challenges at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally last weekend to
move into second place in the Rally America points race.
“It was a tough weekend for us,” said Comrie-Picard. “But every point
counts in this championship and we’re in it for the season.”
Comrie-Picard and Irish co-driver Marshall Clarke fought back from 31st
after a rollover crash to finish the race in 13th overall. The result gave
them the handful of points they needed to climb up one rung in the tight
championship race.
“Marshall and I were actually able to roll the car back onto its wheels and
keep going,”said Comrie-Picard. “It was a soft rollover and with a new
windshield, the car was back to 100 per cent but we lost a lot of time.”
Comrie-Picard is in second-place overall after five rounds in the Rally
America championship, behind Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana
and ahead of Rockstar Energy¹s Tanner Foust.
The Susquehannock Trail event has long been known as one of the most
demanding events on the U.S. calendar. The 2009 running of the contest
featured a return to the popular two-day format, with a spectator-friendly
daylight schedule and super special stages on each day.
³The spectator stages at the fairgrounds in Wellsboro were huge this year,²
said Comrie-Picard. ³It was great for us to see so many fans out there.²
The contest is renowned as one of the toughest on the Rally America calendar
and the team was not alone in having problems. Factory-backed Travis
Pastrana lost a minute on the first day to a suspension failure, Polish ace
Andi Mancin battled braking issues and the Swedish World Rally team of
Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson were out with a blown engine on the first
day.
The Rally America national championship includes nine events in a
cross-continent season that extends from January to late October. The
Canadian Rally Championship has six events from coast to coast. 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 next U.S. event for the team will be the X Games in Los Angeles.
photo courtesy of Ryan Taylor
photo courtesy of Ryan Taylor
photo courtesy of STPR http://www.stpr.org
photo courtesy of STPR http://www.stpr.org
The ACP Rally program is made possible by:
