2004 Maine Forest - Update Info

2004 Maine Forest ProRally

Local Time is GMT -5

Having Fun is the Maine Thing

By David Gee

We always enjoy ourselves! That’s the operating mantra of the Maine Forest Rally, and when Round Six of the SCCA ProRally Championship commences this Friday in Rumford, the country’s best rally drivers will enjoy negotiating stages through some of the country’s most picturesque forest areas.

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Update Time	News
Thu 29-Jul-04 18:39	Welcome to the 2004 running of the Maine Forest ProRally! Registration is open and the teams are arriving here at Sunday River in Bethel, Maine. There a few teams that have shown up here to run the rally that weren't on the entry list. We do know that Car 25, Burke / Bradley, Car 88, Havir / Putnam, and Car 54, Richard / Richard are here and ready to take on the roads of Maine. We will be posting updates to the entry list as they make their way through registration. There will be a seeded draw at 9:00pm, all drivers with a speed factor of .95 or greater will be able to draw for their start position. The stage maps and pictures from the shakedown stage are now available on the web page as is the event schedule. Make sure to check back for the results of the draw and the official start list for the event later tonight.
Thu 29-Jul-04 20:39	Jeff Secor sent us this update. With the absence of top running Mark Utecht and the Cel-Cool gr. N Subaru, regular codriver Jeffy Secor will be riding with Canada's latest sensation: Joan Hoskinson is only in her second year of performance rallying here in North America, but she is a fast learner. In 2001 she brought the Monte Carlo Historic Rally, Coupe Des Dames trophy back to North America for the first time since 1911. In 2003 Joan was named Ontatio's Novice driver of the year. Behind the wheel of Subaru Impreza, freshly built by Lachute, she is competiting in her first SCCA ProRally. Joan is well aware of the History of the Maine Forest Rally and is ready for the challange.
Fri 30-Jul-04 12:11	The cars are starting to arrive at the Mexico Recreation Area for Parc Expose. All of the cars must be here by 1:30pm. There is a drivers meeting scheduled at 3:30pm and the first car will be set to leave at 3:45. The teams will be running Special Stage 1, Special Stage 2, and Special Stage 3 before having a 20 minute service break and heading out for Special Stage 4, the final stage of the night. Please be aware, we are operating on our backup sattelite communications system. Information may be sparce and will not contain pictures at this time. The sattelite we use that is over Texas is not working, they hope to have it up again for us soon.
Fri 30-Jul-04 16:27	The cars have run Special Stage 1, the spectator stage at the Mexico Rec. Area. There were loads of spectators and the teams put on a great show. Two cars, Car 947, Bacon / Watt and Car 56, McIvor / Bohan spun between the yellow flag sign that warns of the upcoming flying finish, and the red flag sign that actually marks the flying finish. There were a few cars, such as Car 766, Madden / McHugh and Car 903, Sanborn / Hathaway that were able to save the spin but lost some time. The car that received the loudest cheers was Car 611, Jenkins / Schwanter, they have a cool car and put on a great show! Car 60, Davis / Brandt appeared to be taking it pretty easy out there in his rented WRX and his stand in codriver. Things weren't so good for Car 62, Havas / Beckwith, the car seemed to be really down on power on their run through Special Stage 1. They were stopped on the side of the road at the end of the stage and their rally appears to be over. The Rally America truck is now located at the Thurston lot were service will take place. We expect to see the first cars here at about 6:10pm. We will get you more news and stories as the cars begin to arrive.
Fri 30-Jul-04 17:04	Car 88, Havir / Putnam called us from 2.7 miles into Special Stage 3. Apparently a large rock tore off the right front wheel of the car and they have been forced to retire from the rally.
Fri 30-Jul-04 18:32	Car 54, Richard / Richard report that they are just "cruising" in an attempt to get through the night stages. Patrick reports that they have an unnamed niggling problem that the crew will be able to fix. The team took a big jump on Special Stage 3 and took a hard hit on a rock in the road, which the crew will also need to look at. Nathalie is losing her voice, but if history is accurate, the team generally excels under tough conditions.
Fri 30-Jul-04 19:29	Car 650, Adkins / Fultz are shooting for a top ten in this evening's stages, in their TAD built 1997 Mitsubishi Evo 4. The car is very good, and the team reports that it is nice to have a car so well built and well maintained. The car is prepped and maintained currently by Pat DeCook, who leads the team and is described as "unbelievable"!
Fri 30-Jul-04 19:40	Car 42, Burmeister / Krolikoswki are having a good time and getting back in the groove. This is the first rally since LSPR 2003 for Eric, and they feel that they are working well together and by Special Stage 3, they were back at "full par".
Fri 30-Jul-04 19:50	Car 912, Cassidy / Getchell broke a headlight when they caught the car in front of them on stage, but minus that damage, they felt that the car is fine. John was quite prolific in describing the powers that are leading to their general aura of good feeling...1) it could be the raspy voice that comes from somewhere in the back seat (often believed to be that of Tim O'Neil) and gives driving tips, or 2) or it could be the Petter Solberg racing gloves he bought on EBay, or 3) it could be the eagle eye that his new pair of sunglasses afford. Whichever way, they seem to be working well together and the car is running well.
Fri 30-Jul-04 19:56	Car 926, McCormack / Doyle and Car 914, Nash / McAllister are being reported as DNF due to offs on Special Stage 3.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:01	Car 75, Comens / Wintle had a "moment" at the spectator area at the last bridge on Special Stage 3; although they suspected it looked entertaining to the spectators, they don't think their mechanics will be entertained with the amount of toe in the rear end of the car. Other than that moment, everything else is going well.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:07	Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb, are still having overheating problems. They plan to change the head gasket tonight and hope things will be a little cooler tomorrow.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:09	Car 99, Iorio / Ho told us that Special Stage 4 was "Awesome, absolutely awesome!!", the team seems to be having a great time!
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:16	Car 769, Kreisler / McKelvie must have had a flat, they showed up at service with the space saver spare on the left front.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:22	Car 27, L'Estage / Napert and Car 611, Jenkins / Schwanter were both reported off on Special Stage 4. Car 27, L'Estage / Napert had rear diff trouble and were requesting their trailer meet them at the start of the stage. Car 611, Jenkins / Schwanter put their car off into the woods, they were in too deep for sweep to extract them. The driver and codriver are OK but they need a tow truck to get the car out.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:30	Car 48, Kearney / Farrell did not have a very good Special Stage 3. A flat, some suspension problems, and a vacuum hose that came off all contributed to their extremely long stage time. They were able to finish Special Stage 4 and the first half of the Maine Forest ProRally.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:35	The crew of Car 88, Havir / Putnam is fixing their car and they will participate in the club event tomorrow.
Fri 30-Jul-04 20:45	There were pleanty of big rocks out there today and there was at least one big moose. Car 101, Brown / Holter reportedly saw a large mom moose with a baby on Special Stage 4. Mark said she had to be seven feet tall at the shoulders...and how big was that fish he caught last weekend??
Fri 30-Jul-04 21:17	Rally America will be packing up and signing off for the night. The scores for today and the start list for tomorrow will be posted soon. Please check back for all the latest, we should be live about 10:00am tomorrow.
Sat 31-Jul-04 10:12	Workers Bob, Mark, and Wayne want to say hi to Steve Dorr who is keeping tabs on the rally from home.
Sat 31-Jul-04 10:31	Welcome to day two of the Main Forest ProRally. Cars began to leave the Parc Expose, which was held at the Sunday River Brewery, at 9:00am and made their way out to run Special Stage 5, Special Stage 6, and Special Stage 7. The cars will be stopping in Oquossoc for a 40 minute service break and a reseed of the top five cars. The cars will then run Special Stage 8, Special Stage 9, and Special Stage 10 before returning to Oquossoc for the final time control. They will then head back to Bethel for the end of the rally festivities.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:13	The cars were originally scheduled to start arriving here in Oquossoc at 12:07pm, but, we've heard rumors that we are about 20 minutes behind at tge moment. Here are some images of service.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:23	We have heard reports from the stages that Car 88, Havir / Putnam are out with engine trouble. Morgan was taking pictures on stage when they came by off the pace with their hazzards on.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:24	The final word on the retirement for the Car 62, Havas / Beckwith, is that the outer CV joint "blew up" at the end of Special Stage 1 last evening. This represents the 3rd drive shaft related DNF in a row; all separate issues, but all drive shaft related. The team has alot of "power to the ground" and are working to resolve the issues.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:24	The seeded draw has been completed, here is the order for the first nine cars. 54, Richard/Richard 116, Lawless/Gillespie 11, Choiniere/Becker 88, Havir/Putnam 20, Comrie-Picard/Goldfarb 41, Drislane/Burke 25, Burke/Bradley 52, Shepherd/Andrieni 374. Styles/Dillon The complete start order wil be available tomorrow after registration closes at 12.00pm. Rally America will be bringing you all the latest news starting with Parc Expose tomorrow at 1:30pm. Don't forget to log into the forums and let us know what information you'ld like to see or who you're cheering for! We will be signing off for the night, please check back tomorrow.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:30	The cars have started to arrive for service, the first car in was Car 11, Choiniere / Becker.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:32	Car 54, Richard / Richard is reported to have rolled about half way into Special Stage 7. The team is reported OK but it looks like their rally is over.
Sat 31-Jul-04 11:49	The initial information on the cars coming into the lunch service at Oquossoc is as follows: Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb and Car 25, Burke / Bradley both had flats on Special Stage 7, Car 20 changed it on transit, Car 25 changed it on the stage. Car 20 is in on time; however Car 25 lost 4 minutes on stage, and have 1 minute of road penalties. Car 116, Lawless / Gillespie is having center diff problems, it is not gone, but it is loose. They are still suffering from their suspension issues of last evening's stages. They are running steady, but "not quick". The team is hopeful for a podium finish to back up their podium at STPR. Car 648 hit a "basketball sized" rock on Special Stage 7 which they feel that may have done damage to the exhaust, and is potentially the reason they are down on power. They do not believe there is a terminal motor issue, just something that got loosened up due to hitting the rock. They are still having "good fun".
Sat 31-Jul-04 12:23	The rumors that Car 54, Richard / Richard rolled appear to be true. They are planning to contiue if they can find a replacement windshield.
Sat 31-Jul-04 12:35	Drivers had to deal with tons of dust on the stages today. Car 91, Bottoms / Bosley caught and were unable to get around Car 859, Meegan / Keaney, and as a result Car 99, Iorio / Ho caught up with the two of them and made one big dust train.
Sat 31-Jul-04 12:37	Cars and fans line up in downtown Oquossoc.
Sat 31-Jul-04 12:44	Car 124, Workum / Gelsomino reports that they are having fun and the car feels great even though the stages are a little slippery. Car 42, Burmeister / Krolikoswki are also having fun, they are having a "pleasant cruise" and it's an "exciting time".
Sat 31-Jul-04 12:58	Car 58, Zimmer / Strate, JR had a "close call" on Special Stage 7 on a 6 Right downhill that was not quite "sixish"! Other than needing a new videotape for the recorder, the team reports that everything is going well.
Sat 31-Jul-04 13:04	Car 101, Brown / Holtergot lost in the dust when they were passed by Car 779, Przybysz / Jozwaik on the 20.7 mile Special Stage 7. Mark said that he lost his rhythm on the stage and a bit of time. They are happy to still be running and to be one of the teams that haven't suffered a flat. Car 868, Coffey / Kelly also had some problems with the dust, the codriver was not feeling too well when they came into service.
Sat 31-Jul-04 13:24	Car 821, Wall / Green are having a great time and are gaining confidence. They have new suspension that is working well on the roads that they characterized as great. The codriver is a rookie in the right seat and his biggest complaint is that his butt is sore!
Sat 31-Jul-04 13:31	Car 515, Boullion / Boullion reports that their car is overheating, they tell us that with the heat on it's a crisp 100 degrees in the car...at least.
Sat 31-Jul-04 13:34	Car 79, Field / Hordjik bent their rear suspension on the same infamous rock previously mentioned...this was the beginning of their problems...their problem was further compounded by the rock they then took to the passenger side and caused damage to rocker panel. They are motoring on.
Sat 31-Jul-04 13:45	The following cars are being reported as having troubles on Special Stage 5, they are: Car 904, Michniuk / is reported as off, their crew are on their way out to get them. Car 969, Washay / Montalbano had an "off", but are back on the road, and are going again under there own power. Car 707, McGivney / Reilly is have been towed up to the spectator location. Car 972, Collins / Mathiau is near the end of the stage in need of a trailer.
Sat 31-Jul-04 14:00	We expect to see the first car back in Oquossoc for the final MTC at about 4:30pm.
Sat 31-Jul-04 14:11	In a final report on Car 926, McCormack / Doyle from Special Stage 3 last evening. Apparently, the team had an off, which caused the oilfilter to come off. The team (without realizing they had a loss of oil) tried to start the car in an effort to get back on course, and inadvertantly, blew the engine.
Sat 31-Jul-04 14:13	Car 912, Cassidy / Getchell spun the car into a ditch, which caused them to get a flat early in Special Stage 5 which they changed on the stage. This caused them to lose 12 minutes.
Sat 31-Jul-04 14:23	The two car team that represents Team O'Neil Rally School is having mixed results for the day. Car 771, Komar / Duplessis are reporting that they are working well on their first rally together. Komar states that the Duplessis is doing a great job with the navigating. The only issue the team has reported was on Special Stage 5 when the brakes overheated, and they had to run the stage with no brakes, but the problem subsided, and they seem to be having a great time. They have come in for service and are now back out on the stages. Car 799, Knox / Duplessis were experiencing computer issues on Special Stage 7, and finally, the computer went out. The team was forced to run without the aid of the computer, and were taking it conservatively, just "reading the road", but were caught out, and put the car on it's side. The crew is fine, and the car was towed back to the service by a very kind spectator, but the team's day is over. They have gone to enjoy the rest of the rally by spectating. We say a special hello to Carol and Scott, who we hope are following www.rally-america.com today. Sorry for the bad news!
Sat 31-Jul-04 14:43	The crew for Car 88, Havir / Putnam called in to let us know that it was not an engine problem that caused their retirement. They had some sort of failure in the drive line, possible a a broken axle.
Sat 31-Jul-04 15:14	Here are some shots from Parc Expose and the spectator area yesterday.
Sat 31-Jul-04 15:15	More Friday pictures.
Sat 31-Jul-04 15:16	People check out the Rally America and SCCA tents on Friday and spend some time playing while they wait for Special Stage 1 to get underway.
Sat 31-Jul-04 15:21	The cars have started to arrive in Oquossoc for the finish of the Maine Forest Rally. We will have sories and scores from the last three stages shortly.
Sat 31-Jul-04 15:43	Car 75, Comens / Wintle reports a great run until Special Stage 7 where they took a turn a little wide and caught a ditch (on the outside) and blew a tire and took out the alignment. They changed the tire on stage and lost an estimated 5 minutes.
Sat 31-Jul-04 15:47	The following cars are reported as having problems on Special Stage 8 and Special Stage 9: Car 766, Madden / McHugh were off on Special Stage 8, but are driving out on own Car 797, Bernal / Doyle was out at 5 miles into Special Stage 8 and their crew is coming in with sweep Car 795, Crowley / Spillane is being towed to the end of Special Stage 8 Car 75, Comens / Wintle is out on Special Stage 9 and the crew is coming in on the DNF van
Sat 31-Jul-04 16:08	The cars are beginning to filter in and complete the rally. Currently, it appears that the top three are: Car 11, Choiniere / Becker Car 116, Lawless / Gillespie Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb The SCCA will be conducting technical inspections for the top 2 finishing teams in each class, and as such we were unable to get comments from Car 11, Choiniere / Becker or Car 116, Lawless / Gillespie. Car 20, Comrie-Picard / Goldfarb states that the rally went well and the Yokohama tires were flawless. The team did have a few wheel issues, as well as 3 or 4 flats today, which should be attributed to the rocks so often mentioned at Maine Forest, and not to the tires. The team had a great weekend in light of some taxing, and potentially, terminal, issues this weekend, and are long overdue for their podium finish.
Sat 31-Jul-04 16:15	The final report from Car 766, Madden / McHugh is that they were looking to have a good finish in class, and were trying to improve on that...by their own admission, they were pushing too hard, and went way off. There is no evident damage, but they were unable to get back on stage by themselves, and had to get towed by sweep. The team is positive about the off and were happy that no one got hurt.
Sat 31-Jul-04 16:23	Car 124, Workum / Gelsomino are reporting that they had a nice, clean run today and they are happy with the top 10 finish they have. Alex stated this weekend's stages were the first real test for the car, and expressed what a "powerful" and incredible car that Autosport Engineering has built and prepared for them.
Sat 31-Jul-04 16:43	Car 947, Bacon / Watt lost time on Special Stage 10 when they caught Car 25, Burke / Bradley about ten miles into the long stage. They were never able to get close enough to pass the 25 car who was evidently limping along in 2 wheel drive. The team also lost the exhaust manifold gasket and in turn boost and power. Peter said "Bill's skill with front whell drive Suzuki's helped them through when the car was down on power". Pictured with Bill is Cooper, a very spoiled puppy!
Sat 31-Jul-04 17:47	Early in the rally, Car 515, Boullion / Boullion expressed that, due to their blowup at STPR, they had replaced their motor, and their goal for this weekend was to have a good time and to finish. They went above and beyond that and appear to have won G5 in the ClubRally. They wanted to say a special thanks to their crew, Annie and Sam.
Sat 31-Jul-04 17:53	Car 52, Shepherd / Andrieni was also held up behind Car 25, Burke / Bradley and Car 947, Bacon / Watt. The cought up to the dust cloud with about 3 miles left in the stage. They were very thankful that their eariler intercom problems were resolved. The sign language Joe was using to communicate with Doug earlier would have been even more difficult while they tried to deal with the added dust. Overall the team had a good rally. Joe told us that "it was another cruise to the grocery store". Doug added "...well, if you were really thirsty".
Sat 31-Jul-04 18:10	Car 611, Jenkins / Schwanter were able to extricate their 1972 Corvette Stingray from the woods last night and start the club rally today. With some tape and bungee cords they were able to keep things together for a fourth in class finish. At least Doug owns a Hot Rod Shop!
Sat 31-Jul-04 20:07	There has been one official inquiry that has been resolved. Car 947, Bacon / Watt have been assessed a 10 minute penalty for illegal service. There has also been one official protest that has been resolved. Car 11, Choiniere / Becker have been assessed a 10 minute penalty for illegal service.
Sat 31-Jul-04 20:45	The scores are now final, we'll see you at Ojibwe Forests ProRally August 27-28.