Courtesy of Andy Schupack, SCCA/Micheline PRO Rally Series:


   ONLY MAINE ENTRANT WINS SCCA/MICHELIN PRO RALLY EVENT IN RUMFORD
 
RUMFORD, Maine -- July 30 --  Ogunquit's Carl Merrill, who has won
SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally events all over the U.S. and Canada, scored his
first victory ever in his native state as his 400 horsepower Ford Escort
Cosworth won the Maine Forest Summer Rally here by more than four minutes.
 
"Last year I went off the road at 100 mph and hit a ditch; the year before
I broke a differential; and the year before that I was second, but it was
frustrating to always finish poorly at a race so close to home," said
Merrill, who owns several hotels and restaurants in Ogunquit.
 
Pre-race favorite Paul Choiniere, from Shelburne, Vermont, could have
clinched the season championship with a win here, but a broken belt lead to
water pump failure and the end of the rally for Paul.  Earlier in the
event, Henry Joy, from Atlanta, Michigan, second behind Choiniere in the
point standings, hit a rock and punctured the oil cooler on his new
Mitsubishi Lancer on stage #1 after the car made its national debut here.
 
Merrill was nursing a 25-second lead over the Mazda 323GTR driven by
Jamaican rally champion Peter Moodie when Carl put together his best stage
of the rally, putting an additional 40 seconds between him and Moodie on
the next to last stage.  Moodie tried to make up the difference on the last
stage, ran off the road, and was unable to continue.
 
Bruno Kreibich, from Queens, NY, was second in an Audi Quattro, and Tom
Ottey, from Columbus, OH, finished third in a Mazda 323GTX.
 
In the other classes, Eric Marcus, from Coraopolis, Penn, won the
Production GT class in a Mitsubishi Eclipse; Bruce Newey, from Atlanta, GA
was first in the Group A class in a Toyota All-trac; John Vanlandingham,
from Cambridge, MA, won Group 2 in a Saab 96; and Vinnie Frontinan, from
Somerville, MA, was victorious in the Production class in a Toyota Corolla.
 
In a PRO Rally, each team consists of a driver and a co-driver (or
navigator), and the exact course is kept secret until just before the
event - different from World Rally, where practice is allowed.  The cars
start at one-minute intervals and race against the clock over 6 - 24
stages which range in length from four to 25 miles.  Most of the rallies
include night stages, making it necessary for competitors to adjust their
driving style.  Speeds of more than 120 miles-per-hour could be reached on
long straight-aways, with the team achieving the fastest combined times
winning the event.
 
The Maine Forest Summer Rally, round #8 of the SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally
series, had a total of 112 stage (or racing) miles through the Boise
Cascade Paper forest and International Paper forest near Rumford.  The next
event will be August 25 - 26 in Bemidji, Minnesota.  The series finished
back in Rumford, Maine, on December 1 - 2, for the Maine Forest Winter
Rally.

                        1995 Maine Forest Summer Rally
                   Round #8 - SCCA/Michelin PRO Rally series
                      National PRO Rally - Final Results
 
 *notes ran Divisional as well
 
 Car                                                                  Class/
 Num.  Driver/Home Town   Navigator/Home Town   Vehicle/Tires         Time
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
  3  Carl Merrill         John Bellefleur       Ford Escort Cosworth  Open
     Ogunquit, ME         Thornhill, ONT        Michelin              1:57:41
 
  12  Bruno Kreibich       Rod Hendricksen       Audi Quattro          Open
      Ridgewood, Queens, NY  Clinton, NJ         Michelin              2:02:12
 
 33  Tom Ottey            Pam McGarvey          Mazda 323GTX          Open
     Columbus, OH         Columbus, OH          Bridgestone           2:03:18
 
 17  Cal Landau           Eric Marcus           Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX PGT
     Coraopolis, PA       Dayton, OH            Michelin              2:09:15
 
 96  Bruce Newey          Kennon Rymer          Toyota All-trac       Group A
     Atlanta, GA          Knoxville, TN         Michelin              2:10:41
 
 20  Jon Kemp             Brian Maxwell         Audi 4000 Quattro     Open
     Attica, NY           Port Hope, ONT        Michelin              2:11:07
 
  9  Vinnie Frontinan     Frank Cunningham      Toyota Corolla        Prod.
     Somerville, MA       Boston, MA            Michelin              2:11:44
 
 22* Rick Davis           Ben Greisler          BMW M-3               Group A
     West Chester, PA     Philadelphia, PA      Michelin              2:13:49
 
 37  John Vanlandingham   Debbie Sweet          Saab 96               Group 2
     Cambridge, MA        Oakridge, NJ          Michelin              2:16:21
 
 24  Janice Damitio       Amity Trowbridge      Toyota All-trac       P-GT
     Montesano, WA        Seattle, WA           Michelin              2:17:35
 
 31  Gerald Sweet         Stuart Spark          Saab 99EMS            Group 2
     Oakridge, NJ         Woodcliff Lake, NJ    Colway                2:17:57
 
 39  Carl Redner          Nancy Redner          Mazda RX-7            Open
     Walled Lake, MI      Walled Lake, MI       Michelin              2:18:10
 
 26  Jim Anderson         Martin Dapot          Honda Prelude VTEC    Prod.
     Mebane, NC           Reston, VA            Michelin              2:18:48
 
 34* Dean Fry             Donald Kennedy        Subaru Legacy         Open
     Mohnton, PA          Shillington, PA       Colway                2:24:35
 
 23  Greg Trepetin        Sonia Trepetin        Honda Prelude VTEC    Prod.
     N. Potomac, MD       N. Potomac, MD        Michelin              2:24:40
 
 35  Jeff Bothee          Tom Beltman           Mitsubishi Celeste    Open
     Grand Rapids, MI     Walker, MI            Bridgestone           2:28:33
 
 41  Peter Watt           Dick Casey            Suzuki Swift          Prod.
     Peterborough, ONT    Fairfax Station, VA   Bridgestone           2:31:12
 
 36  Keith Kreisler       Greg Usavage          Mazda 323GTX          Open
     West Chester, PA     Perkiomenville, PA    Michelin              2:47:10
 
Did_Not_Finish
 
  4  Henry Joy IV         Christopher Griffin   Mitsubishi Lancer E-2 Open
     Atlanta, MI          Burbank, CA           Michelin
 
 38  Dave Konetski        Glenn Koehler         Toyota Celica         Group 2
     Andover, MN          Ruch City, MN
 
  1  Paul Choiniere       Jeff Becker           Hyundai Elantra       Open
     Shelburne, VT        Great Neck, NY        Michelin
 
  8  Frank Sprongl        Barry Latreille       Eagle Talon           Open
     Mississauga, ONT     Williamstown, ONT     Michelin
 
  6  Peter Moodie         Michael Fennell       Mazda 323GTR          Open
     Kingston, Jamaica    Kingston, Jamaica     Michelin
 
 10  Sam Bryan            Robinson Walden       Saab 900              Group 2
     Kent, WA             Seattle, WA           Michelin
 
 15  Pat Ayer             Ray Cadieux           Audi Quattro          Open
     Burlington, VT       St. Lazare , QUE      Michelin
 
 18  Bob Elliott          John Hart             VW GTI                Prod.
     Rutland, VT          Rutland, VT           Bridgestone
 
 25  Jon Pizzagalli       Lance Smith           VW GTI                Group 2
     Shelburne, VT        Colchester, VT        Michelin
 
 40  Kurt Thiel           George Anderson       VW GTI                Group 2
     Rochester, NY        Rochester, NY         Michelin
 
 21  Carl Fisher          Ted Mendham           Dodge Omni            Open
     Greenville, NH       Lyndeboro, NH         Michelin
 
 28* Lesley Suddard       Anne Thomas           Dodge Charger         Open
     Wilmington, DE       Nashua, NH            Michelin

--
Ben Bradley                  *There are only two types of rally drivers:
bradley@reed.edu              Those who HAVE rolled and those who WILL
89 323 GTX, 67 Cortina GT           *Will co-drive for food...
http://www.reed.edu/~bradley             *E-mail for PGP 2.6 Public Key