For Immediate Release 
July 7, 2003   

SCCAProRally Championship
Round #5 - Oregon Trail
Media Advisory

TOPEKA, Kan. - Fifth round of nine for the 2003 season. Over 85 SCCA and FIA 
Performance Rally cars from across North America and the world will compete on 
demanding gravel roads along the mountainous terrain of the Oregon coast range. 
While temperatures are expected to be in the moderate 80s for the Rally, severely 
dry conditions have caused an extreme fire danger in the area, prompting local 
fire enforcement to place a ban on all outdoor open flames, including smoking, 
for the event. The teams who climbed Pikes Peak two weeks ago will be in familiar 
driving environments as stages climb from sea level up to 3000 feet elevation 
and back again. This rally event is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America, 
Inc., (SCCA) through its Northwest and Oregon Regions. 

When & Where:
July 12-13, 2003; starting from Hillsboro, Oregon; approx. 20 miles west of 
downtown Portland, Oregon. Rally crosses the high country of the Coastal 
Ranges. The 3,000-ft. elevation change makes it second-highest in the series 
in that department, behind only Pikes Peak. Time zone at event: Pacific 
Daylight Time (same as Los Angeles). 
Headquarters Hotel; Friday Event and Media registration:

Red Lion Hotel Hillsboro 3500 NE Cornell Road Hillsboro, OR 97124
Phone: 503.648.3500 (see schedule below for times) 
Schedule:

Friday, July 11  
 1:00 PM -  6:00 PM Media & VIP Registration Red Lion Hotel Cascade Ballroom  
 1:00 PM -  6:00 PM Scrutineering - Royal Moore Subaru, 1225 SE Enterprise Circle; Hillsboro 
 7:00 PM -  9:00 PM Welcome Party - Hors d'Oeuvres / No Host Bar : Cascade Ballroom 

Saturday, July 12  
 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Parc Expose - Hillsboro Stadium : 4400 NW 229th in Hillsboro 
10:00 AM 	    First car starts Day 1 of Oregon Trail ProRally - Hillsboro Stadium 
(approx.)  11:53 AM First car to Vernonia Service Park #1 
(approx.)   2:19 PM First car to Vernonia Service Park #2 
(approx.)   4:42 PM First car to Vernonia Service Park #3 
(approx.)   7:28 PM First car to Vernonia School grounds 
(approx.)   8:48 PM First car finishes Day 1 of Oregon Trail ProRally - West Coast Hotel 

Sunday, July 13  
10:00 AM 	    First car starts Day 2 of Oregon Trail ProRally - Tillamook Fairgrounds  
(approx.)   3:38 PM First car to Service Station at Tillamook Fairgrounds 
(approx.)   3:38 PM First car finishes Oregon Trail Rally 
(approx.)   5:38 PM End of OTR 
(approx.)   7:30 PM Provisional Scores Posted 
(approx.)   8:00 PM Awards at Hillsboro Stadium 

Event Rank:
Drivers and Co-Drivers earn points towards the national championship, and supporting 
manufacturers (Mitsubishi, Subaru, Dodge & Mazda) earn points towards overall and class 
Championships. There will also be two SCCA ClubRally events for regionally based teams. 

Selected entries (driver/co-driver):
David Higgins returns in an attempt to win his third straight Oregon Trail Rally. Last year, 
the Wales native teamed up with Chris Patterson, of the UK, in a 2002 Subaru WRX to take the 
win. This year, Higgins is with co-driver Daniel Barritt in a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer 
Evolution. The two have paired up to win three out of four ProRally Championship events 
this season, including the first three of the year. Higgins (66) and Barrit (66) lead the 
overall points championships for both driver and co-driver, respectively. 

Subaru Rally Team USA�s Mark Lovell will try to continue his winning ways after grabbing 
first at Pikes Peak two weeks ago in his 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX with co-driver Roger 
Freeman. Oregon Trail has been tricky for Lovell, where he finished on the podium in 2002, 
but failed to complete the rally last year. 

British driver Jonny Milner will not be alongside co-driver Duncan McMath at this event. 
After serving a one-race suspension and being cleared to compete, Milner has decided to 
concentrate his efforts on the British Rally Championship circuit. Julian Reynolds, of Wales, 
will drive the Team Dynamics Subaru Impreza WRX with McMath as his co-driver. 

FIA-Group N continues to be the closest class points race of the 2003 season. Driver 
Mark Utecht holds the slightest of margins (25-24) over Shane Mitchell. Mitchell has not 
been on top of the class leaderboard yet this season, although he and Utecht were tied after 
two events. Wolfgang Hoeck has crept up into third place (with 13 class points) after winning 
the Group N crown at Pikes Peak. 

Format:
SCCA ProRally Championship events are unlike any other national motorsports series in the US, 
featuring flat-out competition, in any weather, on challenging forest, mountain, or desert 
roads, following a format similar to that used in rally championships around the globe. 
At-speed rally competition takes place on "Special Stages," using challenging back roads 
closed by local authorities for the event. "Transits" connect the "Special Stage" sections 
together and are driven at normal highway speeds, with teams fully subject to all traffic 
laws. The team with the lowest cumulative time from the Special Stages, wins.
 
SCCA Performance Rally vehicles are production-based cars and trucks from manufacturers 
around the world. They compete both for the overall victory and wins within a class structure 
that groups together vehicles with similar performance. 

Each vehicle carries a driver and a co-driver/navigator. In a role as crucial as the driver�s, 
the co-driver uses a detailed, event organizer supplied route book and a rally computer, keeping 
the team on-course and advising the driver of any hazards ahead. 

Media information, Credentials, Visuals and Interviews:
Press/Photo credentials will be available at registration on Friday only. Access to press 
only photo areas will be restricted to hard-carded, all-access, press members only. Press 
credentials of any sort are available only to adult members of the working press.
 
Media relations will be able to provide driver and co-driver interviews, event results, and 
other information via telephone or e-mail. During the event, action photography and video 
will be possible from special viewing areas set up along the rally course, as well as other 
sites (please check during registration where you are allowed to go). Drivers, co-drivers 
and crew members will be accessible throughout the event, including Friday's Welcome Party 
and Scrutineering, Saturday�s Parc Expose at the start of the rally, and at service stations. 
National Media Contact, Web Access:

Curtis Kitchen, SCCA, Inc. Public Relations Manager 
Pre-event office: 785.357.7222 (USA Country Code: 1)
At-event mobile: 785.633.7977 (USA Country Code: 1)
E-mail: [email protected] 
SCCA ProRally: http://www.sccaprorally.org 
SCCA Oregon Trail ProRally: http://www.oregontrailrally.com 


The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Mitsubishi and Subaru, 
and is televised in North America on Speed Channel



For Immediate Release 
July 13, 2003   

SCCAProRally Championship
Round #5 - Oregon Trail
Final News 

Higgins: "There were no winners this weekend."

Hillsboro, Ore.Moments after being named the winner of the 
Oregon Trail Rally, David Higgins stood off to the side with his advisor, 
Team Mitsubishi Motor Sports Manager Richard Kelley, and toed the grass, 
head down.

"There were no winners this weekend," said Higgins, reflecting on the loss 
of competitors Mark Lovell and Roger Freeman of Subaru Rally Team USA on 
Saturday. "Those guys were true ambassadors for the Rally sport over here 
in America."

Kelley echoed those sentiments.

"Those gentlemen were great champions and competitors," said Kelley."Our team 
feels for their families, teammates and for all of those who were a part of 
their extended families."

The end of the rally in Oregon ended for the remaining field on Sunday 
without major incident. Tim O'Neil and co-driver Alex Gelsomino, in the 
Air Force Reserves Ford Focus, finished a strong weekend by placing second, 
under a minute behind Higgins.  Lauchlin O'Sullivan, Team Mitsubishi Motor 
Sports America teammate of Higgins, closed out the top three.

"We just wanted to get in as safely and as steadily as we could," said 
Christian Edstrom, co-driver for O'Sullivan. "We set out that way and that's
what we did, we're happy with the finish," added O'Sullivan.

Following the cancellation of Special Stage One, Subaru Rally Team USA 
withdrew its remaining entry, driver Ramana Lagemann and co-driver 
Michael Orr. Julian Reynolds, who was to make his US rallying debut with 
Duncan McMath, and Ralph Kosmides also withdrew from the rally following 
the incident.

The final finishing order of the Oregon Trail Rally will be released when it 
becomes available.

The 2003 SCCA ProRally Championship will move back into the northeast as 
Rumford, Maine hosts the Maine Forest Rally, the sixth round of the 
Championship, Aug. 1-2. 

Media Contact & Web Information:� 
Curtis Kitchen, SCCA, Inc., Public Relations Manager
e-mail: [email protected]� 
Mobile: 785.633.7977
SCCA ProRally: http://www.scca.com/

The SCCA ProRally Championship is presented by Mitsubishi, Subaru and the 
US Air Force Reserve, and is televised in North America on SpeedChannel.  
Time and date listing information available at www.speedtv.com