ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The first fatalities in the 10-year history of the SCCA PRO Rally Series forced the cancellation of last weekend's Chisum Trail PRO Rally after five of 17 scheduled stages had been run.

John Woolf, 26, and Grant Whittaker, 26, both originally of Auckland. New Zealand and who were living in Livonia, Mich., were killed when their car struck a truck carrying rally workers on the rally's sixth stage. Woolf, the driver, and Whittaker, his co-driver, were traveling more than 100 miles per hour on a special stage when they collided with the truck. Both were likely killed instantly when the truck hit the co-driver's side door of their Peugeot 504 V-6.

The accident occurred at the crest of a hill north of Broken Bow, Okla. The three rally workers riding in the truck were not seriously injured.

John Buffum and Doug Shepherd were leading the rally up to the sixth stage. Buffum's Quattro was about 30 seconds ahead of the Mazda RX-7 of Rod Millen and John Bellefleur, who were in turn slightly ahead of Woolf and Whittaker. This was the first rally this season that Woolf and Whittaker had drawn the first-on-the-road spot.

"Speaking for the entire rally community, we are deeply grieved by the deaths," said SCCA's Rally Manager T. Michael Moreland. "Woolfy and Grant were excellent ambassadors for both their country and the sport of rallying. Their quiet manner, winning smiles and enthusiastic zest for life will be sorely missed by all of us."

Woolf began rallying in 1975 in New Zealand, with Whittaker his co-driver from the start. He was the 1979 and 1980 New Zealand Rallycross Champion. Woolf started running the PRO Rally Series in 1980, taking third in the championship, with two wins, while Whittaker was second in the PRO Rally Co-Driver Championship. The pair took second and third in the 1981 Championship winning one event, and were in third place in the 1982 standings at the time of their deaths.

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