Carolina RS: Ready for action!
Matthew Johnson's Carolina RallySport team embarks for Michigan with new car and new sponsor
APEX, NC (October 20, 2004)

After many vigorous months of work on the Subaru WRX by a fired up Johnson and his very generous friends it's GO time. The car is ready for competition in Michigan this weekend and so is everyone else. There are many firsts for this rally, a new team, new car, Johnson's first time in this type of all-wheel-drive, turbo charged car but this is also the debut of Flamecrusher as a new team sponsor.

CarolinaRS would like to officially welcome Flamecrusher Survival Systems as a team sponsor beginning with Lake Superior. Johnson will be wearing a custom fitted Flamecrusher fire suit at the rally. Since 1980 Flamecrusher has been producing top quality driving suits in their native New Zealand. They are proud to be launching a presence in the United States market as they gear up for production in South Boston, Virginia. On the Flamecrusher resume you'll find names like Asia-Pacific Subaru rally ace, "Possum Borne", Japanese rallying legend Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima and several top Indy Racing League teams in the US. Flamecrusher produces suits for karting, circuit racing and rallying and they are well known for their light weight and ventilation.

The goal for CarolinaRS at the Lake Superior ProRally is fairly simple - finish the event and learn the new car in the process. Johnson has promised to take it easy on the new car, but it's up to co-driver Marc Goldfarb to keep Johnson on the simmer and not a boil until the finish.

This is the first event for Goldfarb and Johnson as a team; Goldfarb has many years of experience in rallying in several top cars including a current ride with top Canadian driver Andrew Comrie-Picard in a Mitsubishi Evolution. Johnson is looking to Goldfarb for the leadership that it will take to run things smoothly and make it to the finish.

Follow their progress at http://www.rally-america.com in the "Live Updates" area over the coming weekend beginning Friday afternoon. The official website for the Lake Superior ProRally can be found at http://www.lsprorally.com.