SUBARU CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
PRESENTED BY YOKOHAMA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Round 2 of 2000 championship

McGeer Heads Subaru 1-2-3 at Rallye Perce-Neige

MANIWAKI, Que. (Feb. 13/2000) - Tom McGeer stole the show from the expected favorites as he drove to a comfortable victory on the Rallye Perce-Neige in west Quebec.

McGeer, a three-time Canadian rally driving champion, finished almost five minutes ahead of 11-time U.S. titlist John Buffum. He completed 201.47 kms. of competitive special stages in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 40 seconds, for an average speed of 87.17 kph.

McGeer, Buffum and third-placed Sylvain Vincent were all driving Subaru Imprezas - a rare sweep of the three podium positions by a single manufacturer.

The win puts McGeer into the overall lead of the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship, presented by Yokohama, after two rounds. He had finished second in the season-opening Rallye de Quebec.

This was just the third win for the 39-year-old from Georgetown, Ont., since he captured three national championships between 1990 and 1993. He last won at Charlevoix, Que., in October, 1998.

"It's been such a dry spell. We've had so much bad luck, but it was our day today," said McGeer, who had American Mark Williams as his navigator.

"We drove a tactical race. I just drove quietly and cleanly and tried to keep it tidy. We had no major moments, while everyone else had problems."

The Perce-Neige - held mostly on icy, snow-covered logging roads in the forests of the Haute Gationeau region, west of Maniwaki - was widely expected to be a showdown between Buffum and six-time Canadian champion Frank Sprongl. But both ran into trouble.

The transmission on Sprongl's four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro did not properly distribute the power between the front and rear wheels, making the car's handling erratic.

Despite this, Sprongl led for a while, but eventually he went off the road twice. He and his navigator, brother Dan, lost about 20 minutes digging the car out of the snow. Still, the Mississauga, Ont., brothers went on to finish fifth overall.

Buffum - now semi-retired from competition, but seeking a record 41st win in Canada - briefly took a narrow lead over McGeer.

But the veteran U.S. driver was forced to stop for about four minutes so that he and navigator Doug Shepherd could clean out their car's snow-clogged air filter. That left McGeer with a solid lead, which he maintained to the finish.

Vincent and navigator Dominique Cyr, of La Plaine, Que., had some turbo boost problems, but finished well ahead of fourth-placed Americans John Pizzagalli and Lance Smith in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

McGeer won four out of 12 special stages - the high-speed portions of the rally, held on roads temporarily closed to the public. Sprongl also won four, Buffum took two, while Vincent and Toronto's Keith Townsend - who eventually crashed - won one each.

Production class honors went to Patrick Richard, of Vancouver, driving a Subaru Impreza in the GT division; Scott Comens, of Kitchener, Ont., in a Plymouth Neon in Sport; and Mark Krawczyk, of Mississauga, Ont., in a Subaru Justy in 1750cc.

RESULTS of the RALLYE PERCE-NEIGE
Round 2 of the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship, presented by Yokohama

driver, navigator, homes, car, time, winner's speed):
1. Tom McGeer, Georgetown, Ont. / Mark Williams, U.S., Subaru Impreza, 2h18m40s (87.17 kph)
2. John Buffum / Doug Shepherd, U.S. Subaru Impreza, 2h23m33s
3. Sylvain Vincent / Dominique Cyr, La Plaine, Que., Subaru Impreza, 2h27m44s
4. John Pizzagalli / Lance Smith, U.S., Mitsubishi Lancer, 2h36m04s
5. Frank Sprongl / Dan Sprongl, Mississauga, Ont., Audi Quattro, 2h40m53s
6. Patrick Richard, Vancouver, B.C. / Ian McCurdy, Whistler, B.C., Subaru Impreza (Production GT class winners), 2h52m27s
7. Scott Comens, Kitchener, Ont. /Harry Pressey, St. Thomas, Ont., Plymouth Neon (Production Sport class winners), 2h56m43s
8. Mark Krawczyk, Mississauga, Ont. / Arthur Trojanowicz, Toronto, Subaru Justy (Production 1750cc class winners), 2h59m50s
9. Marc Racine, Rawdon, Que. / Luc Piche,  St-Saveur, Que., Subaru Legacy, 3h00m44s
10. Bruno Laverdiere, Laval, Que. / Martin Duval, Ste-Catherine, Que., Eagle Talon, 3h01m30s.

For more information:
Terry Epp, (905) 640-6444
David Hatter, (613) 231-3248