Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally

Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
May 31 - June 2, 1996

STPR '96 Wellsboro, Penn. Round #5 - SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series

Press Notes #1
5/31/96, 8:30 AM

1. Welcome to Wellsboro, PA, site of the 20th running of the Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally. The organizers are looking forward to a healthy entry, good weather, and great racing. The weather forecast from the National Weather service calls for sunny on Friday, with highs in the upper 70's, clear Friday night with lows in the mid- to-upper 40's, and sunny Saturday with highs in the upper 70's to low 80's. There is no precipitation in the forecast until Sunday afternoon—well after the rally is over.

2. The story that seems to be shaping up for the Open class here is who won't be coming and why:
   • Canadian National Champions Frank and Dan Sprongl will not be able to make it as planned. Their Audi Quattro S-2 lost its engine at the Michelin Big Horn PRO Rally in Alberta, Canada, two weeks ago. A replacement engine is on order from Germany, but it did not make it here in time.

   • Carl Merrill and John Bellefleur also took a recent trip to Alberta, Canada. During the Michelin Rocky Mountain PRO Rally last weekend, they rolled their Ford Escort Cosworth. They just got it back to Maine mid-week and have not had time to make repairs. Merrill considered coming with his 450 bhp Chevy S-10 Pickup Truck, but decided against it at the last minute.

   • Tom Ottey and wife/co-driver Pam McGarvey overheated their Millen Motorsports-built Hyundai Elantra at the Rim of the World PRO Rally earlier this month in California. In testing for STPR, they discovered the engine needs a complete teardown, so they will sit out this round. This setback follows a series of problems with the Ottey's Hyundai, which has not finished a rally since it debuted last year at the Lake Superior PRO Rally in Michigan.

   • Henry Joy IV is home this weekend being a Dad. Last December, newborn Henry Bourne Joy V made his appearance, and as a result, Henry IV has chosen to run an abbreviated season this year. Joy finished second to Choiniere at the Rim of the World event.

Press Notes #2
5/31/96, 2:00 PM

3. A late development on the Carl Merrill front. Libra Racing will be providing Merrill with a car to race to replace his injured Ford Escort Cosworth. The former Paul Choiniere national championship Audi Quattro S-2, which car owner John Buffum and co-driver Mark Williams recently took to Peru and won the Peruvian national rally, has been pulled from mothballs and prepared for Merrill to drive this weekend. Because of the last minute nature of this arrangement, the car is still stickered with the Peruvian logos from the Rally of the Incas last fall, and still wears a rather sizeable rear fender dent from the event. Merrill, who is only one point behind Choiniere in the point standings, really needs to score points here to remain competitive for the championship. Canadian Brian Maxwell will co-drive for Merrill.

4. Here is a round-up of the classes:
   • With the late Merrill entry, the Open class now has the Choiniere/Becker '96 Hyundai Elantra, Merrill's Audi Quattro S-2, and the Bruno Kreibich/Rod Hendricksen Audi Quattro. Bruno, who has competed in most of the 19 previous STPR events, is the sentimental favorite to win his first Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally, and his first overall rally since 1991, when he won a Westcliffe, Colorado and Ojibwe Forests. Choiniere's Hyundai has been especially fast over the last two events when mechanical problems have put them behind. Choiniere put eight minutes on the field at the Wild West event - moving from 19th place to a 4th place finish, after motor mount problems put the team back after the first day of rallying.

     Other Open class competitors include the Jon Kemp/Gail McGuire Audi 4000 Quattro, the Keith Kreisler/Chris Erney Mazda 323GTX, the Dan Rathgeber Ford Mustang, and Mike Bodner/Steve Bodner Audi Quattro.

   • In Production GT, Selcuk Karamanoglu/Yorgi Bittner remain the favorites to win the class as they have done so far this year at Doo Wops, Wild West and Rim of the World. In fact, they won the Doo Wops event overall, and were second at Wild West, just 59 seconds behind winners Carl Merrill/John Bellefleur. Selcuk's secret to month, is running so much faster this year due to the discovery of a faulty boost gauge just before the start of the season. It turns out his HKS turbo was showing 17 PSI, but his actual boost was only stock factory spec. Now he has fixed the problem and turned up the boost, he estimates he has 20 more horsepower. The defending Production GT champions Cal Landau/Eric Marcus in their Mitsubishi Eclipse will be Selcuk's top competition, with the John Pizzagalli/Erick Hauge Mitsubishi Galant, the Rob Bohn/Lynn Dillion Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the new L. Mark Stone/Marc Goldfarb Mitsubishi Galant all hoping to contend as well.

   • The Group 5 story should be the most interesting yet, with the previous Group 5 winners all here plus some great new entries. Leading the pack are the class leaders Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes in their Toyota Supra, which has won both Washington events and Rim of the World. This weekend, however, Ralph and Joe will have lots of stiff competition as the best of the West meets the best of the East. Besides Kosmides, from Newport Beach, Calif., the other West Coast team to make the trip East is the Sam Bryan/Rob Walden Saab 900 turbo from Seattle. The car produces 300 horsepower, and the team hopes to improve on their debut performance last month at Rim of the World where the car suffered from turbo problems and subsequently rolled.

     Sand Hills Group 5 winners Henry Krolikowski/Cindy Krolikowski are entered in their Dodge Shadow, and have always run well at STPR. The Bruce Newey/Charles Bradley Toyota Supra, winners of the now-defunct Group A class last year, have converted their 4WD car into a 2WD racer for this year's Group 5 competition and will be making their season debut.

     Vinnie Frontinan/Frank Cunningham will be debuting a new VW Corrado in Group 5. The car has only run up and down the narrow street in Somerville, Mass., where Vinnie's repair shop is located, but it has to potential to win the class.

     Another former Group A contender, Rick Davis/Ben Greisler, in their BMW M-3, will be competing in Group 5, along with the Leslie Suddard/Anne Thomas Dodge Charger.

   • Group 2 has a similarly-impressive list of competitors, with class leaders Dave Peterson/Greg Chaloupka in a VW GTI having won the class at Wild West. Peterson looked to have the victory in hand at Rim of the World, but was overtaken on the last stage by the Mike Whitman/Ben Bradley Datsun 510. Whitman is also here this weekend, with Rim organizer Paula Gibeault in the navigator seat. Also in from the West is the Pete Lahm/Jimmy Brandt Datsun 510. The Kurt Thiel/George Thompson VW GTI, winners in South Carolina earlier this year, are here, along with John Vanlandingham's ancient Saab 96, which won the class in Maine last summer. The Bob Elliott/Mark Williams 1964 Ford Falcon Rallye Sprint 289 cu.in. V-8 (more on this car later) will be using this event as a tune-up for the FIA Historic Rally Trophy, and could be stiff competition for the others.

     Rounding out the Group 2 competitors are the Scott Kreisler/John Bonasera Nissan 200-SX, the Jeremy Chambers/Neil Roeth Saab 900, the Chris Havas/Pete Pollard VW Golf, and last year's near-champions Gerry Sweet and Gerald Spark in their Saab 99.

   • In the Production class, leaders Lon Peterson/Bill Gutzmann have travelled from the West Coast to try to extend their points lead in their '96 Kia Sephia. Defending Production champion Tad Ohtake—although not running the whole season this year—is here this weekend in his Ford Escort GT, as are the two Honda Preludes of Greg Trepetin/Sonia Trepetin and Jim Anderson/Martin Dapot. Peter Watt has come down from Canada to run his Suzuki Swift, and Greg Healey/John MacLeod's Dodge Ram 50 pick-up—now a Production entry after the demise of the RallyTruck class—are also contenders. Rounding out the class is the former Peter Cunningham Acura Integra GS-R being driven by Jay Kowalik/Jeff Wheeler.

Saturday, June 1

Press Notes #3
6/01/96, 4:00 PM

5. 58 starters took the countdown in front of the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce to start the 20th running of the Susquenhannock Trail Pro Rally here in Wellsboro, PA. After a "will he come?/won't he come?" start to the weekend, it looked like Carl Merrill might not be able to start the rally, as electrical problems caused him some anxious moments. Car owner John Buffum had to do some fast repairs on the lighting harness on the start line, and Merrill lost his first on the road status. Merrill got off in time, though, and was first out on Stage 1.

6. John Vanlandingham was a late scratch early this morning. Unable to find a co-driver, he came to Wellsboro in hopes of filling the right seat in his Group 2 Saab 96 by start time. It was not to be, and Vanlandingham finally gave up and became a spectator. Also withdrawing before the start were late entries Marvin Lummen and John Atsma from Grand Rapids, MI, who had entered the divisional rally in a Dodge Omni GLH.

7. Pat Ayer and co-driver Rob Jones added their names to the fray at the opening of registration today. Due to the speed which was expected of them and their seed, they were inserted into the start order in ninth position. Ayer and Jones are competing in Paul Choiniere's 1991 and '92 championship season Audi Quattro which Pat purchased last year. Carl Merrill's Audi Quattro S-2 entry is Choiniere's 1993 and '94 championship season car.

8. Another late entry is Constantine Mantoupoulus, who is at his first national event since winning the Group A class at the Maine Forest Rally last year. Unfortunately, Mantoupoulus is forced under the new PRO Rally Regs to enter the divisional rally this time, since his co-driver does not have a national license.

Press Notes #4
6/01/96, 5:00 PM

9. Licensing problems have forced other teams into the divisional as well. The father/son rally team of Don and Russell Rathberger will run their Ford Mustang in the divisional, where brothers Michael and Stephen Bodnar (Audi Quattro) will join them. Both co-drivers (Russell Rathberger and Stephen Bodnar) are relatively new to the sport and do not hold national licenses.

10. Reports from the early stages are that the roads are fast and quite slippery. All of the dirt stages were graded within the past couple of days, and the cars are feeling the lack of grip.

11. Several cars have retired as of the close of the first two stages. Ivan and Olga Orisek completed the first stage in their Audi Quattro, but have suffered a suspension failure and were unable to continue. Bob Elliott and co-driver Mark Williams didn't make it through stage one in their 1964 Ford Falcon as their newly-built Ford 289 cu. in. Cobra V-8 broke a timing chain.

12. Serious incidents requiring emergency intervention have caused the closing of both stage one and stage two. (See separate notice following) Unfortunately, in each case, the closing took place before the first divisional car had left the start line. Therefore, as the cars were beginning stage three, the divisional cars had not completed a single special stage.

13. Carl Merrill's fourth-place finish in the ex-Choiniere Audi Quattro S-2 might have been his best drive ever, considering the car and driver were strangers to each other until the race actually began. With less horsepower and fewer gears, Merrill found himself having to learn to drive all over again. Added to that the strain of a new co-driver (even though Brian Maxwell is a veteran - most recently a regular on the rally circuit with Henry Joy) and the 12 points he earned were well deserved.

Press Notes #5
6/01/96, 6:00 PM

13. The incident at stage one involved the Mazda 626 of Serguei Beloussov and Kendall Russell which hit a tree just short of the water crossing. On stage two, John Pizzagalli and Erick Hauge tossed their Mitsubishi Gallant onto its roof in the creek. All drivers were transported to Soldiers and Sailors Hospital and all but Beloussov have been released.

    The organizer issued the following statement:

    From: Andy Schupack - Media Liaison
    John McArthur - STPR Chairman
    3:00 PM - Saturday, June 1, 1996

    The report from Soldiers and Sailors Hospital is that all four competitors involved in the two incidences of the STPR PRO Rally are in stable condition.

    The John Pizzagalli/Erick Hauge Mitsubishi Galant (car #11) hit the bridge 5.36 miles into stage #2, and rolled into the creek below, landing on its roof. The drivers were taken to Soldiers and Sailors Hospital, where they are expected to be released shortly.

    On stage #1, the Serguei Beloussov/Kendall Russell (car #77) Mazda 626 hit a tree near the end of stage #1. Both were taken to Soldiers and Sailors Hospital, where Ms. Russell is expected to be released shortly, and Mr. Beloussov will be held overnight for observation.

Press Notes #6
6/01/96, 7:00 PM

14. The new VW Corrado being debuted here this weekend by Vinnie Frontinan and Frank Cunningham is out of the rally. Three miles from the end of stage two they slid into a rock damaging the car to a point where it could not continue.

15. The Kurt Thiel/George Thompson VW GTI entry, winner in Group 2 at the recent Sand Hills event, was expected to be a top finisher here, but a submerged rock at the water crossing broke the rear suspension and took the local team out of the rally.

16. The Bruce Newey/Charles Bradley Toyota Celica Group 5 car is running well, matching stage times with the class leaders for three of the four stages, but got stuck with an electrical problem on stage #1, losing more than 14 minutes to the field.

17. The Cal Landau/Eric Marcus Mitsubishi Eclipse Production GT car is lagging behind class leaders Selcuk Karamanoglu and Yorgi Bittner because of brake problems. The team is bleeding the brakes at the service break after stage #4.

 
                               STAGE 1    STAGE 2    STAGE 3   STAGE 4   TOTAL
                                STONY      ASAPH      MILL       RIM     THRU
  DRIVER/CO-DRIVER    CAR #   CROSSING      RUN      HOLLOW     STOCK    MTC-2
-------------------   -----   ---------   --------   -------   -------  -------
 Choiniere/Becker        1        5.78       9.47       5.92     11.63    32.80
 Karamanoglu/Bittner    18        5.88       9.61       5.90     11.90    33.29
 Ayer/Jones             74        6.00       9.58       5.82     11.97    33.37
 Kemp/McGuire           14        5.99       9.76       5.98     12.31    34.04
 Stone/Goldfarb         12        6.01       9.88       5.97     12.11    33.97
 Kreibich/Hendricksen    8        6.16       9.75       6.00     12.49    34.40
 Merrill/Maxwell         3        6.13       9.91       5.95     11.91    33.90
 Bryan/Walden            4        6.17       9.92       6.00     12.21    34.30
 Landau/Marcus           7        6.18      10.06       6.01     12.40    34.65
 Krolikowski/Krolikowski15        6.37      10.23       6.13     12.43    35.16
 Davis/Greisler         21        6.29      10.36       6.29     12.56    35.50
 Sweet/Spark            20        6.29      10.42                         16.71
 Kosmides/Noyes         16        6.24      10.48       6.38     12.35    35.45
 Newey/Bradley          96       20.09      10.61       6.14     12.96    49.80
 Whitman/Gibeault       39        6.42      10.34       6.19     12.39    35.34
 Lahm/Brandt            29        6.42      10.52       6.33     12.47    35.74
 Thiel/Thompson         28        6.32      10.85                         17.17
 Fry/Kennedy            45        6.41      10.85       6.46     13.32    37.04
 Peterson/Gutzmann      22        6.68      10.67       6.49     12.78    36.62
 Suddard/Thomas         36        6.56      10.85       6.59     13.06    37.06
 Havas/Pollard          52        6.57      10.85       6.31     12.88    36.61
 Anderson/Dapot         31        6.58      10.85       6.39     12.98    36.80
 Kreisler/Erney         41        6.66      10.85       6.56     13.29    37.36
 Kotowski/Bulaj         43        6.74      10.85       6.63     13.04    37.26
 Healy/MacLeod          34        6.77      10.85       6.89     13.24    37.75
 Ohtake/Booth           66        6.88      10.85       6.50     13.07    37.30
 Kreisler/Bonasera      44        6.99      10.85       6.97     14.01    38.82
 Bohn/Dillon            54        7.00      10.85       6.74     13.20    37.79
 Curran/McGirl          49        7.00      10.85                         17.85
 Watt/Casey             27        7.00      10.85       7.19     14.13    39.17
 Chambers/Roeth         50        7.00      10.85       7.15     13.57    38.57
 Kowalik/Wheeler        51        7.00      10.85       6.29     21.28    54.42
 Trepetin/Trepetin      23        7.00      10.85       6.69     13.40    37.94
 Liebl/Binkley          53        7.00      10.85       7.16     14.69    39.70
 Peterson/Chaloupka     42        6.98      11.01       6.79     13.03    37.81

Press Notes #7
6/01/96, 11:00 PM

18. Stages five, six and seven have claimed several victims, mostly due to equipment failures. On stage five, the Saab 900 Turbo of Sam Bryan/Rob Walden dropped out with mechanical troubles. Tony Dapaz and co-driver Paul Outiero withdrew their divisional-entry Ford Escort because of a broken suspension component, also on stage five.

19. The Michael Curran/Joe McGirl Ford Mustang failed to start stage six, while L. Mark Stone and Marc Goldfarb finished the stage in their Mitsubishi Galant but withdrew shortly thereafter. The VW Scirocco of Stepniewski/Pelc broke down about 5 1/2 miles into stage six and the pair was given a ride to the end where their crew rescued them. At this writing, the car is still in the woods. Also ending the rally at stage six was the Ford Escort of Wojcik/Cukrowski, which managed to drive in ahead of the sweep vehicle under its own power, but then dropped out of the rally.

20. With the field beginning to thin, only the VW GTI of Kelbel and Barnes and the VW Jetta GLI of Schroeder and Mynhier withdrew on stage seven.

21. The rally was held up on both stages five and six. The state police had to be summoned to deal with rowdy fans at the spectator area on stage five before the rally could go on. Sobriety checks were done, and several partiers were escorted from the woods. Once the state police gave the go ahead, the rally was able to continue, by this time, well more than an hour late.

Press Notes #8
6/02/96, 12:30 AM

22. On stage six., the first few cars got through unencumbered, but somewhere around mid-pack, the Mazda 323 GTX of Keith Kreisler and Chris Erney became stuck on a bridge 3.41 miles into the stage, blocking the course to further traffic. The rally was stopped once again, and the car was moved to the side of the course. Later Kreisler and Erney limped into the finish, but were reported not to have started stage seven.

23. Stage eight began at 10:45 PM (1 hour and 45 minutes behind schedule) and at that time, the decision was made to expand the window between cars to 2 minutes due to heavy dust on the special stages. Stage ten was cancelled in an effort to bring the rally back on schedule. But by the end of stage eight, it was obvious that with a 2 minute dust window, the rally would continue to run at an increasing time deficit. The organizers decided to further shorten the event and cancelled stages eleven and twelve. As a result, the first cars are due to arrive in downtown Wellsboro at 1:45 AM.

24. The latest car to fall prey to mechanical gremlins is the Audi Quattro of Jon Kemp and Gail McGuire. They dropped out on stage nine with brake failure.

25. The Bruno Kreibich/Rod Hendricksen Audi Quattro might have finished ahead of Merrill if they had not had a flat tire on stage #4 - a flat which they rode out to the end of the stage.

26. The Cal Landau/Eric Marcus Mitsubishi Eclipse - finishing less than a minute behind Bruno - has only itself to blame, according to car owner and co-driver Eric Marcus. He said the team was a little out of synch, mis-communicating on several corners which caused them to lose some time.

27. The Leslie Suddard/Anne Thomas Dodge Charger, with its best finish ever in class (3rd in Group 5), still has some engine work to be done before that car reaches its potential, according to Ms. Suddard. The team will tear down the powerplant after this event in preparation for the Maine Forest Rally.

28. The Dave Peterson/Greg Chaloupka VW GTI, 3rd in Group 2, reported that there was really nothing wrong with their car, but the dusty conditions, the fast course, and their unfamiliarity with the course meant that the two Group 2 teams in front of them just "outdrove" them.

29. Here's the rest ofthe DNF report as we know it:

    • Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes Toyota Supra - hit the banking on stage #6, then went off the road into a ditch, bending the suspension.

    • Mark Stone/Marc Goldfarb Mitsubishi Eclipse missed a bridge entrance on stage #6, going into some muck and causing enough damage to call it a day.

    • Jon Kemp/Gail McGuire Audi 4000 Quattro lost their brakes on stage #8 while they were running fourth overall.

    • The Ed Maklenburg/Barbara Steencken Dodge Omni had electrical damage which resulted from water at the Creek Crossing (end of stage #1).

    • The Gerry Sweet/Stuart Spark Saab 99EMS had their transmission fail on stage #3. This effectively puts the pair out of the running for the Group 2 title chase, where they finished a close second a year ago.

SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL PRO RALLY
(National Entrants) Standings - AFTER 7 STAGES

                                 Car
     Driver       Co-driver       #  Car Make           Class  Time
 
     Choiniere    Becker          1  Hyundai Elantr     Open   68.60
     Karamanoglu  Bittner        18  Eagle Talon        PGT    71.01
     Ayer         Jones          74  Audi Quattro       Open   71.61
     Kreisler     Erney          41  Mazda 323 GTX      Open   73.20
     Merrill      Maxwell         3  Audi Qauttro S-2   Open   73.77
     Kreibich     Hendricksen     8  Audi Quattro       Open   74.29
     Landau       Marcus          7  Mitsubishi Ecl     PGT    74.79
     Kemp         McGuire        14  Audi Quattro       Open   75.39
     Krolikowski  Krolikowski    15  Dodge Shadow       Gp5    76.11
     Kosmides     Noyes          16  Toyota Supra       Gp5    76.93
     Davis        Greisler       21  BMW M3             Gp5    77.11
     Whitman      Gibeault       39  Datsun 510         Gp2    77.77
     Anderson     Dapot          31  Honda Prelude      Prod   78.18
     Havas        Pollard        52  VW Golf            Gp2    79.42
     Lahm         Brandt         29  Datsun Pl-510      Gp2    79.52
     Fry          Kennedy        45  Subaru Legacy      Open   79.89
     Bohn         Dillon         54  Mitsubishi Ecl     PGT    80.19
     Peterson     Gutzmann       22  Kia Sephia         Prod   80.21
     Ohtake       Booth          66  Ford Escort GT     Prod   81.20
     Peterson     Chaloupka      42  VW Golf GTI        Gp2    81.53
     Kotowski     Bulaj          43  Eagle Talon        PGT    81.70
     Chambers     Roeth          50  Saab 900           Gp2    82.76
     Trepetin     Trepetin       23  Honda Prelude      Prod   82.98
     Kreisler     Bonasera       44  Nissan 200SX       Gp2    83.80
     Watt         Casey          27  Suzuki Swift G     Prod   85.62
     Liebl        Binkley        53  Mazda RX7          Gp5    86.30
     Newey        Bradley        96  Toyota Celica      Gp5    92.83
     Suddard      Thomas         36  Dodge Charger      Gp5    95.48
     Kowalik      Wheeler        51  Acura Integra      Prod   96.31
     Healy        MacLeod        34  Dodge Pickup       Prod  120:75

Sunday, June 2

25. The 20th annual Susquehannock Trail PRO Rally is now in the books, and Paul Choiniere/Jeff Becker have claimed their fourth straight STPR title, and widen their points lead in the 1996 SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series championship. Their '96 Hyundai Elantra finished 2:51 ahead of the Production GT class winner and second entry overall, the Eagle Talon of Selcuk Karamanoglu/Yorgi Bittner.

    Karamanoglu, the Production GT points leader, faced his toughest class competition of the year, drove another amazing rally, outdistancing several Open class competitors again despite a more than 100 horsepower disadvantage to those entrants. Selcuk won the class by more than eight minutes over the Mitsubishi Eclipse of Cal Landau/Eric Marcus, who were troubled by brake problems early and could not catch up after that.

    Third overall was the Audi Quattro of Pat Ayer/Rob Jones, with the Carl Merrill/Brian Maxwell Audi Quattro S-2 fourth and the Audi Quattro of Bruno Kreibich/Rod Hendricksen fifth. This was the first time that Audi Quattro entrants have placed three cars in the top five positions in several years.

    The most hotly contested class was the Group 5 field, where the Saab 900 turbo of Sam Bryan/Rob Walden was leading the class by more than a minute before a crank spark sensor failed on stage five, forcing a DNF. The battle then turned to a dogfight between the BMW M-3 of Rick Davis/Ben Greisler and the Dodge Shadow of Henry and Cindy Krolikowski, with the Krolikowskis nipping Davis/Greisler by less than 15 seconds in the end. The two entrants were virtually tied going into the last stage. Points leaders Ralph Kosmides/Joe Noyes were a DNF in their Toyota Supra with mechanical ills.

    The other 2WD modified class—Group 2—was also very competitive, with four competitors fighting for the lead right at the start. With the Kurt Thiel/George Thompson VW GTI DNF at the Creek Crossing (bent suspension), the Gerry Sweet/Stuart Spark Saab 99 transmission failure on stage #5, and the points leaders Dave Peterson/Greg Chaloupka have various mechanical problems slowing their efforts, Rim of the World class winner Mike Whitman, with co-driver Paula Gibeault, emerged as the victors in Whitman's Datsun 510. Whitman now takes over the Group 2 points lead from Peterson, who finished third in class.

    Second in Group 2 went to Chris Havas/Pete Pollard in a VW GTI, a great accomplishment for Havas in only his third national event.

    The Production class was also very competitive, with the Jim Anderson/Martin Depot Honda Prelude VTEC edging the Kia Sephia of Lon Peterson/Bill Gutzmann by less than two minutes. Defending class champion Tad Ohtake/Nigel Booth were third in their Ford Escort GT.

    In all, 23 of the 42 finished the event, with 35 of the original 58 starters completing the rally.

    In the two divisional events, the top two Group 5 national finishers split the honors, with the Krolikowskis winning the Finger Lakes Divisional and Davis/Greisler team winning the Tioga Divisional.