|
Round 10 of the 2001 SCCA ProRally Championship Houghton, Michigan October 18-20 2002
SCCA ProRally Championship Round #10 - Lake Superior ProRally Media Alert DENVER, Colorado The final round of the 2002 SCCA ProRally Championship heads to far reaches of northern Michigan's copper country, a historically guaranteed location to watch some fast and furious action going for all the marbles in the final drivers and manufacturers championship battles of the season. Nearly 90 SCCA and FIA Performance Rally cars and competitors from across North America and the World are slated to start the Lake Superior ProRally and the supporting Ottawa and Keweenaw SCCA ClubRallys. Competition will take place on the fast flowing tarmac and gravel national forest and county roads on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Teams can expect the lake-effect weather to range from beautiful autumn sunshine to a foot of fresh snow in a matter of hours. This performance rally event is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai Motor America, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, and Subaru of America. When & Where: 18-19 October 2002 - headquartered in Houghton, Michigan Rally Headquarters Hotel - Friday & Saturday Press Room; Best Western - Franklin Square Inn; 820 Shelden Ave, Houghton, MI 49931 Press Room is #625. Hotel main phone: 906.487.1700 Complete Event Schedule: (Subject to change) Thursday, 17 October 2002 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM PRESS & VIP Registration - Franklin Square Inn, Room 625 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Competitor Registration - Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Competitor Practice Session - Houghton County Airport 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Scrutineering - CCISD Auto Tech, Hancock 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM Welcome Reception - Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM PRESS & VIP Registration - Franklin Square Inn, Room 625 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Competitor Registration - Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor Friday, 18 October 2002 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM PRESS & VIP Registration - Franklin Square Inn, Room 625 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Competitor Registration - Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Scrutineering - CCISD Auto Tech, Hancock 12:00 PM Parc Expose & Autograph Session - Ojibwe Casino, Baraga 1:15 PM Start of Rally - Ojibwe Casino, Baraga Saturday, 19 October 2002 1:00 AM Approx. End of Leg 1 - Houghton MTC 8:00 AM Scores posted for Leg 1 - Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor 11:00 AM Parc Expose - Quincy Mine Hoist, Hancock 12:31 PM Start of Leg 2 - Quincy Mine Hoist, Hancock 8:30 PM Approx. Finish of Rally - Quincy Mine Hoist, Hancock 9:00 PM Approx. Provisional Rally Scores - Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM Approx. Rally Social & Awards - MTU Memorial Union Building Sunday, 20 October 2002 9:00 AM SCCA ProRally End-of-Year Brunch ($12 in advance) & Awards Ceremony Franklin Square Inn, 7th floor, Superior Room Event Rank: This rally is a full points SCCA ProRally Championship event. Drivers earn points towards the national championship, and supporting manufacturers (Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Mazda) earn points towards overall and class Manufacturers' Championships. Selected entries: The remaining points battles in this years championship are for the SCCA Overall Manufacturer's Championship and for FIA Group N. Second place in the Overall Driver's Championship is also up for grabs between driver rivals in the Subaru and Hyundai camps. In the marque championship, the impressively fast Hyundai Tiburons are currently on top with 121 points after Round #9 while the Subaru Impreza WRXs follow closely at 110 points. The best that 2001 Driver's Champion Mark Lovell can hope for in his Prodrive prepared Subaru Impreza WRX is a second place; but a strong finish for Mark Higgins is poised to grab that spot as he is only down to Lovell by five points. The Group N Championship: Current points leader Ralph Kosmides and Jimmy Brandt must manage at least a second place finish in class to win the class title over hard-charging Tim O'Neil. A mere 5 points separates the two after O'Neil's strong podium finish at Wild West. Jonny Milner, winner of the 2002 British Rally Championship, makes his second trip to the States, piloting a Pirelli sponsored Subaru WRX, with Nick Beech at the co-piloting controls, and Finland native Tapio Laukkanen, a seasoned and popular Group N competitor in the British Rally Championship, makes his SCCA ProRallying debut, also in a Subaru WRX. Local favorites: Steve Gingras (#50) in only the second ProRally for his new Open Class 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX after jumping back into the fray halfway through the season, and series regular Doug Shepherd (#52) in his fast and vividly colored Open Class 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse with Pete Gladysz. Doug Havir (#88) and Scott Putnam will be renting an Open Class 1999 Subaru Impreza WRX-STi from Vermont Sports Car as their usual 2002 WRX is currently undergoing some extensive re-shelling after the team's serious terrain issues at Wild West. Other area notables: Group N Contenders Mark Utecht and Jeff Secor; Subaru WRX, J.B. Niday (#84) and Al Kintigh, Open Class 1997 Subaru Impreza; Bob Olson (#93) and Conrad Ketelsen, Group 5 Class 1993 Porsche 911; Bob Nielsen (#98) and Brenda Lewis, Group 2 Class 1987 VW Golf GTI; Dennis Martin (#121) and Kim DeMotte, Open Class 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV; Tom Young (#133) and Jim LeBeau, Group 5 Class 2000 Dodge Neon; Christopher Whiteman (#143) and Mike Paulin, debut of Group 2 Class 2003 Dodge Neon SRT. Press / Media / VIP - Registration & Credentials: Event Press/Photo and VIP credentials will be available at registration on Thursday and Friday morning at the Best Western Franklin Square Inn (See above for times). Access to press-only photo areas will require an OFFICIAL Press Pass. Credentials are available ONLY to members of the working press. Identification and/or proper work orders are required. Minors are not eligible for Press or VIP credentials. Visuals, Interviews & Media information: Action photography and video will be possible from spectator and press-only viewing areas along the rally course. Drivers, co-drivers and crew will be accessible throughout the event, including the Saturday morning Super Special (Details at event) and services. Media Relations will be able to provide driver and co-driver interviews, event results and other information via telephone and e-mail. The press room phone number will be available on event day. Contact: Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Director Pre-event: 303.967.9660 (USA Country Code: 1) at event mobile: 303.204.0375 Email: sccaprorally@aol.com Time zone at event: Eastern Time (GMT - 5 hours) SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org/ SCCA Lake Superior ProRally: http://www.lsprorally.com/ The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Subaru, and is televised in North America on Speed Channel SCCA ProRally Championship Round #10 - Lake Superior ProRally Start Order & Late Breaking News: HOUGHTON, Michigan With nearly 90 highly competitive cars ready to attack the challenging forestry and International Paper Company logging roads of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, this year's running of the Lake Superior Rally is one of the largest ever, despite nearly all year-end class championships being already decided. In addition to nearly every star of the SCCA ProRally Championship being on-hand, newly crowned British Rally Champion Jonny Milner with Nicky Beech, will also be mixing it up at the front of this impressive field of rally cars. Late Breaking News: Schedule Change: The Start of the Lake Superior Rally has been relocated to Houghton. Originally scheduled to start in Baraga, the organizers made some adjustments to the schedule to accommodate the large field and the Houghton/Hancock based fans. The start, scheduled for 1:00 PM, is now located at the intersection of M-26 and Sharon Ave just south of downtown. Its all about the Weather: It has been several years since the Lake Superior Rally has had weather traditional to what is expected at this time of year. At this northernmost tip of Michigan, it appears that the "heat-wave" is officially over - snow and sleet has been falling intermittently for nearly a week on the Keweenaw, and isn't showing any signs of stopping for the rally. While not nearly enough has fallen for crews to be considering snow tires, the bone-chilling damp weather will tax the energy and concentration of service crews, particularly at Friday night's late service in the remote hamlet of Kenton. Manufacturer Strategies: Subaru wants to win the Overall Manufacturers Championship in the worst way, and is stacking the deck with UK rally stars Tapio Laukkanen and Jonny Milner. While neither is nominated to earn points for the company, they are in a position to 'lend a hand' to the championship points underdog. 5-time Overall Manufacturers Champion Hyundai, ceded the crown to Subaru in 2001, but has since rose to the challenge, debuting all-new from the ground up Tiburons in 2002, and leads the championship going into this final round. Adding to the international flair this weekend are returning Lithuanian rallyists Valdemaras Maciukevicius and co-driver Rolandas Zube. This is their second SCCA ProRally; the duo made their successful debut at Ojibwe Forests in August, and were impressed enough with American rallying to trade in their FIA licenses for SCCA cards. Streamed audio (Windows Media Player/Quicktime compatible) of live radio (97.7 FM - Houghton local) reports from the start, finish and service locations throughout the weekend will be available to listen at the Lake Superior website listed below. Contact: Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Director Friday AM Press room phone: 906.487.1700 (Room 625 at the Franklin Square Inn) Direct inquiry e-mail: sccaprorally@aol.com Time zone at event: Eastern Time (GMT - 5 hours) Web sites: SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org Lake Superior official site: http://www.lsprorally.com Information regarding the start order list: Car # = number on vehicle. Car # under 200 are ProRally entries. Cars numbered over 200 are generally ClubRally (regional) entrants. Class = Open, FIA Group N - fastest; are cars with considerable modifications; P (Production) - slowest; are cars very near to showroom stock configuration. G5 - two wheel drive high HP cars; G2 - two wheel drive normally aspirated cars; PGT - high horsepower all-wheel-drive production (stock) cars. ProRally Top 40 Start Order - Subject to revision (Balance of event entry list available to view at http://www.lsprorally.com) Start Car # Seed Class Driver Country Co-Driver Country Car 1 5 0 Open Mark Higgins UK Brian Thomas UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 2 15 0 Open Jonny Milner UK Nicky Beech UK 01 Subaru Impreza WRX 3 1 0 Open Mark Lovell UK Steve Turvey UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 4 3 0 Open Rhys Millen USA Garry Cowan NZ 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI.5 5 25 0 Open Seamus Burke USA Fulton Grant IRE 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI.5 6 6 0 Open Paul Choiniere USA John Bennie UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 7 16 0 Open David Higgins UK Daniel Barritt UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 8 14 0 Open Tapio Laukkanen FIN Rory Kennedy IRE 01 Subaru Impreza WRX 9 2 1 Open Ramana Lagemann USA Mike Kidd UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 10 4 1 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Matt Chester USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 11 52 1 Open Doug Shepherd USA Peter Gladysz USA 92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 12 50 1 Open Steve Gingras USA Christian Edstrom USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 13 22 1 GN Ralph Kosmides USA Jimmy Brandt USA 99 Subaru Impreza WRX-STi 14 44 1 GN Henry Krolikowski USA Cindy Krolikowski USA 00 Subaru Impreza WRX-STi 15 116 1 GN Thomas Lawless USA Brian Sharkey USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV 16 41 2 Open John Drislane USA Ronan Burke USA 00 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 17 88 2 Open Doug Havir USA Scott Putnam USA 99 Subaru Impreza 18 30 2 Open George Plsek USA Alex Gelsomino USA 01 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 19 21 2 Open Chris Czyzio USA Eric Carlson USA 91 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 20 29 2 GN Tim O'Neil USA Martin Headland CAN 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 21 83 2 GN Mark Utecht USA Jeff Secor USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 22 45 2 GN Shane Mitchell USA Paul Donnelly USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 23 62 2 G5 Chris Havas USA Dave Kean USA 02 VW Golf IV 24 78 3 Open Paul Dunn USA Ray Summers USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV 25 501 3 Open Todd Jarvey USA Rich Faber USA 92 Mitsubishi Galant VR4 26 173 3 Open Patrick Lilly USA Mark McAllister USA 99 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV 27 122 3 Open Dennis Martin USA Kim DeMotte USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV 28 527 3 Open Chris Gilligan USA Eric Holdorf USA 92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 29 94 3 GN Craig Peeper USA Ian Bevan UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 30 432 3 GN Ron Nelson USA Rick Burtis USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 31 565 3 GN Russell Hodges USA Mike Rossey USA 95 Subaru Impreza 32 93 3 G5 Bob Olson USA Conrad Ketelsen USA 93 Porsche 911 33 53 3 G5 Don Jankowski USA Ken Nowak USA 03 Dodge Neon SRT-4 34 575 3 G5 Jeremy Butts USA Jonathan Vrzal USA 93 Ford Mustang 5.0 35 55 3 G5 Brian Vinson USA Richard Beels USA 97 Toyota Supra 36 166 3 G5 John Daubenmier USA Stanley Rosen USA 88 Chevrolet S10 37 42 3 G2 Eric Burmeister USA Eric Adams USA 01 Mazda Protégé MP3 39 98 3 G2 Bob Nielsen USA Brenda Lewis USA 87 VW Golf GTI 38 811 3 G2 Matt Johnson USA Carl Fisher USA 88 VW Golf GTI 40 86 3 P Michael Halley USA Bill Montgomery USA 99 VW New Beetle The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Subaru, and is televised in North America on Speed Channel SCCA ProRally Championship Round #10 - Lake Superior ProRally Day One: Higgins Brothers Dominate HOUGHTON, Michigan Cold damp and snowy conditions defined day one of the Lake Superior Rally, the longest rally in the SCCA ProRally Championship, as all teams fought not only for road position, but also with numb fingers, often near-zero visibility, and some of the slipperiest road conditions of the season. At the end of this very long night, 2002 Driver Champion David Higgins, and Hyundai works challenger Mark Higgins, are the ones making the most of this exceedingly tough rally. Key Notes and Quotes: After 3 years of relatively clear event-day weather, Lake Superior has regained its reputation for being the "Oldest, Toughest, Meanest" event by throwing a variety of conditions at the competitors. Drivers have been commenting on the various patches of muddy and hard roads and have had to adjust their driving and tire strategy, especially during the later evening stages. Despite the demanding conditions, at the end of the night 75 cars still remain eligible to start day two of the original 83. Tires choices were exceedingly varied, as the mostly slippy, sometimes frozen, and sometimes very wet conditions caused many teams to experiment stage to stage with different compounds, pressures, and brands and types. With several stages run twice, conditions experienced on the first run frequently were completely different the second time around. By SS5, the manufacturers championship became Hyundai's to lose - with both of Subaru's nominated cars beset with minor, but delaying problems: Lagemann with a failed halfshaft in SS2, Lovell with a bad tire choice on one stage, and Jonny Milner excluded from the event for speeding on a transit, Hyundai suddenly found itself in a position to relax. That was short-lived however, when a very sore-armed Mark Higgins' returned to service after running nearly 2 stages without power steering, (a pump replacement got him back going again) and Paul Choiniere's Tiburon rear crossmember collapsed on a particularly rough section of SS6, having to carefully negotiate the full length of SS7 to get the car back to service for a complete replacement. Production class favorite Michael Halley, and his "Stud-Bug" - always a crowd favorite since its days as a star in a Volkswagen TV commercial with Karl Scheible 99 Production class champion, ended its rally in SS7 embedding itself in some trees while leading the class. Even with the Manufacturers' Championship down to a two-team race, and the driver's championship decided, many non-championship contending teams could become a factor. Rhys Millen and Seamus Burke are ahead of the second Hyundai, which could be very important later in the rally. The Hyundai's need a 4th place finish to assure themselves the manufacturer's championship trophy regardless of where the Subaru's finish. Team Hyundai says they are happy with the early stages and are just playing it safe while hoping to move Paul Choiniere into the important 4th position and giving themselves some breathing room. Lake Superior - SCCA ProRally Championship Round #10, 18 October 2002 Day One ProRally Results - (Unofficial) Finish Start Car # Seed Class Driver Country Co-Driver Country Car Time 1 2 5 0 Open Mark Higgins UK Brian Thomas UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 1:43:22 2 9 2 1 Open Ramana Lagemann USA Mike Kidd UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 1:45:19 3 7 6 0 Open Paul Choiniere USA John Bennie UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 1:47:08 4 8 16 0 Open David Higgins UK Daniel Barritt UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 1:48:15 5 6 25 0 Open Seamus Burke USA Fulton Grant IRE 02 MitsubishiEvo VI.5 1:50:00 6 4 1 0 Open Mark Lovell UK Steve Turvey UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 1:50:05 7 20 29 2 GN Tim O'Neil USA Martin Headland CAN 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 1:55:04 8 10 4 1 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Matt Chester USA 02 Mitsubishi Evo VII 1:55:22 9 13 22 1 GN Ralph Kosmides USA Jimmy Brandt USA 99 Subaru WRX-STi 1:57:54 10 21 83 2 GN Mark Utecht USA Jeff Secor USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 2:00.16 11 33 53 3 G5 Don Jankowski USA Ken Nowak USA 03 Dodge Neon SRT-4 2:00:26 12 38 811 3 G2 Matt Johnson USA Carl Fisher USA 88 VW Golf GTI 2:02:21 13 37 42 3 G2 Eric Burmeister USA Eric Adams USA 01 Mazda Protégé MP3 2:05:20 14 29 94 3 GN Craig Peeper USA Ian Bevan UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 2:05:27 15 17 88 2 Open Doug Havir USA Scott Putnam USA 99 Subaru Impreza 2:06:10 16 24 78 3 Open Paul Dunn USA Ray Summers USA 97 Mitsubishi Evo IV 2:07:24 17 14 44 1 GN Henry Krolikowski USA Cindy Krolikowski USA 00 Subaru WRX-STi 2:07:25 18 34 575 3 G5 Jeremy Butts USA Jonathan Vrzal USA 93 Ford Mustang 5.0 2:07:36 19 23 62 2 G5 Chris Havas USA Dave Kean USA 02 VW Golf IV 2:08:59 20 39 98 3 G2 Bob Nielsen USA Brenda Lewis USA 87 VW Golf GTI 2:12:20 21 19 21 2 Open Chris Czyzio USA Eric Carlson USA 91 Mitsubishi Eclipse 2:12:32 22 30 432 3 GN Ron Nelson USA Rick Burtis USA 02 Mitsubishi Evo VII 2:12:45 23 31 565 3 GN Russell Hodges USA Mike Rossey USA 95 Subaru Impreza 2:12:54 24 67 560 5 P David Johnson USA Shannon Johnson USA Dodge Neon 2:14:32 25 35 55 3 G5 Brian Vinson USA Richard Beels USA 97 Toyota Supra 2:17:36 26 63 69 5 G2 Charles Sherrill USA Bryan O'Neal USA Honda CRX 2:18:51 27 44 77 4 PGT Bob Henderson USA John McArthur USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 2:20:02 28 48 559 5 Open John Rek USA Rob Dupree USA Audi quattro S2 2:20:53 29 43 612 4 PGT V. Maciukevicius LIT Rolandas Zube LIT Subaru Impreza 2.5RS 2:21:03 30 50 84 5 Open JB Niday USA Al Kintigh USA 95 Subaru Impreza 2:21:04 31 58 133 5 G5 Tom Young USA Jim LeBeau USA 02 Dodge Neon SRT-4 2:22:49 32 59 143 5 G2 Chris Whiteman USA Mike Paulin USA 02 Dodge Neon SXT 2:23:06 33 83 190 8 P Troy Lee USA Paula Gibeault USA 03 Hyundai Tiburon 2:26:51 34 70 215 5 P Jamie Thomas USA David Weiman USA 93 Subaru Impreza 2:27:32 35 36 166 3 G5 John Daubenmier USA Stanley Rosen USA 88 Chevrolet S10 2:27:33 36 47 38 4 P Lesley Suddard USA John Dillon USA 00 Ford Focus ZX3 2:28:26 37 66 545 5 P Eric Seppanen USA Jake Himes USA 91 Nissan Sentra SE-R 2:29:02 Day One Leading Retirements - (Unofficial) Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class Year Make Stage Retirement cause (unofficial) 14 Tapio Laukkanen Rory Kennedy Open 92 Mitsubishi Service Unspecified mechanical, withdrawn 45 Shane Mitchell Paul Donnelly GN 02 Subaru SS2 Stuck on berm, time-barred 50 Steve Gingras Christian Edstrom Open 02 Subaru SS2 Power steering 41 John Drislane Ronan Burke Open 97 Mitsubishi SS2 Off-road, stuck, time-barred 52 Doug Shepherd Peter Gladysz Open 92 Mitsubishi SS3 Driveshaft 116 Thomas Lawless Brian Sharkey GN 97 Mitsubishi SS6 Undisclosed mechanical 15 Jonny Milner Nicky Beech Open 02 Subaru Transit Excluded from event 3 Rhys Millen Garry Cowan Open 00 Mitsubishi SS10 Off road 30 George Plsek Alex Gelsomino Open 01 Mitsubishi Service Undisclosed mechanical Contact & Web Sites: Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Director Direct inquiry e-mail: sccaprorally@aol.com SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org Lake Superior official site: http://www.lsprorally.com The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Subaru, and is televised in North America on Speed Channel SCCA ProRally Championship Round 10 Lake Superior ProRally DAY TWO (FINAL): Mark Higgins Presses On, Conquers the Keweenaw HOUGHTON, Michigan -- The "Oldest, Toughest, Meanest" rally on the circuit came to a close today under chilling sleeting, snowing and raining skies, none of which was successful at taking the wind out of Mark Higgins’, nor his Hyundai's, sails. Ramana Lagemann closed his season with the best finish of his career, a solid second place charge up the leaderboard demonstrating his coming of age for Subaru. Paul Choiniere, showed consistency of pace that only comes with years of ProRally Championship experience, locking in Hyundai’s manufacturer championship goals with his 3rd place podium finish. Key Notes and Quotes: Mark Higgins finally had a rally come to him, instead of another round of the frustrating string of bad rally luck that has beset much of his rookie season with the Championship. With brother David Higgins battered Impreza soldiering on after its mid-stage wildlife altercation in the darkness of last nights rallying; and Mark Lovell's WRX motor losing compression in the latter stages of day 2; "Miggins" finally found himself in firm command of his podium destiny. Group N: Tim O'Neil came into the Lake Superior rally in the midst of a championship battle in Group N. O'Neil drove an aggressive two days and took home the event class win by over 6 minutes. However points leader Ralph Kosmides knew that he only needed to finish in second in order to claim the Group N season driver's championship and did precisely that, driving a calculating event that let O'Neil run at the front, and kept his other challengers (Utecht and Krolikowski) at bay. Rising star and Group 2 winner Matt Johnson with co-driver Carl Fisher drove a brilliant rally, and overnight became the next homegrown SCCA ProRally talent to watch closely. Fisher and Johnson stayed focused on surviving the rough weather and horrendously slippy road conditions of day one, but came out of the night in second place in the 2WD category, immediately behind the powerful Dodge Neon turbo of Don Jankowski. This put them in an enviable starting position for day 2, which they leveraged very effectively. When Jankowski had to back off late in the day with driveshaft woes, Johnson charged ahead, posting an overall event gain of 28 positions, and his ProRally career first top 10 and first place 2WD overall finish. The down-to-the-wire battle for the manufacturers' championship rests firmly in the hands of now 6-time champion Hyundai. With Mark Higgins leading the rally, Paul Choiniere drove a sharp event, staying within striking distance, knowing that he only needed to finish fourth or higher in order to capture the championship for his team, should something befall the fortunes of the number 5 car. With Higgins encountering no problems on Saturday, Choiniere was able to loosen the reins on his matching car, and secured Hyundai's second podium finish of the rally by bringing his Tiburon home in 3rd place. Lake Superior - SCCA ProRally Championship Round #10 19 October 2002 Final Results (Unofficial) Finish Start Car# Seed Class Driver Country Co-Driver Country Car Time 1 2 5 0 Open Mark Higgins UK Brian Thomas UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 144.45 2 9 2 1 Open Ramana Lagemann USA Mike Kidd UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 146.70 3 7 6 0 Open Paul Choiniere USA John Bennie UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 150.26 4 8 16 0 Open David Higgins UK Daniel Barritt UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 150.30 5 4 1 0 Open Mark Lovell UK Steve Turvey UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 152.57 6 10 4 1 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Matt Chester USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII 158.35 7 20 29 2 GN Tim O'Neil USA Martin Headland CAN 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 161.11 8 13 22 1 GN Ralph Kosmides USA Jimmy Brandt USA 99 Subaru Impreza WRX-STi 167.70 9 21 83 2 GN Mark Utecht USA Jeff Secor USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 169.34 10 38 811 3 G2 Matt Johnson USA Carl Fisher USA 88 VW Golf GTI 173.11 11 17 88 2 Open Doug Havir USA Scott Putnam USA 99 Subaru Impreza 174.20 12 33 53 3 G5 Don Jankowski USA Ken Nowak USA 03 Dodge Neon SRT-4 174.90 13 29 94 3 GN Craig Peeper USA Ian Bevan UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 175.80 14 14 44 1 GN Henry Krolikowski USA Cindy Krolikowski USA 00 Subaru Impreza WRX-STi 176.48 15 24 78 3 Open Paul Dunn USA Ray Summers USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV 177.15 16 37 42 3 G2 Eric Burmeister USA Eric Adams USA 01 Mazda Protégé MP3 178.14 17 34 575 3 G5 Jeremy Butts USA Jonathan Vrzal USA 93 Ford Mustang 5.0 178.36 18 31 565 3 GN Russell Hodges USA Mike Rossey USA 95 Subaru Impreza 185.00 19 19 21 2 Open Chris Czyzio USA Eric Carlson USA 91 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX 185.27 20 30 432 3 GN Ron Nelson USA James Burtis USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 186.29 21 35 55 3 G5 Brian Vinson USA Richard Beels USA 97 Toyota Supra 190.44 22 44 77 4 PGT Bob Henderson USA John McArthur USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX 194.11 23 50 84 5 Open JB Niday USA Al Kintigh USA 95 Subaru Impreza 194.13 24 63 69 5 G2 Charles Sherrill USA Bryan O'Neal USA 89 Honda CRX 194.21 25 67 560 5 P David Johnson USA Shannon Johnson USA 95 Dodge Neon 195.42 26 48 559 5 Open John Rek USA Rob Dupree USA 95 Audi quattro S2 196.40 27 58 133 5 G5 Tom Young USA Jim LeBeau USA 02 Dodge Neon SRT-4 197.17 28 59 143 5 G2 Chris Whiteman USA Mike Paulin USA 02 Dodge Neon SXT 197.80 29 43 612 4 PGT V. Maciukevicius LIT Rolandas Zube LIT 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS 198.10 30 83 190 8 P Troy Lee USA Paula Gibeault USA 03 Hyundai Tiburon 202.35 31 66 545 5 P Eric Seppanen USA Jake Himes USA 91 Nissan Sentra SE-R 202.43 32 70 215 5 P Jamie Thomas USA David Weiman USA 93 Subaru Impreza 203.17 33 39 98 3 G2 Bob Nielsen USA Brenda Lewis USA 87 VW Golf GTI 206.29 34 47 38 4 P Lesley Suddard USA John Dillon USA 00 Ford Focus ZX3 213.29 Overall Event Leading Retirements - (Official) Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class Car Stage Retirement cause (unofficial) 14 Tapio Laukkanen Rory Kennedy Open 92 Mitsubishi Service Unspecified mechanical, withdrawn 45 Shane Mitchell Paul Donnelly GN 02 Subaru SS2 Stuck on berm, time-barred 50 Steve Gingras Christian Edstrom Open 02 Subaru SS2 Power steering 41 John Drislane Ronan Burke Open 97 Mitsubishi SS2 Off-road, stuck, time-barred 52 Doug Shepherd Peter Gladysz Open 92 Mitsubishi SS3 Driveshaft 116 Thomas Lawless Brian Sharkey GN 97 Mitsubishi SS6 Alternator 15 Jonny Milner Nicky Beech Open 02 Subaru Transit Excluded from event 3 Rhys Millen Garry Cowan Open 00 Mitsubishi SS10 Off road 30 George Plsek Alex Gelsomino Open 01 Mitsubishi Service Undisclosed mechanical 25 Seamus Burke Fulton Grant Open 02 Mitsubishi SS11 Engine Contact & Web Sites: Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Director Direct inquiry e-mail: sccaprorally@aol.com SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org Lake Superior official site: http://www.lsprorally.com The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Subaru, and is televised in North America on Speed Channel |