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Round #1 - 1992 Subaru PRO Rally Championship January 31 - February 2, 1992
Press Notes by Andy Schupack |
PRESS NOTES #1
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
January 31 - noon
Location: Terlingua, Texas (look at your atlas where the
bottom of Texas meets with Big Bend National Park,
and then go slightly west) - Headquarters is
Terlingua Ranch, resort and site of Willie
Nelson's movie "Barbarosa." Also, formerly
owned by Carroll Shelby and site of Chili Cookoff.
Duration: 80.76 stage miles, 127.15 total miles, 6 stages
Rank: Coefficient 3 divisional PRO Rally with national
competitors earning 60% of normal points.
Expected national entries: Chad DiMarco - defending overall
champion - Subaru Legacy; Paul Choiniere - 1990
overall champion - Audi Quattro; Carl Merrill - 1991
fourth place overall - Mitsubishi Eclipse; Jim Wilson
- second place - Production GT in 1991 - Mitsubishi
Galant; Henry Joy - in former Carl Merrill Mazda
323GTX; Gary Gooch - 1991 2nd place/Rallytruck -Toyota
Pickup; Dave Thomas - Mazda RX-7 - top divisional
competitors.
Notable no-shows: Bruno Kreibich - 1991 Open class champion
- semi-retired; Doug Sheppard - new Eagle Talon - "not
finished;" Cal Landau - new Mitsubishi Eclipse for
Production GT - "will debut in the summer;" Tim
O'Neil - new Mitsubishi Galant - "see you at Rim;"
Michael Grieb - defending Production GT/Mazda 323GTX -
"will run selecterhevents - lack of money;"
Terrain: Spectacular mountain/desert area. Stage roads
mostly tight, twisty, and smooth. Washes and
creeks are frequent and sometimes rough. Elevation
varies from 2,000 - 4,500 ft. above sea level.
Climate: Sunny, clear, dry during day - high in the 70's;
Clear and cool at night, lows in the 40's.
PRESS NOTES #2
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
January 31 - noon
ROUND #1 - SUBARU PRO RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
BIG BEND BASH - TERLINGUA, TX - FEBRUARY 1, 1992
ENTRY LIST AS OF 1/31/92
# DRIVER/HOMETOWN CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR/CLASS
1 CHAD DIMARCO/HUNT.BEACH CA ERICK HAUGE/NAPA CA SUBARU LEGACY/A
2 PAUL CHOINIERE/WILLISTON VT JEFF BECKER/GREAT NECK NY AUDI QUATTRO/O
4 CARL MERRILL/OGUNQUIT ME JON WICKENS/BIRMINGHAM MI MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE/O
11 A. HADJIMINAS/FLORAL PK NY HENRY NOGA/GLEN MEAD NY MITSUBISHI GALANT/GT
12 JIM WILSON/NORTHPORT NY JAMES WILSON/NORTHPORT NY MITSUBISHI GALANT/GT
13 MARK MOLNAR/HILLIARD OH YORGI BITTNER VW GOLF/PROD
14 DICK CORLEY/COLCHESTER VT LANCE SMITH/WILLISTON VT MITSUBISHI GALANT/O
15 DAVE THOMAS/ST CHAS MO DAVE LAW/WICHITA KS MAZDA RX-7/DIV
16 KEN STEWART/GROVE OK RALPH STARR/ALMAGORDO NM CHEVY BLAZER/DIV
17 JIM DALE/CONWAY AK BILLY REBER/MEMPHIS TN MAZDA/DIV
18 JOHN LANNOM/FT STOCKTON TX JOHN SCHLAGEL/ODESSA TX VW BUG/DIV
19 GARY GOOCH/UNION CITY CA JUDI GOOCH/UNION CITY CA TOYOTA PICKUP/TRUCK
20 ROGER HULL/PRESCOTT AZ ROB CHERRY/PRESCOTT AZ JEEP/TRUCK
21 GREG HEALEY/HARTSVILE SC JIM KLOOSTERMAN/HARTSVILLE SC DODGE PICKUP/TRUCK
22 JEFF HENDRICKS/PRESCOTT AZ NOBLE JONES/PRESCOTT AZ JEEP/TRUCK
23 B J BEALE/DENVER CO STUART BEALE/TULSA OK MAZDA/GT
24 FLOYD SHRADER/W MEMPHIS AK RICHARD BEACH/JACKSON MS EAGLE/DIV
25 HENRY JOY/WILMETTE IL SCOTT GILLMAN/POMONA CA MAZDA 323GTX/GT
26 DAVE HARDWICK/FT STOCKTON TX BILL BROOKS/ALPINE TX VW BUG/DIV
27 MAKARIOS SOURLIS/NEW YORK NY M KARAGEORGI/HUNTINGTON NY MITSUBISHI GALANT/GT
28 JAMES COOK/ALPINE TX DOUG OTOUPAL/FT DAVIS TX VW BUG/DIV
29 PETER LAHM/PHOENIX AZ BOB SMITH/TUCSON AZ DATSUN/O
30 SQUIRES
31 KAREN BURROWS/MESA AZ KEN CASSIDY/MESA AZ MAZDA/DIV
PRESS NOTES #3
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
January 31 - 11:00 PM
1. Friday was arrival and "unofficial" practice day for most of the
national PRO rally teams. As of this writing, there are 24 entries
(up from last year's 16 entries - 13 starters), and this is the first
time since 1982 that the Big Bend Bash can be run for national points.
Although the national competitors will only get credit for 60 percent
of their usual points, Big Bend promoter Roger Gibson hopes to add some
miles to his event for '93 and apply for a full national rally date.
2. Practice news today revolved around broken struts and flat tires, with
Dick Corley's new Mitsubishi Galant falling victim to both. Defending
champion Chad DiMarco, whose Subaru Legacy is "ready for replacement"
after the beating it took last season, thinks the hard, well-graded roads
should produce "very fast" times, but cautioned that drivers will have to
watch out for changes in the color of dirt - signaling the rough washes
and creeks.
3. Paul Choiniere, whose Libra Racing-prepared Audi Quattro won the
last two national rallies in 1991, is expected to arrive just in time
for the start on Saturday at 11:00 AM. A death in the family delayed
Paul's departure from Maine. If last-minute plane arrangements do
not work out, John Buffum might step into that car with co-driver
Jeff Becker.
4. Speaking of Becker, who co-drove with Bruno Kreibich's Open class
championship Audi in 1991, he is entered with Choiniere for this rally,
but is unsure about the rest of the season. Bruno does not plan to
run either of the first two rallies (Big Bend and Prescott), but
could run some rallies during the '92 season depending on family
and business situations.
5. Although the divisional class of drivers will be a separate competition,
expect at least three of the divisional competitors to finish in the
top ten overall. Even though divisional cars cannot get credit for
national overall points, a good finish above a national driver is a
prestigious and the divisional points count towards a divisional PRO Rally
championship.
6. The fastest divisional driver is likely to be Dave Thomas, from St.
Charles, MO, and co-driver Dave Law, in a Mazda RX-7. Ken Stewart,
from Grove, OK, in his Chevy Blazer; Jim Dale, from Conway, AK; and
John Lannom, a local driver from Ft. Stockton, TX in a VW Baja Bug
are all expected to contend for the divisional title and top ten
overall standings. Although the divisional class was designed to
get drivers experience before they move up to national classes, many
experienced drivers stay in the divisional class because of money. Many
experienced drivers cannot afford the travel or time out of work to
run the national series, but their cars can be very competitive at
any given event.
7. Both Tom Ottey, a Production GT competitor who is not here this weekend,
and Gary and Judi Gooch, the Toyota Pickup competitor who are here,
participated in a rally in Jamaica in December. The Gooch's said
that, while they got their truck to go 110 MPH - the fastest it has
ever run - they also tore up the suspension there. They barely had
time to fix the vehicle before coming to Texas.
PRESS NOTES #8
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
February 1 - 4:00 PM
11. After several service vehicles, including SCCA PRO Rally series
manager John Buffum, got stuck setting up for the first stage
of the 1992 Big Bend Bash, a decision was made to cancel the
initial stages of the rally due to heavy thunderstorms making the
roads inaccessible. Organizers Roger Gibson and Bob Logue have
have called a drivers' meeting for 4:30 PM (1/2 hr. from now) to
announce the rally will now commence on an "alternative course
which is a back-up that has been laid out for future rallies."
These stages, which are being marked at this time, are also on the
Terlingua Ranch property. More details within the hour.
PRESS NOTES #9
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
February 1 - 8:00 PM
12. Three drivers' meetings later and 4-1/2 hours after the
initial rally stages were cancelled, the 1992 Big Bend Bash
has still not started. The following bizarre events have
occurred:
--Series manager John Buffum ran off the road trying to test the
original course, and was stuck for more than four hours. Several
service and worker vehicles also got stuck, including Gary
Gooch's service vehicle. Several other vehicles got stuck trying
to pull the initial cars out of the mud/slick clay.
--The tow truck sent to pull out the cars caught fire and could not
get to the scene. The majority of cars were pulled out by a local
fire truck and a 4WD ambulance. Many of the course workers
spent five hours in the mud and rain helping those who were stuck.
--An alternative rally, consisting of back-up roads planned for a
future event, has been set up with arrows, and the rally route is
being run and written as we speak. The drivers will be given route
books (probably about three pages) to run a couple of roads enough
times to make the 60-mile divisional minimum.
--The weather is now 40 degrees, heavy fog, and the threat of more
rain. The new course is characterized as muddy.
--Many of the drivers, who have been on-again/off-again since 1:00 PM,
are debating whether to run this last-minute course, or just to go
home.
--A planned 8:30 PM start (30 minutes away) seems unlikely.
--More later.
PRESS NOTES #10
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
February 1 - 10:00 PM
13. The 1992 Big Bend Bash has been re-configured as a two-stage
event, with each stage to be run four times, for a total of
64 miles. The 7-page route book includes no penalties for transit
times, service every two stages, and six double or triple
cautions. John Buffum characterized the course as muddy and
foggy, but passable as he drove the stages just before the start.
14. Drivers lined up at the start had various reactions after waiting
almost 9 hours to start the rally:
"This is like racing at Candlestick Park."
"They should have sent us home at 3:00 PM"
"Participants don't deserve national points for just two stages."
"The organizer should have been more up front about the situation"
"That's racing."
Despite driver concerns, an informal poll confirmed that most
were in favor of running the rally.
15. First car - Chad DiMarco of Huntington Beach, CA in his Subaru
Legacy - was flagged off from rally headquarters at 10:14 PM,
and started stage one at 10:28 PM. 20 cars took the starting flag.
16. As the first cars finished stage one, Choiniere, who started
second, finished ahead of DiMarco, who finished first. The
interval was one minute, so DiMarco lost one minute on the stage.
Reason unknown. Also the Doc Schrader/Richard Beach Eagle
stalled at the beginning of stage one and is out of the rally.
PRESS NOTES #11
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
February 2 - 12:50 AM
17. It has started raining on the course again, with the rally cars
headed for the service after the completion of stage #2. A
decision will be made at the end of stage #2 as to how many
more stages will be run. At this time, organizer Gibson and
national series manager Buffum are leaning towards running one
more "loop" (two more stages) and calling it a rally. Although the
total miles would only be 30, the fact that it was announced as
a 64-mile rally means that everyone who finishes get the normal
amount of points.
18. Karen Burrows/Ken Cassidy Mazda RX-7 did not start the event.
19. On stage #1, the DiMarco/Hauge Subaru Legacy lost that minute to
Choiniere because the Subaru sucked water into the motor after
going through a large puddle.
20. The rain on the course is getting harder, and, shortly after the
start of stage three, Buffum and the organizers decided that it
would be unsafe to continue the rally, and it should end after
stage four. We will post stage time and scores for all as soon
as the rally ends.
ROUND #1 - SUBARU PRO RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
BIG BEND BASH - TERLINGUA, TX - FEBRUARY 1, 1992
FINAL RESULTS
DRIVER/HOMETOWN CO-DRIVER CAR/CLASS TIME (min:sec)
PAUL CHOINIERE/WILLISTON VT JEFF BECKER AUDI QUATTRO/O* 37:24
CHAD DIMARCO/HUNT.BEACH CA ERICK HAUGE SUBARU LEGACY/A* 38:51
JIM WILSON/NORTHPORT NY JAMES WILSON MITSUBISHI GALANT/GT* 39:58
CARL MERRILL/OGUNQUIT ME JON WICKENS MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE/O 40:26
DAVE THOMAS/ST CHAS MO DAVE LAW MAZDA RX-7/DIV* 40:50
ROGER HULL/PRESCOTT AZ ROB CHERRY JEEP/TRUCK* 41:08
A. HADJIMINAS/FLORAL PK NY HENRY NOGA MITSUBISHI GALANT/GT 41:20
DICK CORLEY/COLCHESTER VT LANCE SMITH MITSUBISHI GALANT/O 41:58
B J BEALE/DENVER CO STUART BEALE MAZDA/GT 42:07
JOHN LANNOM/FT STOCKTON TX JOHN SCHLAGEL VW BUG/DIV 43:00
GARY GOOCH/UNION CITY CA JUDI GOOCH TOYOTA PICKUP/TRUCK 43:02
GREG HEALEY/HARTSVILE SC JIM KLOOSTERMAN DODGE PICKUP/TRUCK 43:15
JEFF HENDRICKS/PRESCOTT AZ NOBLE JONES JEEP/TRUCK 43:31
KEN STEWART/GROVE OK RALPH STARR CHEVY BLAZER/DIV 44:12
HENRY JOY/WILMETTE, IL SCOTT GILLMAN MAZDA 323GTX/GT 44:48
JIM DALE/CONWAY AK BILLY REBER MAZDA/DIV 46:24
MAKARIOS SOURLIS/NEW YORK NY M KARAGEORGI MITSUBISHI GALANT/GT 47:48
JAMES COOK/ALPINE TX DOUG OTOUPAL VW BUG/DIV 49:42
PETER LAHM/PHOENIX AZ BOB SMITH DATSUN/0 did not finish
FLOYD SHRADER/W MEMPHIS AK RICHARD BEACH EAGLE/DIV did not finish
KAREN BURROWS/MESA AZ KEN CASSIDY MAZDA RX-7/DIV did not start
* denotes class winner
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship - Big Bend Bash
Terlingua, TX - Final results and stage times - 2/2/92
FINISH DRIVERS STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3 STAGE 4 TOTAL
1-0 Choiniere / Becker 13:02 6:22 12:35 5:25 37:24
2-A DiMarco / Hague 14:14 6:01 12:54 5:42 38:51
3-GT Wilson / Wilson 13:44 6:24 13:43 6:07 39:58
4 Merrill / Wickens 15:25 5:55 13:26 5:40 40:26
5-D Thomas / Law 15:33 6:02 13:33 5:42 40:50
6-T Hull / Cherry 15:09 6:09 13:34 6:16 41:08
7 Hadjiminas / Hoga 14:47 6:53 13:22 6:18 41:20
8 Corley / Smith 16:21 6:19 13:36 5:42 41:58
9 Beale / Beale 15:20 6:41 13:57 6:09 42:07
10 Lannom / Schlagel 15:35 6:36 14:48 6:01 43:00
11 Gooch / Gooch 15:25 6:38 14:34 6:25 43:02
12 Healey / Kloosterman 16:36 6:29 14:12 5:58 43:15
13 Hendricks / Jones 15:55 7:00 14:04 6:32 43:31
14 Stewart / Starr 17:23 6:13 14:50 5:46 44:12
15 Joy / Gillman 16:35 6:08 15:56 6:09 44:48
16 Dale / Reber 17:19 6:57 15:46 6:22 46:24
17 Sourlis / Karageorgi 18:38 7:07 15:29 6:34 47:48
18 Cook / Otoupal 17:56 7:27 16:28 7:51 49:42
19 Lahm / Smith 17:27 7:17 D.N.F.
20 Shrader / Beach D.N.F. D.N.F.
21 Burrows/ Cassidy D.N.S D.N.S.
O - Open class winner
A - Group A winner
G - Production GT winner
D - Divisional winner
T - Rally Truck winner
PRESS NOTES #12
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
February 2 - 6:30 AM
21. A couple of final notes on this event:
--The Carl Merrill/Jon Wickins car finished third - not fourth
as shown in the agate posted on CompuServe - as the result
of a protest which moved Jim and James Wilson down to fifth
place, Dave Thomas/Dave Law to fourth overall and Sakis
Hadjiminas all the way to tenth. Confused?
--Jim Wilson still wins the Production GT class.
PRESS NOTES #12
Round #1 - Subaru PRO Rally Championship
Big Bend Bash Rally - Terlingua, Texas
February 2 - 2:50 AM
For Immediate Release Contact: Andy Schupack
(915) 371-2486
until 2/2 - 6 AM
or
(401) 739-5677
RAIN-SHORTENED BIG BEND BASH TO CHOINIERE
TERLINGUA, TX - February 2 - Paul Choiniere of Williston, Vermont, along with new co-driver
Jeff Becker, from Great Neck, NY, fought a nine-hour rain delay and unusual muddy conditions in
the Texas desert to win the 35th annual Big Bend Bash PRO Rally.
Choiniere, who won the last two Subaru PRO Rally Championship events in '91 in his Audi
Quattro, made it three in a row in a rally which was shortened to four stages and 34 miles due to
bad weather. Co-driver Becker, who co-drove for Audi rival Bruno Kreibich last year, competed
with Choiniere for the first time.
Second overall and first in Group A was the Subaru Legacy of Chad DiMarco from Huntington
Beach, CA and Erick Hauge from Napa, CA. DiMarco, the defending overall PRO Rally champion,
took water through the intake after going through a large puddle and lost one minute to Choiniere.
Third overall and second in the Open class was Carl Merrill from Ogonquit, Maine, and his co-
driver Jon Wickens from Birmingham, Mich. in their Mitsubishi Eclipse.
Big Bend Bash
SCCA PRO Rallye, February 1-2
Here are the updated official overall results from the Bash. Changes from the
preliminaries that were posted from the event are: (1) Wilson/Wilson and
Hadjiminas/Noga moved down overall when a time-recording error was resolved;
and (2) Shrader/Beach are listed as DNS instead of DNF.
Driver Co-driver Car Class Time
Choiniere (VT) Becker (NY) Audi O* 37:24
DiMarco (CA) Hauge (CA) Subaru A* 38:51
Merrill (ME) Wickens (MI) Mitsub. O 40:26
Thomas (MO) Law (KS) Mazda Div* 40:50
Wilson (NY) Wilson (NY) Mitsub. GT* 40:58
Hull (AZ) Cherry (AZ) Jeep Truck* 41:08
Corley (VT) Smith (VT) Mitsub. O 41:58
Beal (CO) Beal (OK) Mazda GT 42:07
Hadjiminas (NY) Noga (NY) Mitsub. GT 42:20
Lannom (TX) Schlagel (TX) VW Div 43:00
Gooch (CA) Gooch (CA) Toyota Truck 43:02
Healey (SC) Kloosterman (SC) Dodge Truck 43:15
Hendricks (AZ) Jones (AZ) Jeep Truck 43:31
Stewart (OK) Starr (NM) Chevy Div 44:12
Joy (IL) Gillman (CA) Mazda GT 44:48
Dale (AK) Reber (TN) Mazda Div 46:24
Sourlis (NY) Karageorgi (NY) Mitsub. GT 47:48
Cook (TX) Otoupal (TX) VW Div 49:42
Lahm (AZ) Smith (AZ) Datsun O DNF
Shrader (AK) Beach (MS) Eagle Div DNS
Burrows (AZ) Cassidy (AZ) Mazda Div DNS
* denotes class winner
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