| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 13, 1982 |
MONUMENT, Colorado-- In a picture repeat of two weeks ago, the 235 mile Miller Centennial PRO Rally found it was John Buffum's Audi, Rod Millen's Mazda, and Jon Woodner's Peugeot finishing 1, 2, 3. In Production, however, Sandy Liversidge ended his own slump and stopped Steve Nowicki's streak at the same time, Liversidge put his Saab 99 a minute and a half ahead of Gene Henderson's AMC Eagle SX/4 to claim his second Production Class win of the year and keep himself within striking distance of leader Nowicki.
As if it needed it, Buffum's Audi Quattro had all of the advantages at the all night PRO Rally. The 10,000 foot altitude of many of the rally's stages were just right for the turbo- charged 300 hp engine and the snow, rain, and mud allowed the 4wd to do its thing. On top of that, the car runs extra big B.F.Goodrich Mud Terrain light truck tires that seem to be bullet proof against the sharp Rocky Mountain rocks. Millen continues to outrun everyone but Buffum--by a good bit. But don't be surprised to see a 4wd RX-7 in the future--Millen will only smile when asked about it.
Lots of heavyweight factory teams went out early--especially in the Production Class. Guy Light lost the clutch on his Oldsmobile Omega before the first corner of the first stage. Then Jon Davis blew the engine on his Ford Escort on the third stage and John Crawford bogged down trying to get passed and his Dodge Omni went out. Then Bill Brooks' Audi Coupe rolled a tire off the rim on the second stage, got caught in the aforementioned stage blockage on the third stage, lost all the lights on the fourth stage and finally hit a tree on the eighth stage. Even with- that many factory teams out, there were still plenty around. Right behind Henderson, trying hard to catch him, was Gary Eaton in the Peugeot 505 giving Eaton a well deserved points finish.
Jean-Paul Luc brought a new Renault 5 Turbo over from France to do the rest of the PRO Championship and the Miller Centennial was its premier event. There were the usual breaking-in problems, but the team is probably pretty happy with their fourth place finish. That was just over a minute behind Woodner in his Peugeot--giving Jon the French car class for the rally. The little Turbo wasn't at home on the very rough roads of this rally, but some of the latter PRO Rallies should suit it very well.
Best private showing of the night and winner of the determination award goes to Mark Hardymon whose crew had to rebuild a blown engine the night before the rally with the help of some B.F.Goodrich people--very friendly considering that Hardymon is a Firestone contract driver. The car was healthy and Mark captured fifth overall--right behind all of that factory iron.
The Datsun(BFG Datsun 200 SX Production Class car was driven by Thos L. Bryant and Richard Baron of Road and Track Magazine. They too got caught in the delays on stage 3 and lost 20 or so minutes. They pressed on in the true rally spirit, however, and finished 19th overall. Current Production class leader Steve Nowicki got caught in the delay, then had a puncture, then spun off the road and eventually finished 8th in the class keepinq in tact his perfect finishing record this year.
The PRO Rally series now moves back to the northwest for the Tour de Forest PRO Rally to be run out of Olympia, Washington, October 1-3.
SCCA CONTACT: Tim Cline (203) 453-1742, T. Michael Moreland (303) 770-1044
EVENT: Miller Centennial EVENT CONDUCTED BY: Colorado Region, SCCA
LOCATION: Monument, Colorado LENGTH: 235 miles, 10 stages, 97 stage miles
DATE: September 11-12, 1982 WEATHER: Rain, snow and mud
ENTRANTS: 37 FINISHERS: 19 TERRAIN: Mountainous, twisty
FIN. CHAMP. MFG.
POS. DRIVER/C0-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR SCORE POINTS POINTS
1. John Buffum, S. Burlington, Vt. Audi Quattro 131.57 20 20
Doug Shepherd, Livonia, Mich. 20
2. Rod Millen, Costa Mesa, CA Mazda RX-7 134.08 15 15
R.Dale Kraushaar, Tigard, OR 15
3. Jon Woodner, Washington, D.C. Peugeot 504 141.79 12 12
Ginny Reese, Chelsea, Mich. V6 12
4. Jean-Paul Luc, Marseille, France Renault 5 142.93 10 10
Leon LeJeune, Verviers, Belgium Turbo 10
5. Mark Hardymon, Columbus, Ohio Plymouth 151.34 8 8
Tom Drake, Columbus, Ohio Arrow 8
6.(1P) Sandy Liversidge, Jericho, Vt. Saab 99 153.36 6 6
Linda Wilcox, Jericho, Vt. 6
7.(2P) Gene Henderson, Pinckney, Mich. AMC SX-4 154.02 4
Jim Kloosterman, Ypsilanti, Mich. 4
8.(3P) Gary Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peugeot 505 155.63 3
Carolyn Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. 3
9. Al Schmit, Fort Lee, N.J. Volkswagen 163.89 2
Kelvin Dodd, Arvada, Colo. 2
1O.(4P) Roger Suppes, Saginaw, Mich. Toyota 163.90 1
Woody Crutchfield, Frankenmuth, MI Corolla 1
PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
1. Sandy Liversidge, Jericho, Vt. Saab 99 153.36 20 20
Linda Wilcox, Jericho, Vt. 20
2. Gene Henderson, Pinckney, Mich. AMC SX-4 154.02 15 15
Jim Kloosterman, Ypsilanti, Mich. 15
3. Gary Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. Peugeot 505 155.63 12 12
Carolyn Eaton, Ann Arbor, Mich. 12
UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER EIGHT EVENTS
DRIVER (Current Car) PRODUCTION DRIVER (Current Car)
1. John Buffum, Audi 120 1. Steve Nowicki, Plymouth 93
2. Rod Millen, Mazda 100 2. Sandy Liversidge, Saab 78
3. Jon Woodner, Peugeot 69 3. Gene Henderson, AMO 68
CO-DRIVER PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Doug Shepherd, 120 1. Jim Kloosterman 68
2. R. Dale Kraushaar 100 2. Linda Wilcox 67
3. Ginny Reese 42 3. Brian Berg 63
MANUFACTURER PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Audi 120 1. Plymouth 108
2. Mazda 100 2. Saab 90
3. Peugeot 76 3. AMC 78