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24 November 2001 - For immediate release
For more information, contact: John Dillon
Widget Rally Team
P. O. Box 1231
Thousand Oaks, CA 91358-0231
Phone: 805.906.7797
Widget web site: www.WidgetRacing.com
e-mail: John @ WidgetRacing.com

Widget Team Finishes First Overall at Treeline Rally

West Covina, CA. Lauchlin O'Sullivan (San Francisco) and John Dillon (Thousand Oaks) raced their Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX to the overall victory at the Treeline Rally on Saturday, 17 Nov 2001, finishing over two minutes ahead of the second place team of Ralph Kosmides and Josh Jaquot. The Eclipse, prepared by crew chief Tom Laeng, races in the Production GT category, a class of car that allows only safety and limited suspension improvements to a stock automobile. The Treeline Rally is the last 2001 rally in the Southern Pacific Division of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).

"We drove a conservative rally today," remarked O'Sullivan. "Despite serious overheating problems due to a failed radiator fan on the second stage, we moved up to second place behind Seamus Burke. We stayed in striking distance until the next to last stage when Seamus had electrical problems. With a three minute lead over Ralph, we took it really easy for the last seventeen miles to make sure we'd finish."

[O'Sullivan and Dillon on the Trail to Victory - photo by Bill Hofmann] Dillon added, "Lauchlin drove a smart rally this evening. I think it's harder to throttle back a little than to race flat out, but Lauchlin kept his cool and made sure we finished, even though we didn't fly as fast as we would have liked." The Treeline Rally, a compact one-day event, raced over incredibly tight, twisty, and rugged forest service roads. "At every corner there seemed to be a stack of boulders awaiting unsuspecting drivers," said the co-driver. "Several competitors fell out because of suspension damage, but this car handles the rough stuff beautifully," noted O'Sullivan.

As a result of the victory, O'Sullivan and Dillon both finished second in the divisional PGT championship. "We struggled with reliability problems early in the year," noted crew chief Laeng, "but once we bought this car we were able to achieve strong, consistent results." After a shake-down rally in Washington, the crew went through the car and repaired the weak spots, resulting in a class win at the brutal Prescott Forest Rally. Amazingly, O'Sullivan drove the car to seventh overall in the National event, well ahead of several Open-classed machines.

With another first-place award in the trophy case, O'Sullivan and Dillon have only one rally left in the 2001 season. The pair hopes to repeat their PGT victory of 2000 at the Ramada Express International Rally, held in mid-December in Laughlin, Nevada. "Along with our class win last year we finished on the overall podium," said O'Sullivan, "and I'd sure love to taste that champagne again." "Of course," laughed Dillon, "I wouldn't mind moving up a step or two either!"

The Widget Eclipse, which has proven so strong and reliable in recent events, will be available for purchase after the Ramada Express rally. Meanwhile, plans are still in development for the 2002 season as the Widget Rally Team seeks additional rally partners. "Several product sponsors have renewed their commitment to us for the coming year," noted Laeng, "including Porterfield Brakes, Berdoo Transmissions, Fleet Glass, and Shults Dot Com for web services. If we can secure enough support to field a new car in '02 we plan to contend for the overall championship."

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