Ojibwe Forests SCCA ProRally - Leg One News
26 August 2000
SCCA ProRally Championship - Round #6 - Ojibwe Forests Leg One Results, Key Notes Hyundai sweeps top 3, Mitsubishi, Subaru & Toyota up the pressure Bemidji, Minnesota; -- A final tally of 77 cars - still the largest-ever field for this event by a wide margin - started the Ojibwe Forests SCCA ProRally this evening, for five quick stages in the dense forest some 40 miles south of the host city. Hard rains soaked much of the area this morning, but rapidly clearing skies and temps in the high 80's gave the rallyist's hot and humid air, but relatively dry and dust-free roads to work with well into the evening. Key Notes: ¨ A near three-way tie for first-night top-overall position has built amongst the three Hyundai entries, with no team orders to hold any of the drivers as reserve in evidence. National champion drivers all, and with the manufacturers championship race the tightest in years, this risky strategy could pay off in distancing themselves from the 6-car Mitsubishi armada immediately behind them. Subaru is staying in striking distance however, with a massive Impreza fleet led by the WRX-Sti of the Krolikowskis in 10th, followed closely by the Open class turbo of Eklund, Richard's PGT 2.5 RS, and five more in the top 30 . o There may be some trouble on the horizon for one Hyundai - Noel Lawler's Tiburon is experiencing its 6th mechanical gremlin in as many events - this time with turbo woes. An intermittent problem believed to be centered around the electronic boost controller, Noel was still able to set fastest stage times in SS1 and SS2, in a tie with team boss Buffum and running mate Choiniere respectively. If the quirk is fixed overnight, Noel could walk away from the field. ¨ Peter Cunningham, fresh from last week's GT class victory in Canada at the SCCA World Challenge race meeting at St Croix, is revisiting the Ojibwe Forests event for the first time since 1993. Driving his brilliant grape-hued 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI, Cunningham is finding out how well the car runs on all 4 cylinders, finishing day one in a solid 7th place overall. In June, at his first and only other SCCA ProRally event in many years, the accomplished driver managed to keep his Evo in the top 5 all weekend on just 3 working cylinders. ¨ Ralph Kosmides, in the lone Toyota manufacturers championship entry is once again in a tight Group 5 contest with local favorite and increasingly serious national contender Mark Utecht, finishing the first night a mere 10 seconds (unofficial) ahead of the hard-driving Dodge pilot. Fighting turbo problems all day, Kosmides crew will be working through the night to get the Supra back up to speed. ¨ The highly anticipated debut of Eric Eaton's SCCA Open Class Subaru Impreza turbo failed to materialize, with teething problems keeping the team back in Tacoma WA. Also on the entered but failed-to-start list are a trio of Audi's, including longtime series favorite John Kemp, and Central USA series regulars John Rek and Bob Pierce. ¨ Pro series newcomer Ramana Lagemann of Connecticut posted the strongest gains of the first night, with a 51st starting position, and mid-evening re-seed in 18th, Lagemann is driving an immaculately prepared 1991 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. ¨ Attrition remained low throughout the night, with the vast majority of the field ready to rejoin the rally on day two. Mechanical troubles topped the causes, with several out with suspension and engine problems. ¨ Leg two of the Ojibwe Forests ProRally begins at 12:00 noon, with a 2-hour Parc Expose and opening RallyCross spectator stage at Bemidji Speedway; a clay .25 mile oval on the southeast side of town. The RallyCross will run concurrently with the Parc Expose, starting the cars in reverse order. After each run, the cars will return to their Parc Expose slot. This will allow spectators and the media to see all the cars in action, and have plenty of time for interviews and autographs.