Subaru Rally Team USA(SRT USA) driver Travis Pastrana has mathematically secured his fourth consecutive Rally America National Championship(RANC) with a dominating win at the Ojibwe Forest Rally, round seven of RANC which was held from 28-29 August. The win, his fifth of the season, hauled in sufficient championship points to place Pastrana mathematically out of reach to his closest challengers and thus securing his fourth consecutive Rally America national title. Pastrana has won each of his Rally America championships (2006-2009) behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car.
"It is game-on for the next two rallies," said Pastrana at podium. "It's great to drive without any pressure. A lot of the other drivers have had hard a season and bad luck, but things have just gone my way. My Subaru Impreza WRX STI has been perfect all year. It just works for me at every rally, it's easy to drive and lets me focus on winning."
The Ojibwe Forests Rally featured over 130 miles of technical, sandy gravel, forest roads in northern Minnesota, around the town of Bemidji. The event is a favorite amongst rally drivers for its demanding fast and flowing roads and numerous stages run in darkness of night.
The rally began with a duel between Pastrana and his teammate Ken Block. Entering the Ojibwe Forests Rally, only Block had a mathematical chance to catch Pastrana in the standings but needed to secure a win to keep his hopes alive.
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After the first two stages, the highly competitive friends and rivals were separated by just seconds. The challenge however was cut short on stage three when Block impacted a large rock while cutting the inside of a corner that launched his Subaru off the road, hitting a tree and rolling to DNF.
With Block out of the picture and several of his closest challengers experiencing small problems of their own, Pastrana found himself with a healthy lead early in rally. The driver of the #199 SRT USA car backed off his pace but was still able to win all but three of the event's fifteen competition stages.
Next round of RANC, round eight "Rally Colorado" will be taken place from 19-20 September around Steamboat spri.
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