Rim 2002 - Day Two Results/News
 
David Higgins Makes It Three for Three, Hyundai Extends Lead
PALMDALE, California - Three consecutive wins with three different co-drivers have marked Independent David Higgins as the man who has clearly set his mind to conquering the series, but all three works teams are not about to make it easy. Hyundai, who have now put most of their early development issues behind them, dominated this event first with Choiniere, then with Mark Higgins, but a front suspension problem late in the day put them insurmountably behind. Subaru too was in the hunt, despite a big roll-over with Mark Lovell on day one, also created at time loss that was more than the team could make up.

Key Notes & Quotes:
  • As is always the case at Rim, the punishing high-desert environment took its toll on equipment, with 18 Pro series retirements over the 2-day rally. Gratefully, only 2001 Overall Champion Mark Lovell’s fully functional but thoroughly wrinkled Subaru WRX looked the worse for wear at the conclusion of the event, with nearly all retirements coming from equipment failures caused by the pounding the cars take over the challenging and fiercely dusty Angeles National Forest roads. Said Lovell at the finish: "We are lucky to be here, and despite the less than perfect weekend for us, we really do enjoy this event, and look forward to being here next year – the (organizing) committee has made huge strides forward from last year, and the field of cars was truly impressive."
  • Visiting Subaru/Prodrive WRC driver Petter Solberg had the opportunity to experience the Rim of the World roads firsthand, and agreed with what other visitors to the event have said in the past – that the conditions here are very similar to the Acropolis and Cypress rallys – two of the toughest and most challenging rallys in the World Rally Championship.
  • 2001 Group N Champion Karl Scheible, this time rallying in Open class with father and series veteran Wayne Scheible co-driving had a terrific welcome back to the Championship, taking the third place podium, and announcing that he would also be at his home event and Round 5 of the Championship, Susquehannock Trail, at the end of this month.
  • The Overall Manufacturer’s Championship has taken yet another interesting turn, with Mitsubishi’s DNF of both their Open class entries, forcing them to give up their 2nd place position to Subaru, but both companies saw Hyundai pull further away, aided by the resurgent teams solid 2nd place podium position. Mitsubishi did have a bit of good luck however, with Lauchlin O’Sullivans first place finish in Group 2, allowing them to extend their lead over Eric Burmeister’s Mazda by 7 more points. As the Championship heads east, to roads that are much better known by the Burmeister Motorsports team, this bit of points padding could prove to be useful insurance.
  • The Drivers Championship as the series heads to its mid-year point, is firmly in the hands of David Higgins, who at (unofficially) 67 points now has a substantial margin over brother Mark Higgins at 50, and Mark Lovell, at 44. Mark Nelson was this weekend’s fast riser, earning 10 points, tying him with Rhys Millen at 25 points. The Co-Drivers’ Championship, by virtue of the frequent co-driver changes at Subaru and with David Higgins (who has changed co-drivers for the last three events) is a completely different story. Hyundai’s Michael Gibson in the lead at 50, Subaru’s Steve Turvey in second at 43, and Mitsubishi’s Garry Cowan tied with Independent Charles Bradley at 25 for third.
  • The SCCA ProRally Championship switches coasts for Round 5, heading to the lush eastern forests in the Endless Mountains of north central Pennsylvania for the oldest and fastest rally in the series – the Susquehannock Trail Rally, on June 1.
 
Rim 2002 - Day One Results/News
 

PALMDALE, California - ‘America’s Toughest Rally’ took little time asserting its position, eliminating one key player on the very first stage, and picking off several others in no time at all. Paul Choiniere lead most of the evening, taking good advantage of the clear air from his first on the road position, but handed off the lead to teammate Mark Higgins when drivetrain problems sidelined the 8-time champion late in the evenings stages.

Key Notes & Quotes:

  • Paul Choiniere’s season has been a tough one, now with four consecutive non-finishes, but both he and his Hyundai were showing real signs of them teams commitment to the program – winning one stage outright and tying for best time on another. Hyundai’s Motorsports Manager Toni Honsowetz was clear this morning: "we’re not jumping to any conclusions on the cause of this failure until we do a full analysis – we’ve got four weeks to get the problems solved before STPR (round 5); we will get it sorted."

  • Rod Millen’s return to SCCA ProRally competition lasted just a few minutes, with the right front suspension upright failing on hard cornering on the first stage – a difficult start to his rekindled career, but accepted as part of the development process. Rhys Millen, soldiering on in his Evo 6.5 (the team made a last minute car swap between Rhys and Rod minutes before the rally started), suffered a puncture on SS3, and lost a lot of time to the leaders – unofficially now at nearly 24 minutes, a nearly impossible amount of time to make up on this highly technical rally, but he must do what he can to ensure the company earns at least a few points in the very close manufacturers championship.

  • Subaru continues to have rocky goings in this cruel sport, as Mark Lovell rolled his WRX in SS4, losing some time, but managing to bring his now well wrinkled car back to the mid-evening service for some very hasty bodywork and suspension adjustment. The car still mechanically sound, the crack Prodrive crew was able to manage even a few cosmetic repairs to the car in the short (about 20 minutes) time they had before he and faithful co-driver Steve Turvey roared back off into the darkness.

  • Ralph Kosmides and Jimmy Brandt had a character building day one, suffering a broken left front suspension upright, and losing a cylinder in their Subaru WRX-STi Group N car, but having narrowly avoided at time-bar at service, are continuing on after a long night of repairs.

  • In the overall standings, the works teams are back on top, with Hyundai’s Mark Higgin’s leading by a fairly comfortable 30 seconds over Subaru’s Ramana Lagemann, who finished the first day 10 seconds ahead of current Driver’s Championship points leader David Higgins. Mark Lovell, despite his dramatic rollover, holds onto 4th position, less than a minute behind the leading Hyundai - a remarkable achievement, and 2001 Gr N champion Karl Scheible’s first drive in 2002 has him in a comfortable 5th place.

  • Independent Drivers to watch in day two include the Canadian duo of Scott and Bob Trinder – who started the rally in 32nd position – and now occupy 8th place in the innovative, automatic transmissioned Subaru Impreza from the fiercely independent team of Knight Racing. John Nelson started his PGT Subaru Impreza 2.5RS in 59th place, and worked all the way up to 16th, and series regulars Craig Peeper and Ian Bevan have done similarly in their Group N Subaru SRX, gaining 28 positions, now in 14th.

  • Day two of the Rim of the World Rally begins tomorrow at with extensive festivities including a charity RallySprint, at 9:00 AM from the Holiday Inn Hotel in Palmdale. An autograph session, and a Parc Expose of all the rally cars is included. The rally officially restarts at noon for a full afternoon and evening of rallying, with cars not returning to Palmdale until 10:00 PM.