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News Wire
04/28/2007 - 07:00 PM
Lancaster, Calif.
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The Antelope Valley Fairgrounds arena had a dramatic atmosphere for the final stage to determine the overall winner for the 2007 Subaru Rim of the World Rally Challenge, as Lisa Klassen became the first woman in the North American history of the sport to driver her rally car to an overall win.
The drama actually started at the end of stage six, when Bill Holmes/Kevin Carter were running against Tim Moser/Dick Moser when the Mosers came to a stop on the course with fuel feed problems. The course workers, acting on instincts for safety of both competitors, red-flagged the stage just as Holmes was going by. Bill stopped, but then the worker waved him by to continue the stage, but he lost precious time. The officials reviewed the incident, and, although Holmes had turned a time faster than Klassen despite the delay, they offered Holmes a chance to re-run a stage. He and Kevin Carter thought about, and decided to take their chances – with their four-tenths of a second lead – with a head-to-head battle on the last stage. Asked whether he regretted the decision later, Holmes told us that they could have made mistakes on the re-run, causing them to fall behind.
So it was Mitsubishi versus Ford pick-up, Klassen versus Holmes at they took the dual course for the last run. Klassen had a little wheelspin
at the first turn, trying to keep her nervousness in check. Holmes looked like he had the lead early as he thundered the V-8 truck down the straight-away on the first of four laps, but Lisa settled the Mitsubishi down and focused on running consistent, quick laps without making mistakes. Meanwhile, Holmes ran over a berm, did a 360-spin and then later touched the wall trying to get maximum speed from the Ford. Those few mistakes cost him five seconds – 4:19.5 to Lisa's 4:14.1 – and Lisa Klassen became the first woman to drive her rally car to a professional rally win in the United States since the beginning of the SCCA PRO Rally in 1972 (including SCCA, American Rally Association, Rally America, USAC, NASA, etc.).
Holmes, a former SCCA Rally champion, thought the course was terrific, and, although he missed the forest stages (the event is no longer run on National Forest roads), was glad he was here to experience this year's event. As for Klassen, it was hard for her to express her feelings after the event.
"My co-driver, Guido Hamacher; my teacher Leon Styles; my crew and everyone in the rally community really supported my effort, and I was very nervous going into the last stage. I just focused on what I had to do and didn't any risks. I'm so happy – I can't really talk," she said.
The Antelope Valley Fairgrounds arena had a dramatic atmosphere for the final stage to determine the overall winner for the 2007 Subaru Rim of the World Rally Challenge, as Lisa Klassen became the first woman in the North American history of the sport to driver her rally car to an overall win.
The drama actually started at the end of stage six, when Bill Holmes/Kevin Carter were running against Tim Moser/Dick Moser when the Mosers came to a stop on the course with fuel feed problems. The course workers, acting on instincts for safety of both competitors, red-flagged the stage just as Holmes was going by. Bill stopped, but then the worker waved him by to continue the stage, but he lost precious time. The officials reviewed the incident, and, although Holmes had turned a time faster than Klassen despite the delay, they offered Holmes a chance to re-run a stage. He and Kevin Carter thought about, and decided to take their chances – with their four-tenths of a second lead – with a head-to-head battle on the last stage. Asked whether he regretted the decision later, Holmes told us that they could have made mistakes on the re-run, causing them to fall behind.
So it was Mitsubishi versus Ford pick-up, Klassen versus Holmes at they took the dual course for the last run. Klassen had a little wheelspin
Holmes, a former SCCA Rally champion, thought the course was terrific, and, although he missed the forest stages (the event is no longer run on National Forest roads), was glad he was here to experience this year's event. As for Klassen, it was hard for her to express her feelings after the event.
"My co-driver, Guido Hamacher; my teacher Leon Styles; my crew and everyone in the rally community really supported my effort, and I was very nervous going into the last stage. I just focused on what I had to do and didn't any risks. I'm so happy – I can't really talk," she said.
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