Valencia R Sport To Return to Running Volvo 240 Rally Car in Regional Competition

8/16/06– Valencia, CA – After just over a year, the Valencia R Sport Team has decided to run the Group 2 Volvo 240 rally car at the 2006 Gorman Ridge Rally.

The team, which had been competing on and off since 2004 in an Open Class Subaru 2.5 RS, decided to run the Volvo following complications with the Subaru after a testing session that revealed a transmission issue.

Bill Malik, team owner and principle driver, was also persuaded to bring the car out by former WRC Champion Colin McRae, while testing for the 2006 ESPN X-Games. Malik had coordinated setting up a Southern California location for the Subaru Rally Team USA to test their new cars for the Los Angeles based event. During some downtime, Bill told Colin about the car and somewhat jokingly asked if Colin wanted to drive it. McRae jumped at the chance and the two spent over an hour putting the car through its paces, much to the delight of the small, private crowd.

Compound McRae's enthusiasm for the rear wheel drive vehicle with the fact that Malik's former ride (a white Volvo 240 known as "RallyBrick") is making a comeback at the same regional event and you get a recipe for return.

The Valencia R Sport team will field its Group 2 Volvo at the 2006 Gorman Ridge Rally. Malik has done very well at the event in the past and regards it as one of his favorite rallies in the California Rally Series.

More information about the Gorman Ridge Rally can be found at: