Results & Notes
Wild West National SCCA Pro
Rally
6/18-19/99
Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes
Photo by Dick Milligan
Press Notes #1 Provided by the SCCA National
Press officer Ed Jacobs:
Good morning and welcome to a lovely, cool, clear Pacific Northwest day. It's
been both cloudy and clear here, and probably will continue to change back and
forth throughout the day. We're about to get underway for Round 5 of the 1999
Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship.
1.) This event originally was scheduled to be Round 3 in the series, roughly two
months ago. However, due to the combined environmental effects of record heavy
snowfall and a record number of consecutive days of rainfall, the organizers
decided to postpone the event until now. It had been thought that the rally
traffic might add to the already heavy runoff in area streams, and might further
interfere with the annual salmon migration that is so important to this region.
2.) As was the case two weeks ago at Susquehannock Trail the entry has changed
almost by the hour, with the size of the field see-sawing right into the last
hour. The final count will be 42 starters.
3.) Paul Choiniere will not be driving here this weekend. He has a commitment
that predates the rescheduling of this event. So team chief and 11-time national
champion John Buffum will take his place in Libra Racing's number 3 Hyundai
Tiburon.
4.) Choiniere's regular navigator, Jeff Becker, had been scheduled to do this
event. However, Wednesday his wife, Tess, passed away. She had been a familiar
sight around the events throughout Jeff's 23-year ProRally career. For the past
nine months, she had been suffering from a rare condition called primary
pulmonary hypertension, which makes breathing
very difficult. The funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning on Long Island.
5.) In lieu of flowers, the Becker family has asked that donations be made in
the name of Tess Becker to the organization that is seeking a cure for the
relatively unknown killer that struck her down: PPH Cure Foundation; 1826 R
Street NW; Washington, DC 20009.
Everyone here, as well as everyone within the ProRally family, has the Becker
family in their thoughts and prayers today.
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 2
6.) ????
7.) Helping us gather press notes at this event is John Jeppesen,
a public relations pro from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Among other projects,
he has handled PR for Menard's at the Indy 500 and Dauer Racing at the Daytona
24 Hours.
8.) While we're on the subject of help, we'd belatedly like to thank Bowie Gray
and Matt Johnson, who helped out at STPR two weeks ago.
9.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire gave the Volkswagen New Beetle its first
ProRally win two weeks ago at STPR. Crew Chief Guy Light points out that the
strength of the car made it really difficult to turn the New Beetle into the
Production-class point-leader. "The Bug is
unbelievably strong, but it is not an organic car. It was designed by a
computer," he said. He couldn't find any way to attach the skid plate to
the bottom of the chassis, so he was forced to use 16 feet of tubing to create a
subframe for it.
10.) Ralph Kosmides (Group 5 Toyota Supra Turbo) feels like he's back home
again. "I love the roads here. I started rallying here, so it's like my
home track," he said. "This course has good grip, but it's very
abrasive on tires. I think it's going to be very dusty, so I wouldn't be
surprised if they went to two minute start windows."
11.) John Buffum is making his first start of the season here, driving an Open
Class Hyundai Elantra. The 11-time SCCA ProRally Champion and Mark Williams will
be starting Wild West second on the road, behind teammates Noel Lawler and
Charlie Bradley, in a Hyundai Tiburon. Like everyone else, Buffum expects that
this will be a very dusty event, due
to the dry conditions here. He thinks that starting second will be okay, even
though there is a lot of loose gravel on the roads that will keep traction down
until the first few cars sweep it away. "The dust will be a bigger problem
than the loose rocks on the top of the road," he said.
12.) Phil Mellor, an SCCA Director from Southeast Division, is here at Wild West
as an observer, getting thoroughly acquainted with performance rallying. His day
started with a ride in Garen Shrader's Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, which he called
"the biggest adrenaline rush I've had in a long time." An hour later
he still had a huge grin on his face.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 3
13.) Mellor is finding that the Pro Rally series is a vital part of SCCA racing
programs. "It's an awesome experience that the club should get more
involved in," he concluded. "It's overdue."
14.) Doc Shrader (co-Driver, Open Class Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV) describes this
event as deceptive. "It's a lot like a low-key ClubRally," he says.
"So the adrenaline doesn't start building until Parc Expose -- instead of
building all day." The stylish doctor is
sporting a unique pair of rainbow reading glasses, a gift from his son Garen's
girlfriend. "So my son won't have any trouble seeing me, even at
night," he chuckles.
15.) Shrader feels that this event is well-grouped. "We will be fighting
hard with Tony (Chavez) and Lauchlin (O'Sullivan). The roads have not favored
fast cars. They are tricky and a bit more of an equalizer." If the dust
isn't too bad, he feels that Garen, Tony and Lauchlin all could take time off of
Noel Lawler and John Buffum -- who will be sweeping the
loose gravel off of the stages and making traction better for those behind them.
16.) All drivers agree that the rally can't be won tonight, but it certainly can
be lost. Shrader's strategy is simple, "We'll be fast but cautious. The
battle starts tomorrow."
17.) Tony Chavez (Open Class Mitsubishi Galant
VR-4) agrees with Shrader. "We've just got to get through tonight. We'll
dance with Lauchlin and Garen tomorrow."
18.) Noel Lawler is happy about starting
first-on-the-road in his Open Class Hyundai Tiburon. "It's an honor,"
he said, "but I don't know that the first starting position will make that
much of a difference." If John Buffum and I switched positions, I don't
think I could drive in his
tracks. However, because Paul Choiniere isn't here, this is my chance to move up
in series points."
19.) The prediction made by John Buffum and many others that this would be a
"dust" rally has come true. After just one of tonight's six stages,
the organizers have switched to two-minute intervals. This was foreseen in the
planning, so complications should be relatively few.
20.) At the first service, Murray Thomas, crew chief for the Shraders'Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo reports that Garen says that the car is running just fine, but the
course was very dusty.
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 4
21.) Karl Scheible is in a conservative mode in the Production Class Volkswagen
New Beetle "I'm taking it easy. There are lots of holes in the course. I'm
going to keep down the middle of the road. I'm in the points lead and want to
keep it. I'll drive fast and take chances at the
next event in Maine."
22.) According to Paul Truess, crew chief of the Production GT Mazda 323 GTX
driven by his wife, Gail, their car is good. "We made some changes and put
softer tires on the car. She hasn't run Simpson roads before, so she's learning
how to drive them and learn the rhythms of the course."
23.) Things are drastically different on opposite sides of the Libra Racing
camp. Mechanic Brian Oldfield says that Noel Lawler is happy with his Hyundai
Tiburon. "It's running very well. No problems." However, John Buffum's
Elantra is overheating. Oldfield says that the car is
blowing water, so Buffum is taking it easy.
24.) Buffum's troubles apparently started very
early, as Ralph Kosmides and Joe Noyes (Group5 Toyota Supra)caught him on the
first stage and had to struggle with his dust.
25.) The roads seem to suit Lawler just fine.
After three stages, he is leading the event by 94 seconds over Doo Wop winner
Lauchlin O'Sullivan (Audi quattro), 110 seconds over Buffum and 111 over the
Shraders.
26.) In Group 5, Doug Schrenk and Rob Walton (Saab) had pulled ahead of Kosmides
and Noyes by 29 seconds.
27.) In Group 2, Todd Hartmann and Shan Callahan (six-speed Volkswagen Golf GTi)
have a slim, one-second lead over Chad Dykes and Deborah Fuller (Toyota).
28.) Doo Wop Production GT winner Gail Truess
and Cindy Krolikowski (Mazda 323 GTX) have a 51-second lead over Rim of the
World PGT winners Lee Shadbolt and Claire Chizma (Subaru Impreza). Truess'
regular navigator, Pattie Hughes had a commitment that predated the rescheduling
of this event. So she is missing this event, and Truess' longtime friend
Krolikowki is filling in for her.
29.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire are
running unopposed in Production, in the New Beetle. So they are taking their
time and having an enjoyable run.
30.) John Forespring (Group 5 Ford Mustang) had problems with the dust early on
until they closed co-driver Tony Lemon's window, which fixed the problem.
Wild West ProRally
Press notes
Page 5
31.) The switchover to two-minute starting intervals to deal with the heavy dust
did produce one logistical problem. The change made it impossible to get the
necessary Emergency Medical Technician from his previous post to Stage 6 in time
to run the stage. Therefore, cars will transit what was to have been the last
stage of the evening.
32.) Mark Williams, John Buffum's navigator
did the last ProRally (Susquehannock Trail) with Mexican national champion
Gabriel Ortiz-Marin, where he had to give instructions in Spanish. Just to have
a little fun with Buffum, Williams started out today's event giving him
instructions in Spanish. He says that it got a rather puzzled look from Buffum.
33.) Teams are beginning to arrive back at the headquarters hotel. Noel Lawler
has had a great evening. "Just havin' fun and keepin' it between the
ditches" he says. Maybe so, but he's nearly two minutes clear of teammate
Buffum. Running first on the road, Lawler found the stages very slippery due to
loose gravel, and felt that he was losing a great deal
of time on the first pass through the set of three stages that was run twice.
However, he was surprised to find that he was only a couple of seconds faster
the second time through, even though the traction was greatly improved.
34.) Buffum is still having overheating problems. The crew looked things over
earlier and concluded that he could continue. However, they have installed a
special sensor, according to navigator Mark Williams. They've put an overflow
bottle down by his feet. He says that when he can feel his feet getting wet,
they know to slow down and take it easy
for a while.
35.) Like so many others, Ralph Kosmides, had considerable problems with the
dust, especially after catching Buffum. He also found the roads hard to read and
a lot rougher the second time through. The car is running well, though, and he
has a positive outlook for Saturday's nine stages.
36.) On Stage 4, Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowsky saw the tail of a red car
sticking up out of the underbrush. Thinking that it was Kosmides and Noyes and
that they may have been hurt, they stopped to check. It turned out that the car
was a leftover from the previous running of that stage, and everything was okay.
The stewards will make a time allowance to account for their stopping to render
aid.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 6
37.) At the start of Stage 5, Truess and Krolikowsi had their driving lights
fail totally. So they drove the stage on just headlights. Perhaps the most
disappointing part was that the car was running better than it had for a couple
of events, but they just couldn't use its performance.
38.) Lauchlin O'Sullivan and John Oxford finished the evening in third overall,
and were feeling good, despite virtually stopping three times due to the dust.
Having won here a few weeks ago, O'Sullivan felt as though he had sort of a
home-field advantage and was looking forward to Saturday.
39.) Tony Chavez and Ken Cassidy (Mitsubishi Galant VR-4)had their share of
excitement this evening. Two miles from the end of Stage 4 they came charging
into a fast downhill lefthander, and the brake pedal went straight to the floor.
Cassidy says that Chavez's hands "got very busy" on the shifter. They
made the turn, but had to drive the rest of that stage and the next, and the
transits without brakes.
40.) Paul Eklund and John Allen (Subaru Impreza)had to deal with serious
overheating for the first three stages. A friendly farmer lent them a hose to
refill the cooling system. Later, the crew was able to look the car over and
pronounce it fit to continue. They're looking forward to
moving through the field on Saturday.
41.) John Lane and Scott Huhn bent a strut
early on in their Volvo with the claimed 600-hp (yes, six hundred). They hit a
rock in the road so hard that the whole car gave off a loud, resonating bong.
They also lost a minute to a wrong slot. Lane loves his high-intensity discharge
lights. Compared to the usual halogen rally lights, he says that the difference
it like bright black-and-white versus brilliant color.
42.) Gerry Valentini and Lee Sorenson (Mazda Rx-7) wrong-slotted on Stage 4 and
then lost three and a half minutes when they got stuck trying to turn around.
They're hoping for a bit more fun on Saturday.
43.) Other than wrong-slotting in a spot where
the banner guard may have been down, and another car was blocking the right
choice, Kendall Russell and John Dillon are having a pretty good time in their
Dodge Shadow.
Wild West ProRally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19, 1999
Friday results
1 Open Noel Lawler/Charles
Bradley 0:41:41 0:41:41
0:00:00
Hyundai Pirelli
Hyundai
2 Open John Buffum/Mark Williams
0:43:35 0:43:35 0:01:54
Hyundai Michelin
HMA
3 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan/John
Oxord 0:44:14 0:44:14 0:02:33
Audi Michelin
"Wagen Werks,"
4 Open Garen Shrader/Floyd 'Doc'
Shrader 0:44:44 0:44:44 0:03:03
Mitsubishi Michelin
TAD Motorsports Red Line Oil
5 Grp 5 Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden
0:45:51 0:45:51 0:04:10
SAAB Michelin
Scanwest Autosport
6 Grp 5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes
0:46:01 0:46:01 0:04:20
Toyota Michelin
Ruby's, Coca"
7 Grp 2 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom
0:46:44 0:46:44 0:05:03
Volvo Michelin
Valencia Vol
8 Grp 2 Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan
0:46:48 0:46:48 0:05:07
VW Michelin
Intrax Suspenzion Technology
9 PGT Gail Truess/Cindy
Krolikowski 0:47:05 0:47:05
0:05:24
Mazda Michelin
Rally Dynamics
10 Open Tony Chavez/ken Cassidy
0:47:14 0:47:14 0:05:33
Mitsubishi Michelin
Texaco of Mexico
11 Open George Plsek/Renn Phillips
0:47:21 0:47:21 0:05:40
Audi Michelin
No Fear, Cal, Wagen Werks
12 PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire
Chizma 0:47:33
0:47:33 0:05:52
Subaru Michelin
Morrie's Subaru
13 Grp 5 John Lane/Scott Huhn
0:48:08 0:48:08 0:06:27
Volvo Michelin
C&S Auto
14 Open Paul 'Pablo' EKlund/John Allen
0:48:11 0:48:11 0:06:30
Subaru Michelin
Royal Moore Subaru
15 Prod Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire
0:49:11 0:49:11 0:07:30
VW Michelin
Lazer Inc.
16 Open Rob Hansen/Ed Hill
0:50:12 0:50:12 0:08:31
Mitsubishi Michelin
Bayview Limo
17 Grp 5 John Forespring/Tony Lemon
0:51:17 0:51:17 0:09:36
Ford Michelin
Matt Sweeney "ects, PDE"
18 PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon
0:51:52 0:51:52 0:10:11
Dodge Michelin
Shults Dot Com
19 Grp 5 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson
0:53:58 0:53:58 0:12:17
Mazda Michelin
20 Grp 2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller
1:07:16 1:07:16 0:25:35
Toyota Michelin
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 7
12:30 am 6/20/99
45.) There wasn't a whole lot of news for several
hours. So it's after noon before we begin hearing what's going on out in the
forest.
46.) The first to stop by the press room are Gordon
Gaude and Tim Maple, who are looking a little rumpled. It turns out that they've
had a big off. They got off the road on the first 23-miler, did a double roll
and wound up sitting on a huge tree stump with all four wheels of their
Volkswagen Golf well clear of the ground.
47.) Not quite an hour later, Doc Shrader is spotted
walking across the parking lot here. It is way, way too early for him to be
back. He says that he and Garen were running well on the 23-miler when the rear
CV joint on the drive shaft to the rear wheels failed. At first, Garen thought
they had one or two flats, because of the snaky way the car handled. He drove to
the end of the stage and asked the control worker how many flats they had. When
the worker replied, "none," they knew what had broken.
48.) Crew Chief Murray Thomas considered removing the driveshaft and running the
Shraders' Evo IV in front-wheel-drive only. However, when they looked at the
points situation and their position within the rally, they elected not to risk
doing serious damage to the car. There was nothing to be gained, and a crash
might keep them from getting their shot at the championship. So they retired in
order to begin preparing for Maine Forest, which will take place at the end of
July.
49.) Northwest performance rallying fixture John Forespring, one of the
organizers of this event, has had a hard-luck weekend. He and his family had made some interesting suspension modification to his ex-police car
five-liter Mustang; and he was looking forward to trying them out. Things were
going along well until he doubted his navigator's word on a fast 90 left. They
went off the road, lost some arguments with nearby stumps and wound up with a
car that Forespring figures is totaled. They're bruised but other wise okay.
Wild West Notes 8
50.) George Plsek is in a test mode with his Open Class
Audi Coupe Quattro. "I've been taking it pretty easy. Just trying to finish the
rally, to test the car out."
51.) Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire are enjoying themselves in the Production Class Volkswagen New Beetle "It's going very well," said
Scheible. "It's a very rough rally and due to the design of the car, we can't run very much ground clearance. So we're hitting a lot of rocks.
It's kind of rough for the car. We're gonna take it easy, to make sure we finish. We've already changed a strut and I don't think we want to
change any more.
52.) Noah Third figures that his Group 2 Volkswagen Rabbit has the cat-like ability of landing on it's feet. After flipping his car in
Stage 8 he said, "We slid wide on a lefthander, caught a rear wheel and it flipped -- a corner over corner roll. We managed to do it without
touching the roof. It collapsed the front end and did some damage to the back end as well. It felt pretty normal. I don't think we've damaged the
suspension too much."
53.) After stage 9, both Hyundai's are doing fine according to the crew chief. He says everything seems to be under control. Buffum's car will
certainly finish, he thinks. He says that Buffum is watching all the gauges, is really keeping his eyes open and knows when to get into the
boost and when to get out of it to save the car.
54.) Paul Truess, crew chief of Production GT Mazda 323 GTX driven by Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowski, says that things are going really
well. "After the second service here, things have been going fine with the car. There have been no problems. We're checking it over really
closely to make sure there is no rock damage. Some of the other people ahead of us on the road have suffered punctures. We just want to make
sure that we do everything we can do to avoid something like that because there are some big rockadillos out there."
55.) After nine stages, Noel Lawler (Open Class Hyundai Tiburon) said, "It's going great. It's going brilliant. We're not even pushing awfully
hard and we're leading by a fair amount. So, we're in good shape. Hopefully, it will be a promising lead and we'll win this rally."
Wild
West ProRally
Press
Notes
Page
9
56.)
John Buffum/Open Class Hyundai Elantra: “Yeah, it’s going fine now.
We’re just cruising along, keeping Noel’s rear guard. On the overheating
problem: “We have the boost turned down. Just going along steady, watching the
water. We’ve got an overflow bottle in the co-driver’s compartment so he can
just watch it. When it’s a quarter full we back off for awhile.”
57.)
After hearing about the Schraders’ event-ending incident, he offered
this comment: “At the beginning of the rally, we were talking with Murray
Thomas, who’s the crew chief of the TAD effort. At Susquehannock Trail in
Pennsylvania they had an accident where they went straight off the road and
damaged the front of the vehicle. Luckily, one of Murray’s mechanics has a
similar car; and they were able to replace all the front pieces. So, Murray’s
instructions to Garen before starting the rally were: ‘If you go off the road,
make sure you hand-brake it and back it in because you definitely want to hit
the part of the car you still own.’”
58.)
From Dave Clark, crew chief of the John Lane/Scott Huhn Group 5 Volvo 262
Turbo: “We had to replace a center bearing support in the first stage and did
a good time; but it came out. We were able to get some from a crew chief’s car
down the street. And in the second stage, he went wide and clobbered a bank or
something, bent the panhard rod and tore a fitting off the brake. So we’ve
gone one rear brake now, and we’re crossing our fingers.
59.)
Lauchlin O’Sullivan (Open Class Audi 4000 Turbo Quattro) had some minor
problems, “but it’s holding together and the rest of the field is having
quite a few problems -- except for the Hyundai’s, of course.” On a gain over
John Buffum: “He’s having a problem with coolant leaking out of the engine
when he has too much turbo boost. So in the long stages, he’s backing off
quite a bit and that’s how we made up all that time. We’ll try to pressure
him as much as possible.”
60.)
Ralph Kosmides (Group 5 Toyota Supra Turbo) is a happy camper. “It’s
going great. The car is going well and, luckily, we’ve outlasted the
competition. So, we’re looking good. Co-driver Joe Noyes said that the dust
problem subsided for them because the Schrader Mitsubishi dropped out and Lawler
and Buffum are well out in front.
Wild West ProRally
Press Notes
Page 10
61.) Production GT winner Gail Truess (Mazda 323 GTX) found the roads challenging. "These roads are really interesting because they change so
much. It's not like back East where the roads really have a cadence to them and you can get into a very good rhythm. Out here they seem to
change. A couple corners will be similar and then it will change traction or surface and you'll go to something else. So you really have
to be on top of it all the time. I'm still making adjustments for that."
62.) Truess is about to make a big move, literally and figuratively. She has accepted a position as a full-time driving instructor at BMW's
Performance Center, near Greenville, South Carolina. She recently spent 10 days in Germany and Austria going through BMW's instructor school,
which has been in operation for 22 years. Truess will be moving to South
Carolina in a couple of weeks. Husband Paul will follow as soon as he sells their home in Michigan.
63.) Tony Chavez (Open Class Mitsubishi Galant VR-4) had an eventful rally in his first trip to Washinton, ending up 10th overall. He was
disappointed not to have been higher (he originally thought that he had finished ninth), but was really pleased to have qualified for the move
up to Seed 1. Friday, he missed the first turn of the rally and lost about 30 seconds, then lost his brakes in a very fast downhill turn
later. However, he got through the day and made it to the finish to get a top-10 spot.
64.) Doc Schrader says they got "bit by the rally gods," but they'll take advantage to the extra time to get ready for Maine Forest.
65.) Gail McGuire, Karl Scheible's co-driver, has been adding a winning
touch to the cockpit of the Beetle. Every day of the event, she made sure the driver's side bud vase has had fresh cut flowers. Today, she
had a pink rose from the motel parking lot and a fern accent from one of the service areas.
66.) Kendall Russell has gotten her 14th consecutive finish with her Production GT Dodge Shadow. Last year she was the only driver in the
series to finish every event. Co-driver John Dillon passes along the information that she successfully dodged a porcupine last night,
continuing her ongoing adventures with animals on stages.
Radar Speeds on Stages (FYI)
As they did in '98, organizers of the
Wild West rally set up a radar
gun on a straightaway to see how fast the cars were going. Here are
the results, for what it's worth (thanks to Ron Barker):
Radar Trap Speeds
Wild West
June 26, 1999
Shot on a straightaway approaching a 90 left, SS#8.
Speed in mph.
Driver/Co-Driver
Car
Speed Comments
Noel Lawler/Charlie Bradley Hyundai Tiburon
100
John Buffum/Mark Williams Hyundai Elantra
100
Lauchlin O'Sullivan/J Oxford Audi 4000 Quattro 89
Garen Shrader/Doc Shrader Lancer Evo IV
93
Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden Saab 900
67 Stuck in 3rd(?)
Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes Toyota Supra
70 ??
Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom Volvo 240
94
Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan VW Golf GTI
84
Gail Truess/Cindy Krolikowski Mazda 323 GTX
90
Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller Toyota Pickup
68 Faulty reading
Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy Mitsu Galant
VR-4 90
George Plsek/Renn Phillips Audi S2 Quattro
81
Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma Subaru Impreza
78
John Lane/Scott Huhn
Volvo 262t 103
Fastest!
Paul Eklund/John Allen Subaru
Impreza USX 77
Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire VW New Beetle
78
Rob Hansen/Ed Hill
Mitsu Galant VR-4 83
John Forespring/Tony Lemon Ford Mustang
78
Kendall Russell/John Dillon Dodge Shadow
77
Gerry Valentini/L. Sorenson Mazda RX-7
83
Scott Trinder/Bob Trinder Toyota Celica
83
Noah Third/Jason Lane VW
Rabbit 81
Chris Kouba/Gary Bockman Mazda RX-7
?? Missed reading?
Bob Reaves/Tammy Reaves Mazda RX-3
89
Rick Hintz/Mark Swalley Datsun 240z
84
Carey Wright/Alan Wright Dodge Colt
81
Mike Mailman/Shelly Kruse VW Golf GTI
84
Nao Hirata/Don Swier
Toyota Celica 83
Dave Hintz/Doug Chase
Mazda RX-7 76
Mark Tabor/Kristen Tabor Mazda 323 GTX
?? Missed reading?
Pat Richard/Ian McCurry Subaru Impreza
RS 83
Jake Dekovic/Dave McFarland Mazda 323 GTX
80
Mark Thielke/Catherine Roso Lancia Scorpion
77
Greg Lingelbach/Steve Andrews Mitsubishi Starion 77
Jeff Call/Brent Dille VW
Golf GTI 75
Matt Tabor/Chris Hale
Toyota Corolla 71
Dave Schrenk/Chad Little Saab 900
78
Gordon Gaude/Tim Maple VW Rabbit
70
Wild West ProRally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19,1999
Final Results
20 Entries 16 finishers
Pos. Class Driver/Co-driver
Time Difference
Vehicle/Tires
(Hours, minutes, seconds)
1 Open Noel Lawler/Charlie Bradley
2:36:29 0:00:00
Hyundai
Tiburon/Michelin
2 Open John Buffum/Mark Williams
2:40:38 0:04:09
Hyundai
Elantra/Michelin
3 Open Paul Eklund/John Allen
2:48:27 0:11:58
Subaru
Impreza/Michelin
4 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan/John Oxford
2:48:55 0:12:26
Audi
4000 quattro/Michelin
5 Gp5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes
2:50:55 0:14:26
Toyota
Supra/Michelin
6 PGT Gail Truess/Cindy
Krolikowski 2:51:18
0:14:49
Mazda
323 GTX/Michelin
7 Open George Plsek/Renn Phillips
2:52:13 0:15:44
Audi
Coupe/Michelin
8 PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma
2:53:15 0:16:46
Subaru
Impreza/Michelin
9 Gr2 Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan
2:59:51 0:23:22
Volkswagen Golf GTi/Michelin
10 Open Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy
3:00:15 0:23:46
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4/Michelin
11 Prod Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire
3:01:12 0:24:43
Volkwagen New Beetle/Michelin
12 Gr5 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson
3:05:49 0:29:20
Mazda
Rx-7/Michelin
13 PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon
3:17:38 0:41:09
Dodge
Shadow/Michelin
14 Gr2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller
3:50:41 1:30:12
Toyota
pickup/Michelin
15 Open Rob Hansen/Ed Hill
4:12:46 1:57:17
Mitsubishi/Michelin
16 Gr5 John Forespring/Tony Lemon
DNF DNF
Ford
Mustang/Michelin
17 Open Garen Shrader/Floyd 'Doc' Shrader
DNF DNF
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV/Michelin
18 Gr5 John Lane/Scott Huhn
DNF DNF
Volvo
Turbo/Michelin
19 Gr5 Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden
DNF DNF
SAAB/Michelin
20 Gr2 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom
DNF DNF
Volvo
240/Michelin
Contact: Ed Jacobs (330) 644-7774
Date: June 20, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lawler Gets First Win of Year at Wild West ProRally
SHELTON, Washington - Irish eyes definitely were smiling in this part of
Washington yesterday evening, as Noel Lawler took the overall win in the Wild
West ProRally, round five in the Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship. Lawler and
navigator Charlie Bradley have been close before this year in their Hyundai
Tiburon, but this time everything went their way.
Lawler's victory marked the fifth different winner in
as many events this season.
Team owner John Buffum made it a one-two finish
for Libra Racing and Hyundai, as he and navigator Mark Williams bought their
Hyundai Elantra home second overall. Paul Eklund and navigator John Allen
finished a very strong third in their Subaru Impreza. Hot on their heels were
Laughlin O'Sullivan and new navigator John Oxford. O'Sullivan won the second
round of the championship earlier this year in the same Audi Quattro.
Defending Group 5 champion Ralph Kosmides and
co-driver Joe Noyes finished fifth overall and well clear of the competition
with their Toyota Supra Turbo. However, the sailing was easy for them only
toward the end of the two-day event. Until late in the rally, they had strong
competition, which was slowed or knocked out of the event by the tough roads.
Gerry Valentini and Lee Sorenson brought their Mazda Rx-7 in second in Group 5.
Only 23 seconds behind Kosmides and Noyes were
Production GT winners Gail Truess and Cindy Krolikowski, in a Mazda 323 GTX. It
was Truess' second-consecutive class win in Washington, and kept her record
perfect in the state - two visits, two wins. Earlier in the year, she and
regular navigator Pattie Hughes took the PGT honors in the Doo Wop ProRally.
Second in PGT went to Rim of the World winners Lee Shadbolt and Claire Chizma,
in a Subaru Impreza. They finished eighth overall.
Group 2 winners Todd Hartmann and Shawn Callahan came
in an impressive ninth overall. They were in Hartmann's Volkswagen Golf GTi,
which features a special six-speed
European transmission. They had strong competition throughout a large protion of
the rally. However, as was the case in Group 5, the rough and twisty course ate
away at their competition until Hartmann and Callahan had a comfortable margin.
For the second rally in a row, the Production Class win
went to the Volkswagen New Beetle of Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire. That gave
the new-style Beetle wins in only its second and third ProRallies ever. Just to
add an extra touch of class to what ended up being an easy event for their team,
McGuire made sure that the car had fresh-cut flowers in the
driver's-side bud vase that is standard on the street cars.
Jon is a bit upset because of his story,
which seemed to have been missed by
the press notes.
Jon Tabor and Kevin Poirier were having a great stage #1, catching the
competitor in front of them on the 1 minute intervals. The only problem
was
that the competitor in front of them was competing in his second event, while
Jon was competing in his 8th or so. Jon caught them near the end of the 7
mile or so stage and went off the road in a cloud of dust, mid third gear at
about 65-70mph. The Nissan Sentra SE-R collided with a 12-inch diameter
tree
which snapped off and fell over. Then the car pivoted around and came to
rest
on it's nose, against and on 2 or 3 other trees.
The car was so far off the road, that it was only seen by two competitors the
second time through the stage. Unfortunately, a rally official had told Jon
that they could put away the triangles and OK sign because "no one would
see
it that far off". Unfortunately, someone did.
Jon and Kevin were not injured seriously, save for a few cuts and a very sore
neck on Jon's side of the car, due to his head coming into contact with the
tree 2-3 times.
Jon's anger is due to the fact that the very same issue occurred last year on
the first stage. 1 minute windows and a certain Volvo which couldn't see
in
the dust. Also, there is this issue of the seeding.
The car is very possibly a total write-off at this point, unfortunately due to
a situation which could have been prevented.
The other two Tabor Rally Team cars will be present at next weekend's running
of the Oregon Trail SCCA ClubRally, June 26th and 27th. The Mazda 323 GTX
is
undergoing driveline repairs after a DNF on Saturday of this weekend, while
the Toyota Corolla GT-S finished with minimal repairs needed.
Mark Tabor, Manager
Tabor Rally Team
Rally Story
Tony Chavez, having done very well at rim, was
anxious to head up to
the pacific northwest to compete in the full national and score some
points. He ended up going even though he was not able to bring a
support crew. Knowing the situation, Mike got on the Northwest
Diamond Star list and recruited five anxious eclipse nuts During the
event, Tony severed a brake line, and they had to chase all over hell's
half acre to find a replacement, to go out into the woods, wrenching on
Tonys car until the wee hours, and generally making a difference. Reports
are that they loved it. Many of them had never even seen a rally, and
others wanted to build a rally car, and got to see all the good stuff
on Tony's car. Five more fans/workers/drivers/co-drivers won over
to the world of rally.
Mike Welch
The next round of the Michelin SCCA ProRally
Championship will be the Maine Forest ProRally, which will take place in
Rumford, Maine, the weekend of July 30-31.
Wind River Group, Inc.
900 State Mill Road
Akron, Ohio 44319 USA
330.644.7774; 330.645.2045 Fax
windrivr@ix.netcom.com
or windriv@aol.com
Wild West ProRally
Shelton, Washington
June 18-19,1999
Final Results
Pos. Class Driver/Co-driver
Time Difference
Vehicle/Tires
(Hours, minutes, seconds)
1 Open Noel Lawler/Charlie Bradley
2:36:29 0:00:00
Hyundai
Tiburon/Michelin
2 Open John Buffum/Mark Williams
2:40:38 0:04:09
Hyundai
Elantra/Michelin
3 Open Paul Eklund/John Allen
2:48:27 0:11:58
Subaru
Impreza/Michelin
4 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan/John Oxford
2:48:55 0:12:26
Audi
4000 quattro/Michelin
5 Gp5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes
2:50:55 0:14:26
Toyota
Supra/Michelin
6 PGT Gail Truess/Cindy
Krolikowski 2:51:18
0:14:49
Mazda
323 GTX/Michelin
7 Open George Plsek/Renn Phillips
2:52:13 0:15:44
Audi
Coupe/Michelin
8 PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma
2:53:15 0:16:46
Subaru
Impreza/Michelin
9 Gr2 Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan
2:59:51 0:23:22
Volkswagen Golf GTi/Michelin
10 Open Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy
3:00:15 0:23:46
Mitsubishi Galant VR-4/Michelin
11 Prod Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire
3:01:12 0:24:43
Volkwagen New Beetle/Michelin
12 Gr5 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson
3:05:49 0:29:20
Mazda
Rx-7/Michelin
13 PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon
3:17:38 0:41:09
Dodge
Shadow/Michelin
14 Gr2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller
3:50:41 1:30:12
Toyota
pickup/Michelin
15 Open Rob Hansen/Ed Hill
4:12:46 1:57:17
Mitsubishi/Michelin
16 Gr5 John Forespring/Tony Lemon
DNF DNF
Ford
Mustang/Michelin
17 Open Garen Shrader/Floyd 'Doc' Shrader
DNF DNF
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV/Michelin
18 Gr5 John Lane/Scott Huhn
DNF DNF
Volvo
Turbo/Michelin
19 Gr5 Doug Schrenk/Rob Walden
DNF DNF
SAAB/Michelin
20 Gr2 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom
DNF DNF
Volvo
240/Michelin
# End #
For Immediate Release
June 21, 1999 Shelton, WA
The Primitive Racing Subaru Impreza USX driven by Paul Eklund with John Allen in
the navigator's seat finished the Wild West National ProRally in third place
behind the two factory Hyundai teams. This was only the team's second
National appearance in the new bright yellow USX, and again they took a strong
top 10 finish. Close behind was Lauchlin O'Sullivan in a older Audi
Quattro, who won the Doo Wops event earlier this year. The Group 5 team of
Kosmides and Noyes finished fifth in the Ruby's Toyota Supra. Lee Shadbolt
took second in PGT with his Subaru Impreza finishing a fine 8th overall.
The USX suffered overheating on the first stage and blew a heater hose.
Eklund backed of the throttle and limped the car off stage. As luck would
have it, he found a farmer's well and with the puzzled farmer looking on,
created a geyser of steam and smoke. The car continued to overheat on
stages 2 and 3, but made it back to service. After a check of the
thermostat and a fresh load of coolant, the team continued. The
overheating continued off and on for the remainder of the race, but the
Primitive Team refilled the radiator at each stop, and the stage times improved.
"By the end of the race, we were able to push it nearly 100%" says
driver Eklund.
Highlights of the race included taking the top time on the second "superstage"
in front of the grandstands at an off-road racetrack; finishing 2nd fastest on
the last stage; hitting mid 5th gear down a wide, straight section; and spinning
an abrupt 270 degrees on a hard braking turn left at "T" instruction.
With perseverance, consistently fast stage times, and a bit of luck, the team
worked ahead of rival O'Sullivan and finished on the podium.
The team never suffered a flat running both Michelin tires and Silverstone rally
tires late in the event. Tire work for the team is performed by T-Scandia
Motors of Tigard, Oregon. The Electromotive TECII engine management system
never missed a beat. It allowed the team to richen the mixture and back
off the boost when the car ran too hot. It provided plenty
of power and low end grunt. The LEDA coilover struts with external reservoirs
kept the car on the road and off the rocks. "I was able to fly over
all of the yumps without fear of losing control or bottoming out," reports
Primitive driver Paul Eklund. "They performed flawlessly."
Look for Primitive Racing and the mighty yellow USX at the Oregon Trail
ClubRally this weekend (June 26th & 27th) outside of Portland, OR Richard
Buckner of Royal Moore Subaru will be co-driving in his first event.
Richard, the veteran of a few driving events, will be trying his hand in the
navigator's seat. Royal Moore is a previous sponsor of this fine event.
Here are some more specifications on the Subaru Impreza USX built by Primitive
Enterprises to compete in the National ProRally Championship:
Engine: 2.2 liter "boxer" 4
cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled
Turbo: IHI type 5
Boost: that's a secret
ssssshh
Intercooler: Blackstone air-to-air
ECU:
Electromotive TECII
Horsepower: 245 estimated
Fuel:
100 octane unleaded
Motor Mounts: Custom urethane
Intake: 2.5" custom
carbon fiber with K&N airfilter
Transmission: US Spec 5-speed
Transmission mounts: Custom urethane by Primitive Enterprises
Clutch: Cable
activated HD dual-diaphragm pressure plate
Disk:
Copper button EZ-Lock by Primitive Enterprises
Wheels: 15x6 Subaru Outback
Struts: LEDA
coilover rally struts with external resevoir and 24
position adj
Lower Control Arms: Alloy with carbon fiber reinforcements
Front Skidplate: Primitive Enterprises 3/16" aluminum prototype
Rear Skidplate: Primitive Enterprises 3/16" alum rear diff
protector
(awesome)
Wheelbase: 96"
Weight:
2950lbs
Rollcage: 1.5" seamless steel by
R&R Racefab (fabulous)
0-60 times: Unknown, but pretty darn quick
Paint:
Screaming Yellow
For more information, contact Paul Eklund at (503) 624-2139 or
visit: www.writerguy.com/primitive
or write: PaulEklund@aol.com
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