ProRally: International Cherokee Trails Rally day one notes

Chattanooga, TN, The first ever International Cherokee Trails Rally got off to a roaring start today under a soaking sky, with top drivers and manufacturers setting a fierce pace immediately.

Key Notes & Quotes:

Richard Tuthill proved his mettle early on, methodically building what would end up as a greater than one-minute lead in his SCCA ProRally debut event over the course of the day. Setting a scorching pace in the early morning rain, the gradually drying conditions worked well for the young UK driver.

   Rhys Millen's SCCA ProRally debut had a bit of a setback, with gearbox 
problems slowing the 2000 Pikes Peak Hillclimb champion start early     
in SS2.  Unable to effect repairs, the team soldiered on through the    
balance of the day, with repairs to be made tonite.  Expect Millen to   
make a charge for the front early on in Day 2.                          

Noel Lawler and Charles Bradley's bad luck finally turned around mere minutes before the close of scrutineering last nite, with their Hyundai Tiburon up and running with a frantically rebuilt motor top-end. While still experiencing some minor overheating problems when running at full sustained throttle, the 1999 SCCA ProRally Champions are sitting in a comfortable 4th place overall at the end of day ones activities.

Karl Scheible, the 2000 SCCA ProRally Gr N Champion, and now Prodrive Subaru driver sits 7th overall, and is in command of the Group N category. That may not last however, as his Impreza' motor seized as he pulled into the final service. Experiencing overheating problems from SS2 on, the short service times between stages precluded the team from effecting repairs during the event

Seamus Burke and Frank Cunningham are showing good pace, and are in 5th overall position at the days close. Using a rented Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI shell, and the mechanicals of their not yet finished Evo VI, the duo has never been quicker.

   In the SCCA classes, a variety of stories are being written.  Brian 
Vinson, who debuted his ex-Ralph Kosmides G5 championship winning       
Toyota Supra turbo at Sno*Drift last month, had, unfortunately, had     
another short day, with the car shedding yet another accessory belt     
drive.  Andrew Havas now leads Gr5, with Bryan Hourt's supercharged     
Honda Civic in close pursuit.                                           

The 1999 Production class championship winning and TV Commercial favorite VW New Beetle has returned to SCCA ProRally Championship action, with new teammates Michael Halley and Joshua Bressem getting settled in, holding onto 2nd place in class behind Jeff Field and Ole Holter. The Group 2 "Spec-Car" battle is between Richard and Brian Pilczuk's VW Golf and the VW Golf of Eric Burmeister/Mark Buskirk

Day two of the International Cherokee Trails Rally begins tomorrow at 8:00 AM from the Cricket Pavilion in downtown Chattanooga, which has already been acclaimed by several service crews as the finest service facility in the nation. Heading back into the high Tennessee Smoky Mountain woods, 5 more technically challenging stages will be completed by nightfall.

The Weather Forecast calls for gradually clearing skies and moderate temperatures. This should begin to dry out the damp roads in the sunny spots, making tire choice for tomorrow particularly critical.

<pre> 15 March, 2001 Leg Two Finish Order (unofficial) times are in hours:minutes:hundredths of seconds Start Finish Car # Time Class Seed Driver/Co-Driver Country Car

5   1   13  1:05.77 O   0   Richard Tuthill/John Bennie England/England Mitsubishi EVO IV '97
3   2   85  1:06.81 O   0   John Buffum/Neil Wilson USA/England Hyundai Tiburon '00
1   3   14  1:07.72 N4;O    0   Mark Lovell/Steve Turvey    England/England  Subaru WRX STI '00
2   4   3   1:08.26 O   0   Noel Lawler/Charles Bradley Ireland/Ireland  Hyundai Tiburon '00
7   5   115 1:09.97 O   1   Seamus Burke/Frank Cunningham   Ireland/Ireland Mitsubishi EVO VI '00
10  6   33  1:11.32 O   1   Rhys Millen/Garry Cowan NZ/NZ   Mitsubishi Lancer '00
6   7   2   1:11.73 N4; GrN 0   Karl Scheible/Brian Maxwell USA/Canada  Subaru WRX STI '00
18  8   107 1:14.79 O   3   Tim Paterson/Scott Ferguson USA/USA Mitsubishi EVO IV '97
16  9   116 1:15.30 O   2   Thomas Lawless/Brian Sharkey    Ireland/Ireland  Mitsubishi EVO VI '00
12  10  6   1:15.63 O   1   Peter Lahm/Matt Chester USA/USA Mitsubishi EVO IV '97 24  11  175 1:17.48 O   3   Alex Erisoty/Marshall Clarke    USA/Ireland Audi 90 Quattro '89
43  12  904 1:17.74 Gr N    5   John Drislane/Paul Goodman  Ireland/Ireland Mitsubishi EVO IV '97
11  13  44  1:18.22 Gr N    1   Henry Krolikowski/Cindy Krolikowski USA/USA Subaru WRX '00
26  14  188 1:18.79 G5  3   Andrew Havas/Eric Tremblay  USA/Canada  Mazda RX7 H '79
13  15  23  1:18.81 O   1   Michael Whitman/Paula Gibeault  USA/USA Ford Sierra Cosworth '93
15  16  71  1:19.15 G5  1   Bryan Hourt/Drew Ritchie    USA/USA Honda Civic '98
40  17  110 1:19.35 O   5   Mark Nelson/David Watts USA/USA Mitsubishi EVO VI '00
25  18  74  1:19.58 Gr N    3   Ramana Lagemann/Russ Hughes USA/USA Subaru Impreza '99
29  19  806 1:20.57 G2  4   Richard Pilczuk/Brian Pilczuk   USA/USA VW GTI '87
21  20  7   1:20.84 O   2   George Plsek/ Alex Gelsomino    USA/Italy   Audi Quattro '90
23  21  43  1:20.99 O   3   Kurosh Jahromi/Tony Lumino  USA/USA Ford Cosworth '89
31  22  42  1:22.26 G2  3   Eric Burmeister/Mark Buskirk    USA/USA VW GTI '86
42  23  914 1:22.35 N4;Gr N 5   Noel Nash/Patrick McGrath   Ireland/USA Mitshubishi Lancer '97
51  24  983 1:22.36 O   5   Robert Jerkotz/Artur Trojanowicz    Canada/Canada Mitsubishi Eclipse, '92
46  25  940 1:22.73 G5  5   Niall Donnelly/Frank McAlaister Ireland/Ireland  Mitsubishi Eclipse '93
45  26  982 1:23.07 O   5   Wojciech Hajduczyk/Chuck Cox    Poland/USA   Plymouth Laser '92
20  27  76  1:23.22 PGT 1   Gail Truess/Pattie Mayer    USA/USA Mazda 323 GTX '88
30  28  97  1:23.26 PGT 3   Paul Dubinsky/Yvon Dubinsky USA/USA Eagle Talon AWD '92
39  29  822 1:23.65 P   4   Jeffrey Field/Ole Holter    USA/USA Dodge Shadow '87
32  30  527 1:24.36 O   4   Chris Gilligan/Joe Peterson USA/USA Mitsubishi Eclipse '92
33  31  126 1:24.95 O   4   Arthur Wojcik/Adam Pelc Poland/Poland   Mitsubishi Galant GSX '90
47  32  78  1:25.25 O   5   Paul Dunn/Rebecca Dunn  USA/USA Mitsubishi EVO IV  '97
41  33  834 1:25.60 G2  6   Randy Bailey/Will Perry USA/USA Isuzu Impulse '88
38  34  61  1:25.84 P   4   Mike Halley/Joshua Bressem  USA/USA VW New Beetle '98
36  35  185 1:27.72 O   4   Jon Bogert/Daphne Bogert    USA/Greece  Toyota Celica '88
58  36  133 1:27.87 P   6   Tom Young/Jim LeBeau    USA/USA Dodge Neon ACR '95
37  37  151 1:29.88 O   4   Carlos Lopez/Dave Weiman    USA/USA Eagle Talon '90
54  38  94  1:30.21 N3; P   6   Craig Peeper/Ian Bevan  USA/Ireland Ford Focus '00
56  39  553 1:30.84 G5  6   Jerry Brownell/Jim Windsor  USA/USA Chevrolet Citation '83
49  40  505 1:35.86 G2  5   Jon Hamilton/Ken Sabo   USA/USA VW Rabbit '81
50  41  15  1:38.96 G2  5   Brad Hawkins/Adrian Wintle  USA/Canada  VW Golf GTI '96
59  42  721 1:39.02 G5  6   Richard Miller/Juanita Miller   USA/USA SAAB 900T '85

Cherokee Trails SCCA ProRally Championship Round #1 15 March, 2001 Day One Retirements - unofficial Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class Year Make stage Retirement cause (unofficial)

543 Christopher Whiteman    Michael Paulin  Gr2 85  VW  Transit Off-course
5   Doug Shepherd   Peter Gladysz   Open    94  Mitsubishi  Transit Gearbox
4   Garen Shrader   Michael Fennell Open    97  Mitsubishi  SS1 Electrical
32  Paul Eklund Scott Huhn  Open    95  Subaru  SS1 Off-road
818 Ivor Wigham John Allen  P   98  Acura   SS1 High-centered
887 Mark Bowers Duffy Bowers    Gr5 87  Mitsubishi  SS2 Drivetrain
55  Brian Vinson    Jeff Secor  Gr5 97  Toyota  SS2 Accessory Drive
559 John Rek    Bob DuPree  Open    95  Audi    SS3 Power Steering
811 Matthew Johnson Eric Adams  Gr2 88  VW  SS3 Off-road
63  Tad Ohtake  Rob Bohn    Gr5 97  Ford    SS4 Unknown
80  Jon Kemp    Dan Sprongl Open    84  Audi    SS5 Unknown
90  Lauchlin O'Sullivan John Dillon PGT 94  Mitsubishi  SS5 Time-barred
518 Dennis Martin   Kurt Winkleman  Open    90  Mitsubishi      Unknown
961 Jerzy Bajno S. Kadlubowski  Gr2 87  VW      unknown

-SCCA/SCCA ProRacing/ProRally