RALLY: ProRally: Wild West: Notes of interest, schedule

SCCA® ProRallysm Championship Round 9
Wild West International Rally

DENVER, Colorado Ninth round (of ten) for the 2002 season. A highly competitive field of SCCA and FIA Performance Rally cars from across North America and the World are slated to start the 10th anniversary of the Wild West Rally as well as the supporting Sou'wester and Simpson Stages SCCA ClubRallys. Cars will compete on the quick, hard-packed gravel state forest and Simpson Resource Company roads on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state. This performance rally event is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai Motor America, Mitsubishi Motor Sales of America, and Subaru of America.

When & Where:
7-8 September 2002 (Saturday & Sunday) headquartered in Olympia, Washington; approximately 60 miles southwest of Seattle, Washington.

Complete Event Schedule: (Subject to change)

Thursday, 5 Sept. 2002
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM Scrutineering - Olympia Dealer Mall Texaco.

Friday, 6 Sept. 2002
3:00 PM - 8:00 PM Scrutineering - Olympia Dealer Mall Texaco.

Saturday, 7 Sept. 2002
7:30 AM - 9:30 AM Scrutineering - Olympia Dealer Mall Texaco.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Parc Expose - Thurston County ORV Park.
11:15 AM Start of Leg 1 - ORV Super Special Stage.
Approx. 7:30 PM End of Leg 1 - Parc Ferme - Mason County Fairgrounds.

Sunday, 8 Sept. 2002
7:30 AM Parc Ferme Closes - Mason County Fairgrounds.
8:00 AM Parc Expose - Downtown Shelton.
9:00 AM Start of Leg 2 - First Car Out - Downtown Shelton.
Approx. 4:07 PM Finish of Rally - Little Creek Casino.
Approx. 6:00 PM Awards Banquet - Little Creek Casino.

Selected entries (Driver/co-driver):

* Current Overall Drivers Championship points leader David Higgins (120 points), 2002 Subaru WRX.

* Current Manufacturer Championship Leaders (106 Points), Hyundai Rally Team USA: Mark Higgins (Winner of last month's Ojibwe Forests Rally) with Claire Mole (#5), and Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker (#6) both in 2003 Hyundai Tiburons. * Subaru Rally Team USA: 2001 Driver's Champion Mark Lovell with Steve Turvey (#1); Ramana Lagemann and Michael Kidd (#2) in 2002 Prodrive prepared Subaru Impreza WRXs.

* Mitsubishi Rally Team USA: Rhys Millen and Garry Cowan (#3), recovering from their huge off at Ojibwe, return in Rhys' trusty Lancer Evolution 6.5. Ascending 2002 Group 2 Manufacturer and Driver Champions, Lauchlin O'Sullivan and Matt Chester (#90) put the finishing touches on their nearly flawless season, with what may be the final appearance of their Group 2 Lancer.

* Henry and Cindy Krolikowski (#44) are swapping their Group N 2000 Subaru Impreza WRX-Sti for a ride in Dodge's 2002 Neon SRT-4 for this event only. The Krolikowski's are very familiar with Dodge front-wheel-drive turbos, the couple were Group 5 champions in their privately entered Dodge Shadow in 1999 and have been lobbying the manufacturer heavily for this ride. If Henry rediscovers 'the magic' with the SRT; the Krolikowski's could be one of the big shows of the weekend.

* West Coast notable local favorites: Paul Eklund and Scott Huhn (#32) Open Class 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX;

* Group N points leaders Ralph Kosmides and Jimmy Brandt (#22) 1999 Subaru Impreza WRX hope to put some distance between themselves and the hard-charging east-coast team of Tim O'Neil and Martin Headland at their "home" rally;

* Jay Streets returns with (#51) 'the school bus' - the ex-Carl Yardevall and always crowd pleasing Group 5 1992 Volvo 740 Turbo;

* Group 5 points leaders David and Rick Hintz (#207) may put the finishing touches on their championship bid with a solid run in their 1990 Mazda RX-7 Turbo;

* Rising star Mark Nelson with veteran co-driver Charles Bradley (#110) will continue to impress in their Open Class 2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI;

* Tim Paterson and John Allen (#107) return after their big roll at Maine Forest in their rebuilt Open Class 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV.

Event Rank:
This rally is a full points SCCA ProRally Championship event. Drivers earn points towards the national championship, and supporting manufacturers (Hyundai, Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Mazda) earn points towards overall and class Manufacturers' Championships.

Websites:
* SCCA ProRally: www.sccaprorally.org/
* SCCA Wild West Rally: www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest.html

The SCCA name and logo is a registered trademark of the Sports Car Club of America, Inc. ProRally, ClubRally and RallyCross are service marks of the SCCA.

The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Subaru, and is televised in North America on SpeedChannel. Time and date listing information available at www.speedtv.com

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