Stock Production Rally Cars - ProRally

Watching a turbocharged, 4WD Open Class EVO or Group N WRX flying through the woods, it's easy to forget there are other teams in other classes out there, sometimes lost in the overall leader's dust, fighting just as hard for their class win.We decided to check in with three midpack teams, one each in Group 2, Production GT and Production. We were quickly reminded there's more than one national championship at stake at any given event, you don't need to spend $150 large to play in the dirt, and sometimes racing isn't about winning.

Coloradoan Mark Brown has rallied on and off since 1985 and says, "This year is about winning a national championship. We're going to run the whole series no matter what it costs. We're going to show up, run fast and try to finish every event." Brown and co-driver Ole Holter borrowed a car for Sno*Drift and debuted a new Group 2 1989 Volkswagen GTI at Oregon.

Brown, a district manager for Matco Tools, spent about $15,000 over the past two years doing everything he could think of to the car and have it still be P-Stock legal in the California Rally Series. The otherwise stock tranny was rebuilt with a limited slip, the motor was gone through and in a nod to the CRS, stock brakes were used. He has maybe $1,000 in the suspension but figures the high-dollar stuff could have run as much as $6,000. He also figures it would be easy to spend well north of 100 grand developing and building a state-of-the-art Group 2 car. The team currently leads the Group 2 championship.

"We know there's no glory in it," says Greg Healey, who is an instructor at the Indian Point Nuclear Powerplant during the week. "So we try to have as much fun as possible. This is a big social weekend. We get to go play in the woods even though we're avoiding trees at all costs."

Healey built his Production GT 1997 Impreza before the WRX came to the United States and figures he spent about $17,000, including the car. A new Open Class WRX would run $125,000-150,000. With no updating or backdating allowed, his normally aspirated 2.2-liter is down 100 hp compared to the newer PGT cars.

"It's kind of fun being the underdog," says Healey between swigs of Gatorade. "Every time over the last two years we've run against the eventual national champions, we beat them. We just didn't run enough events." Healey and long-time co-driver John McLeod share service crews with two other competitors. "This is a pretty tightly knit group. You get to know all the people around you on the road. If you have any problems, everybody is willing to help. It's a good time with a good group of folks.

"From a prep standpoint, we probably need to do less," he says. "Those guys up front go for all the weight savings, we've left the air and stereo in. They tend to push the performance envelope more, i.e. more boost, and hope things survive, whereas we tend to build for reliability and watch for their triangles."

Like Healey, Jeff Field takes his Production Class 2000 Celica to ProRally, ClubRally and NASA rallies up and down the East Coast. Built from a rollover and second parts car, Field spent $2,600 on a professional cage. The rest is Production Class bliss. "I don't have to work on the car. I put fuel in and wash the windshield. It's a Toyota," he says. "There's nothing to tweak, nothing to break and no more power to find. I enjoy going home and forgetting about rallying for a month. If I haven't hurt the car, there's just nothing to do."

Two things unite these drivers: the understanding that driving an underpowered car means conserving momentum at all costs and the satisfaction that comes from placing ahead of much more powerful competition.

"I enjoy catching the faster cars with an anemic 2WD car," says Field. "You have to keep your momentum. It's like driving a go-kart or Formula Ford. You don't have the power, so you need to keep up the speed." Through Maine Forest's fast, power-hungry, 22-mile final stage, Field dropped less than six sec/mile to the 400-hp Open Class cars of the overall leaders. Starting 33rd, Field and co-driver Mike Horjik won Production and finished 16th overall. That would have placed his virtually stock 2WD Celica second in Group 5 or fourth in Group N!

Healey and McLeod moved from their 26th starting position to finish 19th overall and claim victory in PGT. Unfortunately, Brown and Holter, the only team we talked to contending for a championship, DNF'd with just five miles to go. They started 30th and were up to 22nd overall, ahead of three WRXs, when the limited-slip disintegrated, taking everything in the transmission case with it.

So, while they're not at the front of the pack gunning for overall glory, these three teams are out there having fun dicing for a class win. Next time you're spectating, stick around to cheer these guys on because, as Field points out, "When we win our class, we WIN our rally."

Race ReportSCCA Prorally Championship Presented By Hot WheelsThe rules specified "fuel only," sparking the biggest debate this year in ProRally. But we're getting ahead of the story.

As always, the short first day of Maine Forest proved an entertaining shakedown for an eventful Leg Two. Canadian Andrew Comrie-Picard led the way through the SS1 but the top five competitors were all within a second of each other on the half-mile stage. Chris Havas didn't make it. For the third time in as many rallies, a different drive shaft part failed, this time a CV joint. Eight-time national champion and four-time Maine winner Paul Choiniere, with Jeff Becker co-driving, was a 10th of a second quicker than Patrick and Nathalie Richard through SS2, but co-driver Becker's microphone failed and the Richards were 20 seconds faster on SS3. Continuing his string of bad luck, Doug Havir lost his right front wheel to a large rock on SS3.

After service, Choiniere came back to finish 7/10ths ahead of Richard on SS4. Overheating slowed A C-P's Mitsubishi but he ended the day just 43 seconds back of the lead. Irishmen Thomas Lawless/Jason Gillespie were 1 minute and 4 seconds back with countrymen Seamus Burke/Charlie Bradley close behind.

The gloriously fast long stages of Leg Two are what draw competitors to Maine, and by the end of SS5 Choiniere had moved into the lead by half a second. A C-P, Richard and Burke all finished within 3/10 of a second on the 11.6-mile stage. Things were much the same through SS6 but got interesting on SS7.

A C-P's overheating woes continued despite an overnight head gasket replacement, then had a flat and dropped 54 seconds to Lawless. A large rock dug up by the frontrunners caused problems for several cars, including a bent suspension on eventual Production winner Jeff Field's Toyota. The Richards missed a call and rolled heavily halfway into the 20-mile stage. Fellow Group N competitors Otis Dimiters and Peter Monin were kind enough to stop and pull them out, but by then they had dropped 26 minutes

Back in service, a lucky friend saw Richard's crew eyeing his WRX's windshield and gave the OK. By the end of the 40-minute lunch service, the Richards-needing only to finish to clinch the Group N title-were back on the road, even setting fast time on SS9 and 10. Will Bacon and Peter Watt debuted a new Group N WRX and were second fastest on SS6. Problems at service led to a protest and a 10-minute penalty, but Group N should pay attention to the duo.

With Leg Two's long and inaccessible SS6/7 and 9/10, the supplemental regulations included a fuel-only stop after SS5 and 8. Since the Hyundai of Paul Choiniere and Jeff Becker controls detonation by injecting water into the cylinder along with fuel, the crew filled the water tank along the fuel cell at the fuel stop-not the intercooler spray tank, which would have clearly been an illegal service, just the water tank alongside the fuel cell. The move was protested, the protest upheld and a 10-minute penalty assessed. Choiniere and Becker dropped fromfirst to 11th. The matter has been appealed

For now, Lawless and Gillespie are the winners of Maine Forest 2004, backing up their podium finish at STPR. Despite running with the heater on and driving most of the day with no power steering, an exhausted Comrie-Picard and co-driver Marc Goldfarb were second with a surprising Matt Iorio and Philip Ho, running an Open Class restrictor in their Group N Subaru for the first time, clinching a well-earned third. -Tim McKinney

Maine Forest ProRally Results