ProRally: Rim of the World: Round two preview

SCCA ProRally Rim of the World this weekend.

TOPEKA, Kan. (April 30, 2003) -- After a three-month layoff, the SCCA ProRally Championship will hold Round Two of its 2003 season this weekend at what many regard as the toughest event of all, Southern California's Rim of the World Rally.

Celebrating its 20th running in 2003, the event, held on demanding ridge top and canyon dirt and gravel fire control roads tracing the line of the infamous San Andreas Fault, has been likened to the Greek Acropolis Rally for its relentless, car-pounding roads.

After a disastrous start to its season, in which neither team entry finished the event, the Subaru Rally Team USA hopes to rebound with its brand new 2003 Subaru WRXs for former Champion Mark Lovell and teammate Ramana Lagemann.

Defending event winner and overall SCCA ProRally Champion David Higgins got off to a great start after switching from the AV Sport Subaru team to the factory Mitsubishi Rally Team USA Mitsubishi Evolution mount. Teammate and 2002 Class 2 Champion Lauchlin O'Sullivan finished fourth at the season-opening SnoDrift Rally.

Other top open class seeds for the Rim of the World Rally include Tim O'Neal in the Air Force Reserve Ford Focus and England's Jonny Milner in his AV Sport Subaru.

Also of note, Dodge will debut a new-look Neon SRT-4 (Group 5) and the Neon SXT (Group 2) with matching Mopar Performance livery and team apparel, an integrated part of its new grassroots motorsports and performance parts campaign that includes nearly all facets of auto and truck racing in the USA.

The 2003 Rim of the World SCCA ProRally begins Friday with the first of the 80 entries starting at 7:00 p.m. following the Parc Expose at 5:45 p.m. Saturday's stages begin at 12:00 noon, with the event concluding by 12:00 midnight. For more event information, including complete entry list, notes and results, please visit www.scca.com/amateur/performance_rally/prorally/index.html or www.rimoftheworldrally.com.

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