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2005 Ramada Express International Rally |
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Paladin Rally heads to Ramada Express International Rally this week to wrap up the overall drivers victory for the North American Rally Championship. With a year of consistent finishes, the team has already secured 1st Open, 3rd Overall for the Rally America Championship, and 3rd Overall for the Canadian Association of Rallysport Championship. The team also currently stands tied for 2nd in the United States Rally Championship.
With Natalie Richard having already secured the NARC title for co-driver, co-driver Ole Holter will do his best to keep driver Matt Iorio focused on the driver’s cup. Paladin Rally would have secured both championships already, but a series of bad luck including an off at the CARS Defi Ste. Agathe Rallye and the NASA International Rally New York left the NARC championship up for grabs.
Another result of this bad luck is leaving Paladin Rally without a car for Ramada. To keep in the championship fight Matt and Ole will be taking the start line in a GrpN Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII prepared by Cascade Autosport. Matt is familiar with the Cascade Autosport Lancer Evolution, having contested both 2004 Lake Superior Pro Rally and 2005 Pacific Forest Rally to finish 3rd and 2nd overall respectively. “The car has a lot more power and hook up than I’m used to” says Matthew Iorio. Matthew Iorio’s strategy for the event will be to push hard enough for a strong finish, but not so strong he damages Cascade’s car.
Ole Holter should have no problem keeping Matthew on the correct pace throughout the event though, as Ole has contested this event several times, culminating in a win in 2001 with David Higgins. Ole would love to repeat the win, but knows that the bigger goal is finishing the event safely and securing both the 2nd overall finish in the USRC as well as helping Matt win the NARC drivers cup. Matt and Ole will be all business this weekend, as they head into the final event of 2005 with their minds on finishing out the year with another strong finish, setting the team up for the confidence they’ll need to take the fight to a new level in 2006.
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