Start Order & Late News - SCCA ProRally - Rim of the
World
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30 April 2003
Start Order & Late Breaking News:
SCCA® ProRallysm Championship Round 2 - Rim of the World
PALMDALE, California A record starting lineup of 80 performance rally cars
(with a waiting list) from North America and the world are slated to begin
the two-day Rim of the World Rally at 7:00 PM Friday evening, following an
open to the public Parc Expose of all the rally cars at the Peloma Park in
Palmdale. The rally cars return to Palmdale after midnight, and restart the
second day of rallying at noon on Saturday, following a morning of rally
festivities including a charity auction and second Parc Expose of all the
cars entered.
Selected Entries, News
· The long break since Round 1 in January has been very well spent by many
of the teams in preparation of the brutal mid-season schedule with the SCCA
ProRally Championship making up for lost time in the spring with five
back-to-back events with transcontinental trips between most in July and
August (Pikes Peak, Oregon Trail, Maine Forest, Ojibwe Forests and Wild
West). Rim of the World, by virtue of its one-month break before Round 3 -
Susquehannock Trail in June, is serving up its famously brutal road
conditions as a shake down for the rest of the Championship. If a car
survives here, it's likely to have the mettle to survive the rest of the
season.
· Subaru/Prodrive, coming off a character building 2002, and a disastrous
season start at Sno*Drift, needs a great weekend here to kick start their
program - and are poised to do just that with all-new cars and a
substantially revised servicing layout. The cars that are making their world
competition debut today did well in this week's extensive testing, with nary
a hint of the engine and transmission troubles that plagued the team
throughout the 2002 season, allowing Prodrive's technicians to focus on
suspension setup for the best compromise on Rim's rough roads. The 2001
driver/co-driver champion team of Mark Lovell and Steve Turvey, reunited here
this weekend, finished 2nd at Rim last year, following a dramatic downhill
roll-over on Day One which left the car a wrinkled mess, but sharpened their
resolve for a strong finish. Teammate Ramana Lagemann with Michael Orr,
following his successful World Rally debut at New Zealand in April, are ready
for a strong finish as well.
· Mitsubishi also had a difficult showing here last year, but is on a roll
with their all-new Lancer Evolutions, leading the manufacturers' and driver's
championships. This will be their first time up against the all-new Subarus,
and if they are quick out of the box, a two-day long sprint race can be
expected. Both drivers have a great leading hand here - David Higgins won
here last year in his debut at Rim, and teammate Lauchlin O'Sullivan returns
to his home event; last year he was the top finishing two-wheel drive car,
winning his class for Mitsubishi, finishing12th overall.
· Group N will be one of the supporting classes to watch this weekend. The
closely-matched all-wheel drive and turbocharged Subarus and Mitsubishis, are
only allowed minimal modifications from showroom stock condition, making them
ideal for Rim's tight, twisty ridge-top roads. The teams are from all over
the USA, with class leaders Mark Utecht and Jeff Secor from Minnesota, Shane
Mitchell and Paul Donnelly from New York, Mark Cox and Jim Gill from
Colorado, and making his season debut, Newport Beach, CA native Ralph
Kosmides with Michigan's Jimmy Brandt.
· Weather forecast: the conditions this weekend are a nearly 180-degree
switch from last year, when tinder dry conditions were the greatest concern.
Ample rains in the past weeks have turned the typically grey mountains a lush
green, and dust, at least for the first cars on the road, will be minimal.
Rain remains in the forecast for much of the weekend, but now only scattered
showers with cool daytime and chilly evening temperatures are expected.
Information regarding the start order list:
Car # = number on vehicle. Cars with numbers under 200 are Pro entries. Car
numbered over 200 are generally ClubRally (regional) entrants, with first
digit denoting their home division (2,3 = West coast, 4,5 6 = Central US,
7,8,9 = East coast).
Class = Vehicle category: Open, Gr N - fastest; are cars with considerable
modifications; P (Production) - slowest; are cars very near showroom stock
configuration. G5 - two wheel drive high HP cars; G2 - two wheel drive lower
horsepower cars; GT - high horsepower production (stock) cars.
Seed = Driver ranking: 0, 1 are most experienced/quickest, 8 are rookie
(ClubRally) entrants
Rim of the World - SCCA ProRally Championship Round 2
2-3 May, 2003
Top 25 Start Order (complete list & news updates available at <A HREF="www.scca.com/news/)">
www.scca.com/news/)</A>
Start Car# Seed Class Driver Name Country Co-Driver Country Car
1 4 0 Open Mark Lovell UK Steve Turvey UK 04 Subaru Impreza WRX
2 29 0 Open Tim O'Neil USA Alex Gelsomino USA 03 Ford Focus SVT
3 15 0 Open Jonny Milner UK Duncan McMath UK 02 Subaru Impreza
WRX
4 1 0 Open David Higgins UK Daniel Barritt UK 03 Mitsubishi
Lancer Evolution
5 5 0 Open Ramana Lagemann USA Michael Orr UK 04 Subaru Impreza WRX
6 6 1 Open Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Christian Edstrom USA 03
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
7 23 1 Open Mark Nelson USA Charles Bradley USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
8 45 2 N Shane Mitchell USA Paul Donnelly USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
9 102 2 Open Scott Trinder CN Robert Trinder CN 00 Subaru Impreza
2.5RS
10 83 2 N Mark Utecht USA Jeff Secor USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
11 22 2 N Ralph Kosmides USA James Brandt USA 99 Subaru Impreza
WRX-STi
12 52 2 G5 Doug Shepherd USA Peter Gladysz USA 04 Dodge SRT-4
13 32 2 Open Paul Eklund USA Jeff Price USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
14 88 2 Open Doug Havir USA Scott Putnam USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
15 374 3 Open Leon Styles USA John Dillon USA 99 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
VI
16 94 3 N Craig Peeper USA Ian Bevan UK 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
17 306 5 N Wolfgang Hoeck USA Julie Lin USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
VII
18 30 3 N George Plsek USA Jeffrey Burmeister USA 02 Mitsubishi
Lancer Evo VII
19 376 6 Open Julian Masters USA Mustafa Samli USA 98 Mitsubishi
Mirage
20 288 4 Open Gary Cavett USA Erik Lyden USA 95 Subaru Impreza
21 62 2 G5 Chris Havas USA David Kean USA 02 VW Golf
22 266 3 G2 Scott Fuller USA Jeff Call USA 96 VW GTi
23 36 3 N Mark Cox USA Jim Gill USA 00 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
24 28 3 G2 Bill Malik USA Amity Trowbridge USA 93 Volvo 240
25 42 3 G2 Eric Burmeister USA Joe Andreni USA 02 Mazda Protégé MP3
National Media Contact:
Kurt Spitzner - SCCA Pro Rally Championship Director
Pre-event: North America toll free: 800.770.2055;
off-shore toll: 785.357.7259
Mobile: 303.204.0375
e-mail: sccaprorally@aol.com
Time zone at event: Pacific Time (GMT - 8 hours)
Web sites:
· SCCA ProRally: http://www.scca.com
· SCCA Rim of the World Rally: www.rimoftheworldrally.com
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.
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.peetv.com
