Date: 15 April 2000
For Immediate Release:

Final Results - SCCA ProRally - Round #2 - Oregon Trail

Hyundai Triumphs, Erik Comas Astonishes

Oregon Trail is clearly back on the map as an SCCA ProRally Championship destination with the conclusion of an exceptional debut event in the small coastal town of Tillamook, Oregon. The rally posed a daunting combination of tight, twisty and steep mountain trails that would challenge a Jeep and smooth gravel roads built for huge lumber hauling trucks. Speeds ranged from barely moving to nearly 100 mph, and provided real rally excitement for participants and fans alike.

Key Notes:

• The Libra Racing Hyundai team was up late last night working on several gremlins on Noel Lawler's new Tiburon, including some electrical and external engine issues to be expected on a brand new rally car. The damage to the front suspension after yesterday evenings puncture and rock impact were essentially, according to John Buffum, the teams manager, 'a non-issue,' and heading out this morning things looked good. However, the electrical and turbo teething problems were an issue, and Noel had his hands full just to hang on to second place in the overalls.
• Erik Comas' brilliant debut in US Performance Rally continued to go exceedingly well, with a solid top 5 finish, and a win in the new FIA group N category. The fast and smooth hard-packed gravel surfaces common to several of the Day 2 stages suited Erik's road racing background, and he was able to make substantial leaps up the leaderboard. Comas' Lancer Evo IV was also the top finishing Mitsubishi, awarding the company its first SCCA ProRally championship points since the Manufacturers' Championship was established at the start of the 1999 season.
• Local favorites Paul Eklund and Eric Eaton, having strong runs in Day one, both fell victim to transmission failures in SS9, and retired from competition. Eric Eaton's PR agent did a good job of turning a bad day around, announcing shortly after the retirement that Eric would be at Rim of the World in an all new car - a turbocharged 99 Subaru 2.5RS.
• Thanks to clear skies, resourceful teamwork and a very supportive Tillamook community of welders, mechanics and parts stores, 9 of the 17 cars that failed to finish Day 1 were back at the start line this morning, buoying the overall field back up to 39 cars. (52 started Day 1)
• The Group 2 race was tight, with series veteran David White capturing a satisfying win in his first performance rally since 1998. It wasn't a walk in the park however - hounded from SS1 to the finish by Jay Streets and Nate Tennis, both rising west coast stars in the SCCA ProRally championship.
• In Group 5, Carl Jardevall, another local favorite, showed his mastery of driving a big 7 series Volvo on loose gravel with an upset win over Ralph Kosmides, in the Toyota Supra.
• Patrick Richard continued his steady climb up the ProRally ranks with a commanding 6 minute win over the 2nd place Production GT entry, and an impressive 8th place finish overall.
• The Production class winner treated rally fans to a rare sight - a faithfully restored 1973 vintage Porsche 911, driven hard and fast by its owner and restorer Dennis Chizma, bringing back a look performance rally from its early days here in the United States.
• Errata: Corrections to last nights unofficial Day One results - Karl Scheible (61) rolled in SS 6, not SS5, and damage to the Evo V is minor. Paul Dubinsky (97) brakes did fail in SS2 as reported, but he did not have an accident - and reported this morning that all the car needs is a new right front brake line and he will be good to run at Rim of the World in three weeks. Good thing too - Paul towed nearly 3000 miles from his home in South Carolina for this event.

SCCA. Oregon Trail ProRally Championship Round #2
April 15-16, 2000

Finishing Order (final)

Car#   Drivers Name    Co-Drivers Name    Class   Year    Make        Model          Overall Time
2      Paul Choiniere  Jeff Becker        Open      00    Hyundai     Tiburon        2:04.29
1      Noel Lawler     Charles Bradley    Open      00    Hyundai     Tiburon        2:06.18
39     Carl Jardevall  Amity Trowbridge   G5        83    Volvo       740 turbo      2:08.03
366    Erik Comas      Julian Masters     FIA N     98    Mitsubishi  Lancer Evo IV  2:10.45
5      Ralph Kosmides  Ken Cassidy        G5        96    Toyota      Supra Turbo    2:13.31
162    Patrick Richard Ian McCurdy        PGT       98    Subaru      Impreza 2.5 RS 2:14.28
89     Dave White      Jimmy Brandt       G2        88    VW          Golf Gti       2:16.25
351    Jay Streets     Bill Feyling       G2        85    Toyota      Corolla        2:20.06
283    Nate Tennis     Nate Pettit        G2        79    SAAB        99             2:20.24
165    Dennis Chizma   Claire Chizma      P         79    Porsche     911            2:21.27
20     George Plsek    Renn Phillips      Open      90    Audi        S2 quattro     2:21.51
222    Jon Tabor       Kevin Poirier      P         82    Nissan      Sentra SE-R    2:20.40
110    Mark Nelson     John Dillon        FIA N     97    Mitsubishi  Lancer Evo IV  2:23.21
250    Jeff Call       Brent Dille        G2        00    VW          Golf           2:29.17
62     Trevor Donison  Eric Schild        P         97    Chrysler    Neon ACR       2:30.46
98     Robert Nielsen  Brett Corneliusen  G2        87    VW          Golf GTI       2:33.50
132    Robert Burtis   James Burtis       Open      85    Audi        Quattro coupe  2:35.34
84     J B Niday       Al Kintigh         G2        86    VW          Golf GTI       2:37.49
25     Gerry Valentini Lee Sorenson       G5        82    Mazda       RX-7           2:38.42
 
Retirement List (Final) - Day One
Car#   Drivers Name    Co-Drivers Name    Class   Year    Make    stage Retirement cause (official)
35     Lee Shadbolt    Bob Sherman        FIA A     97    Subaru  DNS   Driver illness
261    Ron Sorem       Josh Sorem         PGT       87    Subaru  DNS   Engine, electrical
48*    Scott Fuller    Ole Holter         G2        85    VW      SS2   Engine
97     Paul Dubinsky   Dale Cooke         PGT       92    Eagle   SS2   Brakes
275*   Nat T-Stow      Aaron Montgomery   G2        87    VW      SS2   Engine
269*   Erik Fischer    Brad Kohut         Open      84    Mitsub  SS3   Accident
273*   Bayard Osborne  Leo Ovellette      Open      88    Mazda   SS3   Engine
274*   Ian Drucker     Gary Bockman       Open      89    Toyota  SS3   Engine cooling
188    Andrew Havas    Eric Tremblay      G5        79    Mazda   SS4   Accident
258*   David Schrenk   Chad Little        G5        86    SAAB    SS4   Engine
207*   Dave Hintz      Doug Chase         G5        87    Mazda   SS4   Mechanical, accident
242*   R.Scott Koch    John Allen         G5        79    Datsun  SS5   Accident
28     Bill Malik      Christian Edstrom  G2        80    Volvo   SS5   Accident
288*   Gary Cavett     Mika Lepisto       Open      85    Subaru  SS5   Stuck in ditch
61     Karl Scheible   Russ Hughes        FIA N     98    Mitsub  SS6   Accident
198*   John Lane       Ray Damitio        Open      76    Volvo   SS7   Axle
 
Day Two
32     Paul Eklund     Scott Huhn         Open      95    Subaru  SS9   Transmission
260    Eric Eaton      Kenny Almquist     Open      88    Mazda   SS9   Transmission

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ProRally, ClubRally and RallyCross are service marks of the SCCA.

Contact:
Kurt Spitzner
SCCA ProRally Championship Marketing and Media Manager
Denver, CO
303.779.6622 main
303.694.3654 fax
www.scca.org
werace4u@aol.com