Media Contact:
Piers O'Hanlon
Team SoCal Rally
www.socalrally.com
press@socalrally.com
Monday, February 09, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ROOKIE TEAM STORMS TO STATE RALLY SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP WIN
SAN DIEGO, CA: Team SoCal Rally stormed to their first California Rally
Series (CRS) championship title during 2003, and was presented with the
CRS Open 4WD Class "First Place Driver" award at the CRS awards banquet
on February 7th in Pomona, CA. The team, composed of driver Piers
O'Hanlon and co-driver Neil A. Smith, were delighted with the level of
success achieved in only their first year in the demanding sport of
rallying.
The old saying "to finish first, first you must finish" held true for
the team throughout their first full season. Following a spectacular
accident in his first event at the tail end of the '02 season, O'Hanlon
was determined to drive his rally car, an '84 Audi Quattro Turbo
professionally prepared by Ron Wood at VW Specialties, at a steady pace
and finish every race the team entered. This intelligent approach was
enough to clinch the CRS Open 4WD Class driver's title.
As an added bonus, O'Hanlon and Smith were also presented with the
Rookie of the Year Driver and Co-Driver awards, and finished 3rd in
their respective classes in the Western States Rally Championship
(WSRC), which encompasses events in Washington, Oregon, California,
Nevada, Arizona and Colorado.
"I'm ecstatic with the way things turned out," exclaimed O'Hanlon, a
British national who was born and raised in South Africa, and is now
permanently resident in the United States. "We had a plan and we stuck
to it, and everyone involved with Team SoCal Rally can be very proud of
our achievement. I've always wanted to be a rally driver, but this year
proved to be so much more."
The team is currently planning and preparing for a more extensive
season in 2004. After self-financing their first year, the team is
seeking commercial partners looking to share in what promises to be
another great season. In addition to running in the California Rally
Series, hopes are high that enough financial backing can be found to
run some events outside of the regional California Rally Series, and to
compete in as many Western States Rally Championship events as possible.
More information on the California Rally Series (CRS) and the Western States Rally Championship (WSRC) can be found at www.CaliforniaRallySeries.com and www.wsrally.org respectively.
Team SoCal Rally (www.SoCalRally.com)
is a rally team based in San Diego, CA. The team includes owner and
driver Piers O'Hanlon, co-driver Neil A. Smith and service crew chief
Angelo Figallo. Professional preparation and tuning services are
provided by VW Specialties (www.VwSpecialties.com)
in Huntington Beach, CA. The team competes in performance rallies
throughout California and the Western United States in an Open Class
1984 Audi Quattro Turbo.
