Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prescott, Arizona, USA (October 1, 2011)
Driver Katianna Pihakari (Anaheim Hills, CA) joined by co-driver John Dillon (Thousand Oaks, CA) took the PikaSports team to another great finish at the Prescott Rally 2011 last weekend. This event, held in the surroundings of Prescott, AZ, on September 30th and October 1st, was sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport. The Prescott Rally 2011 was the final round of the United States rally Championship’s (USRC) Pacific Division Series. It also consists of two events for the California Rally Series (CRS).
“We had a great weekend,” commented the PikaSports driver Katianna Pihakari. “The roads were fast and fun and the event was really smoothly organized. The volunteers made our day as their support and smiles made us fly through the stages. We are definitely pleased with our second place USRC trophy this weekend!”
“The Streetwise crew did a wonderful job preparing the car for this race. The car just could not have worked better,” Katianna continued. “We did hit a large rock during the roughest section of the stages on Saturday morning. This damaged the left rear wheel bearing but our crew did a wonderful job and changed the parts in less than 20 minutes during the service break.”
“We started the race with determination to bring our overall speeds up during this rally and I am very pleased to see that we obtained our goal,” explained the crew chief Doug Nagy from Streetwise Motorsports (www.streetwiseparts.com) in the end of the race. “This specific rally is quite demanding for the whole team. The race starts with night stages and the visibility is often limited by the standing dust in the desert. The huge cliffs that we race next to are quite unsettling for most drivers and this will reduce the overall speeds. The long 21-mile stages on Saturday morning are demanding for the drivers and it is certainly difficult for the in-car teams to focus through these longer stages. This is approximately twice the length of a typical stage here on the west coast. ”
“The long straights might be the fastest here on the west coast. We, for example, obtained speeds of 93 mph on loose gravel!” continued the co-driver John Dillon. “This team is a true pleasure to work with and I am impressed to see how quickly Katianna is improving as a driver. Also, because we can fully trust the quality work of Doug and the crew, Katianna and I can fully focus on our jobs within the team. We were lucky to have Steve McNaughton, Ken Shaver, Jon Coltrane and a former national rally champion Ralph Kosmides turning wrenches with Doug when we needed help replacing a wheel bearing. They are a big part of our success.”
“We, the whole team, were hoping for slight rain for Friday night to keep the dust down in the darkness and sunshine for Saturday,” mentioned Katianna. ”Luckily the weather man granted our wishes and we had a wonderful weekend at Prescott Rally 2011.”
PikaSports campaigns a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX built and prepared by Streetwise Motorsports (www.streetwiseparts.com). Lights are provided by Anzo USA (www.anzousa.com). PikaSports races in partnership with the Widget Rally Team (www.widgetracing.com). Photos courtesy of Motorsports Memories (www.motorsportmemories.com).
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FOR EDITORS:
* Media Contact:
Katianna Pihakari
pikasports@yahoo.com
8018 Santa Ana Canyon Suite #100-260
Anaheim Hills, CA 92808
tel 310.384.9604
* The event was part of the USRC (www.unitedstatesrallychampionship.com) and CRS (www.californiarallyseries.com) Championship series.
* More information is available on: http://www.pikasports.com (photos under the 'photos' tab)
* Photo of car on stage, photo credit Bill Rogers at Motorsports Memories:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49096697@N08/6209155611/
We have permission from Motorsports Memories to use this photo in the press release.