NEW LEADERS, FORMER CHAMPIONS EXPECTED TO CHALLENGE FOR SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL PRO RALLY TITLES JUNE 5-6 IN WELLSBORO

----Canadians Frank Sprongl and Peter Thomson, veterans Paul Choiniere, Doug Shepherd, and Mark Utecht among returning STPR winners to 2004 event; 2004 Points Leader Pat Richard – also from Canada – is a late entry--

WELLSBORO, Penn. – June 2 – With Subaru and Mitsubishi no longer entering factory teams in the SCCA ProRally Championship Presented by Hot Wheels, the race for the championships at this year’s Susquehannock Trail Pro Rally, June 4 – 6, is wide open, but there are plenty of experienced champions to compete for the win.

Based of the best, most recent performances, Canadian Pat Richard, from Garibaldi Highlands, BC (near Vancouver)/Nathalie Richard from Halifax, have to be considered the favorite in his Subaru Impreza WRX since he has won the previous three rounds of the 2004 season – Sno-Drift in Michigan, Oregon Trail, and Rim of the World in Southern California.

Richard has a 36-point lead over Leon Styles from Mission Viejo/John Dillon from Thousand Oaks, California, who had to settle for second place at Rim of the World after leading their “home” rally late in the event when a radiator hose let loose. Styles finished 15th here last year, while Richard did not participate in the event.

Despite the battle for the current points lead, however, it is the return of the “big three” from the 1990s that will have the thousands of spectators buzzing throughout the North Central Pennsylvania woods. Veteran Mopar competitor Doug Shepherd, from Plymouth, Michigan, has entered two Dodge SRT-4s, one to drive with his veteran co-driver Pete Gladysz, from Troy, Michigan and the other for Paul Choiniere, from Shelburne, Vermont/Cindy Krolikowski from Wyandotte, Mich. Choiniere, an eight time SCCA ProRally national champion, seven-time winner at STPR, and third-place finisher here last year, will be driving in a Group 5 2WD car for the first time. Although he is not competing in the top 4WD class, don’t count Choiniere out of a podium spot with his experience and knowledge of the course. Shepherd, who heads up the truck chassis engineering department at DaimlerChrysler, is leading in Group 5 so far this season with three wins in the first three events, and is also far in the lead for the Jon Woodner Cup – the best overall 2WD finisher.

The third “throwback” team, Frank Sprongl, from Georgetown, Ontario, along with his co-driver and brother Dan, won STPR overall in 1998 in an Audi Quattro S-4, and looks to bring bring back past glory for this event in his Mitsubishi Evo.

For 2004, STPR is Round #4 of the SCCA ProRally Championship presented by Hot Wheels, with festivities getting underway on Friday afternoon, June 4, with the 15th annual Wellsboro Charity Rally to benefit the local chapter of the American Cancer Society. This charity rally, which involves normal street cars going at legal speeds on public roads, is open to the public, and requires a driver and a navigator to participate. Those who can maintain a steady pace and follow directions closely can win prizes and help raise money to combat cancer. For details, log onto www.stpr.org.

The main rally, sponsored by Citizens & Northern Bank, the Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce, and the citizens of Wellsboro, gets underway at 10:15 AM on Saturday, June 5, from the Wellsboro town Green. The cars will proceed to the first stage, which is also the most famous part of the STPR event, known as the creek crossing, where the finish line is in the middle of a creek where the cars enter at high speed. Sponsored by Penn-Jersey Subaru, this spot will be known this year as the Subaru Splash, and more than 3,000 spectators are expected to gather there.

Other spectator areas around the course will be included along with spectator directions made available during rally week in Wellsboro. Admission to all areas of STPR activity is free to the public.

Also, within the STPR main event, there will be two shorter rallies – known as ClubRally event – for those less experienced or those not seeking national points. The first one, which runs only during the daylight hours with stages 1 – 4, is called the Sherwood Forest ClubRally, named in honor of the former Pennsylvania State Forest area District forester, Jack Sherwood. The second ClubRally, which incorporates stages 5 – 10, is the Finger Lakes ClubRally.

For information:

Rally information and schedule- http://www.stpr.org/glance.html
Citizens and Northern Bank - https://www.cnbankpa.com
Penn-Jersey Subaru - http://classic.subaruusa.com/lancaster
Wellsboro Chamber of Commerce – www.wellsboropa.com
Sports Car Club of America – www.scca.org

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