MOTORSPORT NEWS Rally

Subaru’s David Higgins wins New England Forest Rally

The unflappable David Higgins faced down a stacked field of top competitors to win the New England Forest Rally this weekend ahead of challenger Ken Block while, in an incredible comeback, Travis Pastrana edged onto the third spot on the podium after a Day 1 electrical failure that many thought spelled the end of his race.

David Higgins
David Higgins

“We came back for the Super Rally with a never-say-die attitude,” said Pastrana. “We always try to win. Everybody here shows up to win, and we believe we can. But I tell you what: David is on fire. His speed, his times, his lack of mistakes… It’s pretty amazing. It’s tough to catch that 75.”

David Higgins drove his Subaru to victory in the New England Forest Rally.He said he expects to return to the series at the next round of the championship, Ojibwe Forests Rally, to take another shot at beating his teammate in Rally America competition.

Higgins, meanwhile, said he and co-driver Craig Drew took a disciplined approach to the race this weekend and secured the win by avoiding distraction from star competitors and championship repercussions. The strategy worked. With a consistent drive, they brought their Subaru STI home to a drama-free win to mathematically secure the 2015 championship title for Subaru Rally Team USA.

“This rally was the big one and we weren’t focused on everyone else who was here or championships or anything else,” said Higgins. “It was a pure speed rally. We’re happy to come out on top, and we’ll look forward to the next two.”

Block and Gelsomino had started the weekend as favorites to break the Subaru stranglehold on the championship, but the Gymkhana star was off the pace early on Day 1 and reported that his car felt down on power. Then, on Day 2, while pushing hard to make up time, he slid off the road. The soft crash cost him two minutes and a shot at the win. He had to settle for second.

“It was a crazy day today and kind of a crazy weekend,” said Block. “We came out, had a lot of fun, and it was really great to see all the fans. We really would have loved to battle for the win.”

But the comeback story of the weekend was Pastrana. He and co-driver Chrissie Beavis made their way back to the podium after starting the day a distant 15th due to an electrical failure Friday that left them parked by the side of the road. They returned to competition on Day 2 as Super Rally competitors, taking huge penalties under the rally restart rule, and immediately began clawing back time.

On Saturday, Pastrana never finished a stage lower than fourth to make up for the 28-minute Super Rally penalty and finish the race in third place overall.

The last time a Super Rally competitor landed on the overall podium was the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in 2013, when Higgins came back from a Day 1 DNF to finish third.

This was the first rally of the season for Pastrana, who has been absent from the series this year while on the road with the Nitro Circus Live tour. He is expected to return to the series August 27-28 for the Ojibwe Forests Rally.

Lauchlin O’Sullivan and co-driver Scott Putnam finished fourth overall to take the Super Production class win this weekend, while Australian Brendan Reeves and co-driver Anthony McLoughlin charged hard in the new spec Ford Fiesta R2 to win the 2WD category and claim sixth-place overall.

“Our side of things went really well, like clockwork,” said Reeves. “There was a few niggling things with the car early on but that’s going to happen with a new car. It’s a brilliant little development car.”

James Robinson and co-driver Brian Penza took the B-Spec victory in their Honda Fit.

Attrition was high this weekend, with an unusual number of competitors accumulating Super Rally restart penalties after a dusty Friday. The trouble continued Saturday when conditions became slick due to overnight rain on the stage roads that straddled the Maine and New Hampshire border, near the town of Errol. More than a third of the national competitors scored a DNF this weekend.

In a huge disappointment for the privateer FY Racing team, Adam Yeoman and co-driver Jordan Schulze were forced to retire on Stage 10. They had been poised for a strong finish after trading positions with the powerhouse Hoonigan team earlier in the day.

“I was disappointed to see that,” said Block after the race. “He had a good rally and was sitting second overall. It would have been a big podium for him and we inherited second because of him having that problem — which really isn’t the way you ever want to do it. But that’s rally: we’re happy to still be here thanks to a bit of ingenuity and press-on-regardless attitude.”

Ramana Lagemann and co-driver Nathalie Richard were on the pace but out of the race on Saturday after a Day 1 DNF when they struck a rock and were forced to retire on Stage 1. They rejoined the rally under heavy restart penalties to fight for stage wins in the brand new M-Sport R5. After a cautious start, Lagemann showed the car’s capabilities with many stage times in Top 4 on Saturday, as Higgins, Block and Pastrana battled in front of him.

SP class championship leaders Nick Roberts and Rhianon Gelsomino were also out of the running early after a rollover on the second stage Friday. They restarted Saturday, but packed up early when their turbocharger failed.

Local 2WD favorite Chris Duplessis and co-driver Alex Kihurani retired Friday after a fire in the Nameless Performance Subaru BRZ. They were not injured, but the car was too badly damaged to continue.

With the championship secured, Higgins and Drew are now eyeing an elusive “perfect season.” The last driver to have scored a win at every event in a single U.S. rally championship season was John Buffum, who claimed that honor in 1987.

The 25th anniversary running of the New England Forest Rally, July 17-18, was the sixth of eight rounds in the 2015 Rally America National Championship. The event featured 100-plus stage miles over two days of competition, including a return to the smooth and twisty stages first used in 2014. Next up on the Rally America National Championship calendar is the Ojibwe Forests Rally, August 27-29, in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.