Susquehannock Trail - Prorally

Holy dj vu. Just like Rim, the weather for Friday's practice stage was bright and sunny. The dust kicked up by the speeding rally cars hung heavy in the Pennsylvania woods and reminded everyone that this is a very, very fast rally.

The sunny day proved to be only a brief respite from the soggy weather that has plagued the East Coast this spring, and the rain started again that night. Pine Creek was already at the maximum depth allowed by rally organizers and despite several truckloads of gravel spread across the streambed, the additional rain proved to be too much. By the time the rally cars and several hundred umbrella-toting fans had gathered around Wellsboro's Green for the first Parc Expose, the decision had been made to cancel the famous and eagerly anticipated Subaru Splash.

That meant nearly everyone headed for the official spectator area on SS2. According to reliable hearsay, more than 2,000 fans jammed the Asaph Run location. The line of parked cars leading in was more than three miles long.

The transit into SS2 was run as SS1A and, dj vu, David Higgins in his Mitsubishi EVO was fastest through the 3.36 miles. But Ramana Lagemann was only .01 second behind and the rally was off to a fine, if soggy, start.

Lagemann was two seconds faster than Higgins through the 9.89-mile SS2, but teammate Mark Lovell wasn't so lucky. A failing clutch caused his new Subaru to spin at the crowded spectator area. He retired a mile later. Higgins was fastest through SS3 and SS4, with teammate Lauchlin O'Sullivan and Jonny Milner's Group N Subaru close behind.

Back in Wellsboro for a two-hour Parc Expose, fans found a number of top competitors missing. Seamus Burke was back with a new paint job on his Mitsubishi, but a new $2,500 Kevlar clutch failed on SS3. Lagemann also retired on SS3 with clutch failure, dj vu-both Subarus out for the second event in a row, and Doug Havir in his Subaru and Doug Shepard in his G5 Dodge SRT-4 both slid off the road and couldn't continue.

Drs. Phil and Dallas Smith were out when their '68 MGBGT lost the battle with a tree at the spectator area on SS3. Mark Utecht lost a minute and a half on his Group N competitors when, in a long series of 5s and 6s (The numbers called by the co-driver correspond roughly to the gear to be in for the instruction), he missed a call for a 3-Right and straight-lined an intersection. Adding insult to injury, the heavy steel gate he burst through swung shut again behind him. Bruce Davis and Lee Sorenson hit a tree with their PGT Eclipse, bending an A-arm, but were able to continue after realigning the car with a pickup truck and a length of chain.

Paul Choiniere was back for the first time this year in his Hyundai, but a broken shaft in the transfer case slowed him during Leg One. Able to swap out the offending unit at the Parc Expose, he was close on Higgins' tail for most of Leg Two. Tim O'Neil, comfortably ahead of the Hyundai overall, and O'Sullivan, in second place, both drove conservatively, trying to learn their new cars without risking an off. O'Neil's pace picked up considerably through Leg Two, but O'Sullivan retired with radiator problems on SS7. There are varying reports of the incident, but it involved fading light, a fast crest, a deer, high-speed-avoidance exercises and the woods.

With all the retirements, only 37 of the 64 starters would finish. The Germania service after Leg Two found Higgins nearly four minutes ahead of Jonny Milner, in a Group N Subaru, with O'Neil and his Focus just another 45 seconds back. Another four minutes back were Shane Mitchell (Group N) and Choiniere.

With the Overall and Open Class pretty much decided, Group N provided the drama in the rally's last leg. Milner's lead evaporated with suspension damage on SS8, but Mitchell couldn't capitalize, flatting a tire just a mile into the 22-mile stage and losing five minutes changing it.

Utecht and Jeff Secor were leading, ahead of Canadians Peter Thomson and Brian Maxwell by only 15 seconds going into SS8, when the two suddenly found themselves fighting for the win. Utecht was faster through SS8, but Thomson was quicker through SS9. When Milner's struggling Subaru finally suffered terminal axle problems in the last stage, he posted the red cross, claiming a fire. That required following cars to stop and render assistance, which resulted in most of the field scoring the same bogey time. Utecht had no chance to reply to Thomson's challenge and the Canadians took home the Group N win.

The results were the same again, as David Higgins and Daniel Barritt scored their third win in as many rallies. O'Neil and Alex Gelsomino finished second, four minutes ahead of third-place Chioniere and Jeff Becker. Eoin McGeough and Pauric Connolly finished tenth overall, the only PGT car in the top 20, and Chris Havas and Dave Kean took the Group Five victory. A week of all-nighters installing a new engine paid off for "Lurch" Burmeister as Cindy Krolikowski guided the Mazda team to Group 2 honors. Mike Halley and Bill Montgomery's New Beetle was the only Production car to survive.

Next up, Pikes Peak. Let's hope the weather holds; it can turn nasty on the way up to the 14,100-foot summit.

DetailsLocation: Wellsboro, Pennsylvania Leg One: Four stages, 38.5 stage miles.June 7-8, 2003 Legs Two & Three: Three stages (repeated), 44.62 stage miles. 127.74 stage miles total.

A one-day event run on beautifully maintained Pennsylvania State Forest roads near the "Grand Canyon of the East" in Pennsylvania's. Endless Mountains region. The tree-lined clay and gravel roads are very fast-very dusty when dry, very slick when wet. STPR is home to the Subaru Splash, the famous water crossing that ends SS1.