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Musketeer / DMS - 1st win in 2006 Championship 
Comrie-Picard and Musketeer Racing take Sno*Drift win ATLANTA, MI. (January 31, 2006) Canadian rally driver Andrew Comrie-Picard and Musketeer Racing earned a decisive win on the ice and snow of northern Michigan at the first round of the 2006 Rally America Championship, finishing the Sno*Drift Rally more than a minute ahead of Subaru Team U.S.A.'s Travis Pastrana after two days of tough driving. It was a terrific rally for us everything went according to plan and the plan was something new to me, said Comrie-Picard. The last time the team contested this race, they won the first six stages, then damaged the car trying to keep up the pace. This year, they took a wider view, focusing particular attention on the first very long (25 mile) stage on the second day. The strategy paid off. We won that stage and everyone else had some sort of problem on it, said Comrie-Picard. The biggest challenge after that was figuring out how slow to drive to bring it home. Paired with champion co-driver Rod Hendricksen for this U.S. season opener, the privateer achieved consistent, top-tier times to finish first in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, while his rivals struggled to stay on the road in the difficult winter conditions. Thankfully we had a reliable ride all credit is due to my team of volunteers who keep our nine-year-old car on the road. It would be impossible without them, said Comrie-Picard. Early race leader Ken Block slid his Subaru Team U.S.A. entry off the course early on the second day during that crucial, 25 mile stage while Pastrana blew out two tires on the same stage after striking a chunk of ice. Comrie-Picard, meanwhile, had no such trouble on his Yokohama winter tires. When you're landing a jump at 170 kilometers-per-hour on a narrow one-lane of glare ice, you need to be able to rely on your tires, he said. The driver is supported by Yokohama in Canada. Yokohama tires have never let me down. The conditions at this race were particularly tricky and tires were key, said Comrie-Picard. The Ice Guard IG10 and Advan A034 tires gave us an extraordinary level of winter handling and traction in extreme rally conditions from ice to slush to mud. In third place was the Production-GT entry of Tanner Foust and co-driver Scott Crouch. It was an amazing drive for Foust in a production-class car; the Colorado stunt driver and drifting expert is also known for his expertise on ice and snow. It is the fourth time in five years that a Canadian has stood atop the podium at SnoDrift: Frank Sprongl won the event in a Hyundai in 2002, and Patrick Richard claimed victory for Subaru in 2004 and 2005 en route to earning back-to-back US national championship titles. Comrie-Picard will be in action again next weekend for the season opener north of the border, Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki (Feb. 4th). He will partner with his regular co-driver Marc Goldfarb at the race. Special thanks to sponsors:
For more information, contact Musketeer Racing at: About the driver: This season marks a return to stage rallying for Edmonton, Alberta born and Victoria, BC bred Comrie-Picard, who largely stepped away from the sport in 2005 to host a national network television show about building and racing cars. He plans to combine his media career with a strong rally effort in 2006. The driver has been setting top times on the North American rally circuit since his debut in 2000. He cut his teeth in an ex-works Lada Samara before upgrading in 2002 to the ex Richard Tuthill 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV that he still campaigns today. Immediate results followed and he finished on every podium but one that year, taking home second overall in the Canadian National Championship and Novice of the Year. Although Comrie-Picard came to rallying in his 20s, he began racing BMX bikes, motorcycles, dune buggies, and snowmobiles before the age of 8. His first taste of serious international competition came with a smaller vehicle he was a remote controlled model car champion. Sponsored by Associated/Reedy/Novak, he spent several years campaigning R/C cars in North America, Europe, and Asia to take home many titles. About the sport: Performance rallying is a challenging, all-season motorsport that puts modified street cars to the test in every imaginable road condition it's real cars, real roads, and real fast. Cars hit speeds of 200 kilometres per hour on winding roads in races that last two days and cover several hundred flat out kilometres. The Canadian series is comprised of six events across the country, while the U.S. series has nine. |
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