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RALLY: ClubRally National Championship day one summary

Martin Takes Day One of SCCA ClubRally National Championship ELLINGTON, Mo. (Feb. 20, 2004) -- With only six stages scheduled to make up the 2004 edition of the Trespassers Wil rally, competitors serious about winning the first day of the 2004 ...

Martin Takes Day One of SCCA ClubRally National Championship

ELLINGTON, Mo. (Feb. 20, 2004) -- With only six stages scheduled to make up the 2004 edition of the Trespassers Wil rally, competitors serious about winning the first day of the 2004 SCCA ClubRally Championship had to get out fast early.

Dennis Martin, of Green Bay, Wis., and co-driver Alan Perry, of Bainbridge Island, Wash., started first on the road Friday and then did one better than that as Martin earned his first event win of his career.

Turning in top stage times on four out of five stages and overcoming a long delay which resulted in a dropped Special Stage Four, the duo leaped to the front of the 32-car field in Martin's 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV to earn the Trespassers Wil victory.

Steve Gingras, of Elk River, Minn., and co-driver Bill Westrick, of Royal Oak, Mich., in a 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX, wound up runners-up 21 seconds behind, while Piotr Wiktorczyk, of Chicago, Ill. (who posted the other fast stage time of the day), and co-driver Mark McAllister, of Woodside, N.Y., in a 2000 Subaru Impreza WRX, finished third.

Trespassers Wil was delayed at the start of SS4 for about two hours as medical crews were summoned to a car off at the back of the field about six-tenths of a mile into SS2. Both competitors in car no. 372 (driver Sean Otto and co-driver Daniel Nichols, both from California) suffered injuries and were taken by helicopter first to a local hospital in Ellington and then on to St. Louis for observation. At last report, both were expected to be okay.

After the rally was cleared to continue, rally officials decided to throw out SS4, turning the 10.95-mile stage into a transit so teams could get back to service.

The Trespassers Wil victory means Martin and Perry (who have never rallied together before) are halfway to claiming the overall 2004 SCCA ClubRally Championship with only Saturday's 100 Acre Wood rally left in their path.

"The first three stages were really rough, really tough, really rocky," Martin said. "So we knew it was going to be really tough pulling any sort of time from those stages. The plan was to try to stay with the guys who were there for the first few stages.

"We were counting on (Special) Stage Four, but it got thrown, so we came into service with a three second lead instead of a 10 or 12 second lead. That said, we knew (Stages) Five and Six suited the car a little better and our style a little better. We thought we could pull the times we wanted from those stages and I guess we did that."

Todd Moberly, of Pueblo West, Colo., and co-driver, Ray Moberly, of Colorado Springs, Colo., won the Production GT class edition of Trespassers Wil by :27-seconds in Moberly's 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX over Patrick Moro, of Dublin, Ohio, and co-driver Mark Adkins, of Hilliard, Ohio, who were in Moro's 2002 WRX.

Group 5 was done in by more than five minutes thanks to the 1993 Ford Mustang driven by two-time reigning CRNC G5 overall champion Mike Hurst, of Indianapolis, Ind., and co-driver Rob Bohn, of Noblesville, Ind., while Steve Perret, of Bellingham, Wash., with co-driver Kathryn Hansen, of Friday Harbor, Wash., topped Group 2 in Perret's 1990 Honda Civic by 1:14. In Production, Wojtek Okula, of Stamford, Conn., teamed up with co-driver Adam Pelc in a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution to nab the day one class win by 1:20.

Teams will be reseeded off the results of Trespassers Wil for 100 Acre Wood. The first car is due out at 11:01 a.m. and is due to complete the event at 6:15 p.m., approximately. While individual winners of each rally are crowned, SCCA ClubRally National Champions, overall and class, will be determined by the combined stage times of Trespassers Wil and 100 Acre Wood.

-scca-

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