| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | April 6, 1981 |
ISSAQUAR, Washington -- Taisto Heinonen of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, and his partner, Tom Burgess of Burnaby, B.C., drove their specially prepared Toyota Corolla to a narrow six second win at the Sports Car Club of America's Nor'wester PRO Rally. The 40-year-old Heinonen had to come from behind to top the field of 41 at the 225-mile event in the forests near Issaguah, Washington. Heinonen's sharpest challenge came from fellow countryman Jean-Paul Perusse of Montreal driving a factory prepared Peugeot 504 V6, co-driven by Doug Shepherd of Livonia, Michigan. Perusse had never even seen the Peugeot until the day before the rally yet was competitive from the opening stages. The finish moves Peugeot into first over-all in the Manufacturer's points standings
Early leader, Rod Millen the New Zealander who now lives in Santa Ana, Calif., dropped to third after his Mazda Rx-7 had transmission trouble near the half-way point in the rally. Millen and partner Bob Kraushaar of Tigard, Ore., attempted to change the transmission in the mud and rain only to discover that the other transmission did not fit. They re-installed the defective transmission and went on to finish sans second and third gear Fourth went to Texans Dick Turner and Tom Grimshaw whose four-wheel drive I H Scout was, perfectly suited for some of the deep snow that the rally encountered in the mountains. The snow was so deep on some of the rally route that four of the rally's 13 stages had to be cancelled or re-routed.
Production class also turned into a very tight battle and was not decided until the closing stages. Jon Davis of Houghton, Michigan, the defending Production Champion, and his partner Harry Ward of Toledo, Ohio put their Saab 99 a slim 17 seconds in front of the factory-backed Peugeot 505 of Ann Arbor, Michigan, husband/wife team, Gary and Carolyn Eaton. The win stretched Saab's lead in the manufacturer's race as Peugeot now moves up into second. Third in the class went to another Saab 99 driven by a local team, Dan Wing and Richard Harrington of Bellingham, Washington. In all, only 28 of the original teams could be classified as finishers after several fell victim to the rough mountain roads and snow.
After the rally, four-time Canadian Rally Champion Heinonen said, "I came to this rally just to compete. We did not expect to win because the Mazdas and the Peugeot have much more power than our Toyota. When Millen had a problem, my hopes came up. On the last two stages, I really had to push. We had some minor troubles, but those little things challenge my driving style."
Competitors in the 14-event PRO Rally Championship barely have time to lick their wounds as the next event comes up Aprii 18-19. It is the Olympus Rally out of Olympia Washington, and there will certainly be some new cars on hand for the biggest event in the Northwest.
SCCA CONTACT: Tim Cline (203) 453-1742, T. Michael Moreland (303) 770-1044
EVENT: Nor'wester EVENT CONDUCTED BY: Northwest Region, SCCA
LOCATION: Issaquah, Washington in cooperation with the Rainier Auto Sport Club
DATE: April 4-5 LENGTH: 225 miles, 9 stages
ENTRANTS: 41 FINISHERS: 28 WEATHER: Cool, wet
TERRAIN: Forests, low mountians
FIN. CHAMP MFG
POS. DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR SCORE POINTS POINTS
1. Taisto Heinonen, Surrey, B.C. Toyota Corolla 1:35:23 20 20
Tom Burgess, Burnaby, B.C. 20
2. Jean-Paul Perusse, Montreal, Que Peugeot 504 V-6 1:35:29 15 15
Doug Shepherd, Livonia, Mich. 15
3. Rod Millen, Santa Ana, Calif. Mazda RX-7 1:38:27 12 12
Bob Kraushaar, Tigard, Ore. 12
4. Dick Turner, Lancaster, Tex. lE Scout 1:41:35 10 10
Tom Grimshaw, Aubrey, Tex. 10
5. Jim Olinger, Placerville, Ca. Datsun 710 1:43:45 8 8
Dana Sharltz, Davis, Calif. 8
6. John Woolf, Santa Ana, Calif. Mazda RX-7 1:46:40 6
Grant Whittaker, Santa Ana, Calif. 6
7.(1P) Jon Davis, Houghton, Mich. Saab 99 1:47:20 4(20) (20)
Harry Ward, Toledo, Ohio 4(20)
8.(2p) Gary Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peugeot 505 1:47:37 3(15) (15)
Carolyn Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. 3(15)
9. Steve Roberts, Belleview, Wa. Mazda Rx-2 1:51:27 2
Don Gibson, Seattle, Wash. 2
10.(3p) Dan Wing, Belllngham, Wash. Saab 99 1:55:42 1(12)
Richard Harrington, Bellingham, Wash. 1(12)
PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
1. Jon Davis, Houghton, Mich. Saab 99 1:47:20 20 20
Harry Ward, Toledo, Ohio 20
2. Gary Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peugeot 505 1:47:37 15 15
Carolyn Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. 15
3. Dan Wing, Bellingham, Wash. Saab 99 1:55:42 12
Richard Harrington, Bellingham, Wash. 12
UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER THREE EVENTS
DRIVER PRODUCTION DRIVER
1. Rod Millen 47 1. Jon Davis 55
2. John Buffum 35 2. Gary Eaton 42
3. Dick Turner 22 3. Ray Rocker 30
4. Taisto Heinonen 20
Larry Schmidt 20
CO-DRIVER PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Doug Shepherd 50 1. Harry Ward 55
2. Bob Eraushear 47 2. Carolyn Eaton 42
3. Tom Grimshaw 22 3. Damon Trimble 30
4. Joe Andreini 20
MANUFACTURER PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Peugeot 50 1. Saab 55
2. Mazda 47 2. Dodge 42
3. IH Scout 22 Peugeot 42
4. Dodge 20
Toyota 20