SCCA: Lawler builds big lead at Wild West ProRally
16 September 2000
Olympia, Washington; -- A final tally of 52 cars - a largest field for this late season event in many years - started the Wild West SCCA ProRally this evening, for six short and fast stages on the Simpson Lumber Company's logging trails skirting the eastern sides of the Olympic National Forest. Clear skies and comfortable temperatures gave the rallyists a rare break in what has thus far been a season of weather extremes. Key Notes: ¨ As expected, the top four entries - the two Hyundai Tiburon's plus Karl Scheible's newly re-fitted Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V (modified from FIA Group N to SCCA higher-horsepower Open Class specifications) and Garen Shrader's Lancer Evo IV began their top-honors battle immediately, but overheating woes beset Paul Choiniere's Tiburon almost immediately. Repaired at the service following SS3, (a failed hose) the team ultimately made up the time, passing Scheible, but remaining just over 2 minutes behind the high-flying Lawler. ¨ Karl Scheible was not without his share of minor troubles, but this had more to do with him adapting to a substantial boost in horsepower rather than mechanical problems - he spun the car twice on the first stage, allowing Noel Lawler a nearly 30 second lead. Dust, despite occasional rain showers in the foothills, became a major factor, with Lawler, running in clean air steadily building a lead. ¨ For a while it seemed the Group 5 championship battle may have been over as quickly as it started, with Bryan Hourt nerfing a berm with his Honda in SS3, puncturing a tire and bending a lower control arm on the rear suspension. While he continued on, the time lost changing out the tire, and the less than ideal suspension alignment remaining appeared to be more than could be made up on the seemingly unstoppable Mark Utecht. However, Utecht's fortunes changed slightly later in the evening, when the Minnesotan wound up stuck in a ditch for at least a minute in SS4. ¨ Leg two of the Wild West SCCA ProRally begins at 10:00 AM, with a 2-hour Parc Expose and opening RallyCross spectator stage in downtown Shelton. Also featured in tommorow's leg are two RallyCross stages to be run at the "ORV" (Off-Road Vehicle) sports park just west of Olympia, the state's capital.