Event:
1995 Sand Hills Sand Blast PRO Rally, round #1 and the opening event
for the 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series. Race cars from all
around the U.S. will compete at high speeds on the challenging
roads of the Sand Hills State Forest near, Patrick, South Carolina.
When:
Saturday, February 11, 1995
Schedule:
8:00 AM - 11:30 AM - Registration and Tech Inspection, Inn Cheraw, Cheraw, SC
noon - 1:00 PM - Display of cars - Quincy Family Restaurant, Cheraw
1:01 PM - First car starts - Quincy Family Restaurant
8:00 PM - First car finishes, Inn Cheraw
Where:
Rally headquarters will be at the Inn Cheraw, Cheraw, South Carolina,
1-800-535-8709, (803) 537-2011
Duration:
70 stage miles, 150 total miles, 6 stages
Rank:
Co-efficient 3 PRO Rally, with 60 percent points awarded to National
drivers. The Sand Hills Sand Blast PRO Rally is presented by the
South Carolina Region of the Sports Car Club of America. The
National PRO Rally series is sponsored by Michelin Tire Corporation,
sactioned by the Sports Car Club of America, and administered by the
American Rally Association.
Interviews:
Drivers will be available by contacting the press room at the
Inn Cheraw starting Friday, February 10. Any needs before then
should be directed to Andy Schupack at the phone number listed below.
Expected Top Entries:
Paul Choiniere, four-time PRO Rally champion and
winner of the Cheraw event last year, in his new Hyundai Elantra;
Bruno Kreibich, oldest active rally driver (admitting to being "60
something"), in an Audi Quattro; Rees Harris, up and coming
Production GT driver, in a Mazda 323GTX; Leslie Suddard, the only
woman racer expected to enter, in an ex-Doug Shephard Dodge Charger.
Visuals:
There will be maps to direct photographers and video crews onto the
course during the daylight part of the rally on Saturday. Anyone
requiring supplied photos or video should contact Andy Schupack in
the press room starting February 10.
Media Info:
We will provide phone-ins on event information,
driver interviews, and results. We will fax
stories and agate Friday and Sunday. We have B-roll available
for TV. Press room will be located at the Inn Cheraw,
Cheraw, South Carolina.
Contact:
Andy Schupack - SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series media liaison:
(401) 739-5677 (before Feb. 10 and after Feb. 11)
(800) 535-8709 (February 10-11)
SCCA/MICHELIN SERIES HOME IN SOUTH CAROLINA; 2ND VISIT TO CHERAW
CHERAW, S.C. -- January 30 -- After its first successful season which started in Cheraw and traveled around the country in 1994, the SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series is back for its second stop in South Carolina with the Sand Hills Sand Blast PRO Rally on February 11.
"This unique event in the Sand Hills State Forest near Patrick proved quite popular last year, and we expect most of the top national competitors back this year to contest the championship," said Hartsville's Greg Healey, the rally organizer.
"This is also an important event because it is the closest rally to our national sponsor - Michelin Tire Corporation - which is located in Greenville," said Healey.
Defending national champion Paul Choiniere, with co-driver Jeff Becker, from Shelburne, Vermont, who cruised to the Sand Hills win last year, are back to defend their title, but their trusty Audi Quattro - which has won four championships in five years - is back in New England.
Choiniere will be driving a brand-new 350 horsepower Hyundai Elantra for 1995, and hopes the sandy course on the South Carolina coast will be kind to his new mount. He debuted the car on the frozen tundra of Maine in December, and finished a close second despite breaking the driveshaft.
In a PRO Rally, each team consists of a driver and a co-driver (or navigator), and the exact course is kept secret until just before the event - different from World Rally, where practice is allowed. The cars start at one-minute intervals and race against the clock over 6 - 15 stages which range in length from four to 25 miles. Most of the rallies include night stages, making it necessary for competitors to adjust their driving style. Speeds of more than 120 miles-per-hour could be reached on long straight-aways, with the team achieving the fastest combined times winning the event.
The Sand Hill Sand Blast PRO Rally is Round #1 of the 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series. Last year, Michelin Tire Corporation signed a three- year agreement to sponsor the 11-event series, which runs from the deserts of Arizona and the rain forests of Washington state to the frozen forests of Maine.
Besides Choiniere, the other overall contender is also America's oldest rallyist. Bruno Kreibich, from Queens, New York, has been rallying since the 1960's, and admits only to being "60 something" years old. His fast times on the road in his Audi Quattro, however, belie his age, and he would be in line for the win should something happen to Choiniere's car.
The SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series is not only a contest of who is the best driver on forest roads, at high speed in the middle of the night, but also a competition between car preparers and manufacturers. He or she whose car is sturdily built and who can avoid damaging off-course excursions into trees or ditches, stands a chance of winning.
Besides the fastest, overall competitors, there are less exotic cars running in different classes which allow less modifications. The cars mentioned above are all four-wheel-drive, turbocharged, highly-modified racers, while various Production classes allow very few changes to the stock vehicles driven on the street. All PRO Rally cars have safety equipment including aircraft-style safety harnesses, roll cages, and fire extinguishers.
Tires play an important part in a winning rally effort. They must be equally reliable on many driving surfaces; the asphalt of the transit roads that rallyists traverse to get to the competition stages, as well as varying conditions on the competition stages themselves. Stages, many of which are unpaved, can change from sandy to clay to gravel in the space of a few hundred feet. Sometimes rain will turn a perfectly ordinary dirt road into a quagmire within minutes.
Most of the top competitors will be using specially constructed Michelin XGT Rally tires, which not only come in various compounds for different road surfaces, but have rugged carcass and sidewall designs to resist puncturing under the stressful rally conditions. The tire company is using its three-year agreement with the Sports Car Club of America to promote one of the fastest growing motorsports in the country as well as its XGT line of street tires.
The 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally Series consists of eleven events, and is sponsored by Michelin Tire Corporation, with field administration by the American Rally Association, and series sanction by the Sports Car Club of America. The 1995 Sand Hills Sand Blast PRO Rally is presented by the South Carolina Region of the Sports Car Club of America.
SAND HILLS/SAND BLAST PRO RALLY
ROUND #1 - 1995 SCCA/MICHELIN PRO RALLY SERIES
February 11, 1994
Final Entry List
SN = Start Number
CN = Car Number
SN CN Driver/Co-Driver (Car/Class)
01 01 Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker (Hyundai Elantra/Open)
02 02 Bruno Kreibich/Rod Hendrickson (Audi Quattryo/Open)
03 03 Tom Ottey/Pam McGarvey (Mazda 323GTX/Open)
04 04 Cal Landau/Eric Marcus (Mitsubishi Eclipse/Prod GT)
05 05 Ivan Orisek/Olga Orisek (Audi Quattro/Open)
06 06 Carl Fisher/Ted Mendham (Dodge Omni/Open)
07 07 Mike Villemure/Rene Villemure (VW Beetle/Group 2)
08 24 Dick Casey/Martin Dapot (VW GTI/Production)
09 09 Leslie Suddard/Anne Thomas (Dodge Charger/Open)
10 10 David Ralakis/Garrett Davis (Mazda 323GTX/Prod GT)
11 11 Roland McIvor/Ellen Santarcangelo (Pontiac LeMans/Group 2)
12 66 Tad Ohtake/Bob Martin (Ford Escort/Production)
13 13 Jim Anderson/Ben Greisler (Honda Prelude/Production)
14 14 Edward Mucklow/Robert Campbell (Toyota Celica GTS/Divisional)
15 15 Sylvester Stepniewski/Adam Pelc (VW Scirocco/Divisional)
16 16 Keith Kreisler/Greg Usavage (Saab 900/Group 2)
17 17 Gerry Brinkman/Robert Barrall (VW GTi/Group 2)
18 23 Gregory Trepetin/Sonia Trepetin (Honda Prelude/Production)
19 19 Raed Almakhtoob/Andrew Skinner (VW Scirocco/Divisional) *DNS*
20 20 Richard Grupp/Al Macauley (Toyota Corolla/Divisional)
Press Notes #2
Sand Hills/Sand Blast PRO Rally
Round #1 - 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally Series
February 11 - 2:30 PM
The #10 Mazda 323GTX of David Ralakis/Garrett Davis - a former Carl Merrill/Libra Racing car most recently owned by Pat Ayer - is being run by a new team, but the driver might be the most experienced racer in the field. Ralakis ran on the world rally circuit for 12 years when he lived in his native Greece in the '60s and '70s, including the 1000 Lakes of Finland, the East African Safari, and all through Europe with factory Alfa, Renault and other teams. The last time he rallied, however, was 1972, so he will have some catching up to do. His primary sponsor is Le Texan Restaurants, which have locations in Monte Carlo and Paris (France).
The #19 VW Scirocco of Raed Alamkhtoob/Andrew Skinner from Greenville, South Carolina - the only local driver entered - was forced to withdraw before the event as his car was damaged in transit to the rally. The trailer dipped a wheel off the road and flipped. The crew was up all night trying to repair it, but the final blow was the non-availability of a replacement windshield this morning.
Jonathan Corey, one of the event sponsors, has a manufacturing facility located right in Patrick, SC, only a mile from the start of the event. The company provides high quality shirts for silk screen printers who produce logo shirts for a wide variety of customers, including NASCAR and IndyCar racing teams. If the shirts provided to drivers and co- drivers for the rally - with the SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally and South Carolina Region/SCCA Logos on it - are any indication of the quality of Jonathan Corey shirts, anyone who needs logo t-shirts should specify this brand to their silk screener or ad specialty company.
19 cars completed tech inspection at Martin Pontiac in Cheraw, and 19 cars took the countdown and started the rally from Quincy's family restaurant in Cheraw at 1:01 PM EST in a light drizzle with the temperature standing at 48 degrees F.
Everyone made it through the first stage successfully except the #11 Pontiac LeMans of Roland McIvor/Ellen Santarcangelo, which was reported stuck at the beginning of stage #1. McIvor destroyed his Production GT Mitsubishi Eclipse last year at STPR, and is coming back to the circuit this year in a slower Group 2 car.
Press Notes #3
Sand Hills/Sand Blast PRO Rally
Round #1 - 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally Series
February 11 - 7:30 PM
Stage #2 brought its share of mishaps because of the slick clay surfaces that are intermixed with the sand-based roads. If a turn on the forest road is badly rutted or washed out, the forest services clears away the sand and builds the road back up with clay. Organizer Greg Healey had warned the competitors that the sand surface would be likely to grip better because of the week-long rain, but the clay would be slick. The first DNFs, however, left the rally for mechanical problems, not because of the course. The Villemure VW Beetle had an oil leak which driver Mike Villemure figured they could nurse to the service area, but enough oil didn't get to that fabled third cylinder of the world's most famous air-cooled engine, and the powerplant threw a rod. The car finished stage #2, but was forced out of the event.
A similar fate brought the Cal Landau/Eric Marcus Mitsubishi Eclipse effort to a standstill as oil leaked out of the filter (they theorize that the filter shook loose) and they were forced to shut the car off early in stage #2.
The Ivan Orisek/Olga Orisek Audi Quattro is also out of the event after suffering numerous mechanical ills during the first three stages. The Roland McIvor/Ellen Santarcangelo Pontiac LeMans left the rally with ignition problems.
Press Notes #4
Sand Hills/Sand Blast PRO Rally
Round #1 - 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally Series
February 11 - 9:30 PM
Round #1 of the SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series is now in the books, and, although Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker scored a well-deserved win in their Open class Hyundai Elantra, this was not the typical Libra Racing win. The motor mounts on the new Hyundai gave the engine too much flex, and the result was a cracked power steering hose (thus, loss of power steering), and a cracked exhaust (thus, a noisy car without power steering). Add to this the hard-charging effort of the Tom Ottey/Pam McGarvey Mazda 323GTX, and Choiniere won the rally by only 40 seconds (official times coming shortly).
"We expect these kind of development problems as we learn about these new systems," said Choiniere, "so we have to go home and rework the motor mount assembly to make sure the engine doesn't have as much flex."
As Ottey expects to be taking delivery of an Open class Elantra soon, and moved his Mazda into the Open class to try to get points in anticipation of that car, this was an important finish for him as well.
Unofficial times show Bruno Kreibich/Rod Hendricksen Audi Quattro third, with the Tad Ohtake/Bob Martin Ford Escort GT fourth (and first in Production) and the Jim Anderson/Ben Greisler Honda Prelude fifth (second in Production).
Other class winners include the Gerry Brinkman/Robert Barrall VW GTI (Group 2) and the David Ralakis/Garrett Davis Mazda 323GTX (Production GT). There were no Group A or Rally Truck entries.
SAND HILLS/SAND BLAST PRO RALLY
ROUND #1 - 1995 SCCA/MICHELIN PRO RALLY SERIES
February 11, 1995
Final Results
Fin. Car Driver/ Hometowns Vehicle/Class
Pos # Co-Driver Time (min:sec)
1 1 Paul Choiniere Shelburne, VT Hyundai Elantra/Open
Jeff Becker Great Neck, NY 82:00
2 3 Tom Ottey Columbus, OH Mazda 323GTX/Open
Pam McGarvey Columbus, OH 82:29
3 2 Bruno Kreibich Ridgewood, NY Audi Quattro/Open
Rod Hendricksen Clinton, NJ 82:39
4 66 Tad Ohtake Dearborn, MI Ford Escort/Production
Bob Martin Goodrich, MI 94:02
5 13 Jim Anderson Carrboro, NC Honda Prelude/Prod.
Ben Greisler Philadelphia, PA 95:56
6 15 Sylvester Stepniewski Keansburg, NJ VW Scirocco/Divisional*
Adam Pelc Brooklyn, NY 99:02
7 9 Lesley Suddard Wilmington, DE Dodge Charger/Open
Anne Thomas Nashua, NH 99:17
8 17 Gerry Brinkman Freehold, NJ VW GTI/Group 2
Robert Barrall Bethlehem, PA 119:34
9 23 Gregory Trepetin North Potomac, MD Honda Prelude/Prod.
Sonia Trepetin North Potomac, MD 120:14
10 10 David Ralakis Parker, TX Mazda 323GTX/Divisional*
Garrett Davis Austin, TX 149:24
*Divisional only license holders do not earn national points
Did Not Finish
4 Cal Landau Coraopolis, PA Mitsubishi Eclipse/GT
Eric Marcus Dayton, OH National/Div.
5 Ivan Orisek White Plains, NY Audi Quattro/Open
Olga Orisek White Plains, NY National/Div.
19 Raed Almakhtoob Greenville, SC VW Scirocco
Andrew Skinner Greenville, SC Divisional (DNS)
7 Mike Villemure Westland, Mich. VW Beetle/Group 2
Rene Villemure Flat Rock, Mich. National/Div.
11 Roland McIvor Beaver Falls, PA Ponitac Lemans/Group 2
Ellen Santarcangelo Beaver Falls, PA National/Div.
6 Carl Fisher Greenville, NH Dodge Omni/Open
Ted Mendham Lyndeboro, NH National/Div.
16 Keith Kreisler Collegeville, PA Saab 900/Group 2
Greg Usavage Perkiomenville, PA National/Div.
14 Edward Mucklow St. Albans, WV Toyota Celica GTS
Robert Campbell Dunbar, WV Divisional
24 Dick Casey Fairfax Station, VA VW GTI/Prod.
Martin Dapot Reston, VA National/Div.
20 Richard Grupp Norcross, GA Toyota Corolla
Al Macauley Lawrenceville, GA Divisional
Press Notes #5
Sand Hills/Sand Blast PRO Rally
Round #1 - 1995 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally Series
February 12 -11:00 AM
A couple of corrections from previous notes:
An earlier note said that David Ralakis/Garrett Davis finished first in the Production GT class. That would have been true, but Ralakis only has a divisional license, so he is not eligible for national points, thus there were no national Production GT finishers.
An earlier note said that Tom Ottey has bought the ex-Millen Hyundai Elantra from Executive Motors in Jamaica. In fact, Ottey hopes to run the with sponsorship and Executive Motors support, but has not actually bought the car.
Stages 5 and 6 turned out to be the undoing of many of the DNF rallyist, with many either being stuck in the mushy sand or sliding off on the slick clay. Here were some of the misfortunes:
--Mucklow/Campbell Toyota Celica - buried to the axle in mud.
--Kreisler/Usavage Saab 900 - dead battery/wet ignition.
--McIvor/Santarcangelo Pontiac LeMans (allowed to run stage 6
even though had already DNFed) - stuck in the muck.
--Fisher/Mendham Dodge Omni - wet ignition
Other DNF details:
--Orisek/Orisek Audi Quattro - broken suspension
--Casey/Dapot VW GTI - wet ignition
Some of the finishers also had mechanical ills which will have to be fixed the before the next event. They include:
--Trepetin/Trepetin Honda Prelude (put shock through shock tower on
stage #3)
--Suddard/Thomas Dodge Charger (bent rear axle - stage #4,
repaired in service and went on to finish 7th OA.)
National points after one round:
Choiniere 12 Ottey 9 Kreibich 7.2 Ohtake 6 Anderson 4.8 Suddard 3.6 Brinkman 2.4 Trepetin 1.8
(Stepniewski and Ralakis - the other finishers - only have divisional licenses are not eligible for national points)
Stage Times - Sand Hills/Sand Blast PRO Rally - 2/11/95
Stage
Driver One Two Three Four Five Six Total
Choiniere 7.53 15.15 7.65 15:53 17.06 19.08 82.00
Ottey 7.83 15.09 8.10 15.88 17.03 18.54 82.47
Kreibich 8.17 15.72 8.12 15.52 17.03 18.09 82.65
Ohtake 9.35 17.68 9.38 18.32 18.81 20.49 94.03
Anderson 9.53 18.57 9.35 17.93 19.66 20.88 95.92
Stepniewski 10.22 18.08 10.12 18.84 20.20 21.57 99.03
Suddard 10.22 18.29 9.59 18.40 21.33 21.44 99.27
Brinkman 10.75 21.88 10.92 20.90 24.10 31.01 119.56
Trepietin 11.00 20.16 10.40 20.75 30.10 27.82 120.23
Ralakis 23.57 23.97 14.00 25.46 30.69 31.70 149.39