| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | November 21, 1983 |
TUALATIN, Oregon -- A convincing 10 minute win for, the new kid on the block clearly demonstrated that the Mitsubishi Starion with Kiwi Steve Millen at the wheel is a force to be reckoned with in PRO Rallying. Millen and co-driver Ty Holmquist dominated the 42 car field at the 300 mile, 12 hour Tour de Forest PRO Rally run out of this Portland suburb The Mitsubishi led from start to finish over the treacherous Oregon forest mountain roads in cold, rain, and finally snow on the final 39 mile special stage -- one of 13 such tests for cars and drivers.
With the winner rarely in doubt, attention began to focus on the Production Class where John Crawford not only won the class, but finished second overall in his Dodge Shelby Charger moving Crawford and co-driver Craig Marr each into fourth place in their respective championship races. It marked only the third time in history of PRO Rallying that a Production car had finished so high in the standings. Interestingly, the last time it happened was in Arizona last season when none other than Steve Millen accomplished that feat.
Guy Light and Joe Andreini were second in Production and third overall in Light's Oldsmobile Omega moving him into third place in the production standings. So strong, in fact, were the production cars that they claimed eight of the tQp ten places in the rally that saw only 21 of the original 42 starters at the finish. Six of the non-finishers ended up on their roofs after rolling -- no serious injuries (other than egos) were reported.
The fire started blazing before the event when current Production leader, Steve Nowicki, filed a protest against the legality of Gene Henderson's AMC Eagle SX/4. The dramatic teardown never happened, however, because Henderson spun on the first stage (holding up Nowicki a bit) and then ran out of brakes after three stages forcing him to retire. Nowicki's Plymouth Arrow went off the road for 12 minutes early on, but he fought his way up to fifth overall and fourth in class to retain his position as Production Class leader.
Speaking of fire, everyone was amazed at the firey Saab driven by Erik Zenz, The Saab 99 developed a leak in the rear brakes early in the rally, so Zenz's crew crimped off the the rear brake lines and he ran the rest of the rally on only front brakes, Every time he brought the car into service everyone could see the cherry red glow of front brake that would sometimes sLill be blazing. In spiLe of all that, Zenz Still managed a fourth overall and third in Production class just 37/100 of a minute out of second.
The teams must hurry back east now for the penultimate round of the. PRO Rally season, the Sno*Drift, December 3-4, in Grayling, Michigan, which promlses a resumption of the battle between John Buffum's Audi Quattro and Rod Millen's 4wd Mazda RX-7 with Jon Woodner's Peugeot 504 fighting for a piece of the action. Buffum and Woodner are both currently in England running the Lombard RAC World Championship Rally.
The following weekend it will be off to Nevada for the Carson City International PRO Rally and the biggest show of the season, a fitting finale for a great year.
SCCA CONTACT: Tim Cline. 321 Saw Mill Road. Guilford. Connecticut 06437 (203) 453-1742
EVENT: Tour de Forest EVENT CONDUCTED BY: Oregon Region, SCCA; Rainier
LOCATION: Tualatin (Portland), Oregon Auto Sports Club; Portland & District Motor Club
DATE: November 19-20, 1983 LENGTH: 300 miles, 13 stages, 150 stage miles
ENTRANTS: 42 FINISHERS: 21 WEATHER: Cool, rain, some snow
TERRAIN: Low mountain forest, 500-1500 ft.
PROD
FIN. CHAMP. CHAMP.
POS. DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN CAR SCORE POINTS POINTS
1. Steve, Millen, Santa Ana, Calif. Mitsubishi 191.57 20
Ty Holmquist, Mission Viejo, Calif. Starion 20
2.(1P) John Crawford, Okimulgee, Okla. Dodge Shelby 201.82 15 20
Craig Marr, Oroville, Calif. 15 20
3.(2P) Guy Light, Midland, Mich. Oldsmobile 206.00 12 15
Joe Andreini, St. Clair Shores, MI Omega 12 15
4.(3P) Erik Zenz, West Allis, Wis. Saab 99 206.43 10 12
Roger Blain, Des Moines, Wash. 10 12
5.(4P) Steve Nowicki, New Berlin, Wis. Plymouth Arrow 207.55 8 10
Doug Foster, Milwaukee, Wis. 8 10
6. Dan Goodwin, Anchorage, Alaska Mazda GLC 207.58 6
Rod Sorenson, Sacramento, Calif, 6
7.(5P) Ken Nielsen, San Jose, Calif. Toyota Corolla 216.36 4 8
Doug Cover, San Jose, Calif. 4 8
8.(6P) Bill Brooks, Spokane, Wash. VW Rabbit GTI 217.82 3 6
Bill Banger, Cour D'Alene, Idaho 3 6
9.(7P) Gary Eaton, Pinckney, Mich. Peugeot 505 217.87 2 4
Colleen Currid, Seattle, Wash. 2 4
10(8P) Bruce Davis, Sacramento, Calif. Dodge Charger 219.58 1 3
Mike Neff, Sacramcnto, Calif. 1 3
PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
1. John Crawford, Okimulgee, Okla. Dodge Shelby 201.82 20
Craig Marr, Oroville, Calif. 20
2. Guy Light, Midland, Mich. Oldsmobile 206.00 15
Joe Andreini, St. Clair Shores, MI Omega 15
3 Erik Zenz, West Allis, Wis. Saab 99 206.43 12
Roger Blain, Des Moines, Wash. 12
UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER TEN EVENTS
DRIVER (Current Car) PRODUCTION DRIVER (Current Car)
1. John Buffum, Audi 120 1. Steve Nowicki, Plymouth 102
2. Rod Millen, Mazda 95 2. Gene Henderson, AMC 75
3. Jon Woodner, Peugeot 83 3. Guy Light, Oldsmubile 74
CO-DRIVER PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. Doug Shepherd 100 1. Brian Berg 68
2. Ginny Reese 83 2. Terry Conklin 65
3. R. Dale Kraushaar 77 3. Jim Kloosterman 63
MANUFACTURER PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Audi 135 1. Plymouth 88
2. Mazda 107 2. AMC 76
3. Peugeot 63 3. Dodge 66