Northern Lights PRO Rally 1982


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 3, 1982

BUFFUM AND QUATTRO DUST-OFF COMPETITION FOR THIRD WIN IN A ROW

HOUGHTON LAKE, Michigan--For the third time in four weeks, John Buffum has taken an SCCA PRO Rally victory in his Audi Quattro. Buffum and co-driver Doug Shepherd were never seriously challenged at the dust-chocked Northern Lights PRO Rally near this central Michigan resort community. Second were New Zealand Kiwis John Woolf and Grant Whittaker in their Peugeot 504 Coupe which won five of the rally's sixteen stages.

Third, in his best finish in the last three years, was Eric Jones in his old-style Datsun 510 while Jon Woodner, in perhaps the drive of the night, put his new-style Datsun 510 in fourth. Woodner was off the road twice by the mid-point of the rally and had dropped back below 20th place but, along with co-driver Ginny Reese, he came back strongly in the final stages.

Production Class is clearly becoming the hot story in PRO Rallying. Twenty-three of the 75 Northern Lights entrants were in this class, with 10 of the top 14 finishers in Production Class machines. Top of the heap for the second time in as many events was young Steve Nowicki in his Plymouth Arrow. Guy Light led Production in his Oldsmobile Firenza at the halfway point by 28 seconds aided by some dust-free roads since there were no cars immediately in front of him. Starting the second half of the event, the cars were again bunched together and everyone had to eat dust. Nowicki then put the hammer down and pulled out to a two minute win over Guy Light.

Third in the class was Sandy Liversidge in his Saab 99 which he continues to drive to PRO Rally events from his home in Vermont. It clearly looks like Liversidge and Nowicki could be fighting the 1982 Production Championship battle down to the wire.

Notable DNFs included Rod Millen, Whose Mazda RX-7 lost oil pressure early on; Larry Schmidt, whose Dodge Colt retired with a holed radiator before dinner; Wayne Baldwin, who put his Volvo GLT far into the woods near the half way point; Bruno Kreibich, whose Porsche broke a half shaft while lying third; and Jon Davis, whose Ford Escort went dead in the water while lying third in the Production Class. Clearly, Northern Lights was a battle of both dust and attrition.

With the win, Buffum closed in on Millen in the overall points standings, but Rod still leads 70 to 60.

The PRO Rally circus now has a short breather of three weeks before facing the heat of Texas for the Chisum Trail PRO Rally over the Memorial Day weekend. The remaining events in the 1982 SCCA PRO Rally series are as follows:


DATE                             NAME                         LOCATION
May 28-30                        Chisum Trail                 Paris, Texas
June 11-15                       Susquehannock Trail          Wellsboro, Pennsylvania
August 27-29                     Sunriser 400                 Chillicothe, Ohio
September 17-19                  Centennial                   Monument, Colorado
October 1-3                      Tour de Forest               Olympia, Washington
November 4-7                     Press On Regardless          Houghton, Michigan
November 19-21                   Mendocino Forest             Clear Lake, California
December 3-5                     Sno*Drift                    Grayling, Michigan
December 10-12                   Reno International           Reno, Nevada


SCCA NATIONAL PRO RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP





EVENT: Northern Lights                     		EVENT CONDUCTED BY: Saginaw Valley Region, SCCA
LOCATION: Hougnton Lake, Michigan          		LENGTH: 260 miles, 16 stages, 110 stage miles
DATE: May 1-2, 1982                        		WEATHER: Warm and dusty
ENTRANTS: 75 FINISHERS: 35                		TERRAIN: Wooded, flat forest





                                                                           
FIN.                                                          				CHAMP. MFG.
POS.	DRIVER/CO-DRIVER/HOMETOWN		CAR			SCORE		POINTS POINTS
 1.	John Buffum, S. Burlington, Vt.   	Audi Quattro   		106.66   	20    20
       	Doug Shepherd , Livonia , Mich.                               			20

 2.     John Woolf, Livonia, Mich.        	Peugeot 504    		112.97   	15    15
        Grant Whittaker, Livonia, Mich.                              			15

 3.     Eric Jones, Columbus, Ohio        	Datsun 510     		123.25   	12    12
        Roger Seiling, Columbus, Ohio                               			12

 4.     Jon Woodner, Washington, D.C.     	Datsun 510     		126.39   	10
        Ginny Reese, Detroit, Mich.                                  			10

 5.(1P) Steve Nowioki , North Berlin, Wis. 	Plymouth Arrow  	126.85    	 8     8   
        Brian Berg, Brown Deer, Mich.                               			 8           

 6.(2P) Guy Light, Midland, Mich.         	Oldsmobile     		128.86   	 6     6   
        Jim Brandt, Lake Odessa, Mich.      	Firenza                 		 6   

 7.(3P) Sandy Liversidge, Jericho, Vt.    	Saab           		129.54   	 4
        Linda Wilcox, Jericho, Vt.                                  			 4           

 8.(4P) Ken Houseal, Lansdale, Pa.        	Plymouth Arrow 		131.25   	 3
        Diane Houseal, Lansdale, Pa.                                 			 3           

 9.(5P) Bill Brooks, Olympia, Wash.       	Audi Coupe     		131.49   	 2
        Bill Banger, Coeur D'Alene, Idaho                           			 2           

1O.(6P) Gene Henderson, Pinckney, Mich.   	Eagle SX-4     		131.58   	 1
        Jim Kloosterman, Ypsilanti, Mich.                            			 1  

                                 PRODUCTION CLASS WINNERS
				   
 1.	Steve Nowicki, North Berlin, Wis. 	Plymouth Arrow 		126.85   	20    20
        Brian Berg, Brown Deer, Mich.                               			20

 2.     Guy Light, Midland, Mich.         	Oldsmobile     		128.86   	15    15
        Jim Brandt, Lake Odessa, Mich.      	Firenza                 		15

 3.     Sandy Liversidge, Jericho, Vt.    	Saab           		129,54   	12    12
        Linda Wilcox, Jericho, Vt.                                   			12

                    UNITED STATES RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER FIVE EVENTS
				 
DRIVER (Current Car)					PRODUCTION DRIVER (Current Car)
1  Rod Millen, Mazda            70               	1. Steve Nowicki, Plymouth    50
2. John Buffum, Audi            60               	2. Sandy Liversidge, Saab     40
3. John Woolf, Peugeot          52               	3. Gene Henderson, AMO        38
4. Jon Woodner, Datsun          33                   	   Guy Light, Oldsmobile      38
5. Clive Smith, Chevrolet       18               	5. Bill Brooks, Audi          35

CO-DRIVER                                          	PRODUCTION CO-DRIVER
1. R. Dale Kraushaar            70               	1. Jim Brandt                 38
2. Doug Shepherd                60                   	   Jim Kloosterman            38
3. Grant Whittaker              52               	3. Bill Banger                35
4. Dave Poston                  18               	4. Linda Wilcox               32
   Ginny koese                  18               	5. Dave Weiman                30

MANUFACTURER                                       	PRODUCTION MANUFACTURER
1. Mazda                        70               	1. Plymouth                   60
2. Audi                         60               	2. Saab                       55
3. Peugeot                      52               	3. AMC                        38
4. Datsun                       35                   	   Oldsmobile                 38
5. Toyota                       22               	5. Audi                       35


Results 82
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