May 1st, 2007 -- Hainesport, NJ

RalliSpec Ltd. agreed to expand its commitment to providing technical support for Matthew Johnson in the 2007 season. The support will now encompass maintaining and developing both the suspension and gearbox systems. The decision comes after Johnson's gear failure at the Oregon Trail Rally which was a major setback in the team's effort to defend their PGT championship.

RalliSpec began supporting the CarolinaRS team of Matthew Johnson over a year ago when they provided an RS&SP suspension system for evaluation. Johnson went on to win five straight events on RS&SP. The feedback has been invaluable in developing setup information and technical data on the suspension. It was this two-way co-operation that was the inspiration for expanding their sponsorship.

RalliSpec will use their extensive experience with the Subaru WRX transmissions to develop ways of improving its rally reliability within the strict limitations of the PGT regulations. For the brutal Olympus Rally the CarolinaRS team will run a RalliSpec-built gearbox for the first time.

At the same time, RalliSpec has reduced its technical involvement with the Paladin Rally open class rally team of Matt Iorio as RalliSpec moves into the open class arena with its own in-house rally team. From 100AW onward, Paladin has shifted their engine program to another company. RalliSpec's involvement will be limited to providing parts support so it can focus more of their efforts on developing their own car.

Check out Matthew Johnson's progress at www.carolinars.com