Sno*Drift 1979

GRAYLING, Michigan -- The Canadians have an expression for conditions
like those at this year's final PRO Rally, Sno*Drift. They say,
"winter roads, summer ditches." That means that there is enough
snow on the ground to make driving very slippery, but not enough to
fill the culverts that line the rally roads. Canadians know a lot
about snow and driving rally cars thereon. And they proved it at
Sno*Drift. The top two places overall and the top Production Class
honors all went to drivers and cars from the North country.

Taisto Heinonen and Tom Burgess made it two wins in a row at PRO
Rallies, winning the Sno*Drift by over three minutes. Driving their
specially prepared Toyota Celica, the British Columbia team (from
Langley and Burnaby, respectively) overcame some early spinouts on the
ice and came on strong at the end, winning 13 straight stages after
being beaten on the first three. Heinonen's most potent challenger
was the Triumph TR-8 team of U.S. PRO Rally Champion, John Buffum and
Doug Shepherd. Their hopes for a Triumph victory faded when mechanical
troubles plagued them in the late going, eventually dropping them to
tenth place.

Buffum's motive for running the sno*Drift after he had already won
the PRO Championship was quite simple. If he could win, and Datsun
finished no better than fourth, Triumph would win the Manufacturer's
Title.

Not only did Buffum fail to win, a Datsun finished right behind
Heinonen in second place, and captured the 1979 Manufacturer's Champ-
ionship for the marque It was driven by another Canadian team,
Doug Leverton and Greg Wilkinson both of London, Ont., in the Team
Datsun 510. Leverton finished second in the Canadian standings riqht
behind Heinonen this year after switching from Production class to Open
class in mid-season. His production car was not idle either. Veteran
rallyist Randy Black of Mississauga, Ont., and co-driver Don Craig of
Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., drove the Production Datsun 510 to a victory
in that class and a fine seventh place overall.