Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana came out on top of a hard fought battle at the Olympus Rally, round three of the 2009 Rally America National Championship, to earn his second win of the season. Pastrana, with co-driver Christian Edstrom, drove a faultless rally in their 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car but needed to go flat-out on the final stages of competition to pull away from a strong field of challengers, winning by a convincing forty seconds. Pastrana’s Subaru teammate Ken Block led the rally after Day One but an engine problem sidelined him midway through the final day. Bad luck also befell Subaru Rally Team USA’s newest team member, BMX legend Dave Mirra, who damaged his STI in a spin late in the rally while sitting in 2nd place in the Super Production class.

The 2009 Olympus Rally featured over 100 miles of sinuous, tree-lined logging roads near Aberdeen, Washington. The typically unpredictable Pacific Northwest weather was absent throughout the event allowing calm dry conditions to persist. Although the Olympus Rally is relatively new to the Rally America calendar, having returned to the national series in 2007, the event has a memorable past. It was first run as a national event in 1973 and served as a stop on World Rally Championship calendar from 1986 to 1988.

Pastrana found himself in 3rd position in the Olympus Rally at the conclusion of the first day, trailing rally leader and teammate Ken Block by over twenty seconds. On Day Two, Block dropped out of the hunt for victory early with engine trouble, leaving Pastrana locked in a tight battle for overall victory with Canadian driver Andrew Comrie Picard. “It was a great battle, our stage times were really close with ACP (Andrew Comrie Picard), we even tied on a stage to the tenth of a second,” explained Pastrana. “But I managed to pull out a small lead and keep it for most of the day, then charged hard on the last few stages for the win. It’s a great feeling to win with such strong competition.” Having secured two wins from three events, Pastrana now sits tied for 2nd Overall in the Rally America National Championship points standings.

Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino had their sights set on their third victory of 2009 after winning the previous Rally America round, The Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, as well as the non-championship Rally New York USA event. Block leapt into the lead at the start of the Olympus Rally, winning half of Day One’s eight stages to amass a lead of over twenty seconds. However, Block’s impressive run was halted early the next day when his Subaru experienced engine trouble, forcing him out of the event. “Although we hit some bad luck my confidence is boosted from our stage times on the first day where the competition was so good and everyone was going flat-out. The next round in Oregon has roads similar to Olympus so I’m sure we will have the speed again there,” said Block.

BMX legend Dave Mirra debuted his new Super Production (SP) class 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI at the Olympus Rally. The SP class is a new Rally America competition category introduced this year and features minimally modified, production-based cars with the backing of prize money from Subaru of America. Mirra, along with former WRC Champion co-driver Derek Ringer, took a conservative approach to the rally while getting accustomed to the new car and spent most of the rally residing in 2nd overall in the SP class standings. Towards the end of the rally, Mirra ran wide hitting a bank and incurring three flat tires plus some light damage to his Subaru. After changing out two of the three flats with the on-board spare tire units and limping to the stage finish, Mirra retired from the rally. “I was driving conservative with the new STI and getting faster as the rally progressed,” explained Mirra. “The new STI has a lot of potential and I just need some more miles with it to get fully confident.”

Subaru Rally Team USA will visit the Pacific Northwest again next month for the Oregon Trail Rally, based in Portland, Oregon and Hood River to the east on May 15-17.

Follow Subaru Rally Team USA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/srtusa

Subaru Rally Team USA is proudly supported by Subaru of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), DC Shoes, BFGoodrich Tires, RECARO, Alpinestars, Motul, Exedy, GReddy, and Vermont SportsCar. Visit www.subaru.com/rally for Subaru Rally Team USA photo galleries, news and team information.

Photo: Lars Gange | subaru.com/rally

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Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana took his second win of the season at the Olympus Rally on Sunday, after a fierce Day 2 battle with Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard.

“It was awesome – we tied to the 10th of a second on the first stage of the last leg,” said Pastrana the finish. “The competition was amazing.”

Pastrana and co-driver Christian Edstrom hauled into the lead at the Olympus Rally early Sunday, after their Subaru teammate Ken Block suffered a turbo problem and dropped off the pace.

NOS Energy’s Andrew “ACP” Comrie-Picard and co-driver Robbie Durant finished in second place overall, unable to make up time to the Subaru crew in the final stages while fighting an ailing transmission.

“We lost third and fourth gear in the last two stages today, and had to hold it in fifth,” said Comrie-Picard late Sunday. “But this finish means we’re still in the championship lead, and we’re happy.”

Comrie-Picard and Pastrana traded times all weekend, entering Day 2 one-two, separated by only two seconds.

In third place was the Rockstar Energy Team of Tanner Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis, who had been in the hunt for the lead early on but suffered trouble with their transmission late Saturday that put them at a disadvantage.

After overnight repairs, Foust and Beavis were forced to start Sunday’s stages with a replacement synchromesh transmission and they spent the day fighting to stay on the pace. It’s the duo’s second run in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

“It was pretty good out there,” said Foust. “We were battling on the first day and putting good time on Travis until we had our problem – it’s a promising thing for the car.”

Top Open class cars use a dog-engagement gearbox that allows the drivers to shift without using the clutch – saving them time on every corner. Teams say it’s worth a second per mile and while Foust’s technical skills meant he put up an able fight, he was unable to catch the leaders.

The result means Comrie-Picard holds onto the championship lead with 48 points, followed by Pastrana and Foust, who are tied for second with 45 points apiece.

In fourth place were Polish ace Andi Mancin and co-driver Maciej Wislawski, followed by Super Production class winner Pitor Wiktorczyk and co-driver Grzegorz Dorman in fifth.

Young driver Dillon Van Way and Joshua Knott took top honors in the two-wheel drive class in their 2002 Ford Focus

Wiktorczyk and Dorman had been battling with Matt Johnson and co-driver Jeremy Wimpey for the Super Production class lead on Day 1, but brake failure for the latter duo took them out of contention.

Subaru Rally Team USA’s newest member, Dave Mirra, and co-driver Derek Ringer were reported out of the rally late on Day 2. Mirra had said he was struggling to adjust to his new Subaru WRX STi.

Drivers smashed the stage record on the Brooklyn Stage on Sunday, with Pastrana, Foust and Comrie-Picard all wiping out Carl Jardevall’s top time of 6:33, set in 2004. After Sunday’s run, the new record holder is Pastrana, with a time of 6:27.9.

Subaru’s Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino suffered a turbo failure early Sunday and dropped out of podium contention. Team mechanics were able to repair the trouble, but they withdrew from the contest after further mechanical problems.

Weather in the region is notoriously unpredictable at this time of year, but the rally was clear and dry throughout. Teams lined up in Aberdeen, Washington, for the opening Parc Expose under sunny skies Saturday morning and, after a sprinkle of rain overnight, the sunshine continued until the Sunday finish.

The storied Olympus Rally is relatively new to the Rally America calendar, having returned to the national series in 2007. But the event has a lengthy history.

It was first run as a national event in 1973 and was a favorite stop on World Rally Championship calendar from 1986 to 1988. Rally racing legends including Rod Millen, Juha Kankkunen and American John Buffum are among those who have claimed victories at the famed contest.

Rally car racing is considered the extreme sport of automobile racing and is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” This all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over courses that cover more than 100 miles of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads.

Top teams in the series are also invited to compete in the Summer X Games, the leading action sports event broadcast live on ABC and ESPN. Eight top teams have already been invited to this August’s contest. Among the marques typically represented in Rally America events are Subaru, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Ford and Volkswagen.

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