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Rory Kennedy [left] pictured here with driver Mark Higgins
while competing on the Irish Tarmac Championship in 2007. Photo ©Neil McDaid
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Irish Champion co-driver to Call Notes at Rally in the
100 Acre Woods
February 18, 2012.
Atlanta, GA.—Joseph Burke Motorsports (JBM) will have a change in co-drivers at
Rally in the 100 Acre Woods. Four-time Irish tarmac champion navigator Rory
Kennedy will be calling the notes for driver Joseph Burke the weekend of
February 24-26, in Salem, Missouri. Burke heads into the second event in the
Rally America Championship fourth overall in the championship standings.
“We are really excited to have Rory calling the notes for Rally
in the 100 Acre Woods,” explains Joseph Burke. “After finishing in the top five
at Sno*Drift Rally, we know Rory brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to
the team that will help us continue our march to the top of the standings.”
In addition to the Irish tarmac championships, Rory Kennedy is a
two-time British Rally Champion co-driver. Although this is Kennedy’s first
visit to the Ozarks, he is no stranger to rally in the United States. He sat
with Joseph’s father, Seamus Burke, in 2002 competing in the SCCA Pro Rally.
With the team’s regular co-driver Alex Kihurani on an extended
off shore work assignment, this is the second time JBM has had to tap into the
international community of co-drivers. Ireland’s Paddy Robinson stepped in and
guided Burke to a fourth place finish at Sno*Drift in January.
Mechanical Upgrades
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- Joseph Burke and Paddy Robinson on their
way to a 4th place overall finish at Sno*Drift 2012. Photo ©Neil McDaid
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After being sidelined at 100AW in 2011 with electrical problems
after only two stages, JBM is banking on a trouble free run this year. The team
has made some significant upgrades to the open class Mitsubishi Evo between
Sno*Drift and 100aw. They have moved to a 5-speed Drenth sequential gearbox and
added an updated suspension.
“We have no doubt that this will be one tough rally. With the
return of 5-time Rally in the 100 Acre Woods champion Ken Block and visiting
Polish Champion Krzysztof Holowczyc we fully expect the pace to be insane right
out of the gate,” continued Burke. “I really like this rally. The stages are
some of the best on the circuit. With the mechanical updates and Rory on the
notes, hopefully we will quickly gel and get ourselves in position to get a
podium finish and advance in the standings.”
Burke finished sixth overall in 2010, his first attempt at the
event.
2012 Rally in the 100 Acre Woods will take place February 24th
and 25th and
will be highlighted on Rally-America.com through the live
broadcast of RallyStream.tv.
Follow JBM on their Facebook
and Twitter
outlets for behind the scenes work leading up to and during the race weekend.
We would like to give a special thanks to our many fans through the U.S. and
beyond, we hope to make you proud.
