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Day One News - SCCA ProRally - Ojibwe Forests

17 August 2002

DAY ONE NEWS:
SCCA® ProRallysm Championship Round #8 - Ojibwe Forests

Lovell Leads, Then Retires, Mark Higgins Takes the Point

BEMIDJI, Minnesota   Day one of the 2002 Ojibwe Forests Rally proved to be 
one of the most unique of the season, with surprisingly cool weather turning 
cold and very wet in the night.  Retirements abounded, with the dark forests 
claiming both Championship leaders and local favorites.  Finally leading a 
rally - Mark Higgins and substitute co-driver Claire Mole have a solid, 
commanding position entering day 2, leading the rally over brother and 
Championship points leader David Higgins by just over one minute.

Key Notes:
·   Getting to the front wasn't easy for Mark Higgins, who has had more than 
his share of challenges during his first season of SCCA ProRallying, with 
brake problems early in the stages, and running out of fuel at the end of 
SS4.
 
·   Rhys Millen, whose hopes were so high coming into Ojibwe after his 
respectable showing at Maine Forest, was the first casualty of the day, 
having a huge off about 3 miles into SS1 while rebounding from a full 
throttle series of jumps.  Both Millen and co-driver Cowan are fine, but the 
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII is a write-off.

·   Mark Lovell, coming off two convincing wins at Pikes Peak and Maine 
Forest, was off to a solid start in the early stages, taking the lead after 
SS3.  Leaving the mid-evening service, the weather turned very foul, and like 
all teams was using all his lighting to find his way through the torrential 
downpour.  An electrical fault occurred, and the battery went dead shortly 
thereafter, ending his rally.

·   UK visitors John Lloyd and Pauline Gullick got themselves high-centered 
on a berm during one of the downpours, and were unable to get a tug out of 
the mire before being time-barred from the event.

·   Tim O'Neil leads Group N and is one of the fields fastest risers, coming 
from a 21st on the road starting position to hold onto 5th overall at the end 
of Day One.  The wet weather suited the Group N contingent well, with just 
one retirement in the class (newcomer Jerry Churchill #588) and many of the 
group posting significant road position gains (11 places for Brendan 
Cunningham #31, 16 positions for Shane Mitchell #45, and a remarkable 23 
positions for Ron Nelson #432).

·   Lauchlin O'Sullivan is in control of the Group 2 competition, with a 
nearly one-minute lead over local favorite Robert Nielsen.  Drivers and 
Manufacturers Championship runner-up Eric Burmeister, no stranger to Ojibwe 
Forests, is out of the event, after striking a rock and destroying a wheel 
and front axle on his Mazda Protégé, and ending his mathematical chances for 
a year-end podium.

·   Who would have thought Production Class would be a "Battle of the Sexes?" 
 Michael Halley and David Weiman lead Production class, in the "Stud Bug" by 
a healthy four and a half-minute margin over the 2nd place all-girl team of 
Jamie Thomas and Tina Lengacher.  Weiman, who normally co-drives for Jeff 
Field, was without a ride following his big shunt with Field at Maine Forest 
in July, and secured the co-drive with Halley just prior to Ojibwe.  A solid 
finish for Weiman is critical for his Production class championship chances 
over second place in points co-driver Ken Sabo.  Regardless of how this 
weekend comes out, Weiman is still a winner in one battle:  he will be 
co-driving for Thomas at Wild West.  
 
Ojibwe Forests - SCCA ProRally Championship Round #8                          
               16-17 August 2002
Day One Top 25 Results - (Unofficial) (balance of list available at 
www.ojibweforests.com)
Times are shown as hours, minutes and hundredths
Start   Finish  Car #   Seed    Class   Driver  Country Co-Driver   Country 
Car Time
4   1   5   0   Open    Mark Higgins    UK  Claire Mole UK  03 Hyundai 
Tiburon 1:04.63
1   2   16  0   Open    David Higgins   UK  Daniel Barritt  UK  02 Subaru 
Impreza WRX 1:05.66
3   3   6   0   Open    Paul Choiniere  USA Jeff Becker USA 03 Hyundai 
Tiburon 1:09.32
6   4   2   1   Open    Ramana Lagemann USA Michael Kidd    UK  02 Subaru 
Impreza WRX 1:09.97
21  5   29  2   GN  Tim O'Neil  USA Martin Headland CAN 02 Subaru Impreza WRX   
1:11.62
7   6   25  0   GN  Seamus Burke    USA Rory Kennedy    IRL 00 Subaru Impreza 
WRX-STi 1:11.88
10  7   88  3   Open    Doug Havir  USA Scott Putnam    USA 02 Subaru Impreza 
WRX 1:14.55
31  8   136 3   GN  Jason Rivas USA Ole Holter  USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX   
1:15.23
20  9   31  2   GN  Brendan Cunningham  USA Paul McClean    USA 97 Subaru 
Impreza 1:15.24
14  10  22  1   GN  Ralph Kosmides  USA Jimmy Brandt    USA 99 Subaru Impreza 
WRX 1:15.91
27  11  45  3   GN  Shane Mitchell  USA Paul Donnelly   USA 02 Subaru Impreza 
WRX 1:16.01
12  12  50  1   Open    Steve Gingras   USA Christian Edstrom   USA 02 Subaru 
Impreza WRX 1:16.40
22  13  78  3   Open    Paul Dunn   USA Ray Summers USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer 
Evo IV  1:16.61
11  14  32  1   Open    Paul Eklund USA Scott Huhn  USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX   
1:16.80
13  15  44  1   GN  Henry Krolikowski   USA Cindy Krolikowski   USA 00 Subaru 
Impreza WRX-STi 1:17.88
25  16  891 3   Open    Randy Zimmer    USA Ed Wahl USA 93 Subaru Impreza   
1:17.95
38  17  122 4   Open    Dennis Martin   USA Kim Demotte USA 97 Mitsubishi 
Lancer Evo IV   1:18.07
17  18  41  2   Open    John Drislane   USA Ronan Burke USA 00 Mitsubishi 
Lancer Evo VI   1:18.26
48  19  534 5   G5  Robert Olson    USA Conrad Ketelsen USA 93 Porsche 911  
1:18.30
43  20  432 5   GN  Ron Nelson  USA James Burtis    USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer 
Evo VII 1:19.67
34  21  90  3   G2  Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Matt Chester    USA 02 Mitsubishi 
Lancer RMR  1:19.76
29  22  36  3   GN  Mark Cox    USA Jim Gill    USA 00 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 
VI  1:19.79
33  23  98  3   G2  Robert Nielsen  USA Brenda Lewis    USA 87 VW Golf GTi  
1:20.71
30  24  94  3   GN  Craig Peeper    USA Ian Bevan   UK  02 Subaru Impreza WRX   
1:21.35
16  25  48  1   Open    Lon Petersen    USA Ben Bradley USA 00 Subaru Impreza 
RS 2.5  1:21.39

Day One Leading Retirements - (Unofficial)
Car #   Drivers Name    Co-Drivers Name Class   Year    Make    Stage   
Retirement cause (unofficial)
3   Rhys Millen Garry Cowan Open    02  Mitsubishi  SS1 Crash
42  Eric Burmeister Eric Adams  G2  00  Mazda   SS1 Axle, wheel failure
49  Jonathan Ryther Roger Loeffers  Open    00  Subaru  SS1 Overheating - 
head gasket
173 Patrick Lilly   Mark McAllister Open    00  Mitsubishi  SS2 Undisclosed 
mechanical
110 Mark Nelson Charles Bradley Open    00  Mitsubishi  SS4 Crushed radiator
2   Mark Lovell Steve Turvey    Open    02  Subaru  SS4 Electrical - battery
12  John Lloyd  Pauline Gullick Gr A    96  Subaru  SS7 High centered on berm

Contact:    Kurt Spitzner - SCCA ProRally Championship Director
                    Press room phone:  (218) 751-9500 - ext 319
e-mail: sccaprorally@aol.com
                    Time zone at event: Central Time (GMT - 6 hours)

Web sites:
·   SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org
·   Ojibwe Forests official site: http://www.ojibweforestsrally.com
                                                                        

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