SUBARU'S RICHARD SECOND AT PACIFIC FOREST RALLY

Subaru maintains grip on Manufacturer's Championship,
Driver's title to be decided at Tall Pines

TORONTO, Oct 4 /CNW/ - In spite of a number of challenges—including swapping out the transmission in record time—the Subaru team of Patrick Richard and Alan Ockwell battled all the way to the finish of the Pacific Forest Rally. They set several stage records in taking second place at the Pacific Forest Rally near Merritt, British Columbia.

First place went to arch-rivals Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard who now take over the lead in the Drivers and Co-drivers championships. L'Estage leads Richard by two points which means the championship will be decided at the final race of the year, the Rally of the Tall Pines, in November.

"While naturally we'd prefer to win every rally, the Manufacturer's Championship is our first priority. We fought hard to keep that in our grasp, including setting a record time on what many people think is the toughest stage in North American rallying," said Richard. "The fact that we were able to finish second, in spite of the problems we encountered, is a great tribute to the excellence of both the team and the car." Subaru currently leads the Manufacturers championship by 6 points going into the final event of the year.

Richard was not the only person singing the praises of Subaru at the end of the race—eight of the top ten finishers were teams rallying Subaru vehicles.

The final event of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship season, the Rally of the Tall Pines, starts on November 19 near Bancroft, Ontario.

For further information:

Elaine Griffin [phone]