For Immediate Release

September 8, 2003 Bangor Maine USA

Maine based Last Ditch Racing scored its first top 10 career finish at the Rallye Defi-St. Agathe-Duhamel in Quebec this past weekend, contesting a close battle with many top Canadian drivers. Defi is the seventh round of the Canadian National Rally Series. The team clinched the tenth spot after starting as the lowest positioned Open Class car in 29th position.

Driver/Owner John Cassidy and Co-Driver Dave Getchell drove their Open Class Subaru Impreza through the challenging stages with the consistency and increasing speed that has become their trademark over the 2003 season. Said Cassidy, "We always get faster as the race progresses, and we were pushing quite hard to bring home our first top ten finish. This is our second race with a fairly stock Open Class car and the potential looks substantial for future events as we continue development of the car."

With most stages run twice, the team chalked up times that were never more than 8 seconds apart. The last two stages were exceptions. On the second run through Lac Gagnon, the crew was 17 seconds quicker, and the final run through Duhamel saw the team post eighth quickest time. At the final reseed, the team was 1:30 down on the Eagle Talon of Lavoie/Stephane Simard-after the next two stages, the gap was a scant 9 seconds.

Cassidy and Getchell knew that a quick run through the 33.83km Mulet on Saturday morning would be crucial as a reseeding followed. "We knew we had to pass a lot of cars on that stage in order to gain road position for the rest of the days stages," said Cassidy. The pair passed three cars and nearly caught a fourth before they ran out of stage kilometers.

Said Cassidy, "Dave and I never slowed or lost focus the whole weekend. We felt confident from recce through to the finish of the event. The car was perfect and the crew was at the top of their game."

Last Ditch Racing is planning their 2004 season, and will finish 2003 with regional US events in New England. Said Cassidy, "The whole team is ecstatic with the finish, and we're going to let that feeling carry us through the winter months and into next season. We're planning on returning to Canada with more frequency in 2004 and expect to be a regular feature in the top of the field." The team has run five Pro events in both Canada and United States and has completed 100%.

Last Ditch Racing would like to thank their sponsors, who partnered with the team to help the 2003 season be a success. http://www.mainehost.com, http://www.phantomgrip.com, http://www.primmracing.com, http://www.triplecaution.us and http://www.mrtperformance.com.au/

For more information on the Rallye Defi-St. Agathe-Duhamel, please visit http://www.rallyedefi.com
For more information on Last Ditch Racing, please visit http://www.lastditchracing.net
For Last Ditch Racing merchandise, please visit http://www.cafeshops.com/lastditchracing#top

 

Thanks and yes, we're currently planning on attending the Maine Forest Winter ClubRally event.

Cheers! John