ProRally: DooWop ProRally Finale

Doo Wop ProRally presented by Whitney's Chevrolet March 14, 1999

70.) From three miles into Stage 8, Kurt Spitzner reported that Chioniere's Hyundai Tiburon was running rough and a little off the pace, though still fast. Rui Brasil appeared to have picked up about 10 seconds on him. Spitzner figured that Ralph Kosmides had picked up about the same on Rick Davis (Group 5 BMW 318ti with Ben Greisler navigating).

71.) Two miles into Stage 9, Brooklyn Tavern, the Group 5 Mercury Merkur XR4ti of Neville Green and Chuck Wiles dropped out of the event with a holed piston.

72.) Because of today's layout, there were no further reports until teams arrived at the finish at the Oakville Grange. We were able to talk by cell phone to some top finishers. Paul Choiniere felt that things went pretty well. "We started the day hoping to do well enough to move up to fifth (overall), but I think we're fourth, based on what I just heard." That information was correct.

73.) Choiniere said that his engine was down on power, and that his crew was felt that the engine had ingested something that bent or chipped a valve. Most of the lost time on-stage yesterday was due to having to put four quarts of oil in the engine after it lost the water-pump belt, overheated and began leaking oil heavily.

74.) Choiniere thought that he was fastest on the Brooklyn Tavern stage. At 7:01, he just missed the seven-minute barrier on the 6.99-mile stage that he and navigator Jeff Becker both love. Running the reverse direction, his time was 6:45. He attributes the big time swing to loose gravel on the road on the first trip through, which was swept off by successive cars. He thinks that these two stages may the best back-to-back stages anywhere in America.

75.) Ralph Kosmides (third in Group 5) said that he and Joe Noyes had a great day. Other than bleeding the brakes once, the crew never put a wrench to the car all day. He said that there was no thrash this morning. The crew just was unsure of what time to arrive at the Parc Expose. He added that the gear-ratio change for this event threw him off for about the first four stages yesterday, because he was consistently running one gear higher than he was used to in similar circumstances. Once he adjusted to that he felt fine.

76.) Rui Brasil felt that, except for a couple of problems, he had a great rally. He lost a power-steering belt at one point and had to fight heavy steering for a couple of stages. On another stage, the car was starving for fuel and wouldn't run well. The problem was traced to a clogged fuel filter. Unfortunately, the difficulties were just enough to snatch away the overall win -- which he lost by just one second to Laughlin and Farina O'Sullivan in an Audi 4000 quattro.

77.) Production GT winner Gail Truess felt that this was "just an awesome event." She said that she was on a bit of a learning curve, because the roads are so different from those in the East and because she hadn't been to there for 11 years. However, once she got in tune she obviously was flying. She said that she was really surprised by the amount of traction she had in the heavy rain, which was much higher than she had expected.

78.) Rick Davis brought his BMW 318ti out for some early season points, as well as the 1998 Divisional Rally Runoffs, which were held as part of this event. He is going home champion of the O2 class, which he said would not have been possible without the support of Otto's BMW. He had a great time and said that he and navigator Ben Greisler had no bad experiences, although they were very surprised by the abrasive nature of the roads. They used up his available tire supply very quickly and forced him to run quite a lot with worn-out tires.

79.) Group 2 winner Guy Light said that he had just finished harassing Dave White, who was home nursing an infected hand. White owns and normally drives the Golf GTi which Light piloted as a last-minute substitute. Light said that he told White, "If I can do this well…you're going too slow!"

80.) Pete Lahm and Matt Chester finished sixth overall in their Open Class Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV. Both had an enjoyable time as Lahm learned the characteristics of the supercar in his first time on gravel in it. They had a disappointing time on Stage 8, and fell back two places. However, Lahm said that he drove the final two stages with much more confidence and aggressiveness, and paid particular compliments to the preparation and assistance of TAD Motorsports. Chester called Brooklyn Tavern one of the most enjoyable stages ever.

81.) Preliminary results show Laughlin and Farina O'Sullivan as overall winners, driving an Audi 4000 quattro and finishing just one second ahead of Rui Brasil and Carlos Tavares in an Audi S2 quattro. Group 5 winners Carl Jardevall and John Elkin were third overall in a Volvo 740T. Gail Truess and Pattie Hughes were PGT winners in their Mazda 323 GTX, 10th overall. Right behind them came Group 2 winners Guy Light and David Watts, in a Volkswagen Golf GTi. Jon Tabor and Kevin Poirier were the Production winners in a Nissan Sentra, 21st overall.

82.) Here are the complete preliminary results for the Doo Wop ProRally (time = hours, minutes, seconds):

OA Cl Driver/Co-Driver Car Time 1. 1 O Laughlin O'Sullivan/Farina O'Sullivan Audi 4000 quattro 1:23:27 2. 2 O Rui Brasil/Carlos Tavares Audi S2 quattro 1:23.28 3. 1G5 Carl Jardevall/John Elkin Volvo 740T 1:24.43 4. 3 O Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker Hyundai Tiburon 1:25.05 5. 2G5 John Lane/Scott Huhn Volvo 262 1:25.40 6. 4 O Peter Lahm/Matt Chester Mitsubishi Evo IV 1:27.11 7. 5 O Janice Damitio/Amity Trowbridge Toyota Celica 1:27.13 8. 3G5 Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes Toyota Supra 1:27:22 9. 4G5 Rick Davis/Ben Greisler BMW 318ti 1:28.34 10. 1 PGT Gail Truess/Pattie Hughes Mazda 323 GTX 1:28:56 11. 1G2 Guy Light/David Watts Volkswagen Golf GTi 1:30.20 12. 5G5 Dave Hintz/Doug Chase Mazda RX-7 1:30.20 13. 2G2 Bill Malik/Christian Edstrom Volvo 240 1:30.26 14. 2PGT Eric Eaton/Kenny Almquist Mazda 323 GTX 1:32:06 15. 3G2 Chad Dykes/Deborah Fuller Toyota Pickup 1:32:27 16. 3PGT Mark Tabor/Kristen Tabor Mazda 323 GTX 1:33:14 17. 4PGT Lee Shadbolt/Claire Chizma Subaru Impreza 1:33:29 18. 6G5 Rick Hintz/Marc Swalley Datsun 240Z 1:33:42 19. 7G5 Carey Wright/Alan Wright Dodge Colt 1:34:18 20. 5PGT Kendall Russell/John Dillon Dodge Shadow 1:35:34 21. 1 P Jon Tabor/Kevin Poirier Nissan Sentra 1:36:10 22. 6 O Jake Dekovik/Dave McFarland Mazda 323 GTX 1:38:55 23. 6 PGT Nao Hirato/Don Swier Toyota Celica 1:39:50 24. 1 P Trevor Donison/Paula Gibeault Plymouth Neon 1:40:37 25. 4G2 Matt Tabor/Chris Hoke Toyota Corolla 1:41:19 26. 5G2 Gordon Gaude/Tim Maple Volkswagen Rabbit 1:41:49 27. 6G2 Marc Thielke/John Allen Lancia Scorpion 1:42:33 28. 8G5 R. Scott Koch/Tina Warner Datsun 210 1:44:15 29. 7G2 Noah Third/Jason Lane Volkswagen Rabbit 1:48:46 30. 9G5 John Lane/Scott Huhn Volvo 262 2:06:09

DNF Robert Reaves/Tammy Reaves Mazda RX-3 DNF DNF Rick Beson/Ben Bradley Mazda Protégé DNF DNF Mike Mailman/Shelly Kruse Volkswagen Golf GTi DNF DNF Jeff Call/Brent Dille Volkswagen Golf GTi DNF DNF Neville Green/Chuck Wiles Mercury Merkur XR4ti DNF

83.) In conjunction with the Doo Wop ProRally presented by Whitney's Chevrolet, the runoffs to determine the 1998 SCCA Divisional Rally champions were held. Rui Brasil (Audi S2 quattro) is champion in the O4 Class, followed by Gail Truess. Rick Davis (BMW 318ti) is champion in O2, while Noah Third (Volkswagen Rabbit) has taken the title in U2. Congratulations to the champions and their crews for their hard-earned victories.

84.) This concludes this evening's reports. Any additional information will be distributed as it becomes available. Thank you and good night.