| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | June 13,1983 |
BUFFUM & QUATTRO DOMINATE SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL CRAWFORD GETS FIRST PRODUCTION WIN
WELLSBORO, PENNSYLVANIA -- John Buffum and Doug Shepherd took advantage of good road position, the weather, and other competitors' problems to claim a second consecutive Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally in their Audi Quattro. Second, more than 16 minutes back, was the 4wd Mazda RX-7 of Rod Millen and Jim Roller. The Mazda was a victim of tire trouble in the early going when it had to run two stages on a puncture. This dropped the team way back in the standings -- they were not in the top ten after the first four stages -- but they fought back through the dust to a second overall.
Production Class was the usual dog-eat-dog battle with John Crawford and co-driver Craig Harr taking their first PRO Rally win in the class. Crawford, running a new Shelby Charger 2.2, grabbed the lead early on and held it throughout the 218 mile, all-night event. Privateer Erik Zenz started out slowly in his Saab 99 but came on strongly in the last half -- moving into second place in the class and sixth overall. Crawford commented that "this had to be our night. The car hit so many bad ruts and was in the woods so much early on that, once we made it through that, we knew we were going to survive!" And so they did, winning by just over one minute.
Eric Jones proved once again that old Datsuns never die, they just keep going faster. Jones and George Bittner put their 10-year-old Datsun 510 into third place after falling well back due to a scoring problem in the early going. Several potent threats didn't make it very far into the event as Taisto Heinonen, in his new Mercury Lynx, hit a tree on stage 3, Jon Woodner (Peugeot 504 Coupe) lost all but fourth gear before going backwards off the road on stage 2, and Mark Hardymon's Mazda RX-7 suffered from fuel feed troubles on stage 1.
Wayne and Debra Baldwin brought their Turbo Volvo GLT back after a year off (to make a new dauqhter) and began running with the leaders from the start. They were in second place behind Buffum for two-thirds of the rally, running faster than everyone else (except Millen who was fighting through the pack), and had a good shot at finishing there. They lost all but fourth gear on stage 8, however, and had to retire after their clutch finally failed. It was still an impressive return to the sport after their lay-off. Bruno Kreibich and Clark Bond finished fifth in their Porsche 911, moving them well up in the overall standings for the season.
Guy Light, in his Oldsmobile, Walter Boyce in his Ford Escort and Steve Nowicki in his Plymouth Arrow rounded out the top five in the Production Class -- making it as close as ever as only three minutes separated the first five cars in the class. The drive of the night went to John Ricker and Ed Rachner, an East coast team who drove their Dodge Colt from a 57th start to a 9th overall finish.
The PRO Rally Championship now moves into its "summer hiatus" until September when the series resumes.
SCCA CONTACTS: Tim Cline, 321 Saw Mill Road, Guilford, Connecticut 06437 (203)453-1742
T. Michael Moreland, 6750 South Emporia Street, Englewood, Colorado 80112 (303)770-1044
EVENT: Susquehannock Trail EVENT CONDUCTED BY: Finger Lakes Region. SCCA
LOCATION: Wellsboro, Pennsylvania LENGTH: 218 miles, 131 stage miles
DATE: June 11-12, 1983 WEATHER: Warm, dry
ENTRANTS: 70 FINISHERS: 43 TERRAIN: Forest, hills
PROD. PROD.
FIN. CHAMP. MFG. CHAMP. MFG.
POS. DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR SCORE POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS
1. John Buffum, S. Burlington, Vt. Audi Quattro 128.15 20 20
Doug Shepherd, Livonia, Mich. 20
2. Rod Millen, Costa Mesa, Calif. Mazda RX-7 144.61 15 15
Jim Roller, Atlanta, Ga. 15
3. Eric Jones, Westerville, Ohio Datsun 510 152.76 12 12
George Bittner, Plain City, Ohio 12
4.(1P) John Crawford, Okmulgee, Okla. Shelby Charger 154.29 10 10 20 20
Craig Marr, Oraville. Calif. 10 20
5. Bruno Kreibich, Ridgewood, N.Y. Porsche 911 155.01 8 8
Clark Bond. Bay City. Mich. 8
6.(2P) Erik Zenz, West Allis. Wis. Saab 99 155.27 6 6 15 15
Lawson Smith, Fayetteville, N.Y. 6 15
7.(3P) Guy Light, Midland, Mich. Olds Omega 155.95 4 12 12
Terry Conklin, Midland, Mich. 4 12
8.(4P) Waltcr Boyce. Munster, Ontario Ford Escort 156.54 3 10 10
Jon Andreini, St. Clair Shores, Mich. 3 10
9. John Ricker, Foxboro. Mass. Dodge Colt 156.94 2
Ed Rachner, Wilmington, Del. 2
10.(5P) Steve Nowicki, New Berlin, Wis. Plymouth Arrow 157.92 1 8 8
Brian Berg, Brown Deer, Wis. 1 8
PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
1. John Crawford, Okmulqee, Okla. Shelby Charger 154.29 20 20
Craig Marr, Oroville , Calif. 20
2. Erik Zenz. West Allis, Wis. Saab 99 155.27 15 15
Lawson Smith, Fayetteville, N.Y 15
3. Guy Light, Midland, Mich. Olds Omega 155.95 12 12
Terry Conklin, Midland, Mich. 12
UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER SEVEN EVENTS
DRIVER (Current Car) PRODUCTION DRIVER (Current Car)
1. John Buffum, Audi 115 1. Steve Nowicki, Plymouth 80
2. Rod Millen, Mazda 80 2. Gene Henderson, AMC 55
3. Jon Woodner, Peugeot 68 3. John Crawford, Dodge 52
CO-DRIVER PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Doug Shepherd 80 1. Brian Berg 48
2. Ginny Reese 68 2. Craig Marr 46
3. R. Dale Kraushaar 50 3. Jim Kloosterman 43
MANUFACTURER PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Audi 115 1. AMC 76
2. Mazda 95 2. Plymouth 68
3. Peugeot 48 3. Dodge 55
SEED WINNERS
FIA/SEED 1 - Buffum/Shepherd SEED 3 - Crawford/Marr SEED 5 - Ricker/Rachner
SEED 2 - Jones/Bittner SEEO 4 - Zenz/Smith SEED 6 - Piatkowski/Hughes