ProRally: Mayhem Racing Maine Forest rally report

Mayhem Racing extends points lead with 2nd place at Maine Forest Rally

STACY, MINNESOTA A second place finish in Production GT by Mayhem Racing's Mark Utecht and Brenda Lewis extends their lead in the class with only four events left to run. The class win went to 2000 PGT Champion Patrick Richard, who is running a limited schedule of SCCA ProRallies this season in a factory-backed Subaru Impreza. Team Mayhem placed 16th overall.

"We knew that it would be tough to beat Richard as his car is part of the Subaru Canada Rally Team," said Utecht, "so we stuck to our plan to maintain a steady pace, knowing that pushing too hard on the rough roads in Maine could easily put us out.

"Even so, we nearly went out on the final stage, when we went off the road into a pile of logs, damaging the front suspension," he continued. "The tire was rubbing the fender, but it held air through the stage and on the transit into the final control. That incident also broke an oil pressure sending unit, but fortunately the oil leakage was minor and we were able to make repairs after the final control so the Eclipse could be driven back into Rumford."

Sharp rocks and dust caused problems for many competitors, resulting in flat tires and damaged suspensions that often ended up being terminal. Several cars went off the road simply because their drivers could not see in the dust hanging in the air from the previous cars. "We had a couple of places every stage where we had to slow to a crawl, or nearly to a stop due to dust," said co-driver Lewis, "but overall it was less of a problem for us than it was for others."

Utecht and Lewis have two wins and two seconds in four ProRally starts this season, and currently lead the Production GT class in the SCCA ProRally Championship with 78 points apiece. Gail Truess, who skipped Maine, holds second in Drivers points with 51, while Pattie Huighes-Mayer is second in Co-drivers points with 38. Production GT is considered a "stock" class, allowing very few modifications other than for safety.

Utecht and Lewis won the SCCA ProRally Group 5 driver and co-driver titles in 2000 aboard a Dodge Omni GLH. In addition, they were awarded the Jon Woodner Cup, presented to the most successful two-wheel drive competitors in the ProRally series. The pair were also given the SCCA Land O' Lakes Region Rally Driver and Rally Co-driver of the Year trophies at the region's annual awards banquet. <pre> Sponsors of the 2001 Mayhem Racing ProRally effort include: * Morrie's Subaru - Minnetonka, Minnesota * FirstCom - business telephone communications * ProGraphics - custom vinyl lettering for business and racing * SpecialStage.com - on-line newsletter covering the sport of Performance Rallying. * Warranty Solutions - warranty claims processing and consulting for automobile dealerships.

Mayhem Racing is based in Stacy, Minnesota, just north of the Twin Cities. Team manager is Mark's wife, Mary Utecht. J. B. Lewis is Chief Mechanic on the team's 1992 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX.

Mayhem Racing's 2001 ProRally and ClubRally Results Date Event PGT Overall 1/29 Sno*Drift, Atlanta, Michigan 1st 6th Sno ClubRally 1st 1st Drift ClubRally 1st 1st 3/15-17 Cherokee Trails, Chatanooga, Tennessee Did not enter 4/7-8 Oregon Trail, Tillamook, Oregon 2nd 13th 5/4-5 Rim of the World, Lancaster, Calif. Did not enter 5/12 Headwaters ClubRally, Park Rapids, MN 1st 1st 6/2 Susquehannock Trail, Wellsboro, PA 1st 12th 7/27-28 Maine Forest, Rumford, Maine 2nd 16th 7 Islands ClubRally 2nd 5th Mead Paper ClubRally 1st 5th 8/17-18 Ojibwe Forests, Bemidji, Minnesota 9/7-8 Wild West, Olympia, Washington 10/5-7 Prescott Forest, Prescott, Arizona 10/19-20 Lake Superior, Houghton, Michigan

2000 SCCA ProRally Season results: Mark Utecht: Jon Woodner Cup Driver SCCA ProRally Group 5 Driver Champion Central Division ClubRally Group 5 Driver Champion Land O' Lakes Region Rally Driver of the Year

Brenda Corneliusen (Lewis): Jon Woodner Cup Co-driver SCCA ProRally Group 5 Co-driver Champion Central Division ClubRally Group 5 Co-driver Champion Land O' Lakes Region Rally Co-driver of the Year

The team finished 10th overall in SCCA ProRally Championship points for 2000.

-MR-