RALLY: ProRally: Wild West: Start order, late breaking news

OLYMPIA, Washington A highly competitive field of cars are set to start the Wild West International Rally, Round #9 of the 2002 SCCA ProRally Championship (And the supporting Sou'wester and Simpson Stages SCCA ClubRallys) for the final West Coast swing of the year. Last year's rally in the forests of the Olympic Penninsula proved to be a dramatic battle of mechanical attrition, strategy, and some good ol' luck, with two independents taking 1st and 2nd and leaving the year's Overall Driver trophy up for grabs. This year looks to be no different, especially with the door for the Overall Manufacturer's Title being wide open as Hyundai clings to a mere 4 point lead over Subaru.

Late Breaking News:
· Weather: As with much of the western United States, this area of Washington State is very dry, and special efforts are being made to ensure the rally will be safe from fire. A heavy 20-minute deluge early Thursday evening that briefly flooded some highways has helped some, but not enough to keep the dust down, or to diminish the fire danger. Organizers met this morning, and have elected to grant all entries two-minute starting windows, with the top four (seed 0) entrants getting three-minute start intervals.

· Mark Nelson (110) is the surprise pre-event withdrawal of the event, irreparably damaging the motor of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI at the press stage. Nelson, who with veteran co-driver Charles Bradley has come so far this season, was tied with Rhys Millen for 4th place in the Overall Driver's Championship points race.

· With David Higgins leading the championship, a strong finish here will likely clinch the overall for the aspiring young rallyist from Wales. However, Mark Lovell, the 2001 champion, and David's brother Mark, in the works Subaru and Hyundai respectively, are not about to give David a bit of breathing space. Rumors abound that Ramana Lagemann, following his excellent finish at Ojibwe Forest, will be given a free reign this weekend to mix it up at the front, and Paul Choiniere, in the now very well sorted Hyundai Tiburon will be keeping the pressure on as well.

· The Hyundai Tiburon Media Car (190) makes another appearance this year, this time with veteran SCCA ProRally driver Garen Shrader at the helm, and actor/talk-show host Mario Lopez as co-driver. This is Lopez' first motorsports experience, and is looking forward to participating first-hand one in of America's fastest-growing motorsports, with the Championship's most successful and oldest teams, Hyundai's Libra Racing, captained by rally legend John Buffum.

Web sites:
· SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org
· Wild West official site: http://www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest.html

Information regarding the start order list: Car # = number on vehicle. Car # under 200 are ProRally entries. Car # over 200 are generally ClubRally (regional) entrants. Class = Open, FIA Group N - fastest; are cars with considerable modifications; P (Production) - slowest; are cars very near to showroom stock configuration. G5 - two wheel drive high HP cars; G2 - two wheel drive normally aspirated cars; PGT - high horsepower all-wheel-drive production (stock) cars.

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.

<pre> Wild West - SCCA ProRally Championship Round #9 6 September, 2002 ProRally Top 50 Start Order - Subject to revision (Balance of event entry list available to view at www.nwr-scca.org/rally/wildwest/o2entry.html

Srt Car Seed Class  Driver          Country Co-Driver     Country Car
1   6   0   Open    Paul Choiniere      USA Jeff Becker       USA 03 Hyundai Tiburon
2   1   0   Open    Mark Lovell         UK  Steve Turvey      UK  02 Subaru Impreza WRX
3   5   0   Open    Mark Higgins        UK  Claire Mole       UK  03 Hyundai Tiburon
4   16  0   Open    David Higgins       UK  Daniel Barritt    UK  02 Subaru Impreza WRX
5   3   1   Open    Rhys Millen         USA Garry Cowan       NZ  02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
6   2   1   Open    Ramana Lagemann     USA Michael Kidd      UK  02 Subaru Impreza WRX
7   39  1   Open    Carl Jardevall      USA Amity Trowbridge  USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
8   107 1   Open    Tim Paterson        USA John Allen        USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
9   32  1   Open    Paul Eklund         USA Scott Huhn        USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
10  22  1   GN      Ralph Kosmides      USA Jimmy Brandt      USA 99 Subaru Impreza WRX-Sti
11  88  2   Open    Doug Havir          USA Scott Putnam      USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
12  44  1   G5      Henry Krolikowski   USA Cindy Krolikowski USA 02 Dodge Neon SRT-4
13  29  2   GN      Tim O'Neil          USA Martin Headland   CAN 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
14  217 2   Open    Janice Damitio      USA Chris Davis       USA 91 Eagle Talon TSi
15  51  2   G5      Jay Streets         USA Matt Gauger       USA 93 Volvo 740 Turbo
16  28  2   GN      Bill Malik          USA Dave Kean         USA 01 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI
17  374 3   Open    Leon Styles         USA John Dillon       USA 90 Audi S2 quattro
18  78  3   Open    Paul Dunn           USA Ben Bradley       USA 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV
19  102 3   Open    Scott Trinder       CAN Paul Westwick     CAN 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
20  103 3   GN      Wyeth Gubelman      USA Therin Pace       USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
21  45  3   GN      Shane Mitchell      USA Paul Donnelly     USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
22  94  3   GN      Craig Peeper        USA Alex Gelsomino    USA 02 Subaru Impreza WRX
23  223 3   PGT     Greg Lingelbach     USA Steve Andrews     USA 90 Eagle Talon TSi
24  207 3   G5      Dave Hintz          USA Rick Hintz        USA 90 Mazda RX-7 Turbo
25  210 3   G5      John Lane           USA Tina Lingacher    USA 85 Volvo 240 turbo
26  245 3   G5      Carey Wright        USA David Kean        USA 86 Mazda RX-7
27  90  3   G2      Lauchlin O'Sullivan USA Matt Chester      USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer RMR
28  42  3   G2      Eric Burmeister     USA Eric Adams        USA 01 Mazda Protégé MP3
29  201 3   G2      Todd Hartmann       USA Shawn Callahan    USA 92 VW Golf Gti
30  266 3   G2      Scott Fuller        USA Jeff Call         USA 96 VW Golf Gti
31  258 3   G2      David Schrenk       USA Chad Little       USA 76 SAAB 99
32  288 4   Open    Gary Cavett         USA Matt Van Bogart   USA 95 Subaru Impreza
33  451 5   PGT     Janusz Komorowski   CAN Paul Nelson       USA 92 Eagle Talon TSi
34  369 4   PGT     Brian Scott         USA David Hackett     USA 92 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
35  283 4   G2      Nate Tennis         USA Leon Owens        USA 73 SAAB 99
36  216 5   Open    Richard Buckner     USA Jason Grahn       USA 93 Subaru Impreza
37  268 5   Open    Dave LaTourette     USA Paul Beatty       USA 98 VW New Beetle
38  306 5   GN      Wolfgang Hoeck      USA Julie Lin         USA 02 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII
39  252 5   PGT     Robert Trinder      CAN Bill Westhead     CAN 98 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS
40  514 5   PGT     Roland McIvor       USA Bill Montgomery   USA 95 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
41  255 5   PGT     Andy Sharples       USA Julie Sharples    USA 00 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
42  271 5   PGT     Matt Tabor          USA  Monika Tabor     USA 89 Mazda 323 GTX
43  220 5   PGT     Bruce Davis         USA Lee Sorenson      USA 92 Eagle Talon TSi
44  265 5   G2      Derek Adolf         USA Jason Speer       USA 94 Acura Integra
45  253 5   G2      Noah Third          USA Jason Lane        CN  88 VW Golf
46  225 5   G2      Mark Durley         USA Allan McGuirl     CAN 01 Ford Focus ZX3
47  227 5   G2      Derik Nelson        USA Lea Flagg         USA 88 Mazda 323
48  72  5   Prod    Jon Hamilton        USA Ken Sabo          USA 00 VW Golf TDI
49  190 0   Prod    Garen Shrader       USA Mario Lopez       USA 03 Hyundai Tiburon
50  68  5   Prod    Eric Macaire        USA Dennis Kask       USA 00 Ford Focus ZX3

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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