| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 9, 1981 |
Rolla, Missouri -- New Zealander Rod Millen, and his partner Bob Kraushaar of Tigard, Oregon, pushed their Mazda RX-7 to a three minute win over an outstanding field of cars at the Sports Car Club of America's 100 Acre Wood PRO Rally. Millen was locked in an all-night duel with the Peugeot of John Buffum and Doug Shepherd. The battle was resolved on the last stage where a terrific bump destroyed one of the French car's tires and allowed Millen and the Mazda to claim the victory. Buffum's second place finish was the first time in the rally's five-year history that he had not won the 100 Acre wood.
Third in the 320-mile, eight stage rally were Wayne and Debra Baldwin of Waldwick, N.J., who moved their Volvo 242 to a solid finish in the first outing in a brand new car. Fourth for the second time in as many rallies were Larry Schmidt and Joe Andreini in their Dodge Colt. The finish now moves Schmidt, Andreini, and Dodge into undisputed third in the overall standings. Rounding out the top five was the Triumph TR-8 of Jon Woodner and Clark Bond. Woodner reported that this was to be the Triumph's last rally as he is building up a new Datsun which will be ready for the next event.
Best-drive-of-his-life award goes to Dave Nicholas who pushed his old Dodge Colt to a super sixth place finish Co-driver Marv Miller said that at one time the car leaped so high on a yump that "I never thought we were ever going to come down."
Production Class honors went once again to Jon Davis and Harry Ward in their Saab 99. Davis, Ward, and Saab are the reigning Production Class champs and are back to their winning ways. They are now in first place in the standings a slim three points ahead of Gary and Carolyn Eaton and their Peugeot 505. The Eaton's finished second in the class five minutes behind the Saab. Third in Production only five seconds behind the Eatons were Henry Krolikowski and Terry Richards in their Dodge Colt. The points from this rally now moves Dodge into first overall in the Production Class Manufacturers category.
Notable among the non-finishers were Texans Dick Turner and Tom Grimshaw whose IH Scout blew its engine on the very last stage. New Zealanders John Woolf and Grant Whittaker has third place locked up on the last stage when the same road that had cost Buffum so much time jumped up and took a bite out of their Mazda's front suspension.
The 100 Acre Wood was the second round of SCCA's 14-event PRO Rally Championship. The next two rallies are in April in the beautiful Northwest. The first is Nor'wester to be held April 4-5 out of Issaquah, Washington. The next is the Olympus Safari out of Tumwater, Washington, April 18-19.
SCCA CONTACT: Tim Cline (203) 453-1742, T. Michael Moreland (303) 770-1044
EVENT: 100 Acre Wood EVENT CONDUCTED BY: St. Louis Region
LOCATION: Rolla, Missouri LENGTH: 320 miles, 8 stages
DATE: March 7-8, 1981 WEATHER: Cool, clear
ENTRANTS: 46 FINISHERS: 29 TERRAIN: Forest, rolling hills
FIN CHAMP MFG.
POS. DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR SCORE POINTS POINTS
1. Rod Millen, Santa Ana, Calif. Mazda, Rx-7 1:39.42 20 20
Bob Kraushaar, Tigard, Ore. 20
2. John Buffum S. Burlington, VT Peugeot 504 1:42.63 15 15
Doug Shepherd, Plymouth, Mich. 15
3. Wayne Baldwin, Waldwick, N.J. Volvo 242 1:49.87 12 12
Debra Baldwin, Waldwick, N.J. 12
4. Larry Schmidt, Rochester, Mich. Dodge Colt 1:51.77 10 10
Joe Andreini, St. Clair Shores, Mich. 10
5. Jon Woodner, Washington, D.C. Triumph TR-8 1:52.24 8 8
Clark Bond, Bay City, Mich. 8
6. Dave Nicholas, Mishawaka, Ind. Dodge Colt 1:54.82 6
Marv Miller, Bristol, Ind. 6
7. Marek Baranski, Miami, Fla. Renault 5 1:56.14 4
Ginny Reese, Ann Arbor, Mich. 4
8.(lP) Jon Davis, Houghton, Mich. Saab 99 1:56.23 3
Harry Ward, Toledo, Ohio 3
9. Stove Nowicki, New Ber1in, Wis. Datsun 510 1:56.75 2
Dave Hueppchen, Plymouth, Wis. 2
10. Dan Coughnour, Englewood, Ohio Datsun 510 1:57.99 1
Nick Folger, Dayton, Ohio 1
PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
1. Jon Davis, Houghton, Mich. Saab 99 1:56.23 20 20
Harry Ward, Toledo, Ohio 20
2. Gary Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peugeot 505 2:01.01 15 15
Carolyn Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. 15
3. Henry Krolikowski, Wyandotte, Mich Dodge Colt 2:01.10 12 12
Terry Richards, Pinckney, Mich. 12
4. Jim Warren, Midland, Mich. Jeep CJ-7 2:04.64 10 10
Jennifer Warren, Midland, Mich. 10
UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER TWO EVENTS
DRIVER PRODUCTION DRIVER
1. John Buffum 35 1. Jon Davis 35
Rod Millen 35 2. Gary Eaton 27
3. Larry Schmidt 20 3. Ray Hocker 20
4. Wayne Baldwin 12
Dick Turner 12
CO-DRIVER PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Bob Kraushaar 35 1. Harry Ward 35
Doug Shepherd 35 2. Carolyn Eaton 27
3. Joe Andreini 20 3. Damon Trimble 20
4. Debra Baldwin 12
Tom Grimshaw 12
MANUFACTURER PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Mazda 35 1. Saab 35
Peugeot 35 2. Dodge 32
3. Dodge 20 3. Peugeot 27
4. IH Scout 12
Volvo 12