SCCA ProRally at Pikes Peak - Start Order & News
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo Seventeen SCCA ProRally teams rolled through this mornings Scrutineering session, in preparation for their one shot at the 'worlds greatest special stage' a term coined by overall record holder Rod Millen, that so aptly describes the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Drivers, co-drivers and crew have been acclimating themselves to the high altitudes for several days now, and are all looking forward to tomorrows early morning practice sessions that will give them their first taste of the peak at speed. Late Breaking News: · Weather: At 14,000 feet, the weather is anything but predictable, and the fires that have consumed hundreds of thousands of acres of standing timber in the nearby Pikes National Forest have created an uncharacteristic haze that surrounds much of the mountain, and the host city of Colorado Springs. The fire-fighters have had good luck in the area over the last several days, and much of the huge Hayman fire is now contained, and poses no threat to the operations of the Hillclimb. · This first time participation at the Peak as a Championship round for SCCA ProRally, while awarding no points to the drivers, is, however a full points event for the Manufacturers - and all three, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Subaru, are all working overtime to put their cars on the summit fastest. With just one shot at the 12.5 mile stage, but with maximum points up for grabs, Saturday morning's Race to the Clouds will be quite the shootout. · An early retirement has struck the Knight racing team, which had three cars entered. The #49 entry of Jonathan Ryther/Roger Loeffers was withdrawn late yesterday due to what Ryther described as a shortage of time - "my car had all new motor, turbo and engine management - we had it all together, but just ran out of time to get it all working as well as we wanted - so we concentrated on the other two cars, to make sure they were right for the Peak." o The Knight Racing team's two remaining cars, the #49 car of Lon Peterson and John Elkin, and the #259 car of Scott and Robert Trinder successfully made it through what may be the worlds highest Scrutineering session (9,000 ft) - at the nearly dry Crystal Reservoir, a dramatic reminder of the extreme drought this part of the country is experiencing. · Tire choice is always critical at Pikes Peak, and this years additional paved surfaces have a lot of teams - both in the SCCA ProRally division, and others, pondering a variety of ideas. Hyundai Rally Team USA - fielding two Open class cars, are trying two different setups for testing tomorrow - Mark Higgins will be using 'conventional' rally tires, and Paul Choiniere will be using a set of European rallycross tires - designed for use on both tarmac and gravel. With nearly identical cars, the results could be dramatic - or barely significant at all. Media Contact & Web Information: · Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Director · e-mail: sccaprorally@aol.com Mobile: 303.204.0375 · SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org/ · Tim Bergsten, PPIHC media coordinator; E-mail: pressinfo@ppihc.com · Pikes Peak International HillClimb: http://www.ppihc.com Information regarding the start order list: Car # = number on vehicle. Class = Open or FIA Gr N - while stock appearing on the outside, using current bodyshells, SCCA Open class cars have considerable modifications to their running gear, and feature highly tuned 4-cylinder turbocharged engines and all-wheel-drive. Minimum weight is 2700 pounds. FIA Group N cars also feature all-wheel-drive and turbocharged 4-cylinder motors, but are much closer to street cars that you can buy - all bodywork must remain stock, and engine modifications are very restricted. Pikes Peak International Hillclimb - SCCA ProRally Championship Round #6 29 June, 2002 Start Order (subject to final revision) (final order will be determined post-testing on Friday, 28 June) Start Car # Seed Class Status* Driver Country Co-Driver Country Car 1 432 5 GN I Ron Nelson USA Rick Burtis USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 2 306 5 GN I Wolfgang Hoeck USA Julie Lin USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 3 470 5 GN I Geoffrey Maguire USA Dan Sprongl CAN 02 Subaru WRX-STi 4 36 3 GN I Mark Cox USA Jim Gill USA 00 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 5 124 3 GN I Peter Workum CAN Alex Gelsomino USA 97 Subaru Impreza STi 6 29 2 GN I Tim O'Neil USA Ole Holter USA 02 Subaru WRX 7 83 2 GN I Mark Utecht USA Jeff Secor USA 02 Subaru WRX *** 8* 1 0 Open W Mark Lovell UK Steve Turvey UK 02 Subaru WRX 9* 6 0 Open W Paul Choiniere USA Cindy Krolikowski USA 03 Hyundai Tiburon 10* 3 0 Open W Rhys Millen USA Howard Watanabe USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 11* 5 0 Open W Mark Higgins UK Michael Gibson UK 03 Hyundai Tiburon 12 2 1 Open W Ramana Lagemann USA Michael Kidd UK 02 Subaru WRX 13 48 2 Open I Lon Peterson USA John Elkin USA 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS 14 30 2 Open I George Plsek USA Rob Farrow USA 00 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI 15 4 3 Open W Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Matt Chester USA 01 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6.5 16 88 3 Open I Doug Havir USA Scott Putnam USA 02 Subaru WRX 17 259 3 Open I Scott Trinder CAN Robert Trinder CAN 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS * positions 8 - 11 determined by draw. "W" signifies Works (Manufacturer supported) entry, "I" signifies an Independent entry *** there will be a 5 minute gap between the Group N and the Open Class cars. The SCCA name and logo is a registered trademark of the Sports Car Club of America, Inc. ProRally, ClubRally and RallyCross are service marks of the SCCA.