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AT A GLANCE
Event: 1999 Maine Forest Summer Rally, round |
Rally, American Legion
Where Rally headquarters will be at the WHAT ARE THE ROADS LIKE?
The route is contained in an area 80 miles to the
The route uses most all of the roads twice; |
(Friday night). Most of the stages are 1-1/2 lane, well groomed ex-logging roads. Some will be being used as access for current operations; all are on gravel except the in-town Rumford short stage. The basic quality of the roads, consider- ing both the roughness and tightness, is excellent. The first Six gravel stages tend to be looser-surfaced, and rougher, WHAT 15 PRO RALLY?
Pro Rallying is one of the world's most challeng-
At the start of a ProRally, the co-driver (navigator)
For a day and a night, or several days, the team's
Rally cars, all street licensed and registered, are
From local rally-sprints to four-day international |
| SPECTATING THE MAINE SUMMER RALLY | |||
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Choiniere/Becker Hyundai Tiburon
PRO Rallying is called the most exciting
FOLLOW THE MARSHALS DIRECTIONS -
DON'T STAND ON THE OUTSIDE OF
BE ALERT AT ALL TIMES - the drivers often
DON'T MOVE ONTO OR WALK ON THE |
to Route 120. The best place to park is Glover's Machine Shop on the right - just opposite from the cut-over road. Walk down the cut-over road approximately 200 yards to the cement bridge, The start of the stage is on the paved road, with the race cars taking a right
over the bridge. The Spectator area is well
Second location: Immediately after the exit of |
Shrader/Shrader Mitsubishi Lancer
RUMFORD WELCOMES
Through programs offered by the River | |
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UNDERSTANDING RALLY TERMS | |||
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Special Stage - Competition 'race' section where the road is closed to the public and he competitors run flat-out, at one minute intervals, to see who is fastest' Transit Stage - Non-competitive sections where the competitors obey all the rules of he road. These sections are to get competi- tors from one race stage to the next. Co-Driver - Also known as navigator, he istructs the driver where to turn at intersec-- tions, and where the extra dangerous points are, by following his/her routebook. routebook - Organizer-produced book which the competitors use to follow the prescribed course. Competitors may not drive the route before the rally. Parc Expose - Prior to the start of a ProRally, |
competitors are required to display their cars at a specific location for public viewing. Quiet Zone - Portions of the transit route where the competitors must: drive 5 mph below the speed limit, on low beams, making minimum noise. Penalties are assessed for violation of this rule. Scrutineering - Every ProRally conducts a technical inspection of the rally cars before the start to check safety and rules compliance. Timing Control - "Marshals" are stationed at these checkpoints at the start and finish of the special stages to time the competitors and to control public travel. Open Class - Vehicles must be based on a model built by a recognized car company. The engine, suspension, brakes and transmission |
are unrestricted. All wheel drive and turbocharged engines provide the fastest cam with traction and horsepower. roup 5 - Cars can be highly modified as above, but must be 2 WD. Group 2 - As above but for small displace- ment (under 2400 cc) 2 WD cars. Production - Small displacement (under 2400 cc) showroom stock cars with very limited modifications, mainly to suspension and for safety. Production GT - As above except that turbo- charged cars with 4 WD are allowed, along with larger displacement engine. | |
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PRO RALLY - WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE OUT THERE |
RIVER VALLEY CHAMBER OF COM- MERCE TO PRESENT FUN & WONDER RALLY TO BENEFIT LOCAL CHARITIES | |
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It has been said, and accurately so, that in ProRally we drive real cars, real fast on real roads. Pro Rally cam are indeed street legal and most of them could be comfortably used for that purpose. In fact there is no rule against having air conditioning or CD players installed and a few people have actually competed with them installed. Pro rally competitors are not allowed to pre-run or practice the course, and Pro Rally events are conducted in all types of weather. It is rare for a rally to be cancelled because of poor weather, These factors place a premium on the driver's experience, skill and common sense, and on the ability of the car to handle various types of terrain. Seldom is there an advantage to having brute horse- power. The skill factors also make our sport less expensive than other forms of motorsports. Here's what it will be like if you compete in Divisional or National events in various parts of the country: First let's go to Colorado and compete in the Gold Rush Divisional ProRally. We are going to be running at 8,000 to 10,000 feet, so we will need to get there early enough to dial in our carburetor or fuel injection computer for the attitude. The lighter our car is the better off we will be at high attitude - bigger, heavier cars pay a bigger penalty for the lack of air. We are going to drive 200 to 250 miles in the event, of which about 100 miles will be in competitive stages. We will start at 4 PM on Saturday, and the first four or five stages will be fast, smooth, wide gravel and dirt with a lot of turns and bends where the road often turns just over the crests, After these stages there will be a one- hour service stop where the mechanics can repair the cars, From here we go higher up where the roads will remain fast and smoot~ but will have more 'exposures' (drop-off s). One of the last stages will be a 17 mile stage that will be mostly narrow, with a fair amount of rough terrain and some steep hills, two or three dry creek crossings and a stretch down a sandy creek bed. The highlight though will be the 6 miles of water bars (graded grooves which run crosswise to the road to redirect water from eroding the road surface) along a narrow road with constant exposures. A 40 mph average on this stage will be fast indeed' About 2 AM we will have run our fast stage (if we make it this far) and head into the last control in Westcliffe. Exciting? You bet! The adrenaline has been up for about 9 hours now and it will be awhile before we come down off our high long enough to go to sleep. Next let's go to the upper peninsula in Michigan and run the Lake Superior ProRally, a two day event It's 450 miles, with 200 miles of special stages. We will start on Friday about 6 PM and run all night, finishing up about 7 AM. After an at too short 5 hour rest (including a 1 hour service stop), we'll be up again to complete the route ending at 6 PM Saturday night. |
We are going to run a variety of road surfaces: Wide, hard packed dirt; smooth gravel: roads with deep sand in the corners; rough, narrow, pot-holed jeep trails; even a paved road. If it's wet (or even snowing), it will be slippery and the pot holes will fill with water causing moreproblems for the drivers, co- drivers and service crews. So imagine you and your co-driver are ready to start your first special stage. You are going to drive as fast as you can down a twisty, forest or logging road that you have never seen before. Your co-driver's routebook will contain enough information to keep you on course and warn you of any unexpected bad places that could hurt you or your car. But it won't tell you which way the road turns and it won't warn you about what happens over the crest. You will have to watch for the rocks and potholes by yourself it you become a Pro Rally driver, you will learn to drive any kind of road in any weather condition, You can compete all over the country or you can slay close to home and run the more local Divisional events. You can drive the West Texas desert, high mountains of California, the forests of Washington, the ice and snow of Maine - any type of road you want. Just remember that good car preparation will be your number one priority. Pro Rallying is the most exciting form of motorsports in the world, The best way to get started is to find someone already involved and pick their brain, If you are not ready to buy a car and climb behind the wheel, start out by attending or help at an event, as a co-driver, service crew or marshal with the organizing team. When you are ready for that first car, don't build one, buy one. Rally cars are available all over the country from about $2,000 to $10,000 and often include a lot of spare parts. Almost any kind of car will do to get you started. Just go out and have fun, Don't try to win the first few events: most of the drivers you'll compete against are very good and you will be amazed at how much faster they are than you - at first. With time and experience, you can close the gap and then you will be ready for that faster, newer, better car. Attending a Pro Rally licensing school may give you more insight into driving techniques. To obtain a Divisional schedule and more information including a rule book, contact Paige Wagner at the SCCA: telephone 303-779-6622, or stop by the Madison Hotel during registration hours and talk to one of the SCCA Now England Region officials. People often remark, "I'll bet that Pro" a hy's a lot of fun." Not always, because someti 'as t hard work, but it's always exciting. Come on, as the late Jon Woodner used to say, "Drive a real car down a real road, real fast."  Shadbolt/Chizma Subaru Impreza |
The 1999 River Valley Chamber of Commerce Fun & Wonder Time/Speed/ Distance (TSD) Rally might be for you if you want to experience the teamwork and precision of ProRally at street-legal speeds. The rally is being sponsored by Atlantic Driving Schools and will be held on Sunday, August 1, at noon. Registration is at 11:00 AM at the American Legion Half on Congress Street. The first car out is at 12:01 PM and will finish approximately 2:30 PM. This event ends the Maine Forest ProRally weekend. The entry fee is $25 in advance or $30 at the door. All proceedswill benefit the River Valley Chamber of Commerce and its work with local charities. The key to winning is to coordinate time/ speed/distance to stay on schedule at check points along the course. The rally will be run on local roads at normal speeds. Those who do well follow the route instructions precisely and do not get lost. A TSD Rally is designed for any legal vehicle and no special cars or skills are required. Cars must be inspected, registered and insured according to the laws of their stale of registration. Drivers must have a valid operator's license, while navigators must only be able to read. This makes the raJly an ideal activity for families and parent- child teams! The rally uses "tulip" style instructions which are diagrams of each intersection that demonstrates an action (for example a slop signorturm. Each instruction during the rally will have a mileage. The course is designed to be very easy and since there are no tricks or traps in this type of rally, it is intended to be fun and exciting for all. The rally is divided into classes of competitors based on prior rally experience and equipment. For more information about the 1999 Fun & Wonder Rally, contact the River Valley Chamber of Commerce at (207) 364-3241 
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| LAWLER GETS WIN AT WILD WEST PRORALLY; LIBRA TO BUILD LEAD AT MAINE |
SPORTS CAR CLUB OF AMERICA - NATIONAL EXCITEMENT, LOCAL FUN | |
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SHELTON, Washington - Irish eyes definitely were smiling in this part of Washington on June 15, as Noel Lawler took the overall win in the Wild West ProRally, round five in the 1999 Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship, the event leading into this year's Maine Forest Rally, Lawler and navigator Charlie Bradley had been close to a win 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 Patti 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 portion 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, With almost every class being hotly contested going into the Maine Forest ProRally, both the entry and the racing should loom large in determining the 1999 championship. Libra Racing's #1 driver, Paul Choiniere, with co-driver Jeff Becker, will be looking to get their championship hunt back on track in their Hyundai Tiburon after only one win in the first five events. Teammates Noel Lawler/Charles Bradley in a Hyundai Elantra currently have the series points lead after a second-place finish at STPR and the win in Washington. But Mt. Washington Hillclimb winner Frank Sprongl with co-driver Dan Sprongl will be challenging the Hyundais with his Audi Quattro, and he has consistently beaten them when he travels to the U.S. from his native Canada. And Stig Blomqvst, former FIA Rally Champion, will drive the former Carl Merrill Ford Escort Cosworth with co-driver Lance Smith, In all, more than 80 cars are expected to participate in this year's Maine Forest Rally. |
Founded in Boston in 1944 by a small group of amateur motorsports enthusiasts, the SCCA today has over 54,000 members. Thriving as never before, the club sanctions literally thousands of events every year. With 110 local affiliates (regions) in all 50 states, these local clubs form the backbone of virtually all road- racing, autocross and rally activities in the United States. Included in this broad array of SCCA motorsports activities are both amateur and professional series. The Pro Rally event you will be seeing this weekend and the Trans-Am championship, which is presented at the country's finest speedways, are representative of the width of the SCCA's professional racing spectrum. Each of the club's professional senes has an amateur counterpart, with Pro Rally's grass-roots level being the divisional series also being presented this weekend. Clearly, what made the club what it is today is that grass-roots involvement, and continues to be the foundation on which all of the SCCA's offerings are based. RallyCross is one of the clubs newest offerings, blending the excitement of rally-racing in the dirt, but keeps the action contained in a small parking lot sized area. Look for it coming to a freshly-plowed field near you Anyone with a love of cars, or the people who love them, has a place in the SCCA. The organization is member run, and volunteerism runs strong in this community. It's not just about driving a racecar! There are dozens of hands-on opportunities to participate in racing at every level, many of which you will see this weekend.
To learn more about the SCCA, visit our |
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WILD WEST FINAL RESULTS - JUNE 18-19, 1999 - NATIONAL FINISHERS
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Pos. Class Driver/Co-driver Time Difference Vehicle/Tires (Hours:minutes:seconds)
1: Open Noel Lawler/Chadie Bradley 0:00:00
2: Open John Buffum/Mark Williams 0:04:09
3: Open Paul Eklund/John Allen 0:11:58
4: Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan/John Oxford 0:12.26
5: Gp5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes 0:14:26
6: PGT Gail Truess/Cindy Krolikowski 0:14:49
7: Open George Plsek/Renn Phillips 0:15:44 |
8: PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma 0:16:46 Subaru Impreza/Michelin 2:53:15
9 Gr2 Todd Hartmann/Shawn Callahan 0:23:22
10 Open Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy 0:23:46
11 Prod Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire 0:24:43
12 Gr5 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson 0:29:20
13 PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon 0:41:09
14 Gr2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller 1:30:12
15 Open Rob Hansen/Ed Hill 1:57:17 |
Organizer John Buffum |
