ProRally: Oregon Trail Final Results and Summary

Hyundai Triumphs, Erik Comas Astonishes

Oregon Trail is clearly back on the map as an SCCA ProRally Championship destination with the conclusion of an exceptional debut event in the small coastal town of Tillamook, Oregon. The rally posed a daunting combination of tight, twisty and steep mountain trails that would challenge a Jeep and smooth gravel roads built for huge lumber hauling trucks. Speeds ranged from barely moving to nearly 100 mph, and provided real rally excitement for participants and fans alike.

Key Notes: ¨ The Libra Racing Hyundai team was up late last night working on several gremlins on Noel Lawler's new Tiburon, including some electrical and external engine issues to be expected on a brand new rally car. The damage to the front suspension after yesterday evenings puncture and rock impact were essentially, according to John Buffum, the teams manager, 'a non-issue,' and heading out this morning things looked good. However, the electrical and turbo teething problems were an issue, and Noel had his hands full just to hang on to second place in the overalls. ¨ Erik Comas' brilliant debut in US Performance Rally continued to go exceedingly well, with a solid top 5 finish, and a win in the new FIA group N category. The fast and smooth hard-packed gravel surfaces common to several of the Day 2 stages suited Erik's road racing background, and he was able to make substantial leaps up the leaderboard. Comas' Lancer Evo IV was also the top finishing Mitsubishi, awarding the company its first SCCA ProRally championship points since the Manufacturers' Championship was established at the start of the 1999 season. ¨ Local favorites Paul Eklund and Eric Eaton, having strong runs in Day one, both fell victim to transmission failures in SS9, and retired from competition. Eric Eaton's PR agent did a good job of turning a bad day around, announcing shortly after the retirement that Eric would be at Rim of the World in an all new car - a turbocharged 99 Subaru 2.5RS. ¨ Thanks to clear skies, resourceful teamwork and a very supportive Tillamook community of welders, mechanics and parts stores, 9 of the 17 cars that failed to finish Day 1 were back at the start line this morning, buoying the overall field back up to 39 cars. (52 started Day 1) ¨ The Group 2 race was tight, with series veteran David White capturing a satisfying win in his first performance rally since 1998. It wasn't a walk in the park however - hounded from SS1 to the finish by Jay Streets and Nate Tennis, both rising west coast stars in the SCCA ProRally championship. ¨ In Group 5, Carl Jardevall, another local favorite, showed his mastery of driving a big 7 series Volvo on loose gravel with an upset win over Ralph Kosmides, in the Toyota Supra. ¨ Patrick Richard continued his steady climb up the ProRally ranks with a commanding 6 minute win over the 2nd place Production GT entry, and an impressive 8th place finish overall. ¨ The Production class winner treated rally fans to a rare sight - a faithfully restored 1973 vintage Porsche 911, driven hard and fast by its owner and restorer Dennis Chizma, bringing back a look performance rally from its early days here in the United States. ¨ Errata: Corrections to last nights unofficial Day One results - Karl Scheible (61) rolled in SS 6, not SS5, and damage to the Evo V is minor. Paul Dubinsky (97) brakes did fail in SS2 as reported, but he did not have an accident - and reported this morning that all the car needs is a new right front brake line and he will be good to run at Rim of the World in three weeks. Good thing too - Paul towed nearly 3000 miles from his home in South Carolina for this event.

SCCA® Oregon Trail ProRally Championship Round #2 April 15-16, 2000 Finishing Order (final)

Car #   Drivers Name    Co-Drivers Name Class   Year/Make/Model         Overall Time
2   Paul Choiniere  Jeff Becker Open    00  Hyundai Tiburon             2:04.29
1   Noel Lawler Charles Bradley Open    00  Hyundai Tiburon             2:06.18
39  Carl Jardevall  Amity Trowbridge    G5  83  Volvo   740 turbo       2:08.03
366 Erik Comas  Julian Masters  FIA N   98  Mitsubishi  Lancer Evo IV   2:10.45
5   Ralph Kosmides  Ken Cassidy G5      96  Toyota  Supra Turbo         2:13.31
162 Patrick Richard Ian McCurdy PGT     98  Subaru  Impreza 2.5 RS      2:14.28
89  Dave White  Jimmy Brandt    G2      88  VW  Golf Gti                2:16.25
351 Jay Streets Bill Feyling    G2      85  Toyota  Corolla             2:20.06
283 Nate Tennis Nate Pettit     G2      79  SAAB    99                  2:20.24
165 Dennis Chizma Claire Chizma  P      79  Porsche 911                 2:21.27
20  George Plsek Renn Phillips  Open    90  Audi    S2 quattro          2:21.51
222 Jon Tabor   Kevin Poirier   P       82  Nissan  Sentra SE-R         2:20.40
110 Mark Nelson John Dillon FIA N       97  Mitsubishi  Lancer Evo IV   2:23.21
250 Jeff Call   Brent Dille     G2      00  VW  Golf                    2:29.17
62  Trevor Donison  Eric Schild P       97  Chrysler    Neon ACR        2:30.46
98  Robert Nielsen  Brett Corneliusen   
                                G2      87  VW  Golf GTI                2:33.50
132 Robert Burtis James Burtis  Open    85  Audi    Quattro coupe       2:35.34
84  J B Niday   Al Kintigh      G2      86  VW  Golf GTI                2:37.49
25  Gerry Valentini Lee SorensonG5      82  Mazda   RX-7                2:38.42
                        

SCCA® Oregon Trail ProRallysm Championship Round #2 April 15-16, 2000 Retirement List (Final) - Day One

Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class/Year/Make/stage Retirement cause (official) 35 Lee Shadbolt Bob Sherman FIA A 97 Subaru DNS Driver illness 261 Ron Sorem Josh Sorem PGT 87 Subaru DNS Engine, electrical 48* Scott Fuller Ole Holter G2 85 VW SS2 Engine 97 Paul Dubinsky Dale Cooke GT 92 Eagle SS2 Brakes 275* Nat T-Stow Aaron Montgomery G2 87 VW SS2 Engine 269* Erik Fischer Brad Kohut Open 84 Mitsubishi SS3 Accident 273* Bayard Osborne Leo Ovellette Open 88 Mazda SS3 Engine 274* Ian Drucker Gary Bockman Open 89 Toyota SS3 Engine cooling 188 Andrew Havas Eric Tremblay G5 79 Mazda SS4 Accident 258* David Schrenk Chad Little G5 86 SAAB SS4 Engine 207* Dave Hintz Doug Chase G5 87 Mazda SS4 Mechanical, accident 242* R.Scott Koch John Allen G5 79 Datsun SS5 Accident 28 Bill Malik Christian Edstrom G2 80 Volvo SS5 Accident 288* Gary Cavett Mika Lepisto Open 85 Subaru SS5 Stuck in ditch 61 Karl Scheible Russ Hughes FIA N 98 Mitsubishi SS6 Accident 198* John Lane Ray Damitio Open 76 Volvo SS7 Axle Day Two Car # Drivers Name Co-Drivers Name Class/Year/Make/stage Retirement cause (unofficial) 32 Paul Eklund Scott Huhn Open 95 Subaru SS9 Transmission 260 Eric Eaton Kenny Almquist Open 88 Mazda 323GTX Transmission