ProRally: Oregon Trail: Friday summary

Richard Out Front Early -- Leads by Three Seconds

Portland, Ore. (April 23, 2004) -- Eager to build on his first United States national win, Pat Richard, with co-driver Nathalie Richard, jumped out early in the Oregon Trail ProRally, Round Two of the 2004 SCCA ProRally Championship.

Richard, in a newly-painted, yellow and blue 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX, posted the fastest time on SS3 by four seconds, giving him a cumulative time of 3:42.2 seconds and allowing him to leapfrog over current second-place duo Dennis Martin, with Kim DeMotte in Martin's Open class 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV, by 3.1 seconds. Another Open class entry, Seamus Burke, with Charlie Bradley, is in third position after day one, with a time of 3:46.0.

Just three of the event's scheduled 16 special stages were run Friday evening at Portland International Raceway, for a combined total of 3.23 stage miles. The shortest was a quarter-mile on SS2, which saw rally cars lined up side-by-side for a shot down the drag strip.

In that stage, the 2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driven by Leon Styles, with co-driver John Dillon, posted the best time with a mark of 13.2 seconds. Seamus Burke, with co-driver Charlie Bradley, matched up in the last pairing with the Richard's and came from behind after a slow start off the line to claim the head-to-head match-up victory. Carl Jardevall, with Amity Trowbridge, turned in a time of 14.0 seconds to claim the third-fastest time.

The rally then wound down for the evening after a short service and the third leg.

Even though only 3.23 stage miles were completed Friday, day one was not without some drama as the first of the 28 entries was removed from competition. George Plsek, with Jeff Burmeister, ended his event during SS1 as the engine in his 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution began losing oil pressure and knocking. Also, Lauchlin O'Sullivan, with Jimmy Brandt, spun twice on the 1.08-mile SS1 and slightly damaged the 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX being borrowed from fellow competitor Doug Havir.

Day Two of the Oregon Trail ProRally is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. following an hour-long parc expose at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Ore. Follow all the action throughout the weekend with daily updates and a final event recap Sunday on the newly-remodeled www.scca.com.

-scca pro rally-