ATLANTA, MI (ACP Racing) — Defending North American rally champion Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard earned some strong early-season points with a fourth-place finish at the icy U.S. season opener this weekend in northern Michigan.

The NOS Energy-backed rally team of ACP and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey took a cautious approach to the start of the contest in some of the most challenging conditions ever seen in U.S. rally competition.

“It was like a luge course out there,” said Comrie-Picard. “The first few stages were the iciest I have ever seen… and the rally just got icier from there.”

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Congratulations to Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and the ACP Rally Team on winning the 2009 North American Rally Championship!

The ACP Rally EVO X is currently running the tried and true AMS Sleeved Short Block, AMS Short Ram Intake kit, AMS Exhaust, AMS Surge Tank, AMS Air Conditioning Delete kit and AMS shifter bushing kits. These products were run all season and put through grueling rally conditions without skipping a beat, a true testament to AMS quality and reliability.

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Gates311.com / AMS Performance / Nitto Tires Evo X – Race Report

Event: Redline Time Attack! Finale, Auto Club Speedway – November 15th, 2009

On November 15th, 2009, Ryan Gates continued his success with Redline Time Attack by winning Modified Class at the Season Finale at Auto Club Speedway. In the process, Ryan also set the new Modified AWD track record with a 1:43.4.

With Super Lap Battle less than three days in the past, not much could be done to repair the splitter that Ryan had destroyed at Buttonwillow. Knowing that, some other issues became the main focus before the Redline Season Finale at ACS. Besides the splitter, the main issue was a fuel delivery problem the car was having which was causing the car to run very lean, in excess of 14:1 Air/Fuel ratios under full throttle. Ryan sourced new fuel pumps but unfortunately they weren’t the correct ones. With time running out, the car was left untouched from SLB and arrived late Friday night to the garages within the ACS facility.
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Gates311.com / AMS Performance / Nitto Tires Evo X – Race Report

Event: Super Lap Battle Finale, Buttonwillow – November 11th, 2009

With a long break since the last Redline Time Attack event in Pahrump, Ryan and the Gates311.com / AMS Performance / Nitto Tires Evo X headed back to Chicago and the AMS Performance HQ to run through the car. Nothing was upgraded on the car after the event, but a few maintenance items were changed and the car was refreshed a bit.

One of the first things to be changed were the front brake rotors along with new pads all around. The Girodisc rotors had taken an amazing amount of abuse, lasting over a year on a single set! With general wear on them, they were replaced with a fresh set and new pads. Special thanks to Girodisc for building such an incredible product.

Other minor fluids were changed, but Ryan was confident in the setup so the car was largely untouched, besides some new decals. K&N Filters helped the team out with some awesome new Air and Oil filters before the final events of the season. Their support was a key part to Ryan competing at the Super Lap Finale, and was extremely appreciated!
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Ryan Gates:

Hey guys, here’s a few pics and a video from last weekend at Road America for an open track day. I was out there just having fun. It was nice to get out to my favorite track and have a good time…it was actually very relaxing.

As always, the car was extremely reliable…even being revved all the was up to 8200rpm in 5th gear at 177mph. I can praise this OEM 4B11T enough…along with AMS’ parts and tuning making sure everything’s in check. It’s actually really amazing to me that the engine and the whole drivetrain for that matter has held up so well over the last two years.

Yes, I got a little sideways in the Carousel And I took the kink slow (120mph) but there was no point to push the car thru some of the most dangerous corners in the country on an open track day haha. Anyways, enjoy the video and the pics. If you haven’t made it out to R/A before…get out there. It’s so much fun.

Ryan

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