| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 14, 1983 |
Production Class has turned into an all American show with Detroit manufacturers taking the first seven spots. 1982 Production Champ Steve Nowicki came back as hot as ever, and won again in his Plymouth Arrow with Gene Henderson second in an AMC Eagle SX/4. The spread was just over a minute, and it looks like PRO Rallying is in for another year of close Production battles. Cal Landau was third another 27/100 back in his Plymouth Turismo. John Crawford debuted a new Dodge Shelby with a cautious fourth less than a minute off the pace. Erik Zenz drove a great rally, finishing third in Production Class, but it came to naught when a protest against his special tires was upheld and he was disqualified.
New drive of the night went to Mark Hardymon who brought his fresh Mazda RX-7 down for its first trial. The car is beautifully turned out and is going to be a real screamer. He put the car into fourth overall and, near the end of the rally, was trading times with Woodner in the Peugeot. `Most ancient" class went to Eric Jones in his Datsun 510 who finished sixth overall. He beat Dave Nicholas in an equally old Dodge Colt. Nicholas finished ninth overall in spite of laying the car on its side on the rally's first stage.
Notable non-finishers included Larry Schmidt, whose Dodge Colt spun a rod bearing on the second stage; Guy Light, whose Production Oldsmobile dropped a half shaft on the first stage; Dan Coughnour, who broke both axles on his Berrien Buggy on stage two; and Gary Eaton, whose Peugeot 505 Production car blew a head gasket on stage eight.
Listed among the non-starters was Marek Baranski who had hoped to start the new Renault Fuego Turbo. The car has been provisionally allowed into the Production Class and every one is waiting to see how it will do. They will just have to wait another event. The Renault's transporter had trouble and the car arrived too late to start the rally.
The rally itself was not without problems as the longest stage of the event had to be cancelled when a dispute arose with local wildlife authorities. Rather than hold up the rally, organizers decided to cancel the section and shorten another section. Another stage was also thrown out due to a report of local traffic.
There is not much time for the PRO Rally folks to breathe as they now head to Chillicothe, Ohio for the Budweiser Forest PRO Rally just two weeks away. The latest rumor has Ford introducing its new team of Escorts at that event.
SCCA CONTACTS: Tim Cline, 321 Saw Mill Road, Guilford, Connecticut 06437 (203)453-1742
T. Michael Moreland, 6750 S. Emporia St., Englewood, Colorado 80112
EVENT: 100 Acre Wood EVENT CONDUCTED BY: St. Louis Region, SCCA
LOCATION: Salem, Missouri LENGTH: 260 miles, 110 stage miles
DATE: March 12-13, 1983 WEATHER: Cool , clear, dry
ENTRANTS: 51 FINISHERS: 36 TERRAIN: Forest, hills
FIN. CHAMP. MFG.
POS. DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR SCORE POINTS POINTS
1. John Buffum, S. Burlington, Vt. Audi Quattro 54.39 20 20
Doug Shepherd, Livonia, Mich. 20
2. Rod Millen, Costa Mesa, Calif. Mazda RX-7 59.77 15 15
Mike Parris, Saugus, Calif. 15
3. Jon Woodner, Washington, D.C. Peugeot 504 60.11 12 12
Ginny Reese, Chelsea, Mich. Coupe 12
4. Mark Hardymon, Powell, Ohio Mazda RX-7 61.83 10
Tom Drake, Columbus, Ohio 10
5.(1P) Steve Nowicki, New Berlin, Wis. Plymouth 64.16 8 8
Brian Berg, Brown Deer, Wis. Arrow 8
6. Eric Jones, Westerville, Ohio Datsun 510 64.67 6 6
George Bittner, Plain City, Ohio 6
7.(2P) Gene Henderson, Pinckney, Mich. Eagle SX/4 65.58 4
Jim Kloosterman, Ypsilanti, Mich. 4
8.(3P) Calvin Landau, Coraopolis, Pa. Plymouth 65.85 3
Karen Landau, Coraopolis, Pa. Turismo 3
9. Dave Nicholas, Misawaka, Ind. Dodge Colt 66.08 2
Marv Miller, White Pigeon, Ind. 2
10.(4P) John Crawford, Okmulgee, Okla. Dodge Shelby 66.67 1
Craig Marr, Oroville, Calif. 1
PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
1. Steve Nowicki, New Berlin, Wis. Plymouth 64.16 20 20
Brian Berg, Brown Deer, Wis. Arrow 20
2. Gene Henderson, Pinckney, Mich. Eagle SX/4 65.58 IS 15
Jim Kloosterman, Ypsilanti, Mich. 15
3. Calvin Landau, Coraopolis, Pa. Plymouth 65.85 12
Karen Landau, Coraopolis, Pa. Turismo 12
UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ONE EVENT
DRIVER (Current Car) PRODUCTION DRIVER (Current Car)
1. John Buffum, Audi 20 1. Steve Nowicki, Plymouth 20
2. Rod Millen, Mazda 15 2. Gene Henderson, AMC 15
3. Jon Woodner, Peugeot 12 3. Calvin Landau, Plymouth 12
CO-DRIVER PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Doug Shepherd 20 1. Brian Berg 20
2. Mike Parris 15 2. Jim Kloosterman 15
3. Ginny Reese 12 3. Karen Landau 12
MANUFACTURER PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Audi 20 1. Plymouth 20
2. Mazda 15 2. American Motors 15
3. Peugeot 12 3. Dodge 10