For Immediate Release
Contact: Mike McGinnis
Buffalo, NY, December 5, 2013
It was a monumental finish at The Canadian Rally Championships this weekend as driver Chris Martin and co-driver Brian Johnson piloted the Innovative Tuning powered Subaru WRX to their first national event win, overtaking the big named favorites at the Rally of the Tall Pines. Innovative Tuning provided the engine as well as tuning support necessary for the team from Old School Motorsports to succeed in their 1993 Subaru Impreza WRX.
The Rally of the Tall Pines was the final race of the 2013 season for the CRC (Canadian Rally Championship), as a part of the NARC (North American Rally Cup), attracting competitors and fans from across the US and Canada. With extreme early winter conditions, the excitement of the rally was non-stop, but did not bother the team which favored the slick surfaces.
Talking with Martin, the team did not expect for the competition to fall off as fast as they did. The team was always focused on finishing above all else. Going up against the large teams of Rockstar sponsored Antoine L’Estage, Subaru Canada backed Pat “Rocket” Richard and privateer “Crazy Leo” Urlichich, the Old School Motorsports team of Martin and Johnson had humble a target of finishing the event above all else.
“In the early stages all we were looking at was our times in comparison to regional competitors. The next loop of stages we put on our new tires. Our game plan again was to just drive, we knew we had moved up a bunch, but there was tons of rally left” reflected Martin. The team had actually moved up from 19th to 5th.
“After the guard wire ‘can opened’ the front fender, we took it as a wake up call, and backed it down a notch,” stated Martin. The steady pace turned out to be a successful strategy as multiple teams suffered tire flats and mechanical failures, putting the team in contention for the win.
The team did not go through the event without their share of challenges. They suffered a flat tire, a coolant leak which caused overheating, and a fender slicing altercation with a guard wire throwing off the alignment. The problems would not be enough to stop the Old School Motorsports built WRX. With an engine failure taking “Crazy Leo” Urlichich out of the event it only strengthened the importance of the teams reliability on the Innovative Tuning engine.
About Old School Motorsports
Founded in 2004, Old School Motorsports was immediately a force to be reckoned with within the Ontario and Canadian Performance Rally Championships. OSM continues to be an innovator in the sport, introducing new products, new methodologies, and new manufactures to the sport of rallying.
www.oldschoolmotorsports.ca
About Innovative Tuning
Located in Buffalo, NY, Innovative Tuning is the premier import tuning facility in the Western NY region, spanning into southern Ontario. Founded in 2004, they specialize in all aspects of automotive performance; from project planning to parts selection, fabrication, welding, installation, service, repair, and Dyno and track tuning.
www.InnovativeTuning.com