Toronto, Ontario (November 25, 2008) – The outcome of the 2008 Canadian Rally Championship, the Rally of the Tall Pines, was plagued with attrition with barely half the starting grid reaching the finish line in Bancroft, Ontario. During the race, two Mitsubishi crews battled the icy roads to finish in the Top 5. A late entry, Irish-born American Seamus Burke stayed in perfect control and took to the podium with a rewarding third place while Martin Losier from Blainville, Quebec had his best result ever with fifth place.
Andrew Comrie-Picard, at the helm of a new Lancer Evolution, took tenth overall and Jen Horsey clinched another Production class win in her Mitsubishi Lancer.
Already leaders entering the event, co-drivers Simon and Maxime Losier, from Blainville, Quebec become the first Mitsubishi Cup champions. Beside the Losier family, another brother crew had an outstanding campaign: Jan and Jody Zedril who hail out of Winnipeg became the new 2008 Canadian Production class champions driving a Mitsubishi Lancer.
“The hordes of rally fans who braved the cold weather witnessed how difficult this form of motorsports is”, said Koji Soga, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada (MMSCAN). “These Mitsubishi drivers always work their hardest and so I would like to congratulate Simon and Maxime Losier from Blainville Mitsubishi for their outstanding season and the Zedril brothers for their national title.”
Asked about his performance with his new car, Andrew Comrie-Picard added: “The end result is not an indication of how things went. Every new race car has teething problems and we wanted to run the whole event to gather as much information about the car and how it behaves in real rally conditions. The Pines was a huge learning curve and we did not carry the same pace entering the event as we did near the end when our times were in the top 5. The new Lancer Evolution has an awesome potential and we will be among the contenders when we start the next season.
The curtain falls on the 2008 season with Tall Pines rally. The Mitsubishi teams will take a few months off to celebrate with their families in the Holiday Season and come back stronger for the first round of Canadian championship, Rallye Perce-Neige, set for February 7, 2009.
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