21 cars participated in the event, including AWD dirt-munchers like a couple Eagle Talons, an Audi S-4, several Subarus, (and the "Saabaru" (Saab 9-2x) of yours truly....) several Jeeps and a Land Rover, a smattering of FWD cars like a Ford Escort, Ford Contour and a couple VWs. The oldest car in the field (and they finished!) was the 1980 Toyota Celica of Stephan and Lothar Kielmann.
The POR Reunion was well received, with a great deal of memorabilia on display, including items from Gene Henderson's son Mark, former Detroit Region R.E. Bob Jackman, and 1967 POR Chairman Doug Innes. Two TV's were serving up clips from old POR's and other rallies, and the attendees enjoyed snacks and soft drinks while mingling with the workers and competitors, and awaiting the start of the event. Many of the reunion attendees took advantage of the opportunity to work a checkpoint or two. The total attendance (including competitors, workers and reunion participants) was approximately 80 people.
The rally was organized as three rallies, two one-day events and seperate award for the total two day, 560 mile event. The rally started on Friday at 6:00 PM, and the first car arrived back in Houghton Lake at approximately 3:00 AM. The Saturday event started at 3:00 PM and the 60th POR finished at approximately 2:30 AM Sunday morning. I am attaching the leg score sheets for both days to this note. The trophy winners are listed below:
Friday POR - (21 scored controls)
1E - Scott Harvey Jr./Jack Von Kaenel - 24 (1991 Eagle Talon)
2E - Dave Harkcom/Dan Harkcom - 29 (1994 Audi RS4)
1L - Brian Line/ Kevin Line - 35 (1996 Jeep Cherokee)
2L - Jim Fekete/Jim Shaffer - 37 (2005 Saab 9-2x)
1S - Paul Fernandez/Dave Nugent - 168 (2002 VW GTI)
2S - Adam Speiszny/Piotr Roszczenko - 216 (1992 Eagle Talon TSI AWD)
1N - Dmitry Martynov/Oleg Martynov - 470 (2000 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS)
2N - Jennifer Glass/Brian Thorpe - 596 (2001 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS)
Saturday POR - (29 scored controls)
1E - Scott Harvey Jr./Jack Von Kaenel - 27
2E - Dave Harkcom/Dan Harkcom - 35
1L - Brian Line/ Kevin Line - 44
2L - Ken Wiedbusch/Dennis Wiedbusch - 62 (2007 Chevy Cobalt)
1S - Douglas Shepherd/Doug Shepherd - 166 (2008 Jeep Grand Wrangler)
2S - Paul Fernandez/Dave Nugent - 239
1N - Dmitry Martynov/Oleg Martynov - 625
2N - Jennifer Glass/Brian Thorpe - 681
The 60th Press On Regardless Rally - (50 scored controls)
1E - Scott Harvey Jr./Jack Von Kaenel - 51
2E - Dave Harkcom/Dan Harkcom - 64
1L - Brian Line/ Kevin Line - 79
2L - Ken Wiedbusch/Dennis Wiedbusch - 108
1S - Paul Fernandez/Dave Nugent - 407
2S - Adam Speiszny/Piotr Roszczenko - 467
1N - Dmitry Martynov/Oleg Martynov - 1095
2N - Jennifer Glass/Brian Thorpe - 1277
The awards were handed out after the event, at approximately 4:00 AM Sunday morning, with nearly all the competitors and workers in attendance. The awards were interspersed with drawings for donated prizes. Many thanks to Paul Eddleston of Team Illuminata Motorsports (
www.teamilluminata.com), Tom Bell of Competition Limited (
www.compltd.com/) and Dave Parps of Greer Enterprises, distributor of Nokian Tyres). Also, thanks to Darrell Foster of Magic Edge Vinyl (
www.magicedgevinyl.com) who provided two vinyl "60th POR" banners for the event.
Tribute was also paid at the awards ceremony to our good friend Eric Jones, who could only be kept away from POR by succumbing to a terminal illness. Eric truly "pressed on regardless", right up to the end, and will be deeply missed. Most of us couldn't remember the last time his red and white MGB (piloted by "Rex Karrs" and navigated by "Terry Fide") had missed the event. Tom Bell led the tribute.
I'm a relative newcomer to POR, having run my first one in 1995. And every year i've competed, win or lose, I find it hard to choose the appropriate words to describe the exhilaration of driving turn after turn, leg after leg, sometimes in glorious sunshine, sometimes under a clear, moonlit night (and yes sometimes in a "Michigan monsoon".....) for hundreds and hundreds of miles, almost like carving turns in fresh powder on a slope in Colorado that never ends. And, anyone that loves to drive can't help but have a great time at this rally. POR has undergone many changes over the years, and has evolved into one of the best brisk TSD rallies in the country. If you haven't run this (or maybe any...) event for a while, and my description is at all appealing to you, you really owe it to yourself to block out the weekend after Labor Day in 2009 to come to Michigan and DRIVE.....the 61st running of Press on Regardless.
Watch this space....we will keep you informed of the planning for the 2009 event (and other rally news that captures our attention)
Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested in this and future POR's!
Press on.
Jim Fekete
for the POR Organizing commitee