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Press Releases by Jamie Thomas
July 20, 2005
Jame
"Subie Gal" Thomas Takes 1st Overall in the Treeline
Rally
Burnsie the Rally Wagon and the crew braved the heat of Southern
California to tackle the tightest, most technical rally stages
in the country. Setting personal and teams bests, using every
inch of the road and having a blast in spite of the heat,
the team came up winners once again by taking first in car
class (PGT) and first Overall!
This is the 2nd year in a row the team has made the trek
to the Los Angeles area to compete in the Treeline rally.
Staged in the Angeles mountains outside of LA - this rally
is tough. Average speed of the winning car is 30mph. This
rally is hot - seeing temperatures outside the car exceeding
100 degrees. The rally is very unique as the roads are extremely
tight, technical and endurance is key. The team fared well
starting 2nd on the course and taking over 1st after competitor
Brian Scott unfortunately suffered severe damage to his Ford
Focus. Once taking over the rally lead, they never looked
back and kept their lead through to the end.
"These roads are tough, you don't see roads like this
anywhere else in the country." stated Jamie Thomas, team
owner/driver, "My biggest battle of the weekend was the
heat. I was overheated, the car was overheating, it has very
tall gears for these twisty technical roads and tends to overheat
rapidly due to the lower speed of the rally. We tried to maintain
a good pace, to keep moving and it worked brilliantly! I am
so pleased to have won the event overall, we worked so hard
and this is a great way to celebrate our efforts as a team."
"Jamie is a hell of a driver. She drove a smart rally,"
stated Matt Gauger, team co-driver, "I had some problems,
but she just kept going, kept us moving. She's amazing."
Side note: Matt Gauger has just clinched the Western States
Rally Championship for PGT Co-driver for the 2nd year in a
row - congratulations Matt!!!
Burnsie the Rally Wagon did not leave California completely
unscathed. On special stage 5, the team struggled to keep
their pace. As Matt found himself in the notes, the team was
driving blind, and found a rock. A large rock. Damage suffered
included a slightly bent control arm, meaning that Jamie had
to adjust their pace for the duration of the event, or risk
a "DNF" and a broken car. Luckily, even with the
slightly off pace, the car held up, and the team held onto
their overall lead.
Next Event: Wild West International Rally - September - Olympia
Washington
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