PRESS RELEASE
______November 21st, 1999______1 PAGE OF 3_______
FROM :					C.A.R.S.
            CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF RALLYSPORT
TO :		sports desk

SUBARU CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
presented by
YOKOHAMA TIRES OF CANADA

EVENT	:  			Rally of the Tall Pines
LOCATION 	:    		             Bancroft, Ontario

1999 final standings: 1- Frank Sprongl 2- Sylvain Vincent 3- Tom McGeer 4-John Paynter 5- 
Y. Barbe  6- Jon Nichols  7- É. Tremblay, M. Racine  8- Havas  9- J. Smith 
Class Champions : Open : Frank Sprongl	              Production GT : Sylvain Vincent	     
Group 2 : Jon Nichols   Prod. Sport :  Bruno Laverdière  Prod. 1750 : Ilana Rosenshein
Champion Manufacturers : 	Open : Audi  		Production GT: Subaru	
Group 2 : Volkswagen	Prod.  Sport :  Toyota   Prod. 1750 : Suzuki
Co-Driver standings: 1- Dan Sprongl  2- Dominique Cyr  3- Trish McGeer  4- Clarke Paynter  5- Eric Tremblay  6- Mike Koch  7- Luc Piché  8- J-F Guité  9 – Bob Burton
	Best Novice Driver : Bruno Laverdière
	Best Lady : Dominique Cyr
2000 SCHEDULE - SUBARU CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
January   28-30	Rallye de Quebec				Quebec, Quebec
February 11-13	Rallye Perce-Neige				Pembroke, Ontario
May	    20-21	Bighorn Rally					Edson, Alberta
May 	    26-27	Rocky Mountain Rally			Calgary, Alberta 
July	    7 – 8 	Rallye Baie des Chaleurs			New Richmond, Quebec
Sept. 29 - Oct.1	Rally of the Voyageurs			Parry Sound, Ontario
November 3 – 5 	Rallye Auto Charlevoix			Pointe-au-Pic, Quebec November 24-25	Rally of the Tall Pines			Bancroft, Ontario

NEXT RELEASE : Tuesday,   January 25th  :  Rallye de Québec
			Merry Christmas  and Happy New Year 2000 !

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tall Pines: a Rally For Pride!

Bancroft, Ontario. – Under overcast skies, with drizzle and rain coming down, Frank and Dan Sprongl managed to clinch their sixth Rally of the Tall Pines in a row, the final
event of the Subaru Canadian Rally Championship, presented by Yokohama. In front of largest crowd in Pines history, they delighted the fans in their Audi Quattro S2 with unbelievable speeds and raw driving talent on the treacherous road conditions. Two Subaru Impreza WRXs, those of Tom McGeer and Sylvain Vincent followed closely. 
37 teams left the friendly East Ontario community for this late Fall Classic to be fought over 11 stages and 190 kilometres of pure speed. 

Podium Pictures Season
Tom McGeer, driving the factory-sponsored Subaru WRX, started the day out slowly, but regained confidence and chipped away at Vincent’s second place. Back in Bancroft late Saturday night, it was Sprongl, McGeer, Vincent on the podium, with McGeer operating a last minute sprint to overtake Vincent who still earns GT title and 1999 vice-champion status.

Yves Barbe, in his Eagle Talon, finished fourth, and an outstanding performance by US competitor Nick Robinson in a Group 2 Honda Civic rounded out the top five. Robinson hustled his Civic to finish well in front of many all-wheel drive competitors. With his new Golf GTi, Jon Nichols finished second in Group 2 and a distant 10th overall. But he had such a strong season that he again wins class championship.

Jean-Marc Alcaraz, after debuting his new 400 horsepower Mazda 323GTR at Charlevoix, had clutch problems. Until he was forced to bow out, Alcaraz was also a contender for a podium spot with a number of blazing runs through the first four stages. Look for some serious competition from the DCA Express Mazda next year.

All Titles Sewn-up
John and Clark Paynter's first place finish in GT class meant that Subaru took first place honours in the manufacturers championship for 1999. Newcomer Bruno Laverdiere was on a roll; not only did he end the season with a first place finish in Production Sport class, he was given an award for being top novice. Congratulations were also in order for Dominique Cyr,
wife and co-driver of Sylvain Vincent. She was awarded the Joan McAlpine trophy for being the top lady in Canadian rallying for 1999. Ilana Rosenshein rounded out the roster of
winners for 1999, clinching the championship in Production 1750 class with her Suzuki Swift.

The Subaru Canadian Rally Championship is presented across the country eight times, between February and November. It is sanctioned by the Canadian Association of RallySport and supported by Subaru Canada and Yokohama Tire. The first rally of the season is Rallye de Quebec, in Quebec City. Additional information is available from the CARS website at www3.sympatico.ca/rally.cars or the Rallye de Quebec web site at www.oricom.ca/rallyeqc/

For Information: Michel Poirier-Defoy: 450 – 491 – 2480   lpindfoy@sympatico.ca 
	CARS: Mr Terry Epp: 905 – 640 – 6444  

RESULTS

SUBARU CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Presented by 
YOKOHAMA TIRES OF CANADA

EVENT	:  		RALLY OF THE TALL PINES

#	TEAM	CAR	HOMETOWN	CLASS	FINAL	
1	Frank / Dan Sprongl	Audi Quattro S2  	Mississauga, On 	Open	134:28	
 2	Tom McGeer /J. Bellefleur	Subaru Impreza WRX	Georgetown, On	Open	137:46	
 3	Sylvain Vincent / D. Cyr	Subaru Impreza WRX 	La Plaine, Qc	Open	139:09 	
 4	Yves Barbe/P. Bazinet	Eagle Talon	Laval, Qc	Open	143:44	
 5	N. Robinson/ C. Lindquist	Honda Civic	Plain City, Ohio	Gr2	145:49	
 6	John & Clarke Paynter 	Subaru Legacy	Halifax, NS	GT	147:39	
 7	Tom Lawless / C. Hegarty	Eagle Talon	Maspeth, NY	Open	151:00 	
 8	G. Healy / M. Kreisler	Subaru Impreza	Saugerties, NY	GT	151:02	
 9	K. Scheible / G. McGuire	Volks New Beetle	Spenceport, NY	Sport	153:01  	
10	Jon Nichols/ Mike Koch 	Volks Golf GTi	Montreal / Ottawa	GR2	156:01	

The high points:  
•	Sprongls motored on to sixth Tall Pines victory in a row. 
•	The two Subaru WRXs exchanged second place all day
•	Nicolas Robinson put on show with his Group 2 win
•	Largest crowd ever for this Fall Classic hosted by Bancroft
•	Paynters gave Subaru the manufacturer title in the GT class
•	Four American crews round Top Ten positions

The low points: 
•	Jean-Marc Alcaraz had clutch problem on his Mazda GT-R 
•	Numerous competitors were plagued with flat tires, unusual for Pines