The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Sean is now looking toward being _ a professional driver with the full sponsorship to compete in a complete season. "I‘m basically a pronow but I don‘t get paid for it," said Sean who pointed out that full sponsorship for the season in Canada would cost about By SUZANNE HANSON Sean Hyland isn‘t a downhill skier because he thinks it‘s too dangerous a sport but the 24â€"yearâ€"old Burgessvilleâ€"area resident (formerly of Ingersoll) thinks nothing of racing along unknown roads at speeds up to 120 miles per hour during pro rally auto races. to"â€"firnt O% uouUdI1y _ Sean got his first inâ€" rally car troduction to auto racing "C* Seoâ€"driver the ageâ€"of 16, competing in of labor i slaloms â€" races following a dFiver‘s set course, usually marked drive fast out on large parking lots. 7% is Competing in the slaloms responsibi introduced him «to the they foll various auto. sport clubs coursesan and Sean found most of the cordance people in those clubs were organizer avid rallyers. s Burgessville man driver auto rally driv (Continued from Page 18) (the competitive portion of the rally) which are then linked by transits. It is the driver‘s responsibility â€"to drive fast on the stages but speeding is not allowed on the transit sections, under penalty of exclusion from the race. His competence as a rally driver andâ€"the safety features in his specially built â€"rally ~vehicle give Sean the ‘confidence he needs to be a competitive pro rally driver. But no matterâ€"how good your safety equipment is, if you go off the road and hit a ‘group of trees, your surâ€" vival chances aren‘t that good, said Sean. Drivers can‘t waste time worrying about the possible dangers of the sport, however, and if those dangers worry you, you probably shouldn‘t be out there in the first place. The Nomad _ Racing team, as they refer to themselves, will be â€"comâ€" peting in 13 to 14 Canadian and four American events during the 1983 season. They are driving a 1979 TRS8 Triumph_â€"which Sean bought last November as a wreck. Within about five weeks, he had it rebuilt and ready to go for its first event the end of December. Sean has already comâ€" peted in two events this year and he and coâ€"driver Jeff Kinsella of London will be testing out the car in a short eightâ€"hour Black Bear Rally in Minden. on June 4 before competing in tnemext.aational event on June 18 im St_Jerome, Quebec. J | o f furgessville man rally driver it is the:coâ€"driver‘s responsibility to make sure they follow the proper course and do it in acâ€" cordance with the organizer‘s timetable. $100,000. If his bid for full sponsorship â€" comes through, Sean will no longer be driving in his openâ€" class car. Instead he‘ll be behind the wheet"of a supplied production car. the speed aspect, rallying also involves timing and direction. There â€" are usually two people in a rally car â€"â€" the driver and coâ€"driver â€"â€" and the division of labor is clear. It is the driver‘s responsibility to drive fast on the stages and At 24 Sean has a. long career of rally driving ahead of him as he has no plans to give it up until he‘s 40. Within the next 10 years he hopes to see himself racing the European rally circuit to take a shot at the world championship series. It is the equivalent to the Grand Prix in formula racing and there are at present no Canadians‘ running in that â€" world series. **What L drive now bears no resemblance at all to what someone can go out and buy," said Sean. Production cars are the basic stock cars with the necessary safety equipâ€" ment put on. While the open car classes are more exâ€" citing to run because the cars are much faster, the skill level required to drive a production car is also high, because "you have to use what you have more effectively," said Sean. He admits his own ~car this year is one of the most difficult open cars to drive and handle but, "I wanted to showease my talent in a car that was difficult to drive." $ Sean had marshalled for the Tall Pines Rally for three years prior to enâ€" tering a pro rally himself and it was that inâ€" volvement that got> him hooked on rallying. He first started rallying at the age of 18, competing in the navigational â€" time, speed, distanceâ€" events for twoâ€"andâ€"aâ€"half years. He finished first in five events and among the top 10 in the majority of the remaining events he entered but he sought a more individual level of competition and by the fall of 1981 had run in his first pro rally. â€" Pro rallying, says Sean, is a form of auto racing in which specially prepared vehicles race one at a time, normally on dirt roads closed .to the public, against the clock. Besides Without the sponsorship, auto racing can be an expensive _ proposition. While Sean has completely built his own car for the pro "It‘s an extremely exâ€" citing sport as far as spectators go," said Sean, but it has a very low profile in Canada, although that is changing slowly as more sponsors take an interest in the sport. Sean has sponâ€" sorship from two major companies in the auto industry â€" _ BF Goodrich and Bosal Canada (distributor of Hella Rally and headlights). Rallys used to be run almost entirely at night but the split between daytime and nightâ€"run rallys is now about 50â€"50, said Sean. Part of the reason for the shift to daylight hours stems from the hope that it will bring out more spectators to view the races. Rally route | _ Rally driver Sean Hyland of Burgessville and chis coâ€" driver Jim Kinsella drove Sean‘s TR8 Triumph in a winter ‘"Rallying is so different from anything else because you don‘t know the roads. It‘s quite challenging because you‘re out there by yourself."" +~While rally drivers must rely on their own skills as drivers, to get them through the course, they must also rely on the others in the field in the event of a breakdown or mishap. "It‘s very much a fraternity," said Sean, and ‘‘there‘s a real camaraderie among the racers. They all help each other out along the way." Rallying is only one of many forms of auto racing but it is the one Sean personally finds the most challenging. Unlike circuit racing, which follows . a known racing track, rallying takes the drivers over unknown and often rugged terrain. ols uim oo a o onamvipsonmmnemmemens yas a;:.«. oo o dA mtve, O oo oo o it wte Ne Ee yor. + e NNE ce c... c In addition to the various aspects of the car built to rally specifications, the car features special seats designed to minimize fatigue, a special Safety harness, a builtâ€"in roll rallys this year, there are factory built cars built to specifications. They would cost in the neighborhood of $75â€"80,000, said Sean. At present, the only stock item on his car is the sheet metal for the bodyshell. Rally driver Sean Hyland of Burgessville is preparing his car for an upcoming pro rally in Minden on June 4. The former Ingersoll resident has been rallying for the past six years. (NG Photo) Réadying to rally The pro rally season runs yearâ€"round from January right through December and Sean enjoys the challenge of driving on ice and snow as much as he enjoys the faster paced summertime rallys, especially if they‘re on rally in February this year. The races coming up for the 1983 Photo) cage, an conâ€"board fire extinguisher and modified suspension. Sean. also wears a helmet, racing suit and fireproof gloves. â€"â€" just in case, They have a busy schedule of 983 season. (Stephen Liard â€" _ " 7/ "b a ltotal of 500 to 1,000 miles, broken down into 150 to 200 stages miles (Continued on Page 19) Most â€" rallys covering a total 17000 miles‘ br() motorsport, saig although those ~5 may change as the , quicker, Statisfically than anv lt fast, smooth roads. Despite the speeds of 80 to 129 miles ber hour driven in the rallys, they are Statistiaaife.} ns t * any other I‘allys involve much safer 4 Sean, statisties cars get form of