Rim 2003 Press Notes


Friday May 2, 7:00 PM

Rim of the World ProRally
May 2, 2003
Round #2 – 2003 Sports Car Club of America ProRally Championship
Palmdale, California
Page One

  1. Welcome to the Rim of the World ProRally, round #2 of the SCCA ProRally Championship. These media notes will be generated on behalf of the Rim of the World Organizing committee for the use of the regional media covering the event, the fans following the rally on the official rally website – www.rimoftheworldrally.com - and those attending and participating in the event. The Rim of the World PR staff will not be generating results or news releases for the national automotive and motorsports media normally serviced by the Sports Car Club of America’s national staff. If you have any questions, contact Andy Schupack (andrew_schupack@compuserve.com) or MaryAnne Shults (mcs@shults.com).

  2. Speaking of public relations efforts, the SCCA is upping its effort to bring more media coverage to ProRally. Eric Prill, the SCCA director of communications, will take over the responsibility for ProRally PR, and he has hired Curtis Kitchen on staff to be dedicated the SCCA ProRally. As Prill had never been to a rally before this weekend, and Kitchen just started with the Club on Tuesday, they will be trying to “learn the business” this weekend at Rim. Both new PR guys got rides in rally cars this morning at the Rim press stage, and they both seem ready to take up the challenge. Kurt Spitzner, who currently handles the PR duties, will concentrate marketing and sponsorship opportunities for the series. Also here this weekend is Steve Johnson, SCCA’s president.

  3. Heading the list of changes in this year’s TV package on the Speed Channel is the expansion of event coverage from a half-hour to a full hour. The debut of the new format was last night on Speed when the Sno*Drift rally show ran. Although no one in the headquarters Holiday Inn in Palmdale saw the show because the hotel does not get Speed, people who saw the production gave it high marks. The Rim event will be on The Speed Channel on Thursday, May 22, at 7:30 PM local time (10:30 PM EDT).

  4. Late-breaking entry notes:
    • Joe Andreine, veteran co-driver from Detroit who hasn’t been in a rally car for ten years, will take the navigator seat in the Eric Burmeister Mazda Protégé, replacing Cindy Krolikowski, whose mother passed away earlier this week. We all pass on our condolences to Cindy and her family, and hope to see her back on the rally circuit soon.

    • The Wolfgang Hoeck/Julien Lin Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII Group N car has a new number, 89, as the result of the team’s new car.

    • A full 80-car field will start the rally, which leaves from a soccer-field complex in Palmdale at 7:00 PM PDT.

    • RallyAmerica, the Minnesota-based group spearheaded by Impreza rallyist Doug Havir, and staffed by several members of the Land 'O Lakes Region rally members including Ojibwe organizers Bruce Weinman and Beryl Ann Burton, is trying to "fill in the holes" to help the SCCA, organizers, manufacturers, and rally fans keep the sport growing. Since their inception last October, Rally America has helped with timing systems, organizer contract negotiations, public relations, and worker training among its many activities. A large contingent of Rally America people are here this weekend to help organizers Mike and Paula Gibeault.

Rim of the World ProRally
May 2, 2003
Round #2 - 2003 Sports Car Club of America ProRally Championship
Palmdale, California
Page Two

  1. The Wolfgang Hoeck/Julie Lin MozartRacing Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II is starting its second season of competition from its Thousand Oaks, Calif. base. When asked what he learned from his rookie year, which included Oregon Trail, Rim, and Pikes Peak, Hoeck said he realized he had to pace himself and not try to make up too much time at any one time. On the mechanical side, they added an anti-lag unit to their turbo to help even out the power curve. Julie Lin, co-driver in MozartRacing Mitsubishi can attest the rough roads that Rim is famous for, "The really unique character of the Rim are its waterbars. I have experienced no other rally where I had to fight with motion sickness so hard as at the Rim. I hope that after a year of rally competition and some experience in preparing for this rally I¹ll have a bit better time this year."

    This will be MozartRacing¹s first attempt to capture points in the near production car class, known as Group N. After an eventful rookie season in 2002, MozartRacing is stepping up their effort to focus on being competitive in ProRally on the West Coast, and possibly achieve a higher rank in the Group N Championship.

  2. With 20 Subarus running at this year's Rim of the World, it's hard to imagine that Paul Eklund's 1997 Subaru Impreza was the only Sube running only six years ago. Although Eklund;s 2002 WRX is not the fastest Subaru out there any more, he is proud to have started the movement that led to the factory involvement that has brought Mark Lovell, Jonny Milner and Ramana Lagemann to the U.S. for season-long competition. This year, Eklund will be running the Western States rally championship instead of contesting the ProRally points title.

    "It's great to see the Mitsubishi/Subaru rivalry develop at this level, and we all hope to see the Open class competition grow with other manufacturer participation as well," said the Tigard, OR resident.

  3. Steve Johnson, who has been the SCCA President for the last year, would like to take credit for the recent boon in ProRally activity, but things have been on the upswing for the last several years, according to Johnson. While standing in the Subaru tent at Park Exposure, where several hundred people waited patiently in line to get Mark Lovell and Ramana Lagemann autographs, Johnson observed this is the time for the sport to take off.

    "This is the fast-growing segment of membership participation at SCCA, and we can't think of another form of racing that the 17 - 25 year-olds relate to so well, including Sony's very successful Playstation game based on the sport," said Johnson.

  4. The Brian Scott/David Hackett Ford Focus SVT is making its debut, having come from the shop less than a week ago. Scott, who ran a standard Focus last year, has found that using the extra power that the SVT produces from the factory is a far better solution than trying to upgrade his own car. To compete with the top guys in Group 2, Scott figured that this was the answer. Asked what relationship his car had to the Open class car of Tim O'Neil, he replied, "Only the Ford oval."

  5. Mitsubishi won the first battle of the "big two" in Michigan earlier this year, although the Subaru of Mark Lovell was fastest for most of the rally. Lovell was again fastest after three stages this time, trying to forget the corner he crashed on last year which put him out of the event. "I didn't think I would be first as I was somewhat cautious, but I guess others had their troubles." Indeed, the Milner/McMath Subaru lost a transmission, while the Lagemann/Orr Subaru hit a huge chuck hole in the transit to the first service, destroying suspension and exhaust pieces.

  6. The Chris Havas/David Kean VW Golf is out of the event, losing its driveshaft on stage two.

  7. The Doug Shepherd/Pete Gladyz Dodge Neon SRT4 went on its side after taking a turn too hard on stage #2, causing the Group 5 competitors to lose lots of time. The car appears to have minimal damage, and the team hopes to make up for lost time tomorrow.

  8. The Jay Streets/Ole Holter Volvo 740 lost its clutch trying to get around spectator traffic on the transit to stage #1 - its status for the rest of the event is unclear.

  9. The Scott Trinder/Robert Trinder Subaru Impreza went off the road on stage #4, and has DNF'd. Their service crew has been dispatched to pick up the drivers and cars.

  10. The Bob Olson/Conrad Ketelian Porsche 911 was high-centered on stage #3, but was pulled off by another competitor and continued.

Rim of the World ProRally
May 3, 2003
Round #2 - 2003 Sports Car Club of America ProRally Championship
Palmdale, California
Page Three

  1. The rally ended Friday night with the conclusion of stage #5, and the David Higgins/Daniel Barritt Mitsubishi Evo edged into the lead over the Subaru Impreza of Mark Lovell/Steve Turvey, with the Lauchlin O'Sullivan/C. Edstrom Mitsubishi third. The Subaru Rally Team USA chose the wrong tires for the wet, sloppy conditions, and that choice cost their cars enough time to relinquish the lead.

  2. In order to help one of the course workers who suffered from hypothermia because of the cold and rainy weather, the EMT's were forced to go backwards down a stage, resulting in the cancellation of stages four and five for the ClubRally competitors. The downpour and cold temperatures not only caused worker problems, but made the stages that much more slippery and rough. However, spectator area marshall Gary Gooch, a former ProRally champion himself, reported that several hundred hearty fans turned out to watch the cars struggle down stages three and five.

    In the classes, here's how the national rally stands after five stages (top five in each class):

    Class
    Pos, #, Driver/Co-driver, Car, Time

    Open
    1, 1, David Higgins / Daniel Barritt, Mitsubishi Evo, 45:13
    2, 4, Mark Lovell / Steve Turvey, Subaru Impreza, 46:00
    3, 6 Lauchlin O'Sullivan / C Edstrom, Mitsubishi Evo, 49:13
    4, 374 Leon Styles / John Dillon, Mitsubishi Evo, 49:44
    5, 30, George Plsek / Jeffrey Burmeister, Lancer Evo VII, 50:28

    Group N
    1, 45, Shane Mitchell / Paul Donnelly, Subaru Impreza, 50:47
    2, 22, Ralph Kosmides / Jimmy Brandt, Subaru Impreza, 51:27
    3, 83, Mark Utecht / Jeff Secor, Subaru WRX, 52:52
    4, 89, Wolfgang Hoeck / Julie Lin, Lancer Evo VII, 53:41,Group N
    5, 94, Craig Peeper / Ian Bevan, Subaru WRX, 57:14,Group N

    Production GT
    1,68, Eric MaCaire / Urmas Kask, Audi TT, 55:35
    2,60, Bruce Davis / Lee Sorenson, Mitsubishi Eclipse, 55:46
    3, 215, Jamie Thomas / Matt Gauger, Subaru WRX, 1:00:27

    Group 5
    1, 321, Murat Okcuoglu / Hakan Okcuoglu, Mitsubishi Starion, 1:04:34
    2, 52, Doug Shepherd / Pete Gladyz, Dodge SRT 4, 1:17:35


    Group 2
    1, 143, Chris Whiteman / Mike Paulin, Dodge Neon SXT, 56:31
    2, 266, Scott Fuller / Jeff Call, VW Golf GTI, 57:02
    3, 345, Charles Aoun / Paul Nelson, VW Golf GTI, 1:00:59
    4, 96, Brian Scott / David Hackett, Ford Focus SVT, 1:02:02
    5, 42, Eric Burmeister / Joe Andreini, Mazda Protégé, 1:12:05

    Production
    1, 86, Mike Halley / Bill Montgomery, VW New Beetle, 59:52
    2. 221, Trevor Donison / David Weiman, Acura RSX Type S, 1:10:34

    A complete set of standings and stage times are available by clicking on ProRally Results and Leg Scores on www.rimoftheworldrally,com. The ClubRally results have been delayed until Sunday AM, when both Friday and Saturday results will be posted. ClubRally leg scores are on the web sites.

  3. The Mike Halley/Bill Montgomery VW Beetle, currently leading the Production class, is at the rally thanks to some quick work by Sue Hessert, of Amarillo, Texas. Halley was pulling his race transporter on I-40 through Amarillo when he hit a large chuck hole, causing two flat tires, a broken wheel, and axle damage. Halley got on the phone and Internet and connected with Beetle Chat Room guru Sue Hessert, whose husband and brother build trailers. Mike gave them the specs on the broken parts, but the Hesserts discovered that Halley's trailer was not a standard fit for any of their replacement parts. So the Hesserts, who didn't even know Halley, decided to lend him on of their trailers. They towed a new trailer 45 minutes to Halley's stranded rig, loaded all his equipment onto their trailer, and Halley headed for rim, while the Hesserts took the broken rig back to Amarillo for repair.

Rim of the World ProRally
May 3, 2003
Round #2 - 2003 Sports Car Club of America ProRally Championship
Palmdale, California
Page Four

  1. Saturday brought more rain, wind, and havoc to the Rim of the World event, which left an hour late from downtown Palmdale for day two of high performance rally through the Angeles National Forest. The day was supposed to consist of 73 stage miles and eight stages, but an examination of the stages during the morning hours revealed that the rain had done a lot of erosion damage, and the water still left on some of the roads made them impassible for both workers and competitors. At first, a one-hour delay at the start allowed the organizers to get a more extensive view of the course. Then, the decision was made to eliminate the Liebre Mountain and Maxwell Road stages, which the competitors were going to run twice. Then, the final stage - the Grass Mountain leg - was cancelled as it was so muddy even the organizer's scouting team got stuck. The Rim committee was thinking about running a couple of the stages the competitors had run earlier in the day, The decision was made that nothing would be gained by running sloppy, marginal stages again, so, after running Del Sur South, Del Sur North and Leona Ridge, the competitors returned to the Lake Hughes Community Service late in the afternoon, and were told the rally was over. The cars then transited the 20 miles back to the Pelona Vista Park in Palmdale to receive their final check-in times as scheduled, and returned to the Holiday Inn headquarters for a drier, warmer conclusion.

  2. Pat McMahon, the Rim committee member who was transported to the hospital last night suffering from hypothermia, was released from the hospital this morning at 6:30 AM, and was there to help with the final check-in at the park Saturday night. Pat and his wife Denise are long-time Rim organizers, and we are certainly glad that Pat is okay.

  3. In the battle for overall position, the David Higgins/Daniel Barritt Mitsubish Evo maintained its margin over the Subaru Impreza of Mork Lovell/Steve Turvey to win their second straight event. Scores are running a bit behind, but we can tell you that the Mark Utecht/Jeff Secor Subaru WRX finished second in Group N, unable to overcome the lead that the Shane Mitchell/Paul Donnelly Subaru Impreza had opened up on Friday night. One of the problems Utecht had was that co-driver Secor was sick during the event on Friday. The third place finisher in Group N was the Ralph Kosmides/Jimmy Brandt Subaru Impreza. Kosmides felt Utecht catching up to him, but didn't feel comfortable picking up his pace in the slick conditions. These three cars should be very close all season in pursuit of the season class championship.

  4. The Tim O'Neil/Alex Gesomino Ford Focus did not finish in the top five, but the rally driving instructor from Franconia, NH is excited about finishing the rally because, for the first time in his long career, Tim O' has an overall car that "goes, turns, and stops" as well as he can perform. Having made a name for himself by running production-based cars - including winning rallies overall with those production cars - O'Neil is looking forward to seeing if he can compete at the top with an overall car. He is looking at a multi-year run at the championship to see if he can match the "commitment to every corner" attitude it takes to win the title.

  5. The Doug Shepherd/Pete Gladyz Dodge Neon SRT 4 ran a competitive Group 5 effort for the entire event, but broke a half-shaft on the very last stage. While disappointed that he broke so close to the end, Shepherd said the car ran great, and he expects to challenge for the class title and run all the events this year.

Contact:

Andy Schupack, press officer
401-741-6980 - mobile at the event (Sunday, May 4)
401-739-5677 - office starting May 5

MITSUBISHI CHARGES INTO POINTS LEAD WITH SECOND STRAIGHT 2003 PRORALLY WIN; RIM ROADS NEAR PALMDALE SLOPPY FROM STORM

PALMDALE, Calif. - May 4, 2003 - The David Higgins/Daniel Barritt Mitsubishi Evo won its second straight Sports Car of America ProRally event, besting the Subaru Impreza of fellow British countrymen Mark Lovell/Steve Turley by almost three minutes at the very wet Rim of the World ProRally in the Angeles National Forest near Palmdale.

Higgins, from Axbridge, England, along with co-driver Daniel Barritt, from Oxfordshire, England, took over the lead from Lovell and Turvey during the early stages of the race on Friday night in an event marked by washed-out roads, downpours, cold temperatures, and mud caused by the weekend storm that swept through Southern California. Several of the planned races stages had to be cancelled due to road conditions resulting from the two-day storm.

In the Rim of the World ProRally, the cars race one-at-a-time against the clock on the closed Rim fire roads - each leg is called a stage - in the Angeles National Forest, with the cars recording the lowest total elapsed time at the end of the event being the winners in each class. The course is kept secret until just before the event, and no practice is allowed. The co-driver, who sits in the passenger seat, has a route book which guides the team through the course turn-by-turn, and has a rally computer to aid him or her by keeping track of mileage intervals and elapsed time. The driver will go as fast as he or she can - no speed limits - with coaching from the co-driver on what kind of road configuation - i.e. sharp left turn, 1/4-mile straight-away, big rocks, deep canyon on the right, etc. - is ahead.

The drivers meet their crew every couple of stages for service on the cars, and drivers must obey all local traffic regulations when their cars are not actually driving on the closed stage road. Unlike traditional race track driving, where repetition on the same course can lead to the "best line" or "best setup" for each corner, ProRally drivers must react to blind conditions at race track speed.

Third overall behind the British drivers was Lauchlin O'Sullivan from San Francisco with Swedish co-driver C. Edstrom in another Mitsubishi Evo. The top local finishers were Evo drivers Leon Styles from Mission Viejo and co-driver John Dillion from Thousand Oaks, who finished fourth overall, improving on their seventh place finish from a year ago.

Besides the overall class, which features all-wheel-driver, turbo-charged cars, there are several class which allow AWD, but no turbos; large displacement and small displacement two-wheel-drive cars; and straight showroom stock two-wheel-drive. There is also a section of the race for local club drivers who are not competing for national series points. In all, 80 cars took the green flag in Palmdale on Friday night, and only 50 cars were running by the end of the event on Saturday.

Southern California team entries (driver/co-driver) included Ruby's Diner founder Ralph Kosmides from Newport Beach/Jimmy Brandt from Odessa, Mich. In a Subaru Impreza (12th overall, third in Group N); Bill Malik from Santa Clarita/Amity Trowbridge from Bellevue, Wash. in a Volvo 240 - defending class champion (did not finish - broken shift linkage); Lon Peterson from Victorville/Aaron Laeng from Hesperia, in a Toyota Celica - only club competitor in the history of Rim to actually go faster than all the national competitors (fourth in Group 5/club class); Tony Chavez from Santa Fe Springs/Ken Cassidy from Mesa, AZ in a Mitsubishi Galant (18th overall, 11th in Open class); and Wolfgang Houck and Julie Lin, both from Thousand Oaks, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo (13th overall and fourth in Group N).

The Speed Channel will telecast a one hour show on the Rim of the World event on a delayed basis on Thursday, May 22, at 7:30 PM Pacific Daylight time.

In the Rim of the World ProRally, the cars race one-at-a-time against the clock on the closed rim fire roads - each leg is called a stage - in the Angeles National Forest, with the cars recording the lowest total elapsed time at the end of the event being the winners in each class. The course is kept secret until just before the event, and no practice is allowed. The co-driver, who sits in the passenger seat, has a route book which guides the team through the course turn-by-turn, and has a rally computer to aid him or her by keeping track of mileage intervals and elapsed time. The driver will go as fast as he or she can - no speed limits - with coaching from the co-driver on what kind of road configuation - i.e. sharp left turn, 1/4-mile straight-away, big rocks, deep canyon on the right, etc. - is ahead.

The drivers meet their crew every couple of stages for service on the cars, and drivers must obey all local traffic regulations when their cars are not actually driving on the closed stage road. Unlike traditional race track driving, where repetition on the same course can lead to the "best line" or "best setup" for each corner, ProRally drivers must react to blind conditions at race track speed.

Local community organizations which participated in this year's event included Boy Scout Troop #444 of Palmdale, which sold food and drink all weekend; America's Tire in Lancaster, which hosted tech inspection; The City of Palmdale; Subaru of America's Western Region; Budweiser; and Sube Sports.

For more information, complete results and stage times from this year's Rim of the World ProRally or the sport of ProRally, log onto www.rimoftheworldrally.com.

# # #