Last month, while the rest of the world was being inundated with news of Charlie Sheen’s latest shenanigans, Rally Team for Dreams was busy winning in Mexico. Short on tiger blood and with no warlocks in sight the newly formed team traveled 1500 miles to León, Guanajuato Mexico to compete in one of the most grueling motorsport events on the globe - WRC Rally Mexico. Competing in the harsh desert climate they won the hearts and admiration of thousands of rally fans while also raising money and global awareness for Camp Sunrise, one of only a few summer camps in the US designed specifically for children impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Though this was the first world-level competition for the underdog team, driver Andrew Frick and co-driver Ryan Scott were well aware of the perilous challenges they would encounter on the mountainous gravel roads. Rallies on the World Rally Championship (WRC) calendar are widely considered to be the most difficult motorsports events on the globe and are contested by some of the most talented drivers and best-funded teams in the world. In spite of the stout competition the team decided to adopt a conservative approach as they had only one mechanic, limited spare parts and a miniscule budget for the three-day rally.

Donning their safety equipment and a “press on regardless” attitude, Rally Team for Dreams overcame numerous obstacles during the course of the 1031km long race including severe handling issues and a complete loss of power steering halfway through the first day. Despite the complications the self-funded team finished the rally as the fastest two-wheel drive car; beating teams with more than double the horsepower, all-wheel drive, and multi-million dollar budgets. The Cinderella team concluded their Mexican fairy tale by piloting their homebuilt Ford Focus rally car to fastest times in nine of the 22 stages, winning the overall Rally America category by over seven minutes.

Frick and Scott were thrilled to stand atop the podium to accept their 1st place trophies but the real winners are the children of Camp Sunrise. Rally Team for Dreams devised a clever mechanism for raising funding for the Ohio-based summer camp by selling 1” brandable squares on their rally car to the public with 100% of the proceeds going to the charity. After submitting payment the donor was given the opportunity to provide an image to fill their newly acquired space, allowing an individual to have their picture on the rally car while also enabling the team to display a visual show of support for Camp Sunrise in front of a world audience. This unique opportunity to affordably become part of a rally team competing at a WRC event in support of a worthy cause resonated with rally fans across the globe, attracting attention in over 70 countries.

The publicity burgeoned as Rally Team for Dreams conducted numerous interviews with local, national, and international print, radio and TV outlets.  The grassroots team was also invited to join Ken Block and the Monster World Rally Team at the pre-rally VIP party where Frick and Scott shared the inspiring story of Camp Sunrise with dignitaries from the nearby cities of León, Silao, Irapuato and Guanajuato.  Additionally, the organizers of Rally Mexico graciously donated a two-page spread in the official rally program, available to the 400,000 fans in attendance, outlining Rally Team for Dreams’ fundraising efforts. These opportunities, in conjunction with the team personally sharing the Camp Sunrise mission while interacting with fans during the rally, resulted in additional blocks being purchased and added to the rally car during the event.

Although the additional marketing and PR responsibilities undertaken to promote Camp Sunrise, in addition to tending to the usual rally preparation, were both daunting and time consuming, Rally Team for Dreams remains passionate about using their racing to benefit children facing adversity. Since Rally Team for Dreams’ inception in mid-December the team has raised over $4000 for Camp Sunrise and the team plans to continue the winning partnership through the remainder of the 2011 season. Furthermore, Rally Team for Dreams is working diligently to acquire corporate sponsorship to allow the team to expand their competition schedule and ultimately gain more exposure for Camp Sunrise.

To learn more, or to contribute to Rally Team for Dreams, please visit http://www.rallyteamfordreams.org. To view photos from WRC Rally Mexico and for frequent updates on the team’s status, Like the team on Facebook at http://facebook.com/RallyTeamForDreams. Follow and interact with the team on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RTforDreams. To learn more about Camp Sunrise, visit http://www.sunrisekids.org.