Northern Lights Pro Rally 1981


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 1981

MILLEN TAKES NORTHERN LIGHTS PRO RALLY

HOUGHTON LAKE, Michigan -- New Zealander Rod Millen, who now lives in Santa Ana, Calif., took his third PRO Rally win of the season in his Mazda RX-7 at the SCCA's Northern Lights Rally in Michigan today. Millen and co-driver Bob Kraushaar lead the field of 56 from beginning to end of the 11 hour, 275 mile event. The luck of the draw put the team at the front of the pack for the 7 p.m. Saturday start and gave them a decided advantage as they were the only team that did not have to eat the heavy Michigan dust.

In a rally that saw several of the favorites fall by the wayside with a variety of troubles, Jean-Paul Perusse, hung on to finish a strong second some three minutes behind the leaders in his Peugeot 504 V6 and moved into second place in the overall driver's standings. In the manufacturer's standings, Peugeot is still just a slim 12 points behind Mazda.

After these two factory-backed teams came some privateers who put on quite a show. Larry Schmidt, and his co-driver Joe Andreini, put their Dodge Colt into third place moving them into the top five in the overall Championship standings following a pair of fourth place finishes at events early in the season. Schmidt finished a mere 0.07 minutes (4 seconds) in front of a husband/wife team from New Jersey in a new car. Wayne and Debra Baldwin of Waldwick were a bit tentative in the early going with their new volvo 242, but once they got rolling, they really flamed and had the rally been a bit longer, might have caught the Michigan team.

The story of the night, however, was the tremendous battle going on in the Production Class where no less than 17 cars had entered. First, as it has three times early this year went to the Saab 99 of Jon Davis of Houghton, Michigan, and Harry Ward. Their strongest challenge was expected to be from the factory Peugeot 505 of Ann Arbor, Michigan, couple Gary and Carolyn Eaton. However, the Eatons had a variety of troubles, including an off-course excursion, that dropped them to sixth in the class. The teams that pushed the front wheel drive Saab all had four wheel drive. Michiganders Guy Light of Midland and Jim Brandt of Lake Odessa finished three minutes behind Davis in spite of nailing a tree dead center with their brand new AMC Eagle SX-4.

Third in Production went to a relatively new team, husband/wife Jim and Jennifer Warren who drive their Jeep CJ-7 faster than a great number of the Open Class competitors. All three of these Production teams finished in the top 10 in the overall results. A Production Volvo entered by Autoweek staffers George Levy and John Muihere weren't so lucky and had to settle for a 9th in the class.

Several "hot shoes" weren't around at the finish. John Buffum, the 1980 Champion and four time winner of this rally, blew the engine of his Audi 4000 on the third stage. Jon Woodner's new Cosworth-powered Datsun 510 went out with a blown ring and pinion on stage five while lying second and challenging for the lead. Texan Dick Turner went out late in the running when his IH Scout gave out a loud "bang" just after a service stop and rolled to a stop. John Woolf had a variety of troubles including a bad case of vapor lock and a broken differential which they replaced in the middle of the rally.

With barely a breath, the PRO Rally Circus moves to Texas and the Chisum Trail Rally on Memorial Day Weekend.

SCCA CONTACT: Tim Cline (203) 453-1742, T. Michael Moreland (303) 770-1044


SCCA NATIONAL PRO RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

								
EVENT: Northern Lights                   			EVENT CONDUCTED BY: Saginaw Valley Region, SCCA
LOCATION: Houghton Lake, Michigan	      			LENGTH:  275 miles, 20 stages
DATE:  May 9-10, 1981                            		WEATHER:  Mild, very dry, dusty
ENTRANTS: 56	FINISHERS: 41					TERRAIN:  Forests, Rolling hills
								


FIN.											CHAMP	MFG
POS.	DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN		CAR			SCORE		POINTS	POINTS 
 1. 	Rod Millen, Santa Ana, Calif.     	Mazda Rx-7     		1:57.56     	20     	20
      	Bob Kraushaar, Tigard, Ore.                                    			20

 2. 	Jean-Paul Perusse, Montreal, Que. 	Peugeot 504    		2:00.49     	15     	15
      	John Grimshaw, The Colony, Tex.                                			15

 3. 	Larry Schmidt, Rochester, Mich. 	Dodge Colt     		2:07.19     	12     	12
      	Joe Andreini, St. Clair Shores, Mich.                          			12

 4. 	Wayne Baldwin, Waidwick, N.J.     	Volvo OLT      		2:07.26     	10     	10
      	Debra Baldwin, Waldwick, N.J.                                  			10

 5(1P)	Jon Davis, Houghton, Mich.        	Saab 99        		2:11.76      	 8       8
      	Harry Ward, Toldeo, Ohio                                        		 8

 6. 	Bruno Kreibich, Ridgewood, N.J.   	Porsche 911    		2:13.69      	 6       6
      	Scott Hughes, Loveland, Ohio                                    		 6

 7. 	Eric Jones, Columbus, Ohio        	Datsun 510     		2:14.05      	 4       4
      	Gary Grebus, Columbus, Ohio                                     		 4

 8(2P)	Guy Light, Midland, Mich.         	AMC Eagle SX-4 		2:14.12      	 3       3
      	Jim Brandt, Lake Odessa, Mich.                                  		 3

 9(3P)	Jim Warren, Midland, Mich.        	Jeep CJ-7      		2:17.88      	 2       2
      	Jennifer Warren, Midland, Mich.                                 		 2

10. 	Sandy Liversidge, Jerico, Vermont     	Saab 99        		2:18.52      	 1       1
      	Linda Wilcox, Jericho, Vermont                                   		 1

				PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
 1. 	Jon Davis, Houghton, Mich.        	Saab 99        		2:11.76     	20	20
      	Harry Ward, Toledo, Ohio                                               		20

  2. 	Guy Light, Midland, Mich.         	AMC Eagle SX-4 		2:14.12         15	15
      	Jim Brandt, Lake Odessa, Mich.                                         		15

  3. 	Jim Warren, Midland, Mich.        	Jeep CJ-7      		2:17.88     	12
      	Jennifer Warren, Midland, Mich.                                        		12

 
 

                        UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER FIVE EVENTS

DRIVER							PRODUCTION DRIVER
1. Rod Millen			87           		1. Jon Davis        		95
2. Jean-Paul Persusse    	50           		2. Gary Eaton       		63
3. John Buffum           	47           		3. Ray Hocker       		30
4. Taisto Heinonen       	35
5. Larry Schmidt         	32


CO-DRIVER						PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Bob Kraushaar         	87           		1. Harry Ward       		95
2. Doug Shepherd         	62           		2. Carolyn Eaton    		63
3. Tom Burgess           	35           		3. Damon Trimble    		30
4. Joe Andrieni          	32
5. Tom Grimshaw          	26

MANUFACTURER						PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Mazda                 	87           		1. Saab             		95
2. Peugeot               	75           		2. Peugeot          		63
3. Toyota                	35           		3. Dodge            		48
4. Dodge                 	32
5. Volvo                 	20
  


Results 81
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