Final News and Notes - SCCA ProRally - Sno*Drift 2003
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For immediate release 21 December 2002
FINAL NEWS:
SCCA ProRally Championship - Round #1 - Sno*Drift
Mitsubishi Debut Flawless, Perfect Season Start for Higgins
ATLANTA, Michigan The first truly 'snow-drifted' Sno*Drift rally concluded
Saturday evening in weather challenging to even the most hardened rally fan
or participant. 2002 SCCA ProRally Driver Champion David Higgins, with
Daniel Barritt alongside in the co-driver seat kept the boost dialed back and
drove a cautiously competitive rally, knowing that Tapio Laukkenen and Ilkka
Riipinen, both of Finland, were using all their winter rally experience to
earn their first SCCA ProRally victory. The delays caused by a minor tree
tapping episode and an un-related puncture that slowed Laukkanen on Day One
proved insurmountable, and Higgins coasted home with an impressive 2 minute
margin.
Key Notes:
¨ Mitsubishi could not have hoped for a more perfect debut for their new
rally team and cars than what they earned at this year's Sno*Drift. While
pre-event shakedown time on the all-new cars was minimal - the cars were
finished and shipped to the US only 10 days prior to arriving at the event
site, the Lancer Evolutions performed perfectly.
Richard Kelly, Motorsports Manager for Mitsubishi Motors North America was
delighted: "With so little time to get the cars sorted prior to the event, we
came here with an objective to simply finish - to come away with an overall
win, and a supporting 4th place, is a huge accomplishment for the team, and
for David and Lauchlin."
¨ Group N: Mark Utecht and Jeff Secor also had a perfect launch to their
2003 season, driving a very smart rally, staying just ahead of their nearest
challenger Shane Mitchell. Overall, Group N (and Subaru) had a great
weekend, with 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th place overall positions filled with these
versatile and durable global rally cars.
In related news, 2002 British Rally Overall Champion Jonny Milner, who made a
last minute switch to Open class for this event, remains certain that the
balance of his debut season in the United States will be in Group N; a
formidable fact that should have Utecht and Mitchell very pleased to have
this 'once in a season' driver points building jumpstart.
¨ If it wasn't for the all-Subaru sweep of the Group N class, this weekend
was a disappointing one for the manufacturer. In addition to retiring both
World Rally cars at Monte Carlo, both works-backed entries at Sno*Drift
retired as well, with Ramana Lagemann getting stuck on a snow bank, and Mark
Lovell suffering a turbo seizure and subsequent under hood fire very late in
the rally on Saturday.
¨ Group 2: Christopher Whiteman and Richard Beels earned their first
in-class win in his new Group 2 Dodge Neon SXT over Eric Burmeister. In 3rd
were multi-time One Lap of America class champions Kevin Wesley and Richard
Ehrenberg, driving an ex-Tom Young Dodge Neon ACR, completing their first
SCCA Performance Rally, and earning their first championship points.
¨ In Group 5, a similar sweep by Dodge Neons, this time with turbocharged
SRT-4 models, bracketed the 2nd place finish of Robert Olson, in his Porsche
911, which may have been the most challenging drive of the weekend on the
iced roads. In first place was familiar Neon of Don Jankowski and Peter
Gladysz, in 3rd was former Toyota Supra driver Brian Vinson and Richard
Beels.
¨ If the above news sounds like Dodge is Back, you are correct: After a
five-year absence from official involvement, Dodge has returned to SCCA
Performance Rallying. Maintaining an intentionally grassroots presence at
Sno*Drift, the manufacturers' hopes are to bolster the presence of the
company's affordable and enthusiast targeted American brand in a sport that
is currently dominated by off-shore models.
¨ The SCCA ProRally Championship, following this early season wake-up call,
goes on a 3-month hiatus, roaring back to life at the Rim of the World Rally
in southern California, in early May. To keep everyone busy in the interim,
the SCCA ClubRally National Championship - the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem,
Missouri, will crown the nation's top amateur performance rallyists on 21-22
February.
Sno*Drift - SCCA ProRally Championship Round #1
25 January 2003
Final Results - (Official)
Start Finish Car# Class Driver Name Country Co-Driver Country Car
Time
1 1 1 Open David Higgins Wales Daniel Barritt UK 03 Mitsubishi
Lancer Evolution 2:02:15
4 2 16 Open Tapio Laukkanen FIN Ilkka Riipinen FIN 00 Subaru Impreza
2:04:16
5 3 15 Open Jonny Milner UK Duncan McMath UK 02 Subaru WRX
2:08:15
8 4 6 G2 Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Mark Williams USA 03 Mitsubishi
Lancer Evolution 2:09:30
11 5 83 N Mark Utecht USA Jeff Secor USA 02 Subaru WRX 2:12:21
9 6 45 N Shane Mitchell USA Paul Donnelly USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
2:15:36
17 7 122 Open Dennis Martin USA Kim Demotte USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo IV 2:17:26
14 8 103 N Wyeth Gubleman USA Therin Pace USA 02 Subaru WRX 2:19:13
12 9 44 N Henry Krolikowski USA Al Kaumeheiwa USA 00 Subaru Impreza
WRX-STi 2:20:49
28 10 916 GT Jonathan Bottoms USA Eric Dahlgren USA 99 Subaru Impreza
2.5RS 2:23:42
40 11 81 GT Valdemaras Maciukevicius LIT Arunas Salkauskas LIT 00
Subaru Impreza 2.5RS 2:25:43
19 12 53 G5 Don Jankowski USA Peter Gladysz USA 03 Dodge Neon SRT-4
2:26:24
27 13 143 G2 Christopher Whiteman USA Michael Paulin USA 03 Dodge Neon
SXT 2:26:46
20 14 42 G2 Eric Burmeister USA Ole Holter USA 88 VW Golf GTi 2:27:28
24 15 565 N Russell Hodges USA Mike Rossey USA 95 Subaru Impreza WRX-STi
2:28:52
21 16 76 Open Gail Truess USA Pam McGarvey USA 88 Mazda 323 GTX
2:30:46
13 17 78 Open Paul Dunn USA Randy Summers USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo 4 2:30:49
43 18 559 Open John Rek USA Robert Dupree USA 90 Audi S2 2:37:38
26 19 93 G5 Robert Olson USA Conrad Ketelsen USA 93 Porsche 911
2:38:48
29 20 60 GT Bruce Davis USA Lee Sorenson USA 92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
2:39:35
41 21 55 G5 Brian Vinson USA Richard Beels USA 03 Dodge Neon SRT-4
2:46:29
33 22 549 GT Thansasi Samaras USA Eric Olson USA 94 Eagle Talon TSi
3:00:38
59 23 573 G2 Kevin Wesley USA Richard Ehrenberg USA 95 Dodge Neon ACR
3:23:30
Day One Retirements
Start Car# Class Driver Co-Driver Year Mfg Stage Reason
35 84 Open JB Niday Al Kintigh 97 Subaru SS1 Tree
15 46 G2 Matthew Johnson Carl Fisher 86 VW SS3 Steering
10 80 Open Jon Kemp Rod Hendricksen 84 Audi SS5 Rear suspension
7 29 Open Tim O'Neil Alex Gelsomino 03 Ford SS5 Off-road, time
barred
Day Two Retirements
Start Car# Class Driver Co-Driver Year Mfg Stage Reason
16 50 Open Stephen Gingras Scott Putnam 02 Subaru SS9 Clutch
6 5 Open Ramana Lagemann Mark Williams 02 Subaru SS9 Off-road,
time barred
2 4 Open Mark Lovell Nicky Beech 02 Subaru SS11 Turbocharger
18 36 N Mark Cox Jim Gill 00 Mitsubishi SS12 Off-road,
oil-cooler damage
3 25 Open Seamus Burke Charles Bradley 00 Mitsubishi SS14
Undisclosed mechanical
Complete results available at www.sno-drift.org
# # #
The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Mitsubishi and Subaru, and is
televised in North America on SpeedChannel. Time and date listing
information available at www.speedtv.com
