#2 – Andrew Pinker
Perth, Australia
RockStar Energy Drink Rally Team
2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI – Open Class


Australian driver Andrew Pinker has quickly established himself as a winner in the Rally America Championship Series. Since earning his first Rally America overall win in just his third start, the amiable Aussie has emerged as a consistent contender for victory.

Pinker's rally career began in 1992, when his natural prowess in a rally-school competition earned him a ride in the Australian round of the World Rally Championship. The teenager continued to rally in his native Perth, Australia, where he competed in local Daihatsu challenges.

In 1994, Pinker won his first national championship, capturing the Australian Formula 2 title.

Pinker's passion for the sport took him thousands of miles from his hometown to Denbigh, Wales.

The move proved positive for his rally career, and in 1996, Pinker claimed the World 2-Liter Championship.

He went on to compete in Australian and British rounds of the World Rally Championship, finishing first in class on three occasions.

In 2006, after successful seasons in the Spanish Rally Championship, Pinker made his Rally America debut at the challenging Sno*Drift season opener.

Adapting quickly to new courses, Pinker earned class wins in three of the four rallies he contested, and claimed overall victory in just his third Rally America event.

With two wins and five podium finishes in seven rallies this season, Pinker remains a strong contender for the 2007 Rally America title.

#4 – Tanner Foust
Steamboat Springs, Colo./Capistrano Beach, Calif.
RockStar Energy Drink Rally Team
2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI – Open Class
www.tannerfoust.com

While on hiatus from college 13 years ago, Tanner Foust had two jobs - driving busses for the town of Vail, Colo., and washing cars. The bus-driving job ended abruptly when Foust was caught practicing his drifting technique in a 40-foot bus on the snowy ski area parking lot. Foust did return to school and received his degree in molecular biology from CU Boulder, but today at 34 years old, he is back to sliding vehicles around.

Foust drives the Rockstar Subaru WRX in the Rally America National Championship Series with Chrissie Beavis as his co-driver and also competes in the Formula Drift series. Between races, Foust works as a stunt driver, with his car-control skills featured on such films as "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Fast and Furious 2: Tokyo Drift," and "The Bourne Ultimatum."

After winning the 2005 Rally America Performance GT (PGT) title and finishing second in the 2006 Rally America PGT championship, Foust advanced to the elite Open class of Rally America competition in 2007.

Foust took home the Rally Car Racing gold medal at X Games 13 in August, defeating Ken Block to earn top honors at the popular extreme-sports competition.

#17 – Antoine L'Estage
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada
Coyote Rallye
2003 Hyundai Tiburon – Open Class
www.coyoterallye.com

Antoine L'Estage, 33, was born into the world of rally. As a young boy, he and his siblings Mathieu and Laurence-Fanny would watch their father compete as a driver. Now, many years later, L’Estage has 10 years of rally experience and is the leader of the L'Estage rally family.

The Canadian driver began his rally career in a 2-wheel-drive car and quickly developed a reputation as one of the fastest drivers in North America. He is now among a short list of drivers who can say they've won every event in the Canadian championship.

The 2006 Canadian rally champion, L’Estage leads the 2007 standings and is on track to retain his national title. He lives with his co-driver/girlfriend, Nathalie, in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and hopes to one day continue this family dynasty by passing his passion on to his two children.

#20 – Andrew Comrie-Picard
Edmonton, AB
Musketeer Racing
2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9RS – Open Class
www.musketeerracing.com/

Growing up in rural Edmonton, Alberta, Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard started racing BMX bikes at age 8. By age 10, he was experimenting with the family's farm trucks, snowmobiles followed next. In his teens, Comrie-Picard went on to fulfill his need for speed by becoming a nationally renowned remote-control car racer.

When ACP encountered rally racing for the first time in 1998, he was a natural. At the time, Comrie-Picard was a degree candidate at Oxford University. Joined by two friends, the trio began racing vintage European automobiles in rallies around the continent.

Although Comrie-Picard began his professional career as a New York City entertainment lawyer, he now pursues his passion for cars fulltime as a television host, auto journalist, and rally car driver.

#43 – Ken Block
Encinitas, CA
Subaru Rally Team USA
2007 Subaru WRX STI – Open Class
www.rally.subaru.com

Ken Block co-founded skateboard shoe and apparel company DC Shoes 11 years ago in Vista, California. Block grew up skateboarding, and now, at 37, is an avid snowboarder, motocross rider and rally car racer.

Block has only been competing as a rally driver since 2005, but you wouldn't know it from his strong results. He was Rally America's Rookie of the Year in 2005, earned the bronze at Summer X Games 12, and walked off with a second-place finish in the 2006 Rally America Championship.

Block gets a huge kick out of competing with and against Travis Pastrana, DC Shoes’ premiere Freestyle motocross athlete, personal friend, fellow rally car racer and the impetus for him to pursue his passion of rally racing.

#46 – Matthew Johnson
Apex, NC
Hankook RalliSpec Carolina RallySport Team
Subaru Impreza WRX STI – Open Class
www.carolinars.com

At the age of 18, driver Matthew Johnson fell in love with performance rallying after watching his first rally-racing video. In 1996, at the age of 20, Johnson moved to England to study international business. While there, he also honed his driving skills at the Rally Drive school in England and the Forest Experience Rally School in Wales.

When Johnson returned to the States in 1997, his VW GTI morphed into a rally machine. In 2000, he competed in his first rally, where he made a name for himself by beating the veteran drivers in a car with much less horsepower and front-wheel drive.

In 2005, Johnson switched to a more powerful Subaru WRX, running in the PGT class. In 2006, he enjoyed consistent success, finishing in the top five overall in almost every race --including five wins in the PGT class -- en route to the 2006 Rally America National Production GT Championship.

#55 – Kyle Sarasin
Marquette, Mich.
CDP Racing
2002 Ford Focus – Open Class


Kyle Sarasin, 18 years old, competed in his first performance rally at the age of 16 when he drove in the 2005 Lake Superior Pro Rally. According to event organizers, he became the youngest competing driver in the history of the storied event.

The 2006 season brought continued success as Kyle finished in second place in the highly competitive open class in the central region, taking home second place overall as well.

A recent high-school graduate, Kyle has a diverse sports background, becoming the youngest American Bicycle Association BMX expert racer in the state of Michigan, as well as holding the state championship for six consecutive years. Later he became an accomplished downhill mountain bike racer as well as participating at competitive levels in hockey and baseball.

Kyle campaigns a Ford Focus in the Group 5 class with Tim O'Neil, five-time U.S. and North American rally racing champion and founder of the Team O'Neil Rally School, on-board as Kyle's personal instructor and advisor.

#199 – Travis Pastrana
Davidsonville, MD
Subaru Rally Team USA
2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI – Open Class
www.rally.subaru.com

Travis Pastrana is world famous because of his success on two wheels. He has dominated freestyle motocross at the X-Games, while being a top contender in the AMA Supercross Championship. But the 23 year old motorsports phenom also has a thirst for rallying. Vermont SportsCar provided Pastrana a Group N Subaru in 2003, and entered him in 3 rallies to simply see how the youngster would fare. Pastrana put aside any doubts about his abilities behind the wheel when he finished his first gravel rally an amazing 4th Overall and 3rd in Group N.

For 2007, Pastrana is not only running a near full schedule of Rally America events, but also an additional three WRC events with Subaru and Vermont SportsCar. Pastrana is teamed up with Christian Edstrom, a veteran co-driver with vast experience at US events.

#26 – Cary Kendall
Forest Lake, MN

2005 Dodge SRT-4 – Group 5
www.acrmotorsports.com

Cary Kendall has over two decades of experience in auto mechanics. He owns a successful auto repair and reconstruction business, as well as a car dealership.

Kendall began racing cars in 1988 and shone in the sport of ice racing, placing in the top three in many series championships.

He won the Central Division Rally Rookie Driver of the Year award in 2004 and was the Regional Rally Champion and Central Division Open Class Champion in 2005.

#70 – Christopher Duplessis
Mason Twp, ME

1990 Volkswagen GTi – Group 2


Over the past two seasons, 20-year-old driver Chris Duplessis of Duplessis Motorsports has had great results, finishing as high as second overall in the Maine Winter Rally. It is finishes such as this that helped win the 2005 RA Eastern Regional Championship title.

Starting fresh in 2007 with added support from sponsors, Wilcox Industries, Ogontz Group, Techtonics Tuning, and Team O'Neil Rally School, Chris and team will run an abbreviated schedule in hopes of clinching their first national title.

This is the first time that veteran co-driver Martin Headland, has ridden with Chris Duplessis. Headland has co-driven for champions such as Jean-Paul Perusse and Tim O'Neil and brings much experience to the young team. "We are having a great time, Chris is doing well and he is really smooth."

#316 – Michel Hoche- Mong
San Jose, CA

1985 VW GTI – Group 2


Michel Hoche-Mong began his racing career by rallycrossing, a sport that he excelled in right from the start- winning his class in the SCCA San Francisco Region Rallycross Championship in 2003 and 2004. He also took first place in his class in 2004 at the California Rally Series (CRS) Rallycross Championship.

Apparently success in rallycross wasn't enough for Hoche-Mong, and in 2004 he also began co-driving for Sameer Parekh in a 1975 G2 VW Scirocco. However, after their first season ended early with a roll, Michel built a production class 1985 VW GTI and they switched seats, with Hoche-Mong as the driver for the 2005 season.

Now in 2007, the car has been rebuilt to be a Group 2 car and Michel will continue his success as the driver with Sameer as his co-driver.

Michel Hoche-Mong studied physics at the University of California Santa Cruz and has been a software engineer for the last 15 years. He is also the webmaster for the CRS and was recently awarded the CRS's Bill Moore Award for contributions to the sport of rallying in 2006.

#515 – Adam Boullion
Livonia, MI
Ruf Road Motorsports
2000 Ford Focus – Group 2
www.rufroadmotorsports.com/index.htm

A financial analyst at Ford Motor Company, Adam Boullion began his racing career on motorcycles when he was a teenager. With over 10 years experience and several Enduro and Hare scramble class wins he moved on to rally racing in 2003 when he entered the Maine Forest Rally. Finishing 2nd in his class in his first competition was all it took to make him a lifetime rally enthusiast. We look forward to seeing what this young driver will bring to the table in 2007.

#473 – Lars Wolf
Danville, CA
Two - Three Rally Team USA
1989 Volkswagen Jetta – Group 5
www.twothreetuning.com

Lars’ background in racing started at a young age with an avid interest in Formula 1 and Trans-am racing in the early 90’s. However, his interest in cars (Volkswagens in particular) began at an even earlier age with the family car, a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle that he still owns to this day.

In 2004 Lars opened his own shop modifying and servicing Volkswagens and Audis. Then, in May of 2006, he was hired by Mcgee Motorsports at Infinion Raceway where he was given a chance to take his racing passion to the next level. For the past 2 years, under the helpful guidance of Erick Hauge and Sans Thompson, Lars has built and maintained his own rally car, a 1999 Volkswagen Bora 4-motion. At the same time he has acted as the crew chief for Merlin motorsports and their 2000 Volkswagen motorsports Jetta in the Speed World Challenge Touring Car Series. Lars has also attended one of the top driving schools in the country, Team O’Neil Rally School, where he acquired formal training in how to drive a rally car.

Today, Lars is living out his dream of racing his own rally car. He currently lives in California with his high school sweetheart whom he married in 1996.

#2 – Robbie Durant
Oxfordshire, ENG
RockStar Energy Drink Rally Team
2007 Subaru Impreza WRX STI – Open Class


Co-Driver Robbie Durant loves all aspects of the sport of rallying. The close competition, seeing new places, and trying to best all opposition; the Group N Class co-driver loves it all. Durant first tried racing at age 12 when he began driving ATV’s and old cars on a farm. Only a few years later, Durant got his feet wet co-driving rally cars and hasn’t stopped since.

A native of Oxford, United Kingdom, Durant and teammate Andrew Pinker have consistently placed in the top of their class. Durant’s life revolves around automobiles and racing. As an electronics technician for Red Bull Formula 1, Durant is constantly immersed in racing.

#4 – Christine Beavis
San Diego, CA
Rockstar Energy Drink Syms Racing Rally Team
2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STI – Open Class


Christine Beavis started her rally career at the age of 16, following in the footsteps of both her mother and father. Since that time she has navigated for seasoned drivers such as Seamus Burke, Rhys Millen and Stephan Verdier. She has guided these drivers and more to numerous stage and overall rally wins, highlighted by an overall win at the famous Pikes Peak in 2005. More recently Christine claimed the 2006 USRC National Co-Driver Championship.

2007 marks the first year Christine will be campaigning for the Rally America championship paired up with Tanner “Foxy” Foust in the RockStar Energy Drink Subaru STI prepared by SYMS Motorsports.

Christine is no stranger to the spotlight and has been featured in two episodes of the popular “Monster Garage” television show where she was able to show off her engineering and fabrication skills.

Raised in Southern California she now runs her freelance design firm and teaches architecture classes in San Diego. When Christine is not co-driving she is usually driving her Group 2 Volkswagen in regional events or out carving canyons on her Ducati.

#20 – Marc Goldfarb
Atkinson, NH
Musketeer Racing
2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9RS – Open Class


Marc Goldfarb began rallying as a spinoff of his interest in cars in college. His interest in PRO rallying began by running course opening during the Mo-Hud SCCA Snowflake PRO Rally/Ice Trial in 1979 and he began co-driving with Mike Friedman in a Datsun 510.

Goldfarb has since worked and co-driven with the best in the field of rally car racing including: Vermont SportsCar, Team O'Neil, Lesley Suddard, and of course, Andrew Comrie-Picard for whom Goldfarb consistently co-drives.

Goldfarb is a Design Engineer for the Communications Division of Analog Devices, a high tech company in Wilmington, MA, involved in the design of integrated circuits for commercial wireless products. He also enjoys running, skiing, and scuba diving.

#43 – Alessandro Gelsomino
Los Angeles, CA
Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru WRX STI – Open Class
www.alexgelsomino.com

Alex Gelsomino is one of the most experienced co-drivers competing in the USA today. Beginning at the tender age of 17, Italian native Gelsomino plunged into rallying while most kids were just getting comfortable with their driver's permits. After competing in his home country for three years, he moved to California and took his passion for rallying with him.

Alex has raced against the driving greats and consistently stakes out a place on the podium. In 2005, he and teammate Ken Block won the "Rookie of the Year" honors for their stellar performance during the season.

Gelsomino is not just a great co-driver. This college graduate with a degree in accounting and business administration, also speaks three languages fluently.

#74 – Mark Williams
North Potomac, MD
Ramana Lagemann Racing
2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution – Open Class
www.rallycodriver.com

Mark Williams has been in the business of rally racing for a long time. He made his rally debut in 1981 and competed in his first WRC rally in 1986. He also holds an impressive rally record with over 145 starts, 39 wins, and 13 series championships. He has been the North America Rally Champion 3 times in 2002, 2001, and 2000 as well as a 2-time Canada National Rally Champion. Today, he is one of the most sought after co-drivers in North America.

When he is not rallying or partaking in something rally related, Williams is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Eastport Analytics, Inc.

#18 – Ole Holter
Long Beach, CA
Paladin Rally
2001 Subaru Impreza – Open Class
www.paladinrally.com

A Pacific Northwest native, Ole Holter began his career in 1997. Raised in Oregon and Washington, Holter developed a natural affinity for “Rally roads” deep in the forest near where he lived. This led to his immediate success on the SCCA ProRally circuit, taking 3rd place in Group 2 and the California Rally Series 1st Place Two Wheel Drive Open Class Co-driver. Ole started with Matt’s team, Paladin, in 2005.

When he’s not competing, Holter’s passions lie in other high adrenaline pastimes like motorcycle riding, rock climbing, yoga, wind surfing, camping, hiking, and mountain biking. He also has other more low-key interests like ale tasting and traveling with his wife.

Holter’s mind for careful and efficient engineering around the rally course extends to his professional life as well. Holter holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA. He currently works as a Senior Electrical Engineer II at Raytheon System Corporation.

#34 – Scott Crouch
Boulder, CO

2006 Subaru WRX – Open Class


Scott Crouch is the co-driver for the Flatirons Rally Team and is the General manger for Flatirons Imports, home of the largest Subaru Dealership in Colorado. Crouch serves as the team manager as well as the co-driver.

He is married and lives in Boulder, Colorado.

#16 – Scott Putnam
Richfield, MN

2004 Subaru WRX STi – Open Class


Scott Putnam is a Fleet Sales Manager at a Subaru Dealership in Bloomington, Minnesota.

In 1991 a gentleman whom Scott would come to find out twelve years later was Bruce Weinman of Rally America wandered onto the lot where Scott worked at the time. Weinman asked if he could post a flyer for the Ojibwe Forests ProRally. Putnam went to check out the rally under the pretense of displaying a new Subaru at the event and became prompty hooked on the sport.

In 2000, Scott received a phone call from Doug Havir who was interested in buying a Subaru. He ended up buying one Subaru, then decided he wanted to rally and bought another. Havir needed a co-driver and asked Scott if he was interested. Scott jumped at the chance, and so began a solid career co-driving for Doug, followed by racing alongside the late Mark Lovell in 2002, and then training in Finland in early 2004, which later enabled Putnam's victories at the Ojibwe Forests ProRally co-driving for Lauchlin O'Sullivan.