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Round #8 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship December 3-4, 1993
Press Notes by Andy Schupack |
MEDIA ALERT
Event: 1993 Maine Forest Rally, round #8 and the final event in the 1993
Subaru PRO Rally Championship. Race cars from around the world will
compete at high speeds on the challenging logging roads of the Boise
Cascade Paper Co. and the Seven Islands Land Co. near Rumford,
Maine.
When: Friday - Saturday, December 3 - 4, 1993
Schedule - Friday
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM - Registration - Madison Hotel - Rumford
Tech inspection - AutoTech - Rumford
6:00 PM - First car starts Friday section - Maine Forest Rally -
downtown Rumford - next to American Legion hall
midnight - First car finishes Friday second/Parc Ferme -
Boise Cascade Admin. Bldg. parking lot
Schedule - Saturday
7:00 AM - 8:30 AM - Divisional registration - Madison Hotel
Tech inspection - AutoTech
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM - Open service - downtown Rumford - in the
Congress Street area
9:00 AM - Re-start - Maine Forest Rally - downtown Rumford -
Congress Street
4:00 PM - Finish - Maine Forest Rally - Oquossoc
7:30 PM - Posting - Provisional Results - Eagles Hall, Rumford
Where: Rally headquarters will be at the Madison Hotel, Route #2,
Rumford, Maine. Maps guiding spectators to viewing areas will
be available in the Sunday LEWISTON SUN-JOURNAL, November 28 issue,
or at the Madison starting Thursday, December 2.
Duration: 115 stage miles, 400 total miles, 9 stages
Rank: Full national PRO Rally, with two coefficient 3 divisional PRO
rallies to run with the national rally on Friday and Saturday
respectively. Friday's divisional will be the Seven Islands Rally,
while Saturday's divisional will be the Boise Cascade Rally. The
Maine Forest Rally is presented by the New England Region of the
Sports Car Club of America. The National PRO Rally series is
sponsored by Subaru of America and sactioned by the Sports Car Club
of America.
Interviews: Drivers will be available by contacting the press room at the
Linnell Motel/RestInn Conference Center starting Thursday
afternoon, December 2. Any needs before then should be
directed to Andy Schupack at the phone number listed below.
Expected Top National Entries: Paul Choiniere, undefeated with co-driver
Jeff Becker since '91, has clinched second straight overall national
championship, in his Audi S-2; Carl Merrill - crashed his new 400 HP
Ford Escort Cosworth at Pikes Peak July 4 - has 4-rally winning
streak including most recent event at POR in a new Escort - one
of two drivers from Maine; Jeff Zwart - 1990 Open class champion - in
his all-wheel drive Porsche Carrera 4 - recently finished 19th at New
Zealand world rally; Henry Joy - five strong finishes in his first
year of Open class competition, including third at Prescott - in a
Mitsubishi Eclipse; Vinnie Frontinan, from Somerville, Mass., leads
Production GT in his Toyota Celica GT4 - will battle for national
title in Maine with Todd Bawden - rookie rallyist from Southern
California - only five points behind Vinnie in his Mitsubishi
Eclipse; Tom McGeer, Woodbridge, Ontario, '93 Canadian champion,
finished fourth overall and won Production GT at STPR in his Subaru
Legacy; Makio Yamanaka, Tokyo, Japan, in Group A Mazda 323GTX, third
U.S. rally, was second in Group A at Rim; Tony Takaori, from Kyoto,
Japan, Group A Mitsubishi Galant, won Group A class at Prescott;
Selcuk Karamanoglu, Bath, Maine (formerly from Turkey), former
Turkish Rally champion, second U.S. event.
Visuals: There will be escorts to take photographers and video crews onto
the course during the daylight part of the rally on Saturday.
Anyone requiring supplied photos or video should contact Andy
Schupack or Laurie Shepherd in the press room starting
December 2. Rally cars going through mud and snow, over yumps and
rough terrain, and sliding at high speed through tight turns
provide exciting visuals.
Media Info: We will provide phone-ins on event information, driver
interviews, and results. We will fax stories and agate
Saturday and Sunday. We have B-roll available for TV. Press
room will be located at the Linnell Motel, Route #2, Rumford.
Contact: Andy Schupack - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
media liaison:
(401) 739-5677 (until Dec. 1; then after Dec. 5)
Andy Schupack and Laurie Shepherd - Event Press Room (12/2 - 5)
(207) 369-0000
(207) 369-0800 - fax
HOW A PRO RALLY WORKS:
Each team consists of a driver and a co-driver (or navigator), and the exact
course is kept secret until just before the event - different from World
Rally, where practice and course notes are allowed). The cars start at
one-minute intervals and race against the clock over 9 stages (competition
course consisting of closed public roads) which range in length from four to
25 miles. Most of the rallies include night stages, making it necessary for
competitors to adjust their driving style. Speeds of more than 120
miles-per-hour could be reached on long straight-aways, with the team going
the fastest over the competition course winning the rally.
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 12 Noon
Press Notes #1
The rally is set to start in 6 hours. Drivers, co-drivers, and crew are
milling about, trying to gauge the weather and the road conditions. Last
night there was a sprinkling of rain which rapidly turned to ice on the roads,
but the sun has taken care of that by now. For the past two years, the Maine
Forest Rally has been run in snow, so all the participants will be on equal
footing this year, seeing the road surface for the first time.
Important locations for this year's rally are:
Rally Headquarters - The Madison Hotel (800) 258-6234
Press Room - The RestInn Conference Center, Linnell Hotel
(207) 369-0000 FAX (207) 369-0800
Tech Inspection - AutoTech (207) 364-2654
The National Weather Service promises highs in the 40's this afternoon under
partly sunny skies. Lows tonight will be in the high teens and low 20's with
light winds. Tomorrow will be cooler with a high in the mid to upper 30's and
increasing cloudiness. Rain and/or snow are not predicted at this time. But
this is Maine, and that could change!
The rally once again will consist of a national, the eighth and last in the
Subaru Pro Rally Series, and 2 divisionals, one on Friday night and another on
Saturday.
As of the opening of registration, the rally had 29 entries. 27 of those
entries were for the national. 8 cars are entered in both the national and
one or both of the divisionals, and 2 cars are entered only in the
divisionals.
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 1:00 PM
Press Notes #2
1. As previously announced, several of the points contests
have already been decided, but the GT class is still up
for grabs. The teams of Vinnie Frontinen/Frank Arruda
and Todd Bawden/Martin Headland are both here as this is
where the drivers championship will end. Headland
joined his team partway into the season, so the co-
driver championship has already been clinched by Arruda.
Frontinen, however, comes into this event with a slim 5
point lead over Bawden, but because of a points
structure which allows only five of the eight events,
Bawden could easily overtake him. Various scenarios
are being discussed, and some are charted below:
If Vinnie finishes: And Todd finishes: The winner will be:
1 2 Frontinen
2 > 4 Bawden
< 2 ahead of Vinnie Bawden
anywhere DNF Frontinen
DNF anywhere Bawden
Who's got the upper hand? Depends on who you talk to!
2. Chad Dykes and Pat Hanson drove cross country from
Escondido, CA, and on the way had trouble with their
service vehicle. They made it here on time, none the
less, but once here, they had to spend Thursday
afternoon and evening dealing with a bearing problem on
their rally truck. At this writing, they appear set to
go.
3. The husband and wife team of Ivan and Olga Orisek of
White Plains, NY, arrived Thursday night, just ahead of
a flu virus. Olga awoke Friday morning with the
sniffles, but will still be able to compete in the
rally. Usually the team worries more about Ivan's
intermittent bouts of motion sickness.
MAINE FOREST RALLY
RUMFORD, ME
3-4 December 1993
Revised 12/4/93 - 10:00 AM
CAR# CLASS NAT/DIV DRIVER CO-DRIVER CAR
1 Open N Paul Choiniere Jeff Becker Audi S-2
Williston, VT Great Neck, NY
6 Open N Carl Merrill J. Jon Wickens Ford Cosworth
Ogunquit, ME Bloomfield Hills, MI
13 GT N Tom McGeer Trish Sparrow Subaru Legacy
Georgetown, Ont. Georgetown, Ont.
11 Open N Jeff Zwart Harry Ward Porsche 911
Woody Creek, CO Toledo, OH
12 Open N Henry B. Joy Jimmy Brandt Mitsubishi
Wilmette, IL Lake Odessa, MI Eclipse
10 GT N Vinnie Frontinan Frank Arruda Toyota
Somerville, MA Johnston, RI Celica GT4
15 GT N Cal Landau Eric Marcus Mitsubishi
Coraopolis, PA Dayton, OH Eclipse
19 A N Tony K. Takaori Ken Cassidy Mitsubishi
Little Rock, AR Mesa, AZ Galant
16 GT N Selchuk Karamanoglu John McArthur Mitsubishi
Bath, ME Honeoye Falls, NY Eclipse
44 GT N Todd Bawden Martin Headland Mitsubishi
Anaheim, CA Calgary, Alb. Eclipse
33 GT N Sylvaine Vincent Pierre Racine Mazda 323GTX
La Plaine, Que. Montreal, Que.
18 Prod N Karl Scheible Wayne Scheible VW GTI
Rochester, NY Rochester, NY
7 Truck N Roger Hull John Elkin Mitsubishi
Prescott, AZ Lytle Creek, CA Pick-up
20 Open N John Kemp Dan Sprongl Audi 4000
Attica, NY Woodbridge, Ont.
21 Open N/D Carl Fisher Ted Mendham Dodge
Greenville, NH Lyndeboro, NH
22 GT N/D Rich Swenson Rod Hendrickson Mazda 323GTX
Highland Lakes, NJ Clinton, NJ
77 GT N/D Ivan Orisek Olga Orisek Mitsubishi
White Plains, NY White Plains, NY Eclipse
23 Prod N/D Bob Elliott Mark Williams VW GTI
Rutland, VT Gaithersburg, MD
24 Prod N/D Dick Casey Martin Dapot VW GTI
Fairfax Station, VA Reston, VA
25 Truck N Greg Healey John MacLeod Dodge Ram
Hartsville, SC South Easton, MA Pick-up
17 Truck N Chad Dykes Pat Hanson Mitsubishi
Escondido, CA Escondido, CA Pick-up
26 Open N Ken Beard Jim Miner Dodge Omni
Stewartown, PA Annapolis, MD
27 Prod N/D Lesley Suddard Anne Thomas Dodge Omni
Wilmington, DE Nashua, NH
28 Open N/D Dean Fry Don Kennedy Subaru 4X4
Mohnton, PA Shillington, PA
34 Prod N Damon Mayers Matt Chester Toyota
Taunton, MA Marietta, GA
30 GT N/D Doug Beaulieu, Jr. Doug Beaulieu, Sr. Mitsubishi
Westport, MA Westport, MA
32 Prod N Lisa Pelling Steve Walkington Honda
Hudson, Que. Hudson, Que.
40 GT D Roland McIvor Ellen Santarcangelo Mitsubishi
Beaver Falls, PA Beaver Falls, PA Eclipse
41 GT D Gerry Brinkman Robert Barrall VW Rabbit
Freehold, NJ Bethlehem, PA
42 Prod D Bob Gurnsey John Hart VW GTI
New London, NH Hydeville, VT
43 GT D Rees Harris Joel Richards Mazda 323GTX
Burlington, VT Newton, MA
45 Open D Sylvester Stepniewski Adam Pelc VW Scirocco
Keansburg, NJ Brooklyn, NY
46 GT D Antonio Monteiro Philip Barnes Mitsubishi
Somerville, MA Cortland, NY Galant
48 Open D Gerald Sweet Stuart Spark Saab 99
Oakridge, NJ Woodcliffe Lake, NJ
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 3:00 PM
Press Notes #3
4. The Bob Elliott/Mark Williams VW GTI, which has won the
Production class here the last two years, might look the
same as it always has, but Elliott, a CPA from Rutland,
Vermont, has a secret weapon. Their #23 racer will be
shod with the new Bridgestone Blizzak snow and ice
tires, just out on the market. Elliott claims the tires
are better than those "other" ice and snow tires from
Finland, and says that Bridgestone sent him the tires
for the rally expecting a full tech report next week.
5. After the last rally, Press On Regardless, Todd Bawden
dropped off his car at Henry Joy's shop in Chicago,
rather than bring it home to Anaheim, CA. The New
Zealander flew to Chicago on Tuesday and had to spend
that night servicing the car to get it ready to come to
Maine. Driving from Chicago to Rumford took a lot out
of him, and tonight may prove to be harder than he
thinks.
6. Several late entries for the divisional rallies have
swelled the entry list to 33, still several fewer than
last year's event. Missing from this event is last
year's overall champion, Frank Sprongl of Woodbridge,
Ontario. A broken transmission early in the season and
an off-road shunt at Tall Pines last weekend prevented
Sprongl from making the trip to Maine to defend his
title. Also missing are last year's GT class winner,
Tim O'Neil, and the Maine Forest 1992 Group A champ,
Chad DiMarco. O'Neil, of nearby Franconia, NH, has been
living and rallying in Scotland for the past year. He
is here as a spectator and service crew for Henry Joy.
DiMarco has already clinched the Group A season
championship, and chose not to make the trip.
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 7:00 PM
Press Notes #4
7. Back for the 1993 Maine Forest Rally in the pick-up truck
class is Roger Hull of Prescott, AZ. Last year Hull and
then co-driver Rob Cherry only made about 300 yards on
the first stage before going off course and losing the
truck class championship to eventual Maine Forest
winners Gary and Judi Gooch. "I think we basically
ended up making a wrong tire choice," said Hull of his
performance last year. "This year we're returning with
Goodyear's F32S which is comparable to a Hakkapeliita-
type tire and hopefully we'll have a little better
luck." Hull's co-driver this year is John Elkin. The
Gooches also did not return this year as they are
running an abbreviated season while they build a new
house in Oakhurst, CA.
8. The rally got underway promptly at 6:00PM as scheduled
from the downtown Rumford area. Flagging the cars off
at the start was Subaru of North America's Motorsports
Guru Alex Fedorak. Subaru is the primary sponsor of the
1993 Subaru Pro Rally Series.
9. The latest reports from the rally roads indicate that
there actually is a light covering of snow on many of
the special stages. Where frozen dirt was originally
anticipated, now it appears that snow and ice are
likely, at least in the Friday night stages. This has
caused a flurry of activity among the service crews,
mounting and transporting tires for all sorts of
conditions.
10. The teams of Bawden/Headland and Frontinen/Arruda were
both expressing confidence at the start of the rally.
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 7:30 PM
Press Notes #5
10. (cont.) Of the slightly warmer temperatures and less
snow than in past Maine Forest Rallies, Bawden said, "It
makes it a little easier. You know, all I have to do is
finish, finish well. So a little of this ice is okay.
We'll just take it easy and see who has the lead." He
went on to say, "If we have to make up time, we'll make
it up tomorrow. Just finish tonight."
11. Tom McGeer and co-driver Trish Sparrow are at the Maine
Forest Rally, not looking for points for their own
season ending standings, but to seek the Manufacturer's
Championship for Subaru. McGeer is a three time overall
champion in the Canadian Rally Championship Series.
This is the third event in the Subaru Pro Rally
Championship in which McGeer has competed. He competes
in a Production GT class Subaru Legacy. His main
competition for the Manufacturers title is Audi,
especially in the form of Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker.
The Audi has more horsepower, and McGeer was asked about
his strategy for the event. "Just drive to the finish,"
McGeer stated, "We've gotta go hard to stay with Paul
but we've gotta go slow to insure a finish for the other
points, so I think we've just decided that we're going
to start and drive just like we always drive and at the
end of the rally, we'll see what happens." McGeer went
on to say, "Obviously Paul is very fast and if he runs
problem free we will not be able to catch him. But if
we can hope to stay close enough and capitalize upon any
problems he might run into..."
12. At 9:00, the rally has entered its third special stage
section and so far there is only one DNF. The first car
out of the rally is the Dodge Omni of Ken Beard/Jim
Miner, who were reported to be "on their roof" about 0.7
mi. into stage 2. The car slid off the road on an icy
patch, down an embankment, and rolled over. Both
occupants were unharmed.
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 10:30 PM
Press Notes #6
13. Although the Open Class title was clinched earlier in the
season by Paul Choiniere, second place is still very
much up for grabs. Any one of three drivers could move
into that position: Henry Joy, Jeff Zwart, and Carl
Merrill. Joy holds the advantage going into this rally,
and to cement his chances, he has availed himself of
some special training recently under the tutelage of
11 time SCCA PRO Rally champion John Buffum. Joy
explained the mathematical possibilities, stating that
whoever finishes first, he or Zwart, would take the
runnerup spot. "I'm going to go out and attack it just
like I would any other gravel rally." said Joy,
anticipating dry conditions. "We're going to go as fast
as the conditions will allow us."
14. At 11:45 PM, the team of Choiniere/Becker was the first to
arrive at Parc Ferme in downtown Rumford. Unofficially,
the top ten overall are:
1. Choiniere/Becker Audi S-2 Open N
2. Joy/Brandt Mits. Eclipse Open N
3. Takaori/Cassidy Mits. Galant A N
4. Frontinan/Arruda Toy. Celica GT N
5. Bawden/Headland Mits. Eclipse GT N
6. Karamanoglu/McArthur Mits. Eclipse GT N
7. Landau/Marcus Mits. Eclipse GT N
8. Scheible/Scheible VW GTI Prod N
9. Fisher/Mendham Dodge Open N/D
10. Vincent/Racine Mazda 323GTX GT N
15. Reports from the drivers as they came into Parc Ferme
were that there were 2-3 inches of snow on most of the
stages. Choiniere said the conditions were perfect,
although many of the drivers would not agree. Some
admitted to bad tire choices and will change tomorrow,
while others were happy with their tires' performance.
Maine Forest Rally
December 3, 1993, 12:30 PM
Press Notes #7
16. Stage four appears to have been the toughest on the
competitors and their vehicles. Ice throughout the
stage caught more than one of the top running cars.
Carl Merrill hit the ice and slid to the edge of the
course, not even off the course, but he was far enough
over that his Ford Cosworth became "high centered" and
he couldn't get it off. The GT class team of
Swenson/Hendrickson stopped their Mazda 323GTX long
enough to give the Merrill/Wickens team the nudge they
needed to get them going again and they were able to
finish the stage before they were timed out. Merrill
ran well in the final stage, and the team is confident
that they will be able to move back up in the standings
in Saturday's four remaining stages.
17. The Open class Porsche 911 of Zwart/Ward also went off on
stage 4, but they were not as lucky as Merrill/Wickens.
The Valvoline sponsored team ended up on their side,
after hitting ice on a sweeping left hand turn. No
injuries were reported, but as of Saturday morning, the
car was on its way home to California.
18. Also off on the fourth stage were the teams of Suddard/
Thomas and Stepniewski/Pelc. Suddard's Dodge Omni
suffered a broken control arm, leaving them unable to
steer without severe tire rub. They did make it to the
finish, but were timed out. After a late night repair,
Suddard and Thomas were back at the start on Saturday
morning, having entered the Boise Cascade Divisional
event. Stepniewski and Pelc were running in the Seven
Islands divisional on Friday night when a sheet of ice
caused them to go straight while the course went left!
The car was heavily damaged and needed much help to get
extricated. However, they were able to repair the car
for Saturday's divisional.
Maine Forest Rally 1993 5/9 Spec.
Provisional Results - Friday Night
Num. Resu. Ch,Gr Driver Co-Driver Car
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
1 1:14:28 N O Paul Choiniere Jeff Becker Audi
12 1:19:35 N O Henry B.Joy Jimmy Brandt Mitsubishi
19 1:20:47 N A Tony K Takaori Ken Cassidy Mitsubishi
10 1:21:38 N G Vinnie Frontinan Frank Arruda Toyota
21 1:21:39 N O Carl Fischer Ted Mendham Dodge
44 1:21:50 N G Todd Bawden Martin Headland Mitsubishi
16 1:23:47 N G Selchuk Karamanoglu John McArthur Mitsubishi
15 1:23:66 N G Cal Landau Eric Marcus Mitsubishi
18 1:23:75 N P Karl Scheible Wayne Scheible VW
33 1:24:41 N G Sylvain Vincent Pierre Racine Mazda
23 1:24:87 N,D P Bob Elliott Mark Williams VW GTI
25 1:28:90 N T Greg Healey John MacLeod Dodge
7 1:29:11 N T Roger Hull John Elkin Mitsubishi
77 1:31:34 N,D G Ivan Orisek Olga Orisek Mitsubishi
6 1:31:46 N O Carl Merrill J.Jon Wickens Ford
28 1:32:67 N,D O Dean Fry Don Kennedy Subaru
30 1:35:38 N,D G Doug Beaulieu-Jr Doug Beaulieu-Sr Mitsubishi
13 1:41:19 N G Tom McGeer Trish Sparrow Subaru
20 1:42:93 N O Jon Kemp Dan Sprongl Audi
24 1:47:19 N,D P Dick Casey Martin Dapot VW
32 1:50:36 N P Lisa Pelling Steve Walkington Honda
22 N G Rich Swenson Rod Hendrickson Mazda
43 1:18:77 D O Rees Harris Joel Richardt Mazda
42 1:27:75 D P Bob Gursney John Hart VW
40 1:30:67 D O Roland McIvor Ellen Santaroangelo Mitsubishi
41 D G Gerry Brinkman Robert Barrall VW
48 D G Gerard Sweett Stuart Spark Saab
17 TBA N T Chad Dykes Pat Hanson Mitsubishi
11 TBA N O Jeff Zwart Harry Ward Porche
26 TBA N O Ken Beard Jim Miner Dodge
27 TBA N,D P Lesley Suddard Anne Thomas Dodge
34 TBA N P Damon Mayers Matt Chester Toyota
45 TBA D P Sylvester Stepnewski Adam Pelc VW
46 TBA D O Antonio Montiero Philip Barnes Mitsubishi
Maine Forest Rally
December 4, 1993, 11:30 AM
Press Notes #8
19. Henry Joy and co-driver Jimmy Brandt had to deal with a
flat tire on the last stage, slowing them
significantly. Joy estimated that he had lost about a
minute by having to run much slower than normal in
order to preserve the car. When the results appeared
from the Friday night special stages, Joy retained his
position of second place overall. As far as the chase
for season points, Joy has been assured of finishing at
least third in the open class by the DNF of Jeff Zwart.
The race for second is now between Joy and Merrill who
started Saturday's section in 15th place overall and
fourth in the open class. If Merrill continues to hold
on to his class position, he will overtake Joy for the
season's runner-up spot.
20. Speaking of points, Chad DiMarco, who sat this event out,
was in second place in the overall standings at the
start of this event. A few points back was Jeff Zwart,
followed very closely by Carl Merrill. Now that Zwart
has dropped out and Merrill is so far back, DiMarco may
be able to hold the position in absentia. Merrill can't
be counted out yet, though. If he is able to improve
his position in the rally, he could still pull it off.
Merrill needs to finish today's event in eighth place to
tie with DiMarco and seventh place to beat him.
21. Throughout the Friday night stages, the teams of
Frontinan/Arruda and Bawden/Headland traded the lead,
the former winning two stages and the latter taking
three. Bawden suffered a flat tire early into the
fourth stage which had to be fixed, costing him dearly.
On the other hand, Frontinan was unhappy with his choice
of tires, and felt he was not getting the speed he would
have liked. The two cars finished the Friday night
stages 0.12 seconds apart with Frontinan/Arruda in the
lead, but if they end the rally that way, Bawden will
win the title (contrary to the earlier message in note #1).
Maine Forest Rally
December 4, 1993, 12:45 PM
Press Notes #9
22. The team of Karamanoglu/McArthur was not very happy with
their performance on Friday night, although they were
running seventh overall. Their position was tenuous,
though, with 7th through 10th position covering less
than a minute. At the start on Saturday, Karamanoglu
declared that his problem was too much tire pressure.
The Turkish rally champion had never before raced on
ice, and for the Saturday stages he chose to lessen the
pressures. "I hope it's not too low!" he offered
cautiously.
23. The team of Merrill/Wickens has turned up the wick,
according to unofficial results from the early stages on
Saturday. It appears that they have set the fastest
time on both the 5.94 mile Grafton South stage and the
18.79 mile Magalloway Long stage. This is good enough
to move them up from 15th, where they were at the start
of today's drive, to 11th overall.
24. The Maine Forest Rally incorporates two divisional
rallies into its format. The Friday night stages
together form the Seven Islands Divisional and the
daytime stages today constitute the Boise Cascade
Divisional. Many of the competitors have chosen to
enter both the National and the Divisionals this
weekend. Others, as mentioned before, who had to drop
out of the National, were able to continue competing by
entering today's Divisional. The results are still
unofficial from last night's Seven Islands Divisional,
but it appears that the strong winner was the team of
Rees Harris and Joel Richardt in a Mazda 323GTX. Their
times in the Friday stages were second only to rally
leaders Choiniere/Becker, and were more than 6 minutes
quicker than the next quickest divisional team. Each
Divisional is scored separately and the divisional times
are not combined for comparison with the National rally.
Maine Forest Rally
December 4, 1993, 1:30 PM
Press Notes #10
25. The team of Scheible/Scheible has dropped out of the
rally, having gone off the course on Saturday's first
stage. There was no damage to the car, but the brothers
were unable to get their VW GTI back onto the course
without assistance. Ultimately, the team was time
barred.
26. Reports from the field indicate that the conditions on
the course are changeable at best. On the second stage,
drivers encountered snow, which then became mud, which
then suddenly and without warning, changed to sheets of
ice. Over and over on the stage, the surface changed,
and there was every indication that this was a prelude
of things to come.
27. As previously reported, Olga Orisek continues to be under
the weather. Today, however, she suffers from a malady
that is the worst imaginable for a pro rally co-driver:
laryngitis!! The job of a co-driver is to shout the
directions to the driver, and with no voice, Ivan is
going to have to rely on hand signals.
28. The on-going battle between Vinnie Frontinan and Todd
Bawden has tipped the scales in favor of Bawden as
fast Production GT competitors Cal Landau/Eric Marcus
have run their Mitsubishi Eclipse off the road on stage
#7 and are out of the rally. Landau, the only
Production GT competitor who could have wedged himself
into second place between Frontinan and Bawden (helping
Vinnie score enough points to win the championship) is
now out. Unless Bawden does not finish the rally, he
has clinched the season's class title.
Maine Forest Rally
December 4, 1993, 5:00 PM
Press Notes #11
29. The 1993 Maine Forest Rally is now over, and 1993 Subaru
PRO Rally Championship overall winners Paul Choiniere
and Jeff Becker finished almost six and a half minutes
in front of the field to score their fifth victory of
the season in their Audi S-2. In fact, since Becker has
taken on the co-driver duties in the Libra Racing Audi
in January of 1992, the duo has finished first in every
rally they have competed in. To further that line of
thinking, when Jeff has been unavailable to co-drive,
and Choiniere has used a sub, Choiniere has not scored a
rally victory.
30. The Tony Takaori/Ken Cassidy right-hand drive Mitsubishi
Galant was second overall, and drove the entire rally
incident-free. Takaori also won the Group A class,
solidifying his hold on second place for the season
in that class.
31. The final chapter in the Todd Bawden/Vinnie Frontinan
battle was written on stage #9, with Vinnie holding a
slight lead going into the stage. Part way through the
stage, the Frontinan/Arruda Toyota Celica GT4 had a flat
tire, and although they changed the flat in less than
two and a half minutes, Bawden zipped by them to not
only win the season championship, but win the Production
GT class title for the rally. The Bawden/Headland
Mitsubishi Eclipse scored its fourth class win of the
season, quite an accomplishment for a rookie driver.
32. The Henry Joy/Jimmy Brandt Mitsubishi Eclipse completed a
terrific season, finishing fourth overall at the Maine
Forest Rally and fifth overall for the season, only 7
points out of second. Joy's results included a third
place overall in Prescott, and a fourth at POR.
Maine Forest Rally
December 5, 1993, 8:00 AM
Press Notes #12
33. The Tom McGeer/Trish Sparrow Subaru Legacy, needed to
finish fifth in Production GT in order to win the North
American Rally Championship in that class. With a large
off-the-road excursion on Friday night, however, the 1993
Canadian overall champions lost almost 20 minutes to the
field as they hit a rock after sliding off the road on a
sheet of ice. With both front and rear suspension
damage, the prospects looked bleak for the car to return
to action on Saturday, but some hard work by the crew put
the Legacy back in running order, and they were on their
way on Saturday. Despite the patchwork suspension and
body damage, McGeer's times were in the top five most of
the day, and he finished fifth in class and 14th overall
to gain the NARC Production GT crown.
34. The closest class battle of the rally was the Rally Truck
class contest between Greg Healey/John MacLeod Dodge Ram
50 pickup and the Roger Hull/John Elkin Mitsubishi
pickup. The two trucks were less than one minute apart
for the whole event - sometimes less than two seconds
apart after a particular stage. When all the time cards
were calculated, Healey beat Hull by only 1.2 seconds to
win the truck class.
35. In the Production class, the Bob Elliott/Mark Williams VW
GTI won the title for the third year in a row at the
Maine Forest Rally. Elliott's title was assured after
the Scheible/Scheible GTI dropped out of the event.
Elliott, who always seems to run well in bad conditions,
finished sixth overall, just behind the Production GT
Mazda 323GTX of Sylvain Vincent/Pierre Racine from
Quebec.
36. The Lesley Suddard/Anne Thomas Dodge Omni broke a control
arm ("same damn thing as Friday"), while the Damon
Mayers/Matt Chester Toyota Corolla ran out of gas and
DNF.
For Immediate Release Contact: Andy Schupack
(207) 369-0000
(thru. 12/5 - PM)
(401) 739-5677
(after 12/5)
CHOINIERE/BECKER ENDS PERFECT SEASON WITH PERFECT PERFORMANCE
AT MAINE FOREST RALLY; CROWNED 1993 SUBARU PRO RALLY CHAMPS
RUMFORD, Maine - December 5 -- Paul Choiniere, from
Shelburne, Vermont, along with co-driver Jeff Becker, capped
a championship season with a perfect performance at the Maine
Forest Rally to win the final round of the Subaru PRO Rally
Championship in their Audi S-2.
Choiniere, who won five rallies enroute to his third overall
championship in four years, is undefeated since January,
1992, when veteran co-driver Jeff Becker is with him.
Second overall was the right-hand drive Mitsubishi Galant
of Tony Takaori, of Little Rock, Arkansas with co-driver Ken
Cassidy. Takaori, a Japanese rally driver who is spending
three years in the U.S., also won the Group A class - his
second Group A victory of the season.
Carl Merrill, from Ogunquit, Maine - a pre-rally favorite -
lost 17 minutes to the field on Friday when his 400
horsepower Ford Escort Cosworth slid off the road onto
a ridge and became high-centered (all four wheels off the
ground. Merrill and co-driver Jon Wickens ended up ninth
overall.
In a PRO Rally, each team consists of a driver and a co-
driver (or navigator), and the exact course is kept secret
until just before the event. The cars start at one-minute
intervals and race against the clock over nine stages which
range in length from six to 25 miles.
Speeds of more than 100 miles-per-hour could be reached on
long straight-aways, with the team achieving the fastest
combined times over the closed logging roads winning the
event.
In the most significant battle of the day other than the
overall winner, Todd Bawden, from Anaheim, Calif., with co-
driver Martin Headland, drove his Mitsubishi Eclipse to a
first place finish in the Production GT class (third place
overall) to clinch the season title. Bawden, who had trailed
Somerville, Mass.' Vinnie Frontinan/Frank Arruda by five
points going into the event, pulled ahead of Vinnie's Toyota
Celica GT4 when Vinnie suffered a flat tire on the last
stage.
Other class winners included Bob Elliott/Mark Williams, from
Rutland, Vermont, in a VW GTI (Production class); and Greg
Healey/John MacLeod from Hartsville, South Carolina in a
Dodge Ram 50 Pickup (Rally Truck class). Healey's margin
over second-place Roger Hull was only 1.2 seconds,
Besides Choiniere and Bawden's season championship, other
1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship season winners included
Chad DiMarco/Erick Hauge, from Huntington Beach, Calif.,
in a Subaru Legacy (Group A class); Peter Cunningham/Joe
Andreini, from Whitefish Bay, Wisc., in an Acura Integra
(Production class); and Guy Light/Dave White from Carson
City, Nev., in a GMC Sonoma Pick-up (Rally Truck class).
The 1994 Sports Car Club of America's PRO Rally schedule,
which includes the return of the Maine Forest Rally to
Rumford for a fourth year, shows ten events. New events
include the Sunriser PRO Rally in Chillicothe, Ohio;
Sandhills PRO Rally in Cheraw, South Carolina; and the Doo
Wop PRO Rally in Olympia, Washington.
# # #
Subject: PRO Rally Follow-up
Date: 05-Dec-93 07:38:15
Rusty Campbell, series manager for the SCCA PRO Rally series, resigned last
night right after the final awards banquet following the running of the Maine
Forest Rally. Campbell, citing business and personal reasons, did not have
any further comments.
Subject: PRO Rally Follow-up
Date: 06-Dec-93 08:12:21
--Rusty Campbell will have a statement on his resignation as SCCA PRO Rally
series manager on Wednesday. He will post it on-line at that time.
--We will post the '94 schedule and stages times from the Maine Forest Rally
shortly.
--As Subaru of America will not be sponsoring the '94 series, the status of
the public relations program is not settled. I have talked to the SCCA about
doing the series PR either for them or for a prospective series sponsor, and
have also talked to two teams about doing their team PR. If I am involved
with PRO Rally PR in any capacity, I will continue to post information on
line. My contract with Subaru runs out December 31.
--Peter Cunningham, from Whitefish Bay, Wisc., won the Jon Woodner Cup for the
top-finishing two-wheel-drive entry overall for 1993. Cunningham, who received
his award at the season-ending banquet on Saturday night in Maine, won the
Production class championship in an Acura Integra.
--Jeanne Long, former SCCA PRO Rally specialist at SCCA headquarters in
Denver, received several awards and two standing ovations from the drivers and
workers at the banquet. People interested in reaching Jeanne by writing to
her at 21799 Farmingdale Way, Parker, Colorado 80134, (303) 841-8174.
--The final series wrap-up will be in the February issue of SPORTSCAR
magazine.
Subject: PRO Rally Silly Season
Date: 08-Dec-93 08:35:19
While PRO Rally might not have a silly season, we at least have a silly "week
or two." Here's the latest.
--Hyundai is expected to choose a team to build, prepare and run its factory
entry in the PRO Rally series by the end of the week. We'll make sure that
any announcement is posted on-line.
--A major announcement is expected in the next week or two for title
sponsorship for the SCCA PRO Rally series. Subaru of America, Inc., the
sponsor from 1991-93, did not renew its contract due to current business
conditions and slow car sales. The company considering the sponsorship
already has some involvement with rally as a contingency sponsor.
--Although many do not have firm plans, most of the top drivers intend to
return to action in the series for 1994. We will document their plans in the
next couple of weeks as they become firm.
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