Pirelli 1-2-3 at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb
Open-Class Podium Spots Fall to Two Subaru WRXs and one Ford Focus
ROME, Georgia, July 3, 2003After a frustration-filled early season, Mark Lovell, a Brit and a regular competitor in the SCCA ProRally Championship, had reason to smile.
He, along with co-driver Roger Freeman, had just placed first in ProRally and second overall at the Pike's Peak International Hillclimb in their Pirelli-shod Subaru Impreza WRX.
" The pressure was on us coming in," said Lovell, who placed third last year in the ProRally Drivers' Championship but who had finished just one rally event this season a second-place finish at Rim of the World. "This was great for us and to make it a double (referring to his second-straight class win at the PPIHC) is just amazing." Lovell set a new PPIHC Open/Pro Rally class record with a time of 11:39.63, beating his own record of 11:52.69 set a year ago. His Subaru teammate, Ramana Lagemann, also running Pirellis, followed close behind with a time of 11:43.65, a time that was also better than the previous record. It was a run that Lagemann badly needed, considering he had only one fifth-place finish to show for his year's work leading up to the PPIHC.
Lagemann's run wasn't without some excitement however. About a mile from the summit, Lagemann's WRX began sputtering and almost stalled at a few of the hairpin turns at the end of the 12.52-mile stage. Post-race evaluation later revealed a loose wire harness as the culprit.
" We didn't know what it was out there," said Lagemann. "It went way down on power and started smoking a bit, and went into fail-safe mode. We just kept it going along." "We came in here as a team wanting to finish one and two. It didn't really matter how we ended up as long as we got first and second and we got it done."
Third place in the Open Class went to another Pirelli-equipped entry, Tim O'Neil and co-driver Alex Gelsomino in a Ford Focus, providing Pirelli with their first 1-2-3 finish of the year in SCCA ProRally.
With the win and second-place finish, Team Subaru closed the gap considerably in the Class Manufacturer point standings. With the 35 points earned at PPIHC, Subaru Rally Team USA now trails Team Mitsubishi Motor Sports America in the Open class standings, 85-56.
In Group N, Pirelli-shod Subarus finished 3rd and 4th, the team of Shane Mitchell/Paul Donnelly nipping Mark Utecht/Jeff Secor by about 6.5 seconds. By placing a strong third, the Mitchell/Donnelly team tightened up the Group N point race between them and class leaders Utecht/Secor leaving just one point between the two teams.
Secor said that he and Utecht were just glad to finish the intense stage with its razor-edge drop-offs and majestic heights. "I didn't ever see God," said Secor. "But I'm pretty sure I heard him a couple of times." From here, the 2003 SCCA ProRally Championship heads to the great Northwest and Hillsboro, Ore., for the Oregon Trail Rally, the fifth round of the Championship, July 12-13.
For more information regarding Oregon Trail, visit www.scca.com or www.oregontrailrally.com.
A photo of the Mark Lovell's Subaru is available at www.RacingPR.com; Username and Password is "Pirelli".