|
WALKER-REESE VOLVO SCORES SUNRISER 400 PRO RALLY UPSET
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio --
Jim Walker and Ginny Reese of Ann Arbor, Mich.
toured 400 heavy duty Ohio countryside miles in a Volvo 142S to take
top honors ahead,of 67 other teams and win the Sports Car Club of America's
Sunriser 400 Forest Rally here last weekend.
Walker and Reese, third place finishers in the 1977 Sunriser, scored
15,347 points to nudge Ohioans John Chalmers of Findlay and Bill Potvin
of Toledo in a Dodge Colt with 15,664 points and current series leader
John Buffum, So. Burlington, Vt., and Doug Shepherd, Southfield, Mich., in
a Triumph TR-7 with 15,723.
Under perfect fall conditions of crystal blue skies and a slight chill
in the air, the biggest field in Sunriser history left Chillicothe at
approximately 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23 and by 5 a.m. Sunday morning had
traversed 400 total miles and 135 stage miles in the rolling Appalachian
foothills. Only 37 teams managed to finish the grueling 15 hour event.
In addition to being the largest field ever, one of the largest purses
in U.S. rally history was distributed. A total of $4,425 went to teams
from as close as Columbus, Ohio and as far away as Lancaster, Eng. as the
Sunriser continues to attract more and more international attention.
The Walker-Reese victory was not without its troubles, however. Buffum,
the 1977 National Champion, and Hendrik Blok of Los Angeles, the 1976
titlist, were penalized 1400 and 1500 points, respectively, for speeding
on transit stages. Sunriser organizers were stringent in their warnings
of strict transit stage control and carried out the letter of the law,
much to the chagrin of Buffum, who, without penalty points, would have won easily.
In fourth place was Graham Thompson and Jeffrey Becker of Greenwich, Conn.
with 16,184 and fifth went to Eric Jones and Roger Sieling of Columbus with 16,301.
Walker's Sunriser win was the second for the Michigan rallyist. He took
top honors in 1974 with another co-driver, joining Buffum and Zwitzer as
two-time winners in the ten year history of the event.
Next event of the SCCA National Pro Rally series is the Nor'Wester in
Issaquah, Wash. on Oct. 7-8. With four of ten events yet to go', Buffum leads
with 360 points over John Chalmers with 300-,points and Eric Jones with 240 points.
# # #
|