Carolina RallySport- Johnson/ DeMotte take Two Wins In A Row
APEX, NC (August 29, 2006)

Event: Colorado Cog Rally- Round 7 of the Rally America National Championship
Location: Steamboat Springs, Colorado

For the fourth time in five rallies the Carolina RallySport Hankook Tire Rally team of Matthew Johnson and Kim DeMotte have come out on top. They now hold a commanding lead in the hard fought ProductionGT championship over class rivals Tanner Foust and Eric Langbein. With only two events left in the Rally America National Championship the team's 26 point lead makes them the odds on favorite for the 2006 PGT Championship ... but there are still two events left and anything can happen.

Weather conditions, while not a surprise to local residents of the Steamboat Springs area made life interesting for the racers. There was plenty of snow in the mountains and the rain mixed with sleet at lower altitudes left many of the roads a quagmire that lead cars couldn't even pass. Two of Saturday's racing stages were cancelled after being deemed as "impassable."

While able to win some of the very muddy stages on this year's event, in many cases Johnson found himself surprised by rival Foust.
"For the most part Tanner just had something we didn't this weekend" said Johnson. "For a while we would trade stage wins, then Kim and I lost first gear and had a really hard time on the starts loosing time starting in 2nd gear." "Even on a spare gearbox the next day when I felt I'd driven well, Tanner was still quicker. He knew a secret or something I haven't figured out about making fast time on this event."

After Saturday night of swapping the gearbox in the Carolina RallySport WRX, Sunday was off to a good start. It started off fast as conditions had improved when the sun came out and the weather turned warmer and drier. Grip improved and with it and so did the speeds.
"It's been really tricky today, hard to tell the differences in the mud with decent grip and the mud with ice under it!" Stated Johnson looking very 'awake'.

On the second to last stage Johnson and Foust tied times to the 100th of a second on a 6 miler with Johnson/DeMotte well behind in the overall position still. Johnson had relegated himself to second place finish with his eye on the year long championship battle. However, a lucky and scary surprise was waiting at the finish of the last rally stage. The finish official had yet to see #429 Foust/Crouch make it to the finish. While this likely meant a win for our guys in #46 it also meant their rivals had likely fallen far off the stage road and out of sight.

Foust had cut a corner slightly and aggressively impacted a hole in the side of the road from the cliff. The car landed sideways on the narrow road and shot off the stage road and plummeted down to a frontal impact with the ground 25 feet below rolling twice in the process. He was completely invisible to the following Johnson as he passed. It took a few minutes, but a later arriving car confirmed they'd seen Scott Crouch (Tanner's co-driver) at the side of the road with his "OK" sign and everyone breathed easier.

At the finish podium Johnson praised his Hankook tires. "I was off the road at least three times at speed, cut another three corners hard inside washouts and nailed a rock the size of a watermelon at 70 miles per hour. With all that abuse to the tires I still started and finished this event on the same set of tires. Incredible!"

Matthew Johnson is an 8 - year veteran of Rally Racing having started in a Group 2 Volkswagen Golf. He sells Uninterruptible Power Supplies to the Information Technology Industry for a living which allows him the freedom to pursue his life's passion of driving "hammer-down" on rally roads.

Kim DeMotte is a 35 year Rally Racing veteran who has been a driver, a National Rally Organizer (the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood) and co-driver. During the week, DeMotte is a sales process consultant. Being self-employed allows DeMotte to also pursue his passions…going fast and mentoring younger rallyists.
Rally Car: The Carolina RallySport Subaru WRX runs in the Production-GT class. Under the rules the car is virtually stock and only minimal modifications are allowed. It has approximately 220 horsepower and a standard 5 speed transmission.

For more information on rally visit the Rally America website at: www.Rally-America.com