ProRally: Rim of the World: Day one summary

LANCASTER, Calif. (May 8, 2004) - Irishman Seamus Burke, looking for his first win of the season after two near misses in Rounds One and Two of the 2004 SCCA ProRally Championship Presented by Hot Wheels, finds himself in familiar territory as he, with co-driver Charlie Bradley, leads the Open class and the entire ProRally field by almost two minutes after posting a time of 36 min. 49 sec. through four stages on day one.

Leon Styles, with co-driver John Dillon, is in second place currently with a cumulative time of 38:31. Styles, it appears early, is proving that last year's fourth-place finish overall here at Rim of the World was not a fluke. Pat Richard (39:06), who is vying for a third-straight win to open the season, leads Group N and is in third place overall with co-driver Nathalie Richard.

Ramana Lagemann (39:10), who is matched up with his co-driver from a year ago, Michael Orr, and debuting a brand new 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi built by Vermont SportsCar, grew steadily faster Friday evening and sits fourth currently, and Production GT leader Stephen Verdier (39:26), with co-driver Allan Walker, is in fifth after stringing several strong runs together.

In Group 5, if Mopar Dodge driver Doug Shepherd wants to keep his current two-rally win streak alive, he'll have to earn it on Saturday. Incurring three minutes of road points during the first day dropped Shepherd, and co-driver Pete Gladysz, all the way to next-to-last among the finishers. Current Group 5 leader Jim Pierce, with co-driver Adrian Lengsfeld, nailed down a time of 41:49 in his Ford Ranger and is seven seconds ahead of the tandem of Chris Havas and Dave Kean.

Mark Brown, with co-driver Ole Holter, is the top driver in Group 2 halfway through the event, holding a 24-second lead over Brooks Freehill and Sean Elliot. Production driver Mark Tabor appears to be in good shape after he and co-driver Kevin Poirier constructed a 5:27 lead over Patrick Rodi and co-driver Jonathan Schiller.

The 21st Rim of the World event started off with a bang, debuting its Super Special stage, featuring side-by-side rallying with jumps and a water crossing in front of spectator grandstands, at the newly-constructed Antelope Valley Park in Lancaster. After one run on the Super Special Friday night, competitors will take three more shots at it throughout the rest of the rally on Saturday.

Attrition claimed only three of the 35 ProRally entries through the event's first four stages on Friday. Jay Streets retired after having mechanical problems on SS1. Also not reporting any times after the beginning stage was Matt Iorio and co-driver Philip Ho. George Plsek, looking to rebound after a disappointing early exit at Oregon Trail, made it through the first couple of stages, but unfortunately, he and co-driver Jeff Burmeister registered an all-too-familiar DNF prior to Friday's end.

Day Two of the Subaru Rim of the World ProRally Presented by Autosport Engineering LLC is set to begin at 8 a.m. and wrap up tomorrow evening.

Unofficial Day One Results

<pre> OA # Driver / Co-Driver Car Score Place Class ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 25 Seamus Burke / Charlie Bradley Mitz Evo 8 36:49 1 Open 2 374 Leon Styles / John Dillon Mitsubishi Evo VII 38:31 2 Open 3 54 Patrick Richard / Nathalie Richard Subaru Impreza WRX 39:06 1 Group N 4 74 Ramana Lagemann / Michael Orr Subaru Impreza STi 39:10 2 Group N 5 323 Stephan Verdier / Allan Walker Subaru WRX 39:26 1 PGT 6 88 Doug Havir / Scott Putnam Subaru WRX STi 39:34 3 Open 7 424 Todd Moberly / Raymond Moberly Subaru WRX 39:58 2 PGT 8 118 Peter Workum / Alessandro Gelsomino Subaru STI 40:01 4 Open 9 28 Bill Malik / Amty Trowbridge Subaru Impreza 40:32 5 Open 10 199 Travis Pastrana / Christian Edstrom Subaru WRX STi 40:34 3 Group N 11 60 Bruce Davis / Lee Sorenson Mitsubishi Eclipse 40:52 3 PGT 12 376 Julian Masters / Mustafa Samli Mitsubishi Mirage 40:57 6 Open 13 89 Wolfgang Hoeck / Julie Lin Lancer Evo VII 41:11 4 Group N 14 22 Ralph Kosmides / Jeff Becker Subaru Impreza 41:44 5 Group N 15 103 Wyeth Gubelmann / Therin Pace Subaru WRX STI 41:45 6 Group N 16 348 Jim Pierce / Adrian Lengsfeld Ford Ranger 41:49 1 Group 5 17 62 Chris Havas / Dave Kean VW Golf 41:56 2 Group 5 18 429 Tanner Foust / Scott Crouch Subaru WRX 42:01 4 PGT 19 101 Mark Brown / Ole Holter Volkswagen GTI 42:39 1 Group 2 20 53 Don Jankowski / Cindy Krolikowski Dodge SRT 4 42:47 3 Group 5 21 49 Sans Thompson / Paul Nelson Mitsubishi Eclipse 42:48 5 PGT 22 215 Jamie Thomas / Matt Gauger Subaru WRX Wagon 42:54 6 PGT 23 16 Janusz Komorowski / Dave Hackett Mitsubishi Eclipse 43:02 7 PGT 24 407 Brooks Freehill / Sean Elliot VW Jetta 43:03 2 Group 2 25 290 Craig Hollingsworth / Jason Grahn VW Jetta GLI 43:28 3 Group 2 26 724 Nick Korpal / Eric Schleicher Lancer Evo VI 43:49 7 Open 27 37 Chris Rhodes / A Gakuu Kihurani Subaru 2.5 RS 43:52 8 PGT 28 23 Mark Nelson / Chrissie Beavis Mitsubishi EVO VI 44:59 7 Group N 29 232 Mark Tabor / Kevin Poirier Acura RSX Type S 45:04 1 Prod 30 93 Bob Olson / Michael Jones Porsche 911 48:31 8 Open 31 52 Doug Shepherd / Pete Gladysz Dodge SRT 4 49:33 4 Group 5 32 363 Patrick Rodi / Jonathan Schiller Mazda RX-7 50:31 2 Prod

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