News
(august 22, 2008)
Mitsubishi commits tough cars and top talent to Targa 2008 challenge
ST. JOHN'S (August 18, 2008) - Mitsubishi will return to Targa Newfoundland in 2008 with two potent new models, a squad of talented competitors and a commitment to win Canada's longest and toughest motorsport event, the company has announced.
The sophisticated new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR and the much-anticipated new Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart will carry the standard for Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada Inc. in the company's third visit to the event and first attempt at the grueling Targa competition.
In a strategic assault on the Targa title, the company will enter the Lancer Evolution GSR in the Modern Modified Specification category while the Lancer Ralliart will take on competitors in the Modern Standard Specification category. Both cars are in the hands of experienced competitors.
Leading the effort in the Lancer Evolution is the high-flying Andrew Comrie-Picard with co-driver Jen Horsey. Undoubtedly Canada's most successful rally competitor of the past two years, Comrie-Picard, of Edmonton, spreads himself between two countries as he campaigns in both Canadian and U.S. national rally series. A committed Mitsubishi driver since 2002, Comrie-Picard's success in the two series has earned outright and class wins, regular trips to the podium and three invitations to the prestigious X Games. He currently leads the points race in the U.S.
Although he is new to Targa as a competitor, he knows the event well: For the past two seasons, he has hosted the one-hour television documentary on Targa that airs on network television in North America and around the world.
Horsey, of Toronto, also knows Targa - as a successful competitor as well as journalist and broadcaster. She claimed a spot on the podium (third place overall in 2006) in the second of her two appearances as a Targa co-driver. Like Comrie-Picard, she also campaigns a Mitsubishi in the Canadian Rally Championship.
The Lancer Ralliart will be wheeled by the team of Mark Hacking and John LeBlanc. Both will do double duty as front line competitors and as journalists covering the event.
Hacking, of Toronto, is arguably the most experienced Targa driver on the team. He has made three trips to the event in the Grand Touring Division, logging a win in 2005 at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Eclipse and a podium placing in a Subaru Legacy. Away from the car, Hacking is an editor of Driven magazine and frequent contributor to an array of automobile and lifestyle media.
Ralliart co-driver LeBlanc, of Ottawa, makes his second appearance at the event after his debut in a factory-entered Jeep in 2006. A lapsed advertising executive, LeBlanc is a passionate observer and commentator on the auto industry and a regular columnist in the Toronto Star Wheels section.
With so much writing talent aboard, the team will be chronicling their adventures for numerous outlets and will be posting daily reports on Sympatico/MSN, Wheels.ca, the Globe & Mail on-line edition and elsewhere.
Mitsubishi's world-wide reputation among rally fans is near legendary. For nearly 20 years, the company has collected trophies, championships and legions of devotees in Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. When the company settled in Canada five years ago, Canadian fans hoped the corporate passion for competition would follow and were rewarded last year when the company announced a multi-phase program to support the sport in Canada. The 2008 plan includes direct participation in Targa as well as a comprehensive support program for Mitsubishi owners who enter the event.
Owned and operated by Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, Targa Newfoundland is one of three internationally recognized Targa motorsports events in the world. The 7thannual Targa Newfoundland will start and end in St. John's and will cover more than 2,000 kilometres of the challenging, twisty roads of the central and eastern portion of the island of Newfoundland over six days, including up to 400 kilometres of closed-road, flat-out Targa stages. Competitors have come from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Holland, the Bahamas and the U.K. for the first six editions of Targa Newfoundland and international interest continues to build with competitors registering daily from places such as Germany and the Turks & Caicos.
