Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2004 		Contact: Thomas Barker
Publicity Officer
Phone: 845-794-4096
E-mail: ThomasVBarker@netscape.net
Website: RallyNewYork.com

Rally New York 2004
Notes on the Competitors and Cars

(position, driver/co-driver, car (car number), notes)

  1. Shane Mitchell/Paul Donnelly, Subaru Impreza (2), Mitchell said that this was not the way that he wanted to win the rally, but he was happy to win anyway

  2. John Drislane/Ronan Burke, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 (4), they decided to run at their own pace, letting Burke and Mitchell go, but trying to keep Donnelly and Egan behind them

  3. Celsus "Charlie" Donnelly/Barry McCann, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2 (7), asked about the rally, Donnelly said with a smile "I knew it was going to be fast, but I didn't know it would be that fast"

  4. Liam Egan/Charlie Donnelly, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 (8), Egan described the special stages as "fast and furious"

  5. Patrick Lilly/Bernard Farrell, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 (11), Lilly described the early stages as "slippy, fast, tight and twisty"

  6. Jason E. Revas/Casey Blust, Subaru Impreza WRX (13), Revas found some of the dirt roads early in the event to be rutted, but said that they "weren't a big deal"

  7. Noel Nash/Eddie Fries, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5 (6), Nash believes that the choice of treaded tires for the paved special stages 7 and 8 may have cost him a place-most top teams chose slicks; Nash said that Rally New York was a good event, but noted that "the roads change a lot from open to narrow," therefore having a chance to see the roads at low speed before the rally and use route notes was helpful

  8. John Keaney/Bob Kelly, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 (14), spun on special stage 10 and dropped about 25 seconds

  9. Martin Donnelly/Brady Declan, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 (9)

  10. John Meegan/Matt Keany, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4 (37), slowed on special stages 1-3 because they picked tires which were too hard; Asked about the rally itself, Meegan said "It's a fast, tricky event, you've got to use your head"

  11. Daniel O'Brien/Garry Farrell, Subaru Impreza WRX (54), O'Brien was happy with the performance of their car, "It's a good day all around."

  12. Andrew Havas/Dave Shindle, Mazda RX-7H (21), slowed on special stage 2 when only one fuel pump was working; alternator failure late in the rally, but the service crew found that they had a GM alternator in their box of spares, and used that to replace the original alternator; best 2-wheel-drive finisher

  13. Randy Zimmer/Russell Strate, Subaru Impreza (15), second gear failed on special stage 9

  14. Robert Wall/Matthew Johnson, Subaru Impreza WRX (39), Wall described the special stage one as "a little slippery and tight [with] big rocks"

  15. Niall Donnelly/Mark McAllister, Subaru Impreza WRX (10), clutch slipping; they had what they described as a "wee moment" on special stage 3 when the car went up on two wheels for 50 yards, breaking a wheel and suspension arm on landing; crew fixed damaged at next service; at the last service stop the service crew found that the rear differential was working loose, and tightened the bolts; Donnelly was slowed by dust on special stage 10

  16. Jeff Field/Mike Hordijk, Toyota Celica GTS (19), Field noted that they "brushed a bridge" on special stage 2; late in the rally engine oil leaked into the clutch housing, causing the clutch to slip

  17. Maciej Przybysz/Dominic Jozwiak, Mitsubishi Gallant (51), Przybysz praised the workers at Rally New York, saying that they were "very courteous, helpful-they have the right attitude"

  18. Scott Gardner/Boyd Smith, Audi S2 Quattro (42), flat tire on special stage 1, high-intensity lights cutting out in the evening section; Smith, a very experienced co-driver, was very impressed with Gardner's driving on only his fourth rally

  19. Travis Washay/Charles Montalbano, Volkswagen Golf GTI (44), muffler broken off by rocks on special stage 3

  20. Otis Dimiters/Peter Monin, Subaru Impreza (5), top of strut in right front suspension came loose on special stage 1; Dimiters and Monin hammered a lug nut on to hold it in place and limped through the remaining sections until the first service where their service crew fixed it; Monin reported that the transmission started making "a really strange klunking sound' late in the rally-however, "half way through stage 7, it lost second gear, but it doesn't klunk any more."

  21. Paul Duarte/Brain Johnson, Toyota Corolla (29), Duarte was pleased with the rally and the conditions, but noted that there was a lot of gravel on the paved special stages

  22. David P. Siesicki/Steve McKelvie, Audi 4000 Quattro (24), Siesicki liked the "figure 8" layout of the event, since this made it easy to navigate out from the service point to the special stages and back

  23. Wojtek Okula/Adam Pelc, Mitsubishi Lancer GS (60), went off on special stage 9 when rear brakes failed, got back on the road

  24. Cyril Kearney/Cornelius O'Sullivan, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 5 (49), Kearney reported that they were performing better than expected

  25. Tim Meyer/David Toy, Volkswagen Golf (45), the team said that their car is "completely dead stock, [it] runs like a tank, unfortunately it goes like a tank; Meyer and Toy are both also road racers, and enjoyed the chance to run on the paved stages

  26. Greg Robinson/Marc Dean, Subaru Impreza STI (50), they had to adjust the camber on the suspension at the first service stop

  27. Dan Brosnan/Chris King, Nissan Sentra (41)

  28. Carlos Lopez/D.J. Hathaway, Eagle Talon (36)

  29. Andrew Hadjiminas/Luis Figueiredo, Subaru Impreza (28)

  30. Eric Heitkamp/Michael Cao, Acura RSX (35), brake line failed as they were leaving the first service, but they fixed it

  31. Wyatt Knox/Marc Goldfarb, Volkswagen Golf (65), the team was pleased with the car, calling it "minty fresh"

  32. Donal P. Mulleady/Damien Treanor, Mazda 323 (40), broken brake pipe on special stage 5, leaving them only the handbrake; they were able to limp pack to the next service to have the pipe replaced

  33. Niall T. Smith/Michael Cusack, Mitsubishi Talon (27)

  34. Gary Griswold/Bernhard Orby, Eagle Talon Tsi (56), the team showed their appreciation to the army of volunteers who make the rally happen with a sticker on the back of the car which said "Thank you, workers!"

  35. Phillip Lynch/Liam Mulvey, Mazda RX3 (61), a transmission seal failed on special stage 6, but the service crew fixed it at the next service stop

  36. John O'Reilly/Noel Gallagher, Eagle Talon (43), the team had trouble changing a wheel at the third service stop

  37. Terdsuk Srisook/Andrew Cohen, Mazda Protégé (47), Srisook said that he was happy with the event, and would be back

  38. Scott B. Wilburn/Carie Wilburn, Eagle Talon (32), the turbocharger failed during the morning section when a vacuum hose came loose, but this was repaired at the next service stop

  39. Mark Yeck/Nicole Capobianco, Plymouth Laser (53)

  40. Thomas O'Sullivan/Martin Shekleton, Eagle Talon (59)

  41. Sean Coffey/Jarlath Kelly, Volkswagen Golf (63), Coffey reported that the catalytic converter in the exhaust had become blocked, possibly due to a fuel problem, but the service crew fixed it

Did not finish:

Did not start:

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