PALMDALE, California-- In the continuation of a streak that began with the first event of the year, the Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship has its third surprise overall winner in as many events. On top of that, it was the first-ever ProRally victory for the winning driver. The honors went to Garen and Floyd “Doc” Shrader, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV. The son-and-father team has been a strong contender in the past, but this was the first time that everything fell into place with Garen at the wheel. They finished the grueling two-day event two minutes ahead of the second-place team. That was the other Lancer Evo IV-mounted duo, Pete Lahm and Matt Chester, who ran strongly throughout the event.

The rally took place on the demanding desert and mountain roads in and around Palmdale, Calif. Most of the action took place in the mountainous Angeles National Forest, south of Palmdale and north of Los Angels; and there was a challenging mix of pavement and gravel surfaces that kept drivers very alert and on the fine edge.

The twin Hyundai Tiburons of Paul Choiniere and Noel Lawler finished third and fourth after trading places in the overall lead throughout the entire event. A penalty for a rules infraction moved them down two places each at the finish.

Lee Shadbolt and Claire Chizma drove their Subaru Impreza to victory in the Production GT class, following an event-long battle with the Mazda 323 GTX of Gail Truess and Pattie Hughes. The two teams jockeyed throughout the event, but the issue was settled when the ladies experienced a puncture and lost time changing the tire.

Group 5 winners Ralph Kosmides and Joe Noyes had to deal with a number of mechanical problems along the way, including a blown head gasket toward the end of the event. However, they were able to bring their Toyota Supra to the finish and claim the win.

The Production Class winners wound up having a comparatively easy time of it once their chief rivals suffered mechanical ills Friday evening. Mark Brown and John Allen brought their Volkswagen GTi home comfortably ahead of the second-place finisher. However, that car attracted a lot of attention, since it was the first new-style Volkswagen Beetle to compete in the United States. Karl Scheible and Gail McGuire were running well until the right-front strut broke Friday evening. They lost time before repairs could be made, but ran well afterward to claim second.

The event was a strong showing for the companies participating in the series’ Manufacturers’ Championship. Subaru got the Production GT class win, with the Shadbolt/Cizma Impreza, as well as a strong showing from the new Open Class Impreza of Paul Eklund and Dave Jameson. Toyota got the Group 5 win with the Kosmides/Noyes Supra; and Hyundai got third and fourth overall with the Choiniere/Decker and Noel Lawler/Charlie Bradley Tiburons.

The next round of the Michelin SCCA ProRally Championship will be the Susquehannock Trail ProRally, which will take place in the scenic town of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, over the weekend of June 5-6. — WRG —

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Final Results
Rim of the World ProRally
Palmdale, California
April 30-May 1, 1999


Car
 #  Driver/Co-Driver               Car           Seed  Score  Place Class
 14 Garen Shrader/Floyd Shrader    Lancer Evo IV   3   2:46:05   1  Open

 34 Pete Lahm/Matt Chester         Lancer Evo IV   2   2:48:03   2  Open

  3 Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker     Hyundai        FIA  2:48:18   3  Open

  2 Noel Lawler/Charles Bradley    Hyundai         1   2:50:43   4  Open

 95 Tony Chavez/Ken Cassidy        Galant VR-4     2   2:53:26   5  Open

 32 Paul Eklund/Dave Jameson       Subaru Impreza  4   2:55:27   6  Open

 35 Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma     Subaru Impreza  3   2:57:54   1  GT

  7 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes       Toyota Supra    1   2:58:27   1  Group 5

 68 Doug Robinson/Susan Robinson   Mazda 323       5   2:58:32   7  Open

 16 Gail Truess/Pattie Hughes      Mazda 323       2   3:02:17   2  GT

 25 Gerry Valentini/Lee Sorenson   Mazda RX-7      4   3:02:57   2  Group 5

 20 George Plsek/Renn Phillips     Audi quattro    3   3:04:07   8  Open

101 Mark Brown/John Allen          VW GTI          4   3:04:08   1  Prod.

 61 Karl Scheible/Gail McGuire     VW New Beetle   3   3:08:15   2  Prod.

 21 Trevor Donison/Catherine Roso  Plymouth Neon   6   3:13:18   3  Prod.

 70 Kendall Russell/John Dillon    Dodge Shadow    5   3:18:59   3  GT

 90 L O'Sullivan/F O'Sullivan      Audi quattro    2     DNF        Open

127 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller      Toyota P.U.     3     DNF 	    Group 2 

 92 Rui Brasil/Ola Lysenstoen      Audi quattro    2     DNF        Open

 17 Robert Garcia/Tony Khoa Vu     Plymouth Laser  6     DNF 	    Group 5

 10 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom   Volvo 240       1     DNF        Group 2

 39 Carl Jardevall/Amity Trowbridge Volvo 740      3     DNF        Group 5

114 Frank Cunningham/N Pessoa      VW Golf Kit Car 4     DNF 	    Group 5