Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 2-3, 1993
Press Notes by Andy Schupack |
MEDIA ALERT Event: Gold Rush PRO Rally - Round #6 of the 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship. Race cars from around the world will compete at high speeds through the mountain roads in and around Westcliffe, Colorado When: Saturday - Sunday, October 2 - 3, 1993 Schedule - Saturday 9:00 AM - Noon - Registration - Custer County High School Tech inspection - High School Bus Barn 2:00 PM - ParcExpose - a display of cars - Downtown Westcliffe 3:01 PM - First car starts - Daylight section of the Gold Rush PRO rally 6:30 PM - First car finishes Daylight section 7:31 PM - First car starts Evening Section of the Gold Rush PRO Rally Schedule - Sunday 2:00 AM - Finish - Gold Rush PRO Rally - Custer County High School Where: Rally headquarters will be at the Custer County High School, Rts. 69 and 96, Westcliffe, Colorado. Press room located on the stage in the high school auditorium. Duration: 80 stage miles, 250 total miles, 11 stages Rank: Coefficient 3 Divisional PRO Rally in which drivers and co-drivers with national competition licenses can score points towards the national championship. National points will be awarded with a multiplier of .6 (first place finishers, normally awarded 20 points, will receive 12 points). Those competing only in the Divisional competition will be skipped over in the overall computation of national points. Presented by the Continental Divide 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 Custer County High School starting Saturday morning, October 2. All drivers will be at the Parc Expose session listed above. Several spokes-people, including rally organizer Rod Bagby of Lakewood, Colo., SCCA series manager Rusty Campbell, and defending divisional champion driver B.J. Beal from Denver, are available in person or by phone earlier in the week. Expected Top National Entries: Chad DiMarco - '91 National champion, in his Subaru Legacy - favorite to win overall and clinch his fourth straight Group A title; Carl Merrill - crashed his new 400 HP Ford Escort Cosworth at Pikes Peak July 4 - in a new Escort; Jeff Zwart - 1990 Open class champion - in his All-wheel drive Porsche Carrera 4 - recently finished 19th at New Zealand world rally; Henry Joy - four strong finishes in his first year of Open class competition, including third at Prescott - in a Mitsubishi Eclipse; Tony Takaori - Japanese rally driver - was fourth overall and first in Group A at Prescott and third overall at Ojibwe - in a right-hand drive Mitsubishi Galant; Todd Bawden - rookie rallyist from Southern California - challenging for the class title in Production GT in his Mitsubishi Eclipse; Antonio Menendez - Mexican rallyist currently in second place in Production GT - in a Mitsubishi Eclipse; Chad Dykes - newcomer in truck class - won in Prescott - leading truck class competitor for Westcliffe. 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 Jeanne Long in the press room starting October 2 in the morning. Rally cars going through mud, 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. Contact: Andy Schupack - Subaru PRO Rally Championship media liaison: (401) 739-5677 Jeanne Long - Sports Car Club of America (303) 779-6622 (before October 1) (719) 783-2368 (October 2 - 3 in the press room) Note: The Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker Audi Quattro will not be making the trip, saving their budget and energy for the rough POR course coming up the end of October. Also missing will be the top two truck entries, Light/White GMC Sonoma and the Gooch/Gooch Mitsubishi Pick-up. The other two major competitors not to make the trip to Colorado include the '93 Production class champions Peter Cunningham/Joe Andreini in their Acura Inegra, and Production GT class leaders Frontinan and Arruda in their Toyota Celica All-Trac. Note: We will begin CompuServe reports on the Gold Rush PRO Rally on Friday, October 1. The rally starts on Saturday afternoon, and ends early Sunday morning. The press room phone number is (719) 783-2368 as of Friday morning. --Andy PREVIOUS GOLD RUSH WINNERS Year Driver/Co-driver Car 1980 Tom Hanlon/Shelly Lu Cummings Datsun 510 1983 Hazzie Quick/Tim James VW Bug 1984 Frank Jacobs/Michael Jacobs BMW 2002 1985 Ramon Ferreyeros/Ken Eklund Toyota Starlet 1986 Dean Blagowsky/Sherri Morgan Dodge Omni GLHS 1987 Dean Blagowsky/Sherri Blagowsky Dodge Omni GLHS 1988 Dave Thomas/David Law Mazda RX-7 1989 Dave Thomas/David Law Mazda RX-7 1990 Overall Paul Choiniere/John Buffum Audi Quattro Div. Clay Thomas/Dan Gensheimer Dodge Shelby 1991 Overall Bruno Kreibich/Jeff Becker Audi Quattro Div. Lon Peterson/Jim Love Plymouth Arrow 1992 Overall Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker Audi Quattro Div. Larry Schmidt/Mary Engstrom Dodge Colt GOLD RUSH PRO RALLY COMMITTEE Co-chairmen Rod Bagby Randy Engstrom Rally Master Bob Gilliard Steward Rusty Campbell Registrar Jeanne Long Scoring Randy Anderson Chief of Controls Ed Kajko Worker Coordinators Mary Engstrom Alex Timmermans Kathy Lantz Scrutineering Howard Duncan Radio Control John McDermott Lead Cars Jim Gill Bob Gilliard Norm Babcock Trent Gilliard Sweep Cars Darrell Burtis Clay Thomas Spectator Safety Sheila Kok-Leone Hospitality Jody Bailey Service Coordinator Howard Duncan Public Relations Sheila Kok-Leone Press Notes #1 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 1, 1993 - 2:30 AM MST 1. Welcome to the tenth annual Gold Rush PRO Rally, round #6 of the 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship. The rally, which is a coefficient 3 Divisional PRO Rally in which national drivers will be awards 60 percent of normal national points, is presented by the Continental Divide Region of the Sports Car Club of America, and sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America's national headquarters office in Englewood, Colorado. The series is sponsored nationally by Subaru of America, Inc. 2. The weather promises to be clear for the Saturday event, but temperatures could creep down into the 30's before the scheduled end of the event early Sunday morning. It hasn't rained much in the Westcliffe area recently, so the course could be dusty, leading to two or even three minute intervals between cars before the event finishes. 3. The main reason for the Gold Rush PRO Rally applying for a divisional event with 60 percent national points for 1993 rather than the full national status it enjoyed for 1992 is simple. With the extra miles required to make the event a full national race, it proved to be a burden for the organizer to get enough workers to make the event run efficiently, so both the organizing committee and the sanctioning body agreed that the present format is best. This year's event consists of 80 stage miles, 250 total miles, and 11 stages, while last year's event was scheduled for 110 stages miles and 15 stage. However, several stages had to be cancelled last year due to lack of workers. 4. As this is not a full national event, there will be no starting points awarded. The breakdown of points for overall and class looks like this: 1st - 12 points; 2nd - 9 points; 3rd - 7.2 points; 4th - 6 points; 5th - 4.8 points; 6th - 3.6 points; 7th - 2.4 points; 8th - 1.8 points; 9th - 1.2 points; and 10th - 15th will earn you 0.6 of a point. Sixth-tenths of a point? Who cares? Well, ask Dick Corley, last year's POR winner, who lost second place overall to Tim O'Neil by only four- tenths of a point! By the way, the overall national standings as well as class standings will be determined independently from times and finishes by the divisional competitors. 5. For those of you reading these notes on CompuServe, there are some late deletions from the entry list we posted earlier in the week. Vermont Sports Car owner Lance Smith reports that his Mitsubishi Eclipse Production GT driver Antonio Menendez, who is currently second in class in series points, has a conflicting business trip to Europe and cannot make the rally. This gives Production GT leaders Vinnie Frontinan and Frank Arruda, who decided not to make the trip in their Toyota Celica GT4, a little breathing room, but Todd Bowden, who has won the class at two rallies and finished in the top five overall twice, will be at Westcliffe to keep the Production GT pressure on. Other late scratches include: --Goran Osterland in his Saab 99 --Windy Imperial in his Eagle Talon - was supposed to be the debut of that car. 6. Other top runners who are missing he Westcliffe event due to either budget considerations or points situations (see below) are the Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker Audi S-2 (winners here a year ago), the Peter Cunningham/Joe Andreini Acura Integra, which has already clinched the Production Class crown for '93, and truck competitors Guy Light/Dave White GMC Sonoma pickup and Gary Gooch/Judi Gooch Mitsubishi Pickup. 7. For the overall year-end point standings, the team's five best finishes count. The situation by class going into the Gold Rush event breaks down as follows: --Overall - With Choiniere not here and Chad DiMarco/Erick Hauge's Subaru Legacy potentially picking up 12 points, DiMarco could be back in the hunt if Choiniere has trouble at the last two events. On the other hand, if DiMarco does not finish this event, he would have to win the last two events and Choiniere would have to DNF for the Subaru to overtake the Audi. Right now, Choiniere has 88 points and DiMarco 56. --Open - In the open class, Choiniere has those same 88 points, but the Henry Joy/Jimmy Brandt Mitsubishi Eclipse, improving with every event, has 63 points with a chance to gain ground. If Joy can win the Open class at Westcliffe, he will score a net of 6 points as he will gain 12 points but drop his worst finish of the year, where he earned 6 points. --Group A - Chad DiMarco and Erick Hauge - as the only Group A entry - can clinch their fourth straight class title by just finishing the Westcliffe rally, although that is a task they have not accomplished in the last two years. Tony Takoari, whose Mitsubishi Galant has finished first and second in Group A in the last two events, will not be at Westcliffe. --Production GT - As we mentioned, Vinny Frontinan/Frank Arruda are leading Production GT with 87 - 56 margin over the Mitsubishi Eclipse of Antonio Menendez and Juan Goya, but neither team will be at Gold Rush. That leaves Todd Bawden and his Mitsubishi Eclipse as the sole GT entry. If Bawden can finish, he will not only surpass Menendez, but he will put pressure on Frontinan/Arruda for the last two events. --Production - Although Peter Cunningham and Joe Andreini have clinched the season championship, second place driver Tony Shumaker in his Mitsubishi Eclipse will be competing for points and a chance to clinch the second spot in the class for the season. Although he would normally qualify for the $2,000 first place money given out by Mitsubishi for class winners, this is not a full national rally, so there is no national contingency money. --Rally Truck -- This is probably the closest race of the whole series, but not much will be settled this weekend as the top two competitors - Guy Light with 83 points and Gary Gooch with 75 points - are not here. Either is Roger Hull, who has 47 points, and is in third place. But fourth place competitor Chad Dykes, a rookie and probably the fastest truck driver on the circuit right now, had 45 points and will be trying to get the 12 points available to climb closer to the leaders in his Mitsubishi Pickup. Round #6 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship Gold Rush Entry List - National Classes (as of 10/1/93) Car Driver/ Co-Driver/ Make/Model/Class # Hometown Hometown --- ------------------ ----------------- ------------------- 4 Chad DiMarco Erick Hauge Subaru Legacy/Group A/Nat Huntington Beach, CA Napa, CA 6 Carl Merrill J. Jon Wickens Ford Escort Cosworth/Open/Nat Ogunquit, ME Birmingham, MI 11 Jeff Zwart Tony Sircombe Porsche Carrera 4/Open/Nat Woody Creek, CO Corona del Mar, CA 12 Henry Joy Jimmy Brandt Mitsubishi Eclipse/Open/Nat Wilmette, IL Lake Odessa, MI 14 B.J. Beal Stuart Beal Mazda 323GTX/Open/Nat Denver, CO Tulsa, OK 15 Todd Bawden Cal Coatsworth Mitsubishi Eclipse/GT/Nat Anaheim, CA Newport Beach, CA 17 Chad Dykes Pat Hanson Mitsubishi Pickup/Truck/Nat Escondido, CA Escondido, CA 16 Rob Cherry Mike Taylor Jeep Commanche/Truck/Nat Prescott, AZ Prescott Valley, AZ 77 Ivan Orisek Olga Orisek Mitsubishi Eclipse/GT/Nat/Div White Plains, NY White Plains, NY 88 Sakis Hajiminas Tom Burgess Mitsubishi Galant/Open/Nat Floral Park, NY Vancouver, BC 19 Sam Bryan Mark Simons Saab 900/Open/Nat Kent, WA Seattle, WA 36 Mike Whitman Kevin Linville Datsun 510/Open/Nat Farmington, NM Durango, CO 93 Tony Shumaker Bill Gutzmann Mitsubishi Eclipse 2WD/Prod/Nat Mission Viejo, CA Ontario, CA 18 Peter Lahm Keith Roper Datsun 510/Open/Nat Phoenix, AZ Peoria, IL Gold Rush Divisional PRO Rally - Entry List (As of 10/1/93) Car Driver/ Co-Driver/ Make/Model # Hometown Hometown --- --------------- ----------- ---------------- 44 David Thomas Jim Hurley Mazda RX-7 St. Charles, MO Knoxville, TN 20 Larry Schmidt Mary Engstrom Mazda 323GTX Westminster, CO Broomfield, CO 47 Robert Burtis James Burtis Volkswagen Rabbit Indian Hills, CO Morrison, CO 48 John Golden Bella Lamber Datsun 510 Lakewood, CO Denver, CO 45 Doc Shrader Don Gage Eagle SX4 West Memphis, AK West Memphis, AK 49 James Cook Doug Octoupal Mazda RX-7 Alpine, TX Ft. Davis, TX 50 Garen Shrader Steven Scott Dodge Daytona Memphis, TN West Memphis, TN 46 David Whelan Nicholas Leone Eagle SX4 Erie, CO Westminster, CO 51 James Kilpatrick Ruth Katzin Dodge Colt Durango, CO Durango, CO 52 Todd Jarvey Richard Faber Dodge Charger Maple Grove, MN Blaine, MN 53 Paul Caouette Max Tyler Dodge Omni GLH Denver, CO 25 Arthur Odero-Jowi Peter Njenga Toyota Corolla Arlington, TX Houston, TX Press Notes #2 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 2, 1993 - 5:30 PM MST 8. Some housekeeping is in order from the Ojibwe PRO Rally last month in Minnesota, where we had reported that the Henry Joy/Jimmy Brandt Mitsubishi Eclipse has gone off course and temporarily gotten lost on a stage. "I never get lost," said Brandt, who said they were off-course due only to the broken turbo hose, not because of any human error. Joy/Brandt finished second in the Open class behind Choiniere, but ninth overall because of the problem. 9. The Norseman Inn crew and driver Carl Merrill went back to Pike's Peak yesterday to view the spot where Merrill plunged 285 feet off the mountain on July 4, totalling his first Ford Escort Cosworth. They picked up a few souvenirs - fenders and bumpers - but, although the hood was still intact, it was too heavy to cart up the hill. Merrill's new Escort, which debuted at Ojibwe, did not finish due to a split center differential. 10. The new Mazda 323GTX that Larry Schmidt/Mary Engstrom are piloting at Gold Rush is an ex-B.J Beal machine, but Schmidt reports that the car had rolled before he bought it, so lots of work has been done to this car since Beal had it last. It debuted in July at the Silvercliffe divisional PRO rally, and finished second. Schmidt/Engstrom drove an old Dodge Colt to the divisional win last year at Gold Rush, and their time were good enough to finish fourth overall had they been running in the national event. 11. There's always one team which seems to have a tougher time preparing for the rally than actually running the rally itself. That award for Gold Rush could be shared by two teams. The Jeff Zwart/Tony Sircombe Porsche Carrera 4 looked like it was totalled at Ojibwe after Zwart careened off the stage at a high rate of speed and ended upside down in a ditch. By the magicians at Millen Motorsports in Huntington Beach, California, have reconstructed the car ("the damage wasn't as bad as it looked," according to Sircombe) and they are ready to race. Doc Schrader hopes his Eagle SX4, entered in the divisional event, is ready as well after a DNF forced him to replace a torque converter after Ojibwe, but the transmission was damaged again today as the crew severed a fluid line unloading the racer from the trailer. Then, a "C" clip holding the axle to the differential broke during unloading, but Schrader seems ready to run. Press Notes #3 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 2, 1993 - 6:15 PM MST 12. Under clear skies and temperatures in the 60's, 27 rally cars took the starting command from downtown Westcliffe for the start of the tenth annual Gold Rush PRO Rally. 14 cars started the national event, while there were 13 divisional starters. The cars will run four stages, and return to downtown Westcliffe at dusk, service their vehicles, and head back out for the night stages. 13. The route books were marked with special asterisks * at caution corners where drivers have gone off the road in the past, ending their Gold Rush activity for that particular year. One specific corner, nicknamed "Vermont Vortex," for the Vermont drivers who have crashed there previously, needed so many asterisks the organizer did not have room for them all on the page. 14. First reports from the field are that the Sakis Hajiminias/Tom Burgess Mitsubishi Galant is running slowly, and may be in jeopardy of dropping out of the event. They hope to make it to service at the end of stage four to see if they can diagnose the problem. 15. After four stage, we have no incidents to report, and have stage times for the top seven drivers. All seven are within 90 seconds of each other, and we have no DNF's reported after four stages - everyone is still running. Stage numbers Driver/Co-driver-Car-Class #1 #2 #3 #4 Total Merrill/Wickens - Escort-OP 6:27 2:44 2:33 3:32 15:16 DiMarco/Hauge - Subaru-GpA 6:38 2:41 2:40 3:40 15:39 Beal/Beal - Mazda 323GTX-OP 6:46 2:35 2:43 3:44 15:48 Zwart/Sircombe - Porsche-OP 6:47 2:34 2:45 3:45 15:51 Joy/Brandt - Mitsubishi-OP 6:52 2:37 2:46 3:53 16:08 Bawden/Coatsworth - Mits.-GT 6:59 2:40 2:46 3:58 16:23 Schmidt/Engstrom - Mazda-Div. 7:13 2:40 2:58 3:58 16:45 All the class leaders are shown above except the Chad Dykes/Pat Hanson Mitsubishi Pickup, which is the only entry in the Rally Truck class, and will pick up the 12 points for first if it finishes. B.J. Beal/Stuart Beal, who are the local favorites and looking to top their fifth place overall finish last year at Gold Rush, spun hard and went off the course on stage #1, but were able to recover without damaging their vehicle or losing much time. Press Notes #4 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 2, 1993 - 9:00 PM MST 16. Other items from the service before the start of stage #5: --The Hajiminas/Burgess Mitsubishi Galant broke two alternator belts causing the problems that team is having. they have also incurred 18 minutes in penalty points related to their mechanical woes, according to co-driver Burgess. --The other half of the EuroAmerican Rally team - the Mitsubishi Eclipse of Ivan and Olga Orisek - has been slowed by an engine misfire, perhaps related to a similar problem they encountered at the last rally in Minnesota. --There were cattle on and around stage #3, leading to a conversation on the radio that sounded something like this: "We understand someone grazed a cow on stage #3." "No, there are some cows grazing on staged #3." --The Dave Thomas/Jim Hurley Mazda RX-7 seemed to be running a little rich, and the crew discovered that two primary jets in the carburetor - supposed to be the same size - were not. The RX-7 had a 58mm and 68mm jet, and they have now re-jetted to twin 56mm jets to help lean the car out a bit. Thomas thinks the car ran "several" rallies in its former condition. --Both Schraders are having problems, with the Doc Schrader/Don Gage Eagle SX4 having a loose skid plate, and the Garen Schrader/Steve Scott Dodge Daytona having lost their turbo due to a blown gasket. They have been placed last in the stage #5 restart. --The James Cook/Doug Octoupal Mazda RX-7 has been slowed by a broken wheel bearing, which was replaced at service. --Scott Gaylord, a last-minute entry, is a Winston Cup driver as well as an SCCA club racer who has taken his Showroom Stock C Honda Civic Si, put a skid plate on it (not even added driving lights), and has come out to try PRO Rally. He did so well on the initial four stages that he was moved up to 11th on the restart. It's also the first rally for co-driver Gary Cook. All 27 original rally starters started stage #5. Series manager Rusty Campbell and Rallymaster Randy Engstrom have gone to two minute intervals because of the dust. Press Notes #5 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 3, 1993 - 1:00 AM MST 17. The Hajiminas/Burgess Mitsubishi Galant and the Orisek/Orisek Mitsubishi Eclipse are both out of the event - victims of the mechanical problems mentioned earlier. 18. Tony Shumaker/Bill Gutzmann rolled their Mitsubishi Eclipse 2WD - the only Production class entry - on stage #6, but caused only sheetmetal damage and the car is continuing. Although Shumaker cannot catch the Peter Cunningham/Joe Andreini Acura Integra for the season series championship, a class win here can clinch second place for Tony, and give him his second class win this season. 19. Shumaker's car preparer, veteran racer Dave Wolin, reports that is now 27 degrees F in the town of Westcliffe, and probably colder in the mountains where the competitors are in the final stages of the rally. 20. The Scott Gaylord/Gary Cook Honda Civic Si is out of the rally, but not before the veteran club racing and NASCAR driver showed everyone that an experienced racer can do well in PRO Rally. It was Cook's first event, and he shared a co-driving experience that happens to many - he became too ill to continue. Gaylord's times in his unmodified, un-rally-prepared car were in the top ten when he retired after stage #7. 21. We will not have interim stage times or standings before we get final results, with the first car due in after the finish of stage #11 at 2:00 AM MST. We understand the standings are very close to the ones we reported after stage #4, with Merrill and DiMarco running neck and neck for the overall lead. Merrill has never won a PRO rally, finishing second twice (Maine '92 and Wild West '93), while DiMarco has been shut out of the top spot since the 1991 POR event. If DiMarco finishes the event - even if he doesn't win the overall rally - he will clinch the Group A championship, making his team the only active PRO rally competitors to win their class four years in a row. Press Notes #6 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 3, 1993 - 3:00 AM MST 22. The tenth running of the Gold Rush PRO Rally is now history, and the Ford Escort Cosworth of Carl Merrill and John Wickens has scored its first-ever SCCA PRO Rally win. Merrill, who had a life-threatening crash just two months ago about 80 miles from Westcliffe at Pikes Peak, drove a flawless race enroute to his victory over second-place Chad DiMarco/Erick Hauge. By virtue of their second-place finish, however, DiMarco and Hauge clinched their fourth straight Group A national championship. The margin of victory was 1:06. Merrill broke a differential - same problem as at Ojibwe - during stage #9, and said the car was almost uncontrollable over the last two stages, but he was still able to hold his lead to the end, even beating DiMarco by 20 seconds on the last stage to secure the win. 23. The divisional PRO Rally was won by Larry Schmidt/Mary Engstrom for the second year in a row - this time in a Mazda 323GTX. Schmidt outdistanced Paul Caouette/Max Tyler's Dodge Omni by more than eight minutes for the win. 24. Other class winners in the national event included: --Chad Dykes/Pat Hanson, Mistubishi Pick-up, Rally Truck --Todd Bawden/Cal Coatsworth, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Production GT --Tony Shumaker/Bill Gutzmann, Mitsubishi Eclipse 2WD, Production 25. The national results look like this (12 finishers): Driver/Co-driver-Car-Class Total (min:sec) Merrill/Wickens - Ford Escort Cosworth - Open* 123:01 DiMarco/Hauge - Subaru Legacy - Group A* 124:07 Zwart/Sircombe - Porsche Carrera 4 - Open 124:43 Beal/Beal - Mazda 323GTX - Open 125.21 Joy/Brandt - Mitsubishi Eclipse - Open 126.29 Bryan/Simons - Saab 900 - Open 126.33 Whitman/Linville - Datsun 510 - Open 130.55 Dykes/Hanson - Mitsubishi Pick-up - Truck* 133.09 Bawden/Coatsworth - Mitsubishi Eclipse - GT* 136.51 Lahm/Roper - Datsun 510 - Open 138.50 Shumaker/Gutzmann - Mitsubishi Eclipse - Prod* 149.55 Cherry/Taylor - Jeep Camanche Pick-up - Truck 156.55 * Class winners Press Notes #7 Gold Rush PRO Rally, Westcliffe, Colorado Round #6 - 1993 Subaru PRO Rally Championship October 3, 1993 - 10:45 AM MST 26. A note on points. As explained in notes #7, the best five finishes will count towards determining the point standings at the end of the season. If someone finishes six or more events, one drops the lowest finish the points that went with it, and adds the higher finish to their point total. An exception is the starting points. This year, each driver and co-driver gets two points for starting each national event (as Gold Rush was technically a divisional, competitors didn't get starting points for this event). When a competitor does not finish an event, they still receive starting points, and they do not have to drop them when dropping a DNF. This is a long-winded way of saying that the points we released earlier today on CompuServe need adjusting in a couple of areas. We will post revised points later today and label them as such. 27. In a post-rally interview, Carl Merrill was very pleased with the way both he and his car performed en route to his first PRO Rally win. He said the breaking of a differential on stage #9 turned his car into rear-wheel- drive, but he was determined to win the event. He had a 43-second lead on DiMarco going into the last stage, and the last stage was 14 miles, but instead of just hanging on, he put another 20 seconds on Chad to sweep to victory. "I made very few mistakes," said Merrill. 28. Jeff Zwart was also pleased with his third place finish, although he acknowledged that the lack of a turbocharger at this altitude really hurt him on the fast stages. But, after radical adjustments made to the suspension because of the rough stages encountered at Rim and Prescott, the Porsche was well-equipped to handle when the course got rutty. Both Zwart and Merrill said dust was a major factor, with Merrill have the distinct advantage of being first on the road after the restart for stage #5. 29. Divisional winner Larry Schmidt, who was running a much faster car with his new Mazda 323GTX than the Dodge Colt he has run in the past, said the sensation for all- wheel-drive verses rear wheel drive and turbo versus normally aspirated helped him in most spots, but he still thinks the Colt might have been faster on the real rough stages. He also mentioned the dust. Last year, there was a five minute window between divisional and national drivers, enabling Schmidt to have his own version of first on the road. This year, however, only Merrill was the beneficiary of a clear path. 30. Todd Bawden won the Production GT class in his Mitsubishi Eclipse, but not before he rolled his car on the last stage. Fortunately, someone stopped to help right the vehicle (that driver has not been identified), and Bawden lost several place in the overall standings, but picked up the 12 points where it counts - in class. Perhaps more important, however, will be how much damage needs repair before the demanding Press on Regardless rally coming up October 22-24. 31. It might be a day or two before we have the stage time maitrix available for distribution. We will put it on CompuServe and distribute it with hard copies of the press notes as soon as we receive it from the organizers. |