Hello Fellow Autocrossers,

I am proud to be your president for the 2010 season. Autocrossing has been in my blood since I rode to the first event with my father in 1973 sitting on the package shelf under the roll bar of a Bugeye Sprite. I am honored to serve Equipe Rapide members and participants.

We had our annual awards banquet at the Grapevine Elks Lodge on December 12, 2009. There were over 50 people in attendance. I heard many positive comments about the food and decorations. We have reserved the lodge for December 4th, 2010 and we hope to see you there.

We lost one of our own during the off season. My co-driver and friend Dennis Rothermich passed away on Christmas Eve after a brief struggle with liver cancer. Equipe Rapide as a club donated our annual charity budget to a fund set up to help Dennis with his bills. Equipe Rapide members donated their Rapid PAX winnings, annual awards prizes, and made personal donations. Dennis wanted me to express his gratitude to all that donated and those who sent messages of encouragement. Equipe Rapide gives an award each year for participation. The award is named after Royce Franzoni. We have changed the name of the award in Dennis' honor because of all he did for the club and the autocross community in general.

The 2010 season is upon us. It is time to get those membership cards filled out and sent in. We are offering annual pre-pay again this year. By participating in our annual pre-pay offer you get a significant discount on entry fees as well as securing your work assignment for the year. This year we are offering 10 events for the price of 7. We always have a few work assignments which are hard to fill. If you are willing to choose those less desirable positions we can offer 10 events for the price of 6. You need to contact David Whitener prior to sending in your pre pay form to see what work assignments are available. Pre pay is open for enrollment until the first event.

Discount Tire has come through for us once again. Todd Eaddy at Discount Tire has secured Hoosier, Falken, Yokohama, and Kumho tires for us to raffle at the end of the season. Yokohama and Kumho are providing a full set of tires and Hoosier and Falken are providing buy 2 get 2 free. You must display a Discount Tire sticker as well as a sticker for the tire brand on the car. The Equipe Rapide tech inspector will verify your tires and stickers comply with the contingency rules and sign your raffle entry card.Cards will not be signed for previous events so don't forget. You can visit Todd Eaddy at Discount Tire at 8700 Ohio Drive in Plano or call him at 972-377-8242 to let him know how much you appreciate his support for our community.

All good things must come to an end. Gerry Terranova has served as the Equipe Rapide President for 15 years. We are all very grateful for the service and leadership he provided to the club. We hope to see him at some events this year (working a corner). Since we have lost Gerry and Dennis from the Board of Directors we have an immediate need for replacement board members. We are currently accepting nominations for BOD positions and for the Secretary position. Currently, we have Sean Goodpasture and Katelyn Johnson nominated. If you or someone you know is interested then please send an e-mail to equiperapide@gmail.com. I hope to live up to the standards which have been set very high by my predecessor. If you have any comments or concerns then please contact me. I hope to see you at our first event which is in Mineral Wells on February 28th.

Thanks,

Andy Cost